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Is this a fair price for a wedding?
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Macman, just wondering do you have pro indemnity insurance, public liability insurance? will you pay income tax on the €700-900? are you VAT registered?
all in, to be a pro photographer you really end up only taking home about 1/3 of what you charge not to mention the €15-30k worth of kit and the fact that you have spent years honing your skills. But the reason some people charge €700 and others charge €7k is because some people really know what they are doing and do great stuff.
As I said earlier, I charge up to 4 times as much as other people charge if they were quoting for the same gig. but I don’t charge 4 times as much to do the same job, I charge 4 times as much for work that is immeasurably better and a service that is much more professional.
Take care
macman wrote:
I have done a few wedings for friends and family, some of who had received ‘professional’ quotations, which were not to their liking (polite way of saying ‘outlandish’ me’s thinks)
I charged €500 for the first one and that included 30 10×8 prints and they sourced their own album. The 4 or 5 after that I charged between 700 and 900 (depending on how well I knew them… and did my cousin’s for free..!)
However, unlike ‘packages’ from many pro’s I generally cover the whole day as part of what I cover. That includes being at the barber shop at 9am to catch the boys having their cut throat shaves, off to the brides house to cover pretty much EVERYTHING, off to the pub maybe to have the lads and the groom’s last pint of freedom, back to house for bride leaving and then I’m at the church before she arrives. Catch some casual shots of groom, groomesmen etc, bride arriving, ceremony, etc, etc. I then cover the meal, the speeches, cutting of the cake, forst dance and a lot of random, candid shots around the reception. Why so much…? Because I think if one is contracted to shoot a wedding, one should try capture the whole thing.
Last one I did I took over 1300 shots. The bride and groom have stil to select their album shots. when they do make that selection, I’l also do any retouching thay may be required…. and all under the original quotation. And like first wedding – they source their own album.
Your some man covering all that for such a low price…9.00am to 9.00pm is a 12 hour shift in anyone’s day…as Brian asked already…do you have Insurance ?…I paid €595 for my renewal only last week…that and a host of other costs are what us “professional’s” have to fork out to stay in business and your comment about outlandish prices in your mind from some pro wedding photographers is a bit below the belt really.
If you feel you want to work that ridiculously hard and put in that amount of work for the price’s you are charging, well, as I said already, fair play to you but dont go around knocking the prices that pro’s charge either…I think you will see the light further on down the road.
Noel Browne.
Macman, If your getting €595 for a days work minus the overheads of 30 10’x8′ prints, I say fair play to you and the best of luck…..IF your clients are happy with your work, you’ll undoubtedly get more referrals and more work.
On the other hand, is a days work all that is involved?
I’m a wedding photographer, and I spend on average three and a half days processing images. Add the very long day that a wedding is (especially if travel is involved), you get quite an amount of hours of work….when you do the maths…it’s not an outlandish income in particular when you add the appropriate overheads if your operating in a professional manner.
If a photographer throws out a cd in a plastic case with a load of images burned (without processing) and the bride and groom is happy with that….fair play. If a Professional spends the considerable time processing images to a high finished standard and presents the dvd in a leather presentation box…..he’s well entitles to charge as he sees appropriate for his quite considerable extra work. A professional is always looking at the quality perspective as opposed to quanitity (1,300 images…..how many of them are repititive shots).
I often meet up with Bride and Grooms before they might book my services for their wedding. During the meeting, I show them images before and after processing and explain the time that’s taken to attain the finished product. Once they understand the work that’s involved and get an insight as to the considerable extra time that a wedding photographer spends on weddings…..well let’s just say they don’t go down the haggling route as aggressively as they might have done previously.
No two photographers do the same job at a wedding (a point that Brian has made very well), so making comments about prices being “outlandish” about fellow photographers is a very naive thing to do in my opinion.As I said earlier, if your making that amount of money for a days work and your clients are happy…well done!
I take all your comments on board and indeed I never intended to insult or otherwise. My comment regarding outlandish prices is based on some (not all, so I’m NOT generalising) ‘packages’…! For example I recently saw a price structure for a ‘basic package’ which only involved shooting the bride leaving house, arriving at church, the ceremony, arriving at hotel and finally the ‘cutting of the cake’… and for this was quoting 3,500k. To arrive earlier at bride’s house for additional shots there was an additional charge of 1k. Now irrespective of what processing is involved I still think quotes like this are outlandish, especially in today’s economy where people are looking for competitive pricing when budgeting for their big day. Some can afford the higher rates, some obviously cannot. And dare I suggest that’s what a competitive market is all about yes…? In regard to supplying prints…. they weren’t covered by the price for shooting the wedding and this was discussed at initial briefing. I generally supply all images taken on CD and allow the client to choose their final selection, whereupon I’ll apply and processing or image manipulation which may be required.
Also, as I don’t actually tout my services and never have done, any ‘clients’ I covered have been referred to me by other very satisfied ‘clients’. And I suggest that if they’re happy with my services and my prices then they, not just me, obviously consider ‘some’ services to be too excessive also and are obviously working with the confines of their budget. And I hasten to add, just because you pay more doesn’t mean you get more. Here’s an analegy…. I can spend €200,000 on an Aston Martin or I can spend €12,000 on a Toyota and I guarantee you’ll find the Toyota a thousand times more reliable….!! I don’t suggest by any degree that I’m the best photographer on the planet and I’d imagine there are some here who’d leave me with a slight sense on envy, however I do suggest I’d compete with a certain percentage and would rather not shoot anything if I thought I was chancing my arm in regard to final results. I’d rather do NO JOB than a BAD JOB….!
I also respect all your comments which are related to making a living out of photography, and respect that you’ve put time into getting where your are and what you do…. in saying that, and with no personal bias, insults not attacks intended, all the training in the world may certainly teach you how to use your equipment, but it won’t always make a ‘photographer’ out of you, as to me ‘having an eye for a shot’ cannot always be thought. I have seen some awful ‘pro’ galleries and yes maybe they are the exceptions, but they’re still out there all the same.
As to shooting ‘up to’ 1300 shots (probably the exception)…. I literally shoot everything. All the required pics but also everything in between. Make up, hair, kids running around, expressions, well wishing cards on the mantle, sneaky smoke on the doorstep before the limo arrives…. and what I continually find is that these ‘random’ (or as photographer I know once called them ‘sniper shots’) constantly find their way into the final selection. I shoot these because everyone’s day is different and whilst an image may at first appear ‘speculative’ it tends to have a huge importance to the couple on reflection.
Also, in regard to processing…. I’ve worked in advertising, art direction, graphic design and high end image retouching for more years then I care to remember and consider myself pretty accomplished when it comes to processing, composition and retouching, so I’m a long way off ignorant when it comes to knowing what’s involved. My ‘processing’ setup includes an Apple Mac G5 Pro Quad Core system with all up to date programmes and software, so in that regard you can be assured I take my images and repro VERY seriously…. but just as importantly within my clients budget. On a more personal note, I wouldn’t supply a client with a shot which I wouldn’t accept myself…. and I, probably like most of us here, am my own worst critic.
Once again, I thank you for your comments and I wish you all the best in your careers and indeed continued success also. There are a lot of people out there still crazy enough to tie the knot…. so hopefully there’ll continue to be plenty of work for us all…..! Enjoy.
PS: johnnymc… if you ever need a hand with the processing let’s know…!
Apologies, just being cheeky.:-)
macman wrote:
There are a lot of people out there still crazy enough to tie the knot…. so hopefully there’ll continue to be plenty of work for us all…..! Enjoy.
:-)
As a professional wedding vendor and a married person I find the above disrespectful to the institution of marriage and the wedding industry. I find it hard to believe that anyone can say they take their work as a wedding photographer, and, their relationship and dealings with each bride and groom so, so seriously and conclude a post with the above comment.
It was meant with a tinge of humour…!
Jaaz man relax.
I mean, if you are that offended by a flippent, tongue-in-cheek, remark regarding marriage and the continuous and generally acknowledged ‘battle of the sexes, I’d suggest you have a life of insult in front of you.
Have a nice day.
I think it seemed like an cheeky comment not meant to offend anyone.
That said I refer Macman to my earlier post:
Are you insured?
do you pay tax on this money?macman wrote:
It was meant with a tinge of humour…!
Jaaz man relax.
I mean, if you are that offended by a flippent, tongue-in-cheek, remark regarding marriage and the continuous and generally acknowledged ‘battle of the sexes, I’d suggest you have a life of insult in front of you.
Have a nice day.
I’m not in the least offended …… not after 35 years of marriage. I did say the remark was offensive ……. don’t bother me none, Its your business and your clients you are referring to. As regards a life of insult in front of me …….. well my last blood results tell me the best part of my life is behind me so a few insults wont matter.
‘I think it seemed like an cheeky comment not meant to offend anyone‘…. and that’s exactly how it was meant. Thank you.
As to how I operate, insurance wise and/or financially…. well sir, I’m afraid that’s absolutely none of your business and I’d suggest that if you are questioning one person here then maybe you should perhaps ask the question in general…. to everyone.
Start with the chap who began the thread, who’s prices aren’t that far off my own.
Not that I want to drag him into the conversation, but just making a point.
(and my apologies to him for allowing his thread to be ‘derailed’….!!)Like the great man once said ‘let he amongst you without sin cast the first stone’…!
I defy you to find someone in the photographic community who hasn’t done a ‘nixer’ at some time or other.I love chatting to you guys.
:-)
This one is in reply to GCP’s last comment and the suggestion that I’m offending my clients.
Well I have to say, I actually get most fun whilst consulting with them, as they are the ones who usually joke about ‘why in God’s name they’re even marrying one another’. All in honest jest I hasten to add, but that’s people…. normal people… having a laugh.
I’m glad you weren’t personally insulted too. Life’s too short to be making enemies.
:-)
It may be non of my business (that said in a country this F***ed it would be nice to know people are contributing what they are supposed to be), but a word of warning, with out proper insurance wait for the case that someone takes against you for twisting their ankle by leaving a tripod in the way, or worse, wait for the day your memory card is corrupted and a load of the important images are missing. but hey that is none of my business, but I will giggle when I read about someone taking a claim against you :).
ok enough guys, this is starting to get a little personal
keep on topic and play nice or dont play!!!!
Thanks Steve and indeed it has become personal and up to this point I haven’t been personal nor have I made any reference to any one individual or made any specific attack on anyone either, however in light of brianmaci’s last ‘contribution’ all I can say is go f’k yourself. (will probably be blocked for that… and Brian would just love that eh) – but I’d suggest I’m entitled to a ‘public’ opinion in reply to such a ‘public’ attack.
To wish misfortune on any individual for any reason, whether it’s related to the current discussion on any other matter really shows your class.
I won’t lower myself to your standard by wishing you a similar fate, as insurance can’t replace images – so no matter how ‘covered you are’ no financial recompence can ever replace missing shots. I will suggest though that with an attitude like yours, and your willingness to will misfortune on any other human being, try not rue the day when it happens to you.
Like the old addage suggests ‘what goes around comes around’…..!!
And finally…. as you quite correctly suggested yourself ‘It may be non of your business‘…. but yet you still felt compelled to leave such a disgraceful comment. So giggle away, it only shows your cynicism is far outweighed by your immaturity.
In full respect to the site…. and the thread…. I’ll say ‘no more’.
Hope everyone has a wonderful day. ‘Tis gorgeous out there……….!!!
:wink:
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