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Cheap Wedding Photographer.
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Imagine shooting 100 weddings a year…now imagine shooting 100 weddings a year at £90 a pop. :shock:
how much is to little? (photographers view point)
person A wants to make a living from photography, pay a mortgage, raise a family, pay into an education fund….. this person says £90 for a job is way too little
person B just graduated from college, has some kit, lives at home with mammy and daddy and has a choice of sitting on their bum getting almost nothing from the dole…. £90 for a job gives them drinking money for the weekendWe all saw or heard either Bill Cullen or others giving out about young people not getting of their arse and doing something even if they get paid almost nothing
How much is to little? (clients view point)
yes people are aware that you get what you pay for, but things are going to get tighter for the consumer over the next year or two as interest rates go up and wages remain the same or go down. So value for money may be key.It is possible to provide value for money by being expensive but you must provide a great service that includes lots of quality work and extras.
I sometimes charge less than €150 for a photo shoot and my images do receive extensive post work m I to be chastised by this group?
Just my €0.02 worth
Take care folks
To start with… I never said £90 is too cheap… and I’ve no idea what the person in question is actually delivering for £90… it could be pure muck, it could be amazing… I don’t know… but I’ll not worry too much about it either… it is what it is.
In Northern Ireland you get circa £60 a week on the dole… so put into perspective £90 could be a lot of money for some people…. depending on their circumstances. I wouldn’t like to have to work for the minimum wage myself… but in reality people do.
because you would not give the time to process the hundreds of images that this woman is talking about at the price quoted.
Well for me personally it’d be moreso the brain damage associated with shooting weddings, the processing bit would be a walk in the park.
A bit of common sense… well I suppose that depends on who you ask… and just because you don’t agree with me doesn’t mean I don’t have any… but the way I look at is if it’s not legally wrong then what is actually wrong with it? You seem to believe that it is morally wrong… and I don’t… I don’t think you’re wrong for having your opinion and I don’t think I’m wrong for having mine.
Some people can look at photography as a method to make a comfortable living, some will demand very high fees and others see it as an opportunity as the price of a few pints and 20 fags… and I’m sure that everyone is entitled to look at it every which way they so choose.
the price is pretty shocking
Shocking to you maybe. I firmly agree that for the most part you pay for what you get… and if a potential customer is willing to pay £90 for their wedding… well what can you do? There is a market for this stuff… slim as it may or may not be. I’ve seen people here in Enniscorthy get married at the Reg Office in the local clinic and then head up town for a few pints afterwards… budget for the day… well I honestly don’t know… but it could be €200-€300.
We’re all trying to make a living that’s for sure… but from my own perspective I try not to worry too much about what the person next to me may or may not be making… I worry about what I can control and not what I can’t.
£90 for a job gives them drinking money for the weekend
Aye, I agree.
We all saw or heard either Bill Cullen or others giving out about young people not getting of their arse and doing something even if they get paid almost nothing
And I agree again.
I used to run my own business making things out of driftwood and my prices for a small 10x 10 driftwood mirror was £15 other places were selling similar for £30 upwards. My mirrors were not inferior or badly made. The actual cost of the mirror was £1.50 not including my time to make it. The reason I charged so little compared to others was I was just starting out and needed to build up my ” street cred” but I was still making a decent profit. Maybe it is the same for this lady. Word of mouth must help with those of you in the wedding/portrait business as with any other business.
There are many people out there who cannot afford a photographer and this person has made that affordable. Even if she is not “that great” and you “get what you pay for” it may well still be far superior to what the relatives snap for you on the day.As the title of the post states “cheap” wedding photographer as opposed to too cheap, I tend to think it is fairly accurate, but £90 may not be cheap to certain couples struggling to keep food on the table. As for getting value for money?, it’s possible but unlikely.
I paid 2.5K for my photographer
my inlaws got the book of photos i only wanted a CD
apparantly I’ve to now purchase each print off the disc without the copyright bull
I feel totally ripped off I would have thought for that price i would have owned all the imageswow, the photographer is always going to own the image but I would have thought he would have explained his full pricing better at the start and in this market might have extended a licnse to you for nothing extra over the 2,5k for personal use, but that said I don’t know how weddings work
skipper wrote:
I paid 2.5K for my photographer
my inlaws got the book of photos i only wanted a CD
apparantly I’ve to now purchase each print off the disc without the copyright bull
I feel totally ripped off I would have thought for that price i would have owned all the images:shock: :shock: :shock: For that price I would want a DSLR thrown in. But seriously not knowing anything about it I would have automatically assumed you would have been given a licence to print off your cd.
People who’ve done weddings look at this in dis-belief.
The figures just don’t add up, and here’s why:I presume, given the prices, this girl doesn’t have a premises/studio?
She will have to meet with the bride & groom beforehand, to discuss venues, what they want etc, and to show some samples, so she’ll have to travel to them.Let’s presume they’re not too far away from her, say ½ hours drive.
½ hr each way, plus 1 hour meet = 2 hours, & say £10 for petrol.She’ll have to visit both the church and reception beforehand, to familiarise herself .
Where’s the best place for bridal party shots?
Where does she get a group shot?
What direction is the sun, what if it rains?
Let’s say 3 hours between travelling, and checking out both venues, and £15 for petrol.On the day, she has to visit the brides home, travel to both venues again, be there plenty early (don’t want a puncture on the way) and do her thing on the day.
Presume we’re choosing the £90 option, she’s still there until after the meal/speeches are finished, to capture the first dance. Presuming they don’t include her in the meal (and quite a lot don’t), she’ll have to bring her flask and sandwiches too.
Let’s be conservative, and say 8 hours for the lot, and another £15 juice.Post-processing, depending on the amount taken, the work she has to do, could take anything, but let’s say 10 hours, at the end of which she has the best images burned onto CD.
She then has to return to the b&g, let them view same, and we’ll presume all are happy.
So it’s another 2 hours between travel and visit, plus another £10 petrol.So we’re at 25 hours, and £50 petrol.
£90-£50=£40
£40 divided by 25 hours = £1.60 per hour.So, to do, possibly one of the most stressful jobs you can get (anyone who’s done it will know), she’s getting £1.60 per hour??
This doesn’t take into account depreciation on car, depreciation on her camera gear, investment in same, insurance??? Etc etcI think working in Burger King might be a less pressure, more financially rewarding option!
Rog –
Aye, it’s a reasonable assumption.
Now assuming that she does in fact go to all the effort you mention) then personally I might think she must be a bit daft… unless she’s trying to build a portfolio and doing jobs for close to nothing (another assumption).
But I don’t really see it as anyone else’s problem other than her own. Anyone looking at this and thinking “she’s taking the carpet from beneath my feet and the bread from my table”… well… come on… I’ll have to start ranting about I.T. jobs in India if that’s the case.
“Anyone looking at this and thinking “she’s taking the carpet from beneath my feet and the bread from my table”… well… come on…
If she does all that, maybe she should consider the furniture removal business instead!
But seriously, I have no axe to grind in this respect.
I gave up wedding photography because:
a) I found it too stressful and
b) I found I wasn’t enjoying my photography hobby during the period I was working at it.Anyone can do whatever they want for whatever price they want (provided it’s legal, of course), and the market will dictate wheither it’s a good idea or not in the end.
It’s just that, if the actual wedding photography is thought through, to the same degree the business and financial side seem to be,
I don’t think I’d fancy my chances if I were the B&G. :(Rog
nfl-fan – good analogy with India. We just laid off half of the company here in Ireland, which coincided with us starting a development centre in Bangalore. For the people that are left, we’re put into a position of thinking how we can be useful to the company (or client) in a way that the remote people can’t. And that’s down to knowledge, expertise, etc. As long as we (the remaining employees) market ourselves in a way that we’re perceived to be valuable, we’ll keep our jobs.
It’s likely that there’ll always be someone out there that will do things cheaper than somebody else, but that doesn’t always mean that they’re the best fit for you. If price is the driver, then you may not always get quality, and vice-versa. Adapt, improve, and move on. Otherwise you might as well switch careers.
my $0.02.
Dave.Hmmm,
Here’s the question I ask myself about this…
My bet is that despite the price, she wont get any business from a free add on gumtree, no website etc etc. Im my (limeted) experience, people pick their wedding photographer based on their portfolio, reputation, word of mouth, and especially how much they LIKE the tog himself/herself.
If I was getting married, would I pick up the phone to ring this photogrpaher when myself and my lucky bride to be are looking around for a photographer? I have to say its unlikely.
As far as the ‘what is the right price level’ sub thread that this has spawned, I like to think that when people are hiring me to take photos, its me and my products that they are buying into. If they are comparing me and my prices to the guy down the road, I’ve already lost their business. I would not want anyone to hire me based on the fact that I’m a cheaper option.
The fact that there are working photogrpahers out there who are able to charge multiple thousands means it can be done. True there would be a problem for us if the end product from the cheaper end was the same as the expensive end. If you want to charge more for a wedding shoot, then you need to have a brand and product that is worth more than the keen amateur.
Lastly, it could be that the lady in question is a talented photographer who is capable of producing a brillinat set of images, and that shes only really interested in doing it for the joy of her ‘art’. More than likely though, even if this is the case she simply doesnt have the confidence and faith in her own service to think that she can charge more. Maybe rather than be critical of her pricing, we could be more supportive of her art.
– T
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