“I’ve seen someone who will offer a full day photographer for £200…”
“My friend has said they’ll do it as a gift…”
“I’m looking for someone who doesn’t charge the earth…”
Words I hear more often when it comes to wedding photography bookings.
I’ve been working on my photography business for around five years now and wow, I still learn so much at every single wedding I photograph, but I do come away feeling more confident compared to the one I photographed before.
Don’t get me wrong, someone offering to photograph your wedding for you as a gift is an incredible thing to offer, and there are some that are just starting out who will charge pennies for a full day wedding photography, but wedding photography takes so much more than picking up a camera and clicking way, which I don’t think a lot of people understand.
This is the one chance you’ll have to have your wedding photographed, and I say this because I’m truly passionate, but please don’t ‘skimp out’ on your wedding photographer. Your wedding photographer is one of the biggest parts of your day, and as I say, it’s the one and only chance you will have to photograph your wedding day, and your wedding photographer is there to capture all your precious wedding day memories for you! Memories you’ll look back on in years to come, to show your children and your family and friends. The teeny tiny details of the day probably won’t be remembered in years to come, but you will have your wedding photographs and wedding album for the rest of your life to keep those memories alive with you.
I digress; Why should you pay the earth for a professional photographer? Yes, professional photographers charge a fair amount to photograph you wedding day for you, but there’s also the preparations before the wedding day (scouting the venue for perfect wedding photograph opportunities, along with a backup plan in case it rains, meeting the wedding couple before the day so that they can really understand their requirements for their wedding photography, preparing a wedding photography contract, researching new photograph ideas to keep your wedding unique, to name a few – these are all things I make sure I do for all my couples anyway) and the editing, wedding album designing and ordering, online wedding album creating, paperwork and image back up after the wedding is over. It’s so much more time than the 10 or so hours on the wedding day itself.
In most cases, this is a wedding photographer’s full time, ‘mortgage paying’ job, so think about what they’re charging for their wedding package; does this price cover them for a week’s work, full time hours on at least minimum wage? On top of that, professional wedding photographers also invest in a vast amount of equipment, insurance, training, research, products, stationery, amongst others, so we can give you the absolute best possible service and experience, which is why we charge a little more, and which is why I would really encourage you to do your research before booking your wedding photographer…but that’s another blog.
“Amateurs make great photographs when everything is going right. Professionals make great photographs when everything is going wrong.”
If you have any queries about anything I’ve mentioned or about any of my Wedding Photography Packages, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Great blog!
Thank you, Bobbie!
Spot on every word Julia!
Thank you for reading, Andrew!