Because this will be a long post, I am going to start with a touch of pre-myspace humor...
And now for the serious part:
There are any number of ways a person can find a wedding photographer, and equally as many ways a person can complain about the prices they charge for that photography. While I cannot say that spending more will always result in better images, I will say that there is usually a fair price-range where photographers are paid well without inflating their prices just to make a profit. To explain why I price things the way I do, I'm going to let you inside my world for what I typically do for a wedding and what it costs me.
To
make it simple, I will break down how my time is spent and what it
would cost if I were to hire out for a service I provide in my own
studio; this will also cover some of the expenses I have based on
gear and preparation or maintenance before and after the wedding.
First I'll explain my gear and then give you a price breakdown of
what that means. Next is the more abstract issue of what I actually
get paid for my time. Third, we will cover why items are priced the
way they are and what it often costs to print or compile albums with
and without post-production. Finally, I will let you in on how to
weight the value of the product against the price you see on paper.
THE
GEAR
I
use a mid-grade DSLR camera to capture
clear and precises images without costing my clients and myself a
fortune. That camera then requires lenses since they are not
included with most professional grade items; a small lens made for
macro photography and or close-up work, and a higher end telephoto
lens that is used for the majority of a wedding day. This also
requires the use of an external flash unit, not the kind built onto
the camera, including the soft box diffusers that help reduce glare
while making the moment bright enough to capture in venues with mood
lighting. And finally I carry no less than three 16GB cards and two
extra batteries beyond what is already in the camera body.
To
ensure that I can always serve my customers, I not only have these
two lenses and my regular camera body, but must also supply an entire
second set of body and lenses as well. So that first set of three
expensive items now needs to be doubled. That means that I am
usually working with about $2300 in regular gear in my hands or at my
waist, and a back-up set that costs about $1800 even though it
usually just stays in the car . Now consider that many weddings
request a second photographer to cover events that are going on at
the same time in different locations, this means a third set of gear
in the $1850 – $2300 range because we must have a back-up available
if one camera was to break and two must be in use.
Now
considering that I need to cover all these items against theft, I
also pay for insurance on each item; so a little portion of each
wedding goes to covering insurance on the equipment involved. Just
as limo drivers must have insurance on their limo, it would be a poor
choice to hire a photographer without coverage to protect your images
because of their equipment failure or loss. Considering that
insurance also covers my ability to keep from being sued if I was to
somehow have items stolen or otherwise lose the photos between
wedding and upload, it is a good investment for my client's money and
something they should be pleased about. I mention in every wedding
contract what is covered for their loss and what they will receive
back in the case of a problem just to cover all the bases. In
general, I list the equipment coverage at about $125 for each event
needing a single photographer.
TIME
= MONEY
The
work for a wedding on my part actually begins well before the big
day. It starts out unpaid - when I first receive an email or phone
call from the bride inquiring about the date, rates, and my packages.
In general one of the three basic outlines I offer works the best
for budget and needs, so they choose something and edit up or down as
desired. I begin to check with second shooters, venues, and any
other individuals I am required to coordinate with such as a planner
for out-of-state brides. From there it is email, phone, and if
possible a face-to-face consultation so that I can have an outline of
exactly what is desired for specific shots, what time the ceremony
starts, who I am photographing in total (not just the bride and groom
are included), and how many images the client would like to have as a
final count.
I
offer a free consultation because brides often want to know what they
are paying for before they hand over the money. I agree with this
and want to know if something is being expected that I cannot provide
for the price their budget will allow. Once everything is covered in
that first free consultation as contract is signed and a deposit of
$250 is made to guarantee that no double booking will take place.
From there everything has a price.
Many
couples engage a photographer for a studio shoot before their wedding
for engagement photos. I run these based on my regular studio rates,
usually about $85.00 for a two person sitting of one hour. They
receive the ten best images in printed or digital form (their choice)
or can order save-the-date and other announcement information. I
also give the option of a bridal boudoir sitting in place of
engagement photos. This is also about an $85.00 value and again
includes the best ten edited images. Many brides choose this second
option and give their groom the album as a gift before the wedding.
Two
to three weeks prior to the event I visit the venue for the ceremony
and the reception to take test-images. I price this visit at a flat
$50.00 based on the normal amount of time, equipment, and effort.
Aside from making sure I know where I am going, this gives me
accurate data in my light meters for planning equipment. I also use
these test shots as a visual reference when planning any posed images
or where to place myself for maximum visual range when shooting in my
typical photo journalistic style. Because the majority of my work is
candid, I need to ensure that there will be no obstructions to my
line of sight sense camera cannot see through walls. This visit is
part of the package cost, and essential for ideal images.
Once
the planning is done, payments are processed, it is all busy work.
My “wedding” day begins almost twenty four hours before the bride
starts dressing. The night prior, I pack my gear, test batteries,
cards, flashes, each lens and body, and make sure that I have the
correct location for the ceremony and reception in my GPS as well as
any other photo areas. Gear is loaded into the vehicle, and an
inspection of the car is done to avoid problems with the tires, oil,
fuel or anything else. At this point, I am actually working “off
the clock” but I consider this something that should be done to
ensure that I am prompt an prepared.
I
arrive at the first location, usually where the bride is preparing,
at least ten minutes prior to the planned start time so that I can
assemble my camera and locate essential people. From the moment my
lens cap is removed, I am “working” and the hourly rate included
in the chosen package is being used. For simplicity sake I make
about $45.00 per hour though only about $ 15.00 per hour of that is
actually my pay after licenses and other costs.
Most
dressing, ceremony, photo-op, and partial reception shoots last about
six hours. Few contracts actually extend a full eight hours any more
because the couple is willing to forgo a huge number of images of
table dancing uncles to get their more precious moments on film (or
the digital equivalent). Once I have captured everything included in
the contract and as many candids as I can to fill the time remaining,
I will thank the couple and present them with the guest cards to
access their online gallery. Once the lens cap goes back on I am no
longer on the clock and packing up gear to return to my studio.
THE
POST- PRODUCTION
To
ensure nothing is lost in transportation or translation, I make sure
to download the images immediately and save double copies of the
originals for safety. Most weddings of six hours result in about
2500 planned images and another 2000 true candids. I secure all of
this information before even going home for the night, meaning I
often see my husband still sleeping when I leave and return after he
is already snoring away in bed again that night.
At
this point, our running total for the cost of a six hour wedding is
about $665.00 for my time and services. This is where most believe
my work ends. I have shown up, taken the photos, and now all I have
to do is give them the images so they can be on their way. But that
is not quite it. If I handed over that full set of 4500 photos they
would see perhaps four of every shot, and a good portion would have
half closed eyes or other imperfections. Nothing would be the clean,
soft, magazine perfect look that wedding albums are supposed to be
made of, at least not yet.
After
I have given myself time to recover, or gone and repeated the whole
process at another wedding the very next day, as sometimes happens,
it is time to begin editing the images. First I go through the
images and cut out angles and images that just do not flatter. This
is not because I want to force customers to only have a few pictures,
but because nobody looks great in every image and this is a time to
look your best. This first cull will normally thin the herd by about
1500 images. I am charging basic editing rates now, so you are
paying $15.00 per hour and I am taking home about $8.00 of that after
paying for the studio's rent, electrical, phone and internet. The
culling process lasts about three hours and includes about three
passes, leaving most 4500 image sets at about 1000 that I would truly
consider working on to enhance and edit.
At
this point the client is paying about $700.00 for my services in
total, and I have not begun to edit in Lightroom. At this point I
have some options. My first option is to send this batch of 1000
images to a Professional Retoucher at a fair market rate and have
them edit everything. My second option is to post this batch to the
locked gallery and allow my clients to select the images that they
would like to see retouched. My third option is to continue
retouching all of these images at the same rate of $15.00 per hour.
At
this point, we refer to the contract, and see what option the client
had elected based on the estimated cost per the average 30 images
selected. Clients looking for a very editorial feel like that seen
in high fashion and couture wedding magazines usually select a
professional service to do full enhancements, skin smoothing, and
many other tricks of the trade. The retoucher I use begins their
batch pricing at $200 per 25 image batch which I must pay up front
when submitting images. They have very quick turn-around and
flawless results, but can be pricey when it comes to large orders not
needing an excessive amount of correction and may tack on more
charges based on some requests. Clients looking for removal of
braces or special enhancements will face higher fees which I explain
to them before placing the retouching order.
Those
looking for a natural feel or not previously decided on editing agree
to my fee for in-house editing based on an average time of about six
hours editing. I use a number of pre-sets to encourage a warm,
romantic feeling, and this allows me to cut down on time devoted to
fixing pixel-by-pixel. While it does not remove every pimple from
Cousin Barney's face, it will make the overall family photo farm more
handsome and his skin far less red. If you have kept track, we are
now looking at $15.00 per hour being paid for six hours or $90.00 for
basic retouching on about 30 images. While it is not as polished as
the retoucher I use through my printing center, it is less than half
the price for five fewer images and lands us at $790.00 for a typical
six hour wedding with one photographer.
INVESTMENT
VS. COST
And
for those careful enough to have clicked over to my website and
checked out the tab marked INVESTMENT, you will recall that my
packages are listed as starting at $900.00 and including a CD of up
to 100 images with a release for printing. That means that I do lose
the profit from smaller prints, but many couples will order through
their gallery for oil canvases, float mounted portraits, and or
unique products. I also receive a good deal of return business from
bridesmaids and guests that will book me for their own weddings or
from clients that return for maternity sittings when they are
expecting.
I
honestly work about seventeen paid hours on an average wedding from
planning to post-production, so keeping that in mind let us make a
final breakdown of what I pay out in costs against what I am making
on a typical starter package.
Client
Pays $ 945.00
State
Tax (5%) $ ( 45.00 )
%
of Equipment Insurance Cost $ ( 65.00 )
%
of Equipment Maintenance Cost $ ( 60.00 )
Full
Gas Tank for Studio SUV $ ( 50.00 )
%
of State Business License Fee $ ( 35.00 )
%
of Studio Rental Fee $ ( 75.00 )
%
of Electrical Fee $ ( 10.00 )
Professional
Certification, Monthly Fee $ (135.00 )
State
Wedding Association, Monthly Fee $ (195.00 )
Yep.
As you can see my take home is about on a $900.00 wedding is $275.00
for those seventeen hours. That means I make just a little over
$16.15 per hour. Since I can only do a single wedding each day, and
expect to do five weddings a month, that is something I consider when
taking a booking. It means time lost at the studio, which costs the
same monthly rent no matter how many or few sittings or weddings I
take.
So
now that you have seen the costs and where the fees are; how
unrealistic are my prices compared to my actual costs and services?
I feel they are pretty fair based on what I consider a living
memory. Something shared over and over now through social media and
displayed at home for years to come.
