Why Are Wedding Photographers So Expensive.
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Why Are Wedding Photographers So Expensive.
Author : Wedding Photography Select
Article Date : 22 Nov 2014
Let us start by saying they aren't. A good wedding photographer is worth every penny.
A wedding can be a very expensive affair. From venues, to cakes, to food and then to photography. I am sure some of you are very shocked when you look for the first time at a wedding photographers website and the prices attached. There are vast amounts of wedding photographers out there with a range of prices. Some starting at £200 and others £1000.
Like most things in life, you generally get what you pay for. The price you pay for your wedding photography should generally relate to how important the photography is to you. There is a reason a photographer is offering his services at £200. It's probably because he is not a professional just a GWC. Guy With Camera.
Below highlights everything involved in a typical wedding photography business and providing a professional service.
Hours Involved
A photographers day continues long after you're sunning yourself up on some exotic beach, slurping a strawberry cocktail.
A typical wedding starts during bridal preparations and ends around the 1st dance. That's already 8hrs a photographer works. This doesn't include the 1hr to 2 hrs for travelling, visiting the venue,church and all the organisation that goes on behind the scenes before the day even starts.
Once your day is over, the photographer can spend and additional 16hrs preparing your images. Reviewing images, colour correcting for print, post processing work, private gallery creation, image backups, DVD burning and creating your slide-shows and albums. So already the one day photography has already turned in to 3 or 4 days work. A wedding photographers time is even more valuable if you factor in the number of weekends in a year there are available to work. Not many!
Wedding Photography Assistants
If your photographer has a 2nd assistant, you will already be paying an additional cost as the photographer also has to pay any assistants working with him. In return you get more images and a better coverage of your day.
Skill
The better the photographer the more they are going to charge, in most cases. What you are paying for is their experience. Not only in the ability to take good pictures, anticipate moments, manage the wedding party but their ability to process and provide you with pictures that stand above other wedding photographers, which is no doubt the reason you chose a particular photographer in the first place. This all takes time to achieve and personal investment. If you hired a lawyer for a day, the better the lawyer, the more you are going to pay, because you are paying for the experience they bring. Experience equals time and time equals money.
Wedding Photography Equipment & Insurance
Professional cameras and lenses are expensive. A reliable camera that can operate in various situations are going to cost around £2000. Professional lenses also start at around £1000. A wedding photographer will usually have at least 2 cameras and at least 2 lenses, if not more. These all need to be insured, because if Aunty Betty decides to do some break-dancing and kicks the camera out of the photographers hands in the middle of a windmill, that is going to be costly. So a photographer needs to have insurance for all situations. A wedding photographer also has to have insurance for any damages or accidents they may cause too.
Computer equipment doesn't come cheap either. The processing power required to retouch images also comes at a cost or you can filter in an extra 10 hours work whilst the photographer waits for that little green bar to reach 100% every time an image is opened or saved to disk.
Website & Advertising
Every business needs to advertise and it's the same for a wedding photography business. Magazine adverts, search engine visibility, these all cost, wedding fayres. The list goes on but I won't.
Conclusion
So. Before you choose your photographer for the day, think about what you are paying for. Even if you are basing your choice on cost, think to yourself why you are paying so little or at the same time why you are paying quite a lot. Not all photographers are the same. You generally get what you pay for. You need to make sure you ask all the right questions and feel confident with the service that is being provided.
