COFPhoto

Quote: Originally Posted by TA Jill The majority of the fee I paid was really for the photographers time, not so much for the pictures. Wow, you just brought a tear to my eye with that comment...Thank you for saying that. The next time someone asks me why I charge so much for a 5x7 print when they cost 50 cents at Walgreens, can I send them to you? j/k I've always had the B&G pick out whatever photos they want in their album, whether it's a coffee table book or just a slip in album. I'm not wasting all of that time trying to figure out which ones I think belong in there, just to have they completely change what I've done. It's their wedding, and their money.

Wow. I just can't imagine choosing all of the photos that I think the B&G would want and saying "here ya go!" I could do a simple portrait session and 99 times out of 100 I wouldn't be able to pick what the customer's favorite photos are. Photographers just see things differently. Just surprised that's all. Maybe it's because we typically only do the coffee table books where there is a lot of design work involved.

The Photographer chose what photos would go in your album That's a new one.

Thank you very much. I'm thinking this one will be a 20" x 30" canvas hanging on our wall very soon.

Well, I'm not a lady, so I'm not sure if I can post here, but here goes....Just wanted to share what a great Fathers Day I had, and a family photo that we took today. This was at Petco Park here in San Diego, where the Padres play. When they're not in town the "Park at the Park" in center field is open to the public. So we ran around and chased the baseball, and shot some family photos. Here is my favorite, there are more on our blog if you'd care to look (link is in my siggy).

Quote: Originally Posted by Evan Baines I WILL say that in general the "professional" photography market is flooded with inexpensive shooters that have cut all kinds of corners with regards to tax laws, insurance, training, equipment (especially backups!), etc. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Say it isn't so! LOL. I'd love to see a statistic on how many people have registered new businesses in the last 3-4 years for photography. It's out of control. While the lowering cost of digital cameras has certainly allowed a ton of people into the realm of photography, the really unfortunate thing is that the standards of the general public have been lowered as well. I see so many photographs posted on forums of all kind, and they're terrrible. But people always reply with "wow, great photos, these are amazing!" etc. Ugh! Very good point earlier about checking a Photographer's portfolio for varying conditions. Always, always remember that high sun is the worst / most difficult condition for outdoor photography. Remember it when looking for a Photographer (look for someone who has beautiful photographs taken in direct sunlight) and remember it when planning your wedding time. If you really care about great photos, don't have your ceremony at 3pm on the beach in the middle of summer!

Currently pricing for high resolution digital negatives varies quite a bit from one photographer to another for a variety of reasons. First, some Photographers are more comfortable selling the digitals than others - many Photographers still hate the idea of selling "negatives" to their customers, and it has nothing to do with losing / making money. It has to do with them not wanting crappy reprints out in the public eye representing their work. In other words, if you make your book, and it looks terrible (compared to high end books that they sell), it hurts their image. At least that's the way a lot of Photographers still think. The person who quoted you $175 per high res digital image also said that people "use these for business portraits" etc. I think in this case they're talking about someone like a Realtor who comes to them and wants 1-2 digitals for their business cards, etc. In that case the customer may only buy the 2 digitals for a total order of $350. If they priced them at say $25, then they'd only make 50 bucks, and the job wouldn't be worth their time. We're somewhere in the middle. We do sell the digitals, but only to customers who buy at least $500 in photos / canvases / books first. That way the are available to the customer, but only after they have already purchased a significant amount of our photos. That way if they take their CD to Wally World and their prints look like crap, it won't be a reflection on us (because our prints looked great). If you're looking for a Photographer who will do a 1-2 hour photo shoot, edit all of the photos, and give/sell you the CD with all of the retouched images, and you want it all for just a couple of hundred bucks, then you're not looking for a Professional Photographer. You're looking for a hobbyist or someone looking to get into paid photography. A two hour photo shoot takes more like 8-10 hours of work when you include travel, the shoot, and all of the computer time involved. It's just not worth it for less than at least $500 for anyone who does it for a living. So since you're wanting a budoiur session, I'd be careful about who you choose. I've seen more than one case of some pervert pretending to be a Photographer, offering cheap budoiur sessions. Not saying that you can't find a student or an aspiring photographer with a good eye and skill that could do it for you...just use common sense when you look at their work/pricing and when you talk to them. HTH!

Sure, no problem. Had to go back and fine them but here are a few. You can see a few more of them at: Caught on Film Photography - Customer Photo Galleries (I just grabbed a few this morning, this is an older wedding that we've been done with for awhile)

Quote: Originally Posted by kerryjbrown This is a great question for us all to consider as we choose our photographer. For me, I have a few requirements: -2 photographers, to capture it all from multiple viewpoints -not to be killed on price for buying additional albums as I have 4 seperate parents to buy parent books for. Having two Photographers is something that a lot of people don't put a lot of thought into up front. But it can be very difficult to shoot a wedding ceremony by yourself. Having two Photographers allows you to get many more angles of different parts of the ceremony. When I shoot a small ceremony by myself, I will actually set up a 2nd camera on a tripod with a wireless remote. So when I'm shooting from the opposite side, I can just hit a button and get another shot from a different angle. As for the albums, most Photographers charge a lot of money for a custom designed coffee table style book. A quality book isn't cheap for the Photographer to buy, but it also has a lot to do with the amount of time involved in designing the book. Many Photographers use templates to help speed up the process. I prefer designing each one from scratch, and I'm pretty efficient with Photoshop so laying out the book pages isn't that time intensive for me. Because a lot of the cost involved has to do with the design time, we offer 40% discounts on duplicate albums (same design, same size book or smaller). I would definitely use the fact that you want 4 albums as a negotiating tool when hiring a Photographer. Tell them that up front, and assuming that you want them designed the same, they should give you a discount. However, if you want four different designs, that's a different story.

We have a timeshare in Princeville, right down the street from the Princeville Resot at the Bali Hai. Princeville is amazingly beautiful, and the Princeville Resort is the crown jewel. I can't imagine anything there is cheap, or what I would consider "reasonably priced". That price of $600/night sounds about right from what I've seen. Not sure what they charge for weddings though.

I photographed a small wedding at the Beach House, it was a beautiful location for a wedding with about 40 guests or so. We had a killer sunset that night, made for some great photos. I remember everyone there being very nice and friendly (like most Hawaiians of course).

Most people have never even heard of The Green Flash, but if you ever have the chance to see it, it's really pretty cool. I live in San Diego and shoot photos at the beach all the time, and have never seen it here. But I've been to Hawaii a few times and have seen it not once but twice there, so maybe the conditions there are better for it? In case you're curious to know what it's all about, you can read about it right here: Red Sunset, Green Flash And here's a photo that I got of it during a sunset catamaran ride on the North Shore / Napali Coast on Kauai:

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt In the end our photog created a "tara and joe package" for us, which was awesome. THAT is the best way to go. I wish that A. more Photographers were flexible with their packages and B. more people were willing to ask a Photographer to be flexible with packages. So many Photogs have a "here they are, take it or leave it" mentality, but if you only have 2-3 packages, there's no way that they will work for everyone. Just remember - if you find a Photographer that you REALLY like, just ask them if they can customize a package just for you. It wouldn't hurt to start you email by buttering them up with "We just LOVE your work...." etc.

Ok, example. We meet the B&G at their hotel prior to the wedding to shoot photos of them getting ready, and then formal photos of the B/Bridesmaids and G/Groomsmen outside before everyone leaves for the wedding location. Who's in charge of telling them when it's ok to come down for formal photos, and making sure that the Groom doesn't see the Bride? After the wedding is over, who's in charge of organizing all of the people who are supposed to be in the formal photos? Do we just tell the B/G "Ok, time for group pictures, you get everyone together and we'll just stand here and wait for them". Heck, 90% of the B/G that we've photographed don't even know what to do when it's time to cut the cake - and they ask us "what do we do, where do we stand?" If we want to be sure to get a good angle and a good photo of the boquet toss, don't we coordinate with the DJ to make sure that we're in position when it happens, or do we just hope that we get the shot from wherever we happen to be at the time? I think most people want direction on their wedding day, at least to some degree. The whole thing is so overwhelming and it goes by so fast, everything is a blur. Again this is more true for big, all day weddings than the small destination beach type of wedding where everything is done in one hour and there are only 25 people. The OP was asking if they should hire a friend's Son who "has taken a few classes in photography". While I don't doubt his abilty to take a decent picture, I think people should be aware that there is much more to wedding photography than just pushing a button on a camera.

Hey there, another San Diegan new to the forum. Welcome! Been to Cabo several times, it's a beautiful place. Lover's Beach is very cool. I'm afraid I can't help you when it comes to wedding venues there however. Best of luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by Dbld78 Excellent thread topic... It's interesting... you know I had posted a thread a while back with your blog post... it's also interesting... http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t15885 LOL, you posted it here twice then! Thank you again for sharing it. It's amazing how many places that article has popped up now. You should Google "why are professional photographers so expensive" and see how many pages of links come up - pretty cool! Which brings us to another interesting topic. This thread is proving once again that digital images are the most important product these days. Most people unfortunately are perfectly happy with prints from Costco and photo books that they've made themselves. Back in the day, a Photographer would set their pricing based on the fact that the B&G would spend an average of $x on photo albums, prints, enlargements etc. Nowadays most people don't want that. We are constantly tinkering with our pricing structure, and I'm in the process of eliminating the big all day wedding package completely. For both my Wife and I to spend 8 hours shooting and directing a wedding, and the time involved to sort through about 1,500 photos, edit them, etc. people just aren't willing to spend enough to make it worth my time. Not to mention you usually meet with the B&G 5-6 times throughout the process. Give me a low key beach wedding with some candid shots and 30-45 minutes of posed photos and I'm good. I think we're going to focus in that direction moving forward. I'd rather get into the small destination type weddings, especially since I already do so many beach portraits (hence the post). Thank you all for your input!

Quote: Originally Posted by DougsGirl rights to all pictures of ME that I paid for might be your work of art, but it's my face, haha Just to be clear on what you should be asking your Photographer for in this regard - whoever owns the "copyright" to the images holds the right to basically do whatever they want with them. In most cases a Photographer just wants to be able to use the photos on their website, flyers, ad campaigns, etc. What brides should ask for is something along the lines of "full reproductive rights" to their photos. That means that you can basically do whatever you want with them, outside of selling them for a profit or using them commercially. You can print photos, books, whatever you want. This is something that gets mixed up quite a bit both with Brides and newbie Photographers. I've seen many Photographers who say "I sold the B&G a DVD and gave them the copyright to all of their photos". If that is the case, then the Photographer is no longer allowed to use those photos - without first getting permission from the client. So if you're discussing this with a Photographer, I would recommend asking for reproductive rights, not for the copyright. They may take it the wrong way. HTH!

Yeah, and the original article went into even greater detail, covering things like mortgage / rent for studio space, utilities, insurance (which many Photographers don't have), travel expenses (hello, gas is over $4.60 a gallon here) and silly frivolous things like health insurance. But I was told by several people that it was too much because those things are not tangable to the customer, so they're not sympathetic to them. So I took those out.

New member here, just looking for some feedback from Brides to be regarding what they are looking for as a final product from their photographer. Price is not an issue here, just simply what end product(s) do you want? Answers could be something like: - Just give me an unedited DVD with all of the photos, and I'll print them at Walgreens myself - I'd love to have one of those really cool, custom designed coffee table books - I want a huge 60" x 30" canvas print to hang on my wall over the couch - Just an old fashioned slip-in style album and 100 4x6 prints to go inside You get the idea. What do you want to remember your wedding day? Thanks!

Other than the "cob in the ass" comment (which I loved btw - so true) I didn't read the other responses. But here's mine: IT'S YOUR WEDDING DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. Personally I think it's a great idea. Most people end up either spending way more than they wanted on their photos (once they see them, they want all of them) and often they can't afford what they want. I would not only offer it, but even encourage my guests to go that direction. Sure is easier than shopping for some stupid glass orb that you're going to return anyway.

Every computer monitor is different, as is every printer. That's why we have to have our monitors calibrated to work along with the photo printers at our photo lab. You said that you were "test printing" at work - do you plan on doing the final printing on that printer as well, or somewhere else? If you're doing the final printing somewhere else, then the colors you're getting from your work printer are irrelevant. This is something that people should always keep in mind when they want to do their own printing. Most people who don't do photography or graphic design for a living think that photos etc. will look just like they do on their computer screen. But if you turned up the brightness on your monitor, would that make your photos brighter? If this is not the printer that you're doing the final printing on, I wouldn't even worry about it. But I would definitely try to get a test run done on the printer that I am using. =)

That's also a very important factor. On the wedding day the B/G are basically told what to do the entire day. In many cases the Photographer and Wedding Coordinator (if there is one present) end up running / directing most if not all of the day. If you have a Photographer who is wishy washy or just hangs out and waits for everything to happen, it can lead to a pretty chaotic day, and you may end up with less good photos from your day. Small weddings aren't nearly as bad, if it's just 20 people on a beach, probably not a big deal. But for an all day wedding, my Wife and I are often the ones running the show. One other thing to consider is the conditions. If you're getting married on a beach in bright sun, that is one of the most difficult conditions to shoot photographs. If the person shooting doesn't know what they are doing, the quality of the photos may suffer greatly. It's very difficult to get the lighting right in open sun. Good luck!

Thank you Sarah and Rafael. =)

Quote: Originally Posted by Dbld78 This is totally your decision but I have attached a link to a photographers blog that has a great explanation for a professional photography. Why are Professional Photographers so expensive? Just wanted to say thanks for posting the link to my article! I posted that about two or three months ago on our website and have literally had thousands of hits from people posting it all over the web like this. Thanks! It's always amazing how most people think that eight hours of wedding coverage means that the Photographer only works for eight hours!

I shoot portraits at the Hotel Del all the time - families, couples and HS seniors. 90% of the beach photos on my website are from there. Shooting a wedding for a coulpe from Missouri there on the 28th. It's an amazing venue and if you have the time there are a ton of great angles and backgrounds to work with. It's my most popular and favorite location! The hotel was built in 1888 and was the first building outside of NYC to be powered by electricity. Pretty cool. Oh and Marilyn Monroe filmed a movie there (Some Like it Hot, maybe?) and Dashboard Confessional shot a music video there a couple of years ago.