How much are you spending on photos?

[ddiinnyyeell]

And let me add that we received over 2000 images all fully edited

[jealousy88]

Jenise that is one amazing deal, if only I can find something like that for Mexico!

[QueenDiva]

I booked Paula & Damian of Sungold. I still haven't chosen the package yet, but the one that I'm looking at is nearly $4K and includes 2 photogs, 8 hrs, Copyright free cd, and dvd show... but no albums so we will have to talk about that, lol.

[geishagyrl]

TriCoast is awesome! They photographed a friends wedding back in 2008.

Originally Posted by JuliaR 

I am flying in a photographer from Texas who is listed as one of the 10 Best in the World by American Photo magazine and listed as a Kodak Photographer to Watch. Photography is THE single most important part of the wedding to me. All in all with travel and fees, their services are worth about $8000-10,000. Granted I am not paying their regular fee because they happen to be VERY good friends of ours, but I wanted to add my two cents here when it comes to the price of good photography.

Consider how many hours of work goes into your wedding.

1. 2 hours of consultation Pre-Wedding
2. 4-6 hours Travel to get to Destination, plus the days they are away from their studio where they could be shooting portraits or working with other paying clients. Lots of lost income here.
3. 2-3 hours Scouting Location: looking for the best places to photograph your wedding
4. 6-8 hours coverage on your Wedding Day
5. 2 hours TTD Day After Wedding
6. 4-6 Hours: Travel getting home
7. 1-2 Hours: Downloading and backing up 4000-5000 images.
8. 40 + Hours: Editing and retouching your 500+ files to make you look gorgeous
9. 10 + hours Album Design
10. 1-2 Hours Consulting with You to Choose Images and narrow down to 200.
11. 1-2 Hour Prepping and uploading Files for the print lab, burning discs.
12. 1 hour to package and assemble your prints for delivery.

And this is a conservative estimate.


TOTAL HOURS: 74-85

And you are paying them $5000 for your coverage and album?? That album costs them about $500-700 to produce (hard cash). That means they get $4200 in their pocket. That's $55 an hour to do a job that requires constant education, incredible training, facility overhead, and not to mention the wear and tear/depreciation on their equipment, plus all their marketing costs, employee costs, taxes, legal fees, membership associations, cost of goods etc.

The top wedding Photographers make at the most about $15-20 per hour. Photogs at the lower end make less than minimum wage! So when you call it expensive, make sure you really evaluate what your getting and what that photographer has to spend (time and money) to make your wedding the most beautiful event ever. Is it worth it to you? And when you take into account a photographer who is EXTREMELY talented and you KNOW you are going to get the images of a lifetime, wouldn't you WANT to pay them what they are worth?

Most wedding photographer do this job because they LOVE it. It is their passion. Treat them that way and they will give you EVERYTHING they have. There is nothing to them quite like an appreciative client, and wedding photographers will bend over BACKWARDS for brides who appreciate what they are doing for them.


Ok......back to regularly scheduled programming.

:-)

 

[kat2012]

Me and another bride on here found a photographer who would take our pictures for an exchange of vacation for her and her hubby, which works just perfect for us, since we will be getting married in Sandals( and they are oh so strict with outside vendors) two days apart. Our costs are 1300 each and it includes day of the wedding pictures and TTD

[jlarruda]

We lucked out with our photographer- shes related to our best man, shes never been out of the country so she is so excited and has such a bubbly personality.. we paid $3000 total and that included our engagement pictures on a CD with our rights (she took more than 700 before she edited them), pictures day before our wedding at our welcome dinner, pictures our wedding day- she wrote 8 hours on the contract but has already said she won't be looking at a watch and our trash the dress.. shes on the same flight as all of us and going the same amount of days, so I know she will be snapping pictures all the time since she has never been.

[ChristiandRyan]

we will have the photographer for 4 hrs and pay $800. no album i decided i want to do it myself, and add the photos my family takes too!

[MichCraw]

 

Originally Posted by kat2012 

Me and another bride on here found a photographer who would take our pictures for an exchange of vacation for her and her hubby, which works just perfect for us, since we will be getting married in Sandals( and they are oh so strict with outside vendors) two days apart. Our costs are 1300 each and it includes day of the wedding pictures and TTD

Thats an amazing deal!!!! I am paying 2200$ for my photographer, CD included of all the pictures, but no album.

 

[DRPrincesa]

Where did you find a price like, that is what I would like to pay! 
 

Originally Posted by ChristiandRyan 

we will have the photographer for 4 hrs and pay $800. no album i decided i want to do it myself, and add the photos my family takes too!

 

 

[mdcoug]

I will be paying $1946 to use a photographer on the island.