Hi all - not understanding these prices here so if someone can clarify that would be great.
My fiancé and I are getting quoted between $8500 and $11,000 dollars to have both a photographer and videographer. Without the videographer, it’s roughly $5-$6K. Do they charge this much just because it’s a wedding? I’ve been hearing that most of the time is taken up by editing the photos? I mean why the F are you editing photos? I hired you to take RAW photos god damn it.
Anyway is this right?
$11K for photos you'll look at once a decade and a video that won't be watched twice….
I wish I could up vote this 5000 times.
I rant in every wedding post. I just don't get it. It's one friken day. Probably the reason I'm single. I will never understand why generally women care so much for this one day. Them complain about cost of living.
People paying 20, 30, 40 50k plus for one day is just absolutely mental. I'm going to go bang my head on a desk.
Women are trained their entire lives, right from the first stories told to them at two years old, that the peak event of their entire lives is the wedding day.
Even with the multiple waves of feminism and 'I don't need no man' attitude from some media, the pressure is immense to make this day absolutely perfect. And if it isn't…. someone is going to pay.
look out for BrideZilla - the one who demands their bridesmaids spend $$$$ on matching outfits and travel across the world at their own expense - and then throws a hissy fit tantrum about something petty where she didn't get what she wanted just before the big event
sticking gopros on a couple of cute dogs would also be a pretty fun way to capture a wedding day.
Seems too high. I paid $1650 for 6 hours for a photographer with hundreds of 5 star google reviews in Brisbane. Get quotes though, some were ridiculous prices. I used to work in a wedding venue and met lots of vendors. In my opinion there are quite a few operators who overcharge for what they do. Photographers often pay someone else to edit all your photos at a reduced rate too. You need to be scrupulous with every vendor. I found the worst ones were the justifiers. The ones with a list a mile long of complaints about everything they had to do, they are the rip off merchants.
'hundreds of 5 star google reviews'
'definitely recommend this product or service to everybody'
have you heard that you could buy 200 x 5 star google reviews for $200 from India ?
when I see the first 20 google reviews are 5 star I assume they're fake, and avoid that product or service.
Good for you 👍 👏
Are you going to ask the caterers for their recipes too? What about the designers who make your invitations and menus, are you going to request the source vectors, Photoshop files with layers, fonts, etc?
Thats a bad comparison.
This is like ordering pasta and the chef puts too much pepper on and you just want the pasta without the pepper so you can put the pepper on yourself.
designers who make your invitations and menus, are you going to request the source vectors, Photoshop files with layers, fonts, etc?
Actually its standard practice to do that. Designers will always provide vector files. Do you know why? They are not part of the wedding industry!
Designers will always provide vector files. Do you know why? They are not part of the wedding industry!
Yes.
People expect so much from wedding photographers. I once did it as an amatuer for a friend of a friend as a favour because they were trying to save money, asked $100. Turns out it was 2hrs drive away, spent like 6 hrs taking photos, went on holidays the next day and they hassled me all through the holidays to get their photos before I had any chance to process them.
Half of it could just be a fee to put up with drama queens/kings.
Process them? For $100, surely you just give them the photos straight off the camera.
That's probably why they were wondering what’s taking so long.
Lesson learnt. Always say no.
Have learnt this the hard way by getting burnt myself.
Sounds like you underestimated the effort involved.
I'd be interested to see the results of a poll asking how often people look at their wedding photos.
Looking at the comments it seems not a lot. For me we looked at them when we first received them and our memory was fresh but after that they've never been looked at again.
Which leaves me wondering just how important the photos are.
Over the years I've looked at them quite a few times. I've shown my children a few times too.
They're always accessible on a drive on a file server at home.
They are very important to me. Which is why I'm glad I got family to shoot and we did our own edits.
Yeah, you pay the $11k, but the photographer still wants to own the photos, and you only get some kind of 'license' to use them.
It's ridiculous.
oh c'mon - we've looked at our photos - twice - in 30 years …
So you think the photographer is looking at them more than you? What is your point here exactly.
If you've only looked at your photos twice in 30 years, and you'd be happy paying $11k for them, I have no idea what you're doing on a bargain site.
A RAW file is not representative of a photographers final work. RAW can be edited thousands of different ways and as a working professional I've seen abysmal things happen to my RAWs over the years and then my name is attached to their crappy edits. Never again.
Also, people cite expensive gear and costs, editing time etc etc. Don't get me wrong, editing is absolutely a factor but input costs are not why it's expensive, it's expensive because its very hard to do well and consistently and it weeds out the cheapies. It's a very stressful, tedious role to book out all year round because you have to be there and the consequences for making a mistake are horrendous. There's no calling in sick or rescheduling so you often need quite a lot of logistics to protect yourself against things like that.
If you shop around you will find a great "starving artist" type that doesn't promote themselves or market and only does a few a year that will likely do it for much less
I don't care about the photographer's final work. That isn't why I'd want to hire you. Give me the RAW files and I'd be happy to leave your name out of any edits and let you show off any of the edits you want on your site. Do that post processing on your own time and don't charge me. If you come up with an edit I like I might consider paying you for that.
Bottom line: You don't want me as a client, and I'd never hire you because I don't want what you're selling. If you won't provide what I want I'm happy to feed the "starving artist".
Just saw a mate's wedding photos and they look great, everyone was so well lit and framed. Went to another mate's low rent wedding and the student photographer, in the middle of the service, stood on the stage to take dozens of pictures of a flower arrangement with his noisy DSLR. You get what you pay for I think, unless the photographer owes you a favour.
I've seen terrible photos from high priced wedding photographers. *AT MOST you get what you pay for.
Sounds about right in this day and age. The way I see it, people are demanding more pay (just look at what the police, nurses, public transport workers etc. are doing) because housing costs have exploded. That's the ultimate root cause of everyone demanding more money, scamming people etc. and this is simply another symptom of it.
it's also a factor of low population - supply and demand - where there are few alternatives, people can charge a higher price.
With hipages or random handyman job sites online, I have gotten responses from randoms offering to do the job for 10x what I'd like to pay, and when I speak to them, they typically have a foreign accent, and I feel they are just trying it on - if you are idiot enough to pay that price, they'll happily come and take your money, even if they don't 'really' have the skill or qualification to do the tradies job you need.
Dont spend too much on this, you will look at once and never look at again.
I would just get some uni photography students
Haha, how did you find a 8-11k photographer and videographer - who can't explain why they're worth 8-11lk? You'll find a bunch willing to work for 3-5k, some for ~1k, and a few newbies on gumtree will pay YOU a few $100 to intrude on your wedding.
You want cheaper I'm sure you can find it.
It was $5500 eleven years ago, so you could say prices have stagnated.
I paid $5k ten years ago for a single photographer, no assistant, no videos. Taking inflation into account the quote you received seems good. Still a bloody rip, but that's weddings.
That seems to be the standard overpriced rate, but I've seen some pretty ordinary wedding photos and even if the gear is good, you can tell the photographer is mediocre, but sometimes that's a matter of taste.
The ones who are good at their job scout the locations, make assessments on composition and framing and lighting in very tight/crucial moments. But I would say the ones who are great at what they do, are fabulous people-person types who know how to crowd control, have a memory for faces and who they need to capture, make everyone feel at ease, but also can command or direct when needed.
agreed - as a photographer I am firstly always looking at light
e.g. a common failure is backlighting - bright sky behind, faces appear as dark splodges you can't see in detail - hmmm
a nice portrait typically has the upper side light throwing a small triangle of light on the far cheek
a level horizontal side light can highlight the coloured iris of the eye to stunning effect
videos with sound recorded at the camera or smartphone often contain background noise level that wasn't obvious at the time, leaving the video unpleasing to listen to. Professionals often use a separate sound person to record closer to or plug into the source with separate equipment, etc., etc.
OP - tell 'em they're dreaming! I'll do it for Tree Fiddy and give ya RAW photos, just the way you like 'em. None of that fancy editing stuff that takes time and money, just plain, unadulterated, RAW photos.
I'm a capricorn and the son of a librarian so taking pictures is one of my many talents! Will not disappoint! Available immediately!
/s
RAW photos - you want naked ? Oooh !
We exchange money for time.
Don't want to spend the money? - try amateur DIY - maybe get ok photos, maybe not.
Don't want to spend the time? - pay a professional - if you choose wisely, get beautiful albums for lifetime showoff memories to share - if you choose poorly, get nothing except stress and a legal battle
AFAIK most photographers are sole proprietors so you should be VERY careful in selecting based on recommendations from friends who had a really good experience - if they have a fabulous reputation they could charge top dollar, if dodgy, they could quote lower but not deliver satisfaction.
In short, as an ex-professional photographer I'd say it's a minefield, and if you are really prepared to pony up $Thousands for a photographer for your once (twice? thrice?) in a lifetime special day, then try to cast a wide net for recommendations from people you trust - deffo not just something you saw on Facebook Marketplace or such online.
If the pro shoots stunning pictures and won't let me do what I want with them, they're worthless to me. Yes I know how to edit a RAW file, and I know how to go well beyond the basics. Yes I had family shoot the photos and while I'm sure a seasoned pro would have gotten better shots, I don't regret it and I've been able to do amazing things with my own RAWs.
As a photographer id charge abour 3K for a whole day wedding, but im a part time photographer. I also know some great Photographers who would charge closer to 4K. BUT if you go for the well known, big name photographers you are always going to pay more. Shop around and visit facebook groups for recommendations.
There is HEAPS of prep done before a wedding - scouting the location, cleaning equipment, formatting memory cards, charging batteries etc.
The photographer pays public liability insurance, subsciptions to software and must have the latest and greatest PC to edit large files. The equipment used in a wedding would generally cost 10K. These are all big outlays for a photographer.
A wedding is big time stressful. You miss that one special shot and you've got a very unhappy customer.
RAW files straight out of the camera are intentionally flat in appearance but big in file size (30 - 70mb each). A RAW file is designed to be edited - As opposed to a JPEG which is automatically edited and compressed by your camera. A bit of research online will explain this better.
When I shoot a wedding or event I spend equal time editing as I do shooting, so 8 hours shooting would take me 8 hours to edit.
So i guess im saying there are lots of considerations unknown to the general public that people dont realise when booking a photographer, however in saying that there is absolutely no need to be spending anything over 4K for an exceptional wedding package.
3k is a great price and its similar to many local photographers I've found that don't have that "wedding tax" included. If anything I think you should charge more for those longer days.
A wedding is big time stressful. You miss that one special shot and you've got a very unhappy customer.
I think it depends on your client and in some ways it makes me think some very expensive photographers are charge people based on worst case scenario of a demanding bride/groom.
I have so many great wedding photos there isn't one in particular where I feel like if I didn't have it I would be unhappy.
There is HEAPS of prep done before a wedding - scouting the location
Another aspect where I feel like pricing for super expensive photographers are done based on the most complicated run sheets and locations when in my experience many people have simple weddings.
When I shoot a wedding or event I spend equal time editing as I do shooting, so 8 hours shooting would take me 8 hours to edit.
Which is where things get messy. We have photographers charging 8k and claiming a lot of work only to do automated processing or sending it overseas and other photographers charging 3k and spending 8 hours on edits.
$3k-$4k is totally reasonable, especially if you're willing to provide all the RAWs and the rights to use them.
I had family shoot ours on our own gear. I loved editing my own wedding photos, and I especially love that I got to shoot one of the best photos of my wife that we framed and used in a few places.
8-12 hrs discussion, scouting and prep, 8-12 hrs on the day, 8-12 hours on post and delivery. So 24-36 hours lets say @ $100/hr, plus wear and tear on the gear, insurance and other business expenses and $4k would be fine. Add a second shooter and/or a videographer and you could easily justify $6k. $11k is almost double that and is ridiculous.
I don't mean to be rude, but it sounds like you have no idea what you're talking about. Unless you yourself are a photographer you don't want the RAW photos, it's like asking a chef to serve you only the ingredients. Professional photos aren't taken instantly with an iPhone, but often requires ALOT of touching up and work to make look good.
Asking for a copy of all the photos is perfectly fine, but keep in mind only a fraction of all the photos taken will be good. The majority are tossed in the bin.
As for video it takes anywhere from 25-50+ hours of work including consultation, preperation, filming, backing up footage, editing, sourcing music, and delivering to client…
Plus they'd be using at a MINIMUM $10,000 of audio-visual equipment with insurance, maintenance etc.
Weddings are expensive for a reason. It's alot of work and it's very high stakes, there is no room for error.
Typical wedding photographer response…
you don't want the RAW photos, it's like asking a chef to serve you only the ingredients.
No, its like the chef putting a ton of pepper on your pasta and you tell them you want to season it yourself. (Or in a photography sense, you will take the pasta with pepper, but you also want the original pasta so you can decide what kind of seasoning you like best on your pasta)
But lets be real here. Everyone should take the RAW's because you don't know if the photographer will ruin your photos with their "style" or lame effects and colour schemes.
Having the originals means you own the photos you have paid a lot of money for and you don't know what is possible with a RAW photo in 10-20 years.
Even today I can edit and process a RAW photo better then many photographers out there by using modern features of software like Photoshop etc. There are still plenty of photographers using outdated software or not using the best software.
Professional photos aren't taken instantly with an iPhone
Its certainly possible to take a professional looking photo on an iPhone. Its just that an expensive camera with the specific lens required for the situation is going to have a much higher chance of having the photo you want, particularly as you aren't relying on the RNG of post processing.
keep in mind only a fraction of all the photos taken will be good.
This really comes down to the skill of the photographer. A good photographer with a good camera and lens will mostly be great photos (Excluding weird facial expressions people make). The photos that don't make it into the final package are simply too similar to existing photos and are not worth RAW processing/editing.
The majority are tossed in the bin.
Sounds like you are dealing with shady wedding photographers who aren't good photographers.
As for video it takes anywhere from 25-50+ hours of work including consultation, preperation, filming, backing up footage, editing, sourcing music, and delivering to client…
Of course this is completely dependant on the wedding videographer, its not good to make assumptions that everyone will be making a project that needs 50 hours of work, and its important to note that the wedding industry in general is notorious for exagerating time required to do a job to charge a high price.
In a perfect world we would all know about video editing and would be able to explain to the videographer what they wanted so they can quote a price which accurately reflects what is being asked. Unfortunately in wedding industry they would just say that everything takes 25-50 hours, even if it didn't.
Weddings are expensive for a reason. It's alot of work and it's very high stakes, there is no room for error.
Actually no. Weddings are not expensive the second you go outside the wedding industry.
Literally the only element that is hard to leave the wedding industry for is the venue which requires you to be particularly creative to escape it.
I can and have taught someone with basic computer skills to do basic edits in Lightroom in an afternoon. Of course after that afternoon, if you practice you'll learn and discover more, but the basics aren't that hard. If you want more than that you can do a TAFE course at any level you like, with some of them free. Speaking of free there's a lot of info on YouTube and there are heaps of books that cover basic photography and post procesisng. Most photographers are the equivalent of cooks, not chefs, and you don't always want gourmet.
While there are still good ones around, wedding photographers can be incredibly irritating. I've shot wedding and I know how much work they are both for shooting and post. If you are a professional photographer who wants to charge me $12k and hoard the RAW files, you have nothing to offer me. I don't care about your artistic vision, and I'm not here to prop up your business selling me prints for years to come. I want competently taken photos, and I'm perfectly capable of post processing them. You're being hired to do a job. I want full rights. They can be non-exclusive, but I must be able to do whatever I want with your output. If you don't like it, that's fine, I have no interest in hiring you.
You will get full and often exclusive access to prime shooting, so that your shots aren't ruined by other photographers taking guests away or making them look away, but if guests want to shoot well away from you and aren't impacting your work as the primary photographer I expect them to be accomodated without complaint
If you're the kind of photographer that likes to complain about how tough and competitive the industry is when you won't provide the desired service in the first place, go find someone who cares. This attitude is why I'm happy I had family shoot our photos on our gear. Nothing you can do to improve the photos is worth you holding our moments to ransom.
I am a sports photographer.
Not a particular fan of the idea of photographying weddings, from light to rowdy guests, to difficult couple.
And all the pre photo parts from photographying the couple pre cerimony, after cerimony, the reception and etc.
I would photograph in raw, hand you a usb file after the reception/party and not edit anything, if that is the service you want.
I paid $1,650 for my wedding photographer.
No frills, no nonsense, straight to business. His bedside manner was slightly off, and I can see why that may be a put off for some on their special day.
Photos were amazing and we were so happy with the outcome.
Shopping around pays dividends, don't pay the luxury tax just because it's your wedding day!!
I see no problem in requesting raw image files as well as the finished photos. It's not 1990 anymore, where the photographer keeps the negatives and charges you for every copy. Times have moved on, but some people have not.
As for the cost of professional photos, well yeah, the gear is expensive, the situation is high pressure, and no one works for free. And let's face it, apart from maybe two or three photos, no one will ever look at the photos after the first day. You won't care, and neither will your friends or relatives.
The market positioning of photographers should see a range of prices offered for full day coverage from almost nothing through to 10k plus. In the USA I am sure you will find high end photographers charging much more. Remember that there is people out there spending hundreds of thousands on a wedding and 5% of that on a photographer is no big deal. Its a luxury item… There are also 2k shoes, 10k dresses, 20k watches etc etc. No one NEEDS any of these things and so there is no point complaining about the prices. However I regularly feel sorry for the groom who would rather the $$$ spent on wedding luxuries instead be a house deposit or whatever. It is rare that the groom is super keen on spending lots on photos but does happen now and then. Often they just have to go along with the bride's desire for ticking all the boxes. I have done 500+ weddings and worked alongside videographers many times…. some very annoying, some quiet, capable and producing top work year in and year out. They earn a good living, but are not getting rich anytime soon. Dealing with people the right way is a massive part of it, and this is not for everyone. A creative talent that works hard and has great people skills is not a super common combination. Not many are going to make it long term and few get to the point of running a studio with employees etc where business can scale. Its mostly 1-2 people, self employed and could be considered something similar to many other trades in terms of overall income at the end of the year. Unlike most other business operators though, weddings do not get you a lot of repeat clients ;) There is a low barrier to entry, as such there is a constant stream of up and coming photographers charging less (some talented ones that end up doing very well but just getting started). For OP the best chance of a good operator with moderate prices is an up and coming photographer that has the talent and people skills as many will start out cheaper to get a slice of the pie. After a few years they will be likely priced according to quality and reputation - ie. you get what you pay for to a large extent. Best of luck :)
Then you get overcharged even more when you have a baby and pets.
The only thing that amazes me is the admins didn't just nuke this whole good forsaken thread.
If you want to save $$ and not too fuss, asked your mates to do it - It is not that hard these days.
That's fair enough, but you'll get what you paid for it;)
Of course, but I wouldn’t spend too much on it. The importance of these photos and videos can be overrated—chances are you may not look at them often or even ever again.
It has already been stated, but this really seems a case of pricing being what the market will support.
And please let me be on the record as stating obviously it is a skilled profession and worth paying for.
You can attempt to justify it by stating costs, but I don’t feel that’s a strong position.
I just hired a crane & driver to lift some machinery, $200/hour, minimum charge 2 hours, travel charge 1 hour, so $600 for what was in reality 2 hours machine time including travel, a quick google reveals a 2012 year MAC-25 for sale at $380,000 and a 2021 at $560,000.
This was a new machine, so they had just expended what I have to guess was over $600k, then add upkeep & maintenance, it almost seems cheap at $200 an hour.
this really seems a case of pricing being what the market will support.
Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that they are taking advantage of you and ripping you off.
We have electricians and other trades quoting $300 jobs at $3000 right now and we have no issues calling out this terrible behavior, we shouldn't give the wedding industry a pass.
You can do shoots done by your family members for FREE.
Glad I'm not in the industry anymore, I recall most of the professional bodies workshops were all about how to get more money out of the clients, or to copy a style that was on trend overseas. Very little on improving your craft or providing better value.
One example when doing the definitive couple shots was to pose them against a large tree or similar big landscape where the couple were relatively small in the frame. The point was this was the shot they would want on the wall and to be able to see themselves in any detail it would require a massive print and frame which is where the photog made most profit.
Dont get me started on the all the (profanity) turning up in their car hire Porsches.
They wanna gitchu like those funeral homes