Wedding photography cost

[MrCheese]

Would welcome any comments on the following. I need a wedding photographer, north west area. What should I expect to pay for entire day of photography, some processing of photos, a digital copy of photos with all rights and NO albums, prints or video?

At the mo there are a couple of options - a decent amateur who took the photos at a money no object wedding for a friend. They were extrmely happy with the photos but to me they look like something I could do with an iphone. He's quoting £700.

I've found a photographer online and I really like the samples on the website. Problem is the price - it ranges from £2.5-4k. At the bottom price it doesn't include the raw photos, just the processed images.

Now, I can't afford 2.5k....what should I be expecting to pay for a decent photographer. As a very rough guide, I'd hope for pictures that I'd look at and think "wow, I couldn't take that" rather than "this bloke has switched the sapia effect on"

[Lynchie999]

... why would you want the RAW images ?! surely you hire the photog. to get their product at the end, which includes the processed final images ? its like hiring a chef and he only gives you the ingredients ? anyway, you should be able to find a decent tog for 1-1.2k all in... its all about personal preference at the end of the day, photos and price you are happy with...

[AndrewEH1]

I would say around £1,500 will get you someone decent with a reputation behind them.

Also, are you a decent photo editor? Do you really need RAW images? Probably not. I'd expect the photographer to supply all images in high res without watermarks for printing/photobook though.

Edited by AndrewEH1 on Friday 6th February 16:45

[andy-xr]

http://www.lovelyweddingphotos.co.uk/

Tim's a decent guy, did our wedding

The thing is, some might not give you full rights on them. Some might, but I've seen stuff where people have re-edited a perfectly good photo to completely fk it up with vignettes everywhere and / or spot colour ste. Whichever you go for, try and make sure they dont splash their logo all over the edited images, fks me off something rotten when people do that to wedding photos

Edited by andy-xr on Friday 6th February 17:04

[Rogue86]

As others have hinted towards, I'd re-think what you want from the photographer as you're not really getting the best out of them if you end up with 6000 NEF files that you can't do anything with. It's also fairly likely that you'll choose a photographer based on their end-product, which will probably look nothing like the raw-file they started with.

As for price, it goes without saying that price isn't necessarily an indicator of quality, but I'd certainly be looking in the £500 - £2000 range depending on whether you want a talented amateur or a seasoned pro. The main thing I'd be looking at to be honest is whether you get on with them - people skills are something you can't put a price on!

[GetCarter]

where is Simpo when you need him?

[LongQ]

GetCarter said:

where is Simpo when you need him?

About 300 miles away.

[andy-xr]

Also, just to set expectations, the comment about 'wow, I couldnt take that' tends to be from a very staged photo that'll have been tested a few times. Some photographers have a signature type photo that they've done, maybe it's part of their style. Others are quite reportage and capture the moments as they happen.

There's nothing really that you cant take, the problem is that you're going to be in the photos, so that's kind of the main sticking point when judging people's photography thinking you could do the same photo.

[Simpo Two]

There are no fixed rules. The market covers everything from bad day-jobbers to good day-jobbers, bad pros and good pros, and prices from £300 to £4,000. And Uncle Phil who'll do it for nothing because he's family and has a nice camera. Hopefully you'll get what you pay for, but note that buying wedding photography isn't like buying a TV; you can't always compare like for like because there are Styles and Personalities involved too. You're not buying a thing, you're employing a person.

I'm not in your area but would ask £1,200-£1,400 for a full day. You'd get a location visit beforehand, then Preparations, Ceremony, Reception and Evening to first dance, a DVD-ROM with about 500 hi-res photos, and licence (permission) to copy, print, e-mail and post the images online for non-commercial purposes. You can even experiment with them in Photoshop. Copyright stays with me, but because I let you do pretty much anything with the photos anyway, you don't need it. I don't get embroiled with prints or albums - get them direct online and keep the saving.

Two things in your post need clarification:

1) What do you mean by 'some processing'? Photos are shot RAW and processed to JPG. Or do you mean what I call special effects, like black and white versions?

2) As mentioned above, what do you want RAW images for? If someone wants RAW files (about 2% of cases, always men) I let them have them - they're no use to me!

[ExPat2B]

Just for the love of God get someone half decent. I have seen so many piss poor wedding photos lately, white balance all over the shop, bad composition, no retouching, horrific oversaturation.

And I think getting the RAW files is very important. Image processing is coming in leaps and bounds, in a few years you will be able to do things with the raw files you could never dream of now, its adds a layer of future proofing to it.

[MrCheese]

Simpo Two said:

There are no fixed rules. The market covers everything from bad day-jobbers to good day-jobbers, bad pros and good pros, and prices from £300 to £4,000. And Uncle Phil who'll do it for nothing because he's family and has a nice camera. Hopefully you'll get what you pay for, but note that buying wedding photography isn't like buying a TV; you can't always compare like for like because there are Styles and Personalities involved too. You're not buying a thing, you're employing a person.

I'm not in your area but would ask £1,200-£1,400 for a full day. You'd get a location visit beforehand, then Preparations, Ceremony, Reception and Evening to first dance, a DVD-ROM with about 500 hi-res photos, and licence (permission) to copy, print, e-mail and post the images online for non-commercial purposes. You can even experiment with them in Photoshop. Copyright stays with me, but because I let you do pretty much anything with the photos anyway, you don't need it. I don't get embroiled with prints or albums - get them direct online and keep the saving.

Two things in your post need clarification:

1) What do you mean by 'some processing'? Photos are shot RAW and processed to JPG. Or do you mean what I call special effects, like black and white versions?

2) As mentioned above, what do you want RAW images for? If someone wants RAW files (about 2% of cases, always men) I let them have them - they're no use to me!

I'd rather not post a link to their site but the photographer whose website I like has a colleague who photoshops the pics. The processing is relatively light. Some shots are staged and are clearly tried and tested but there are lots of sample photos that do capture the event very very well.

I'm not so fussed about RAW itself, jpg is fine, I just need the ability to create albums and wall prints myself. I may well go back to the photographer a year later for him to do it but I want the option to do it myself.

[BoRED S2upid]

£2k minimum for someone half decent your not just paying for the day of the wedding. We had a pre shoot and discussion on what we want weeks before, then the full day and evening with 2 people one with the bride one waiting at the church for her to arrive, the evening do and days of editing and putting together a number of albums until we were happy. Don't skimp your only going to do this once (maybe).

[Simpo Two]

MrCheese said:

I'd rather not post a link to their site but the photographer whose website I like has a colleague who photoshops the pics. The processing is relatively light.

That's fair enough; if you like whatever treatment has been applied to a sample photo just ask for it. You should get both versions (normal and Shopped). Such things are down to personal taste; if any of my customers want some I invite them back for a free Shopping session afterwards where we go through the ones they like best and see what we can do with some twiddling. Note that an effect that looks good on one image doesn't always work so well with another.

MrCheese said:

I'm not so fussed about RAW itself, jpg is fine, I just need the ability to create albums and wall prints myself. I may well go back to the photographer a year later for him to do it but I want the option to do it myself.

It certainly wouldn't bother me, but some may dig their heels in because they make money from prints and albums. You'll find a page devoted to online providers of prints and photobooks on my website; fill yer boots!

[mike80]

You don't really need the RAW files, but I would ask for the set of pictures processed naturally, as well as any black and white or other processing. That's what I would offer if I were a wedding photographer.

I know some like to spend hours on processing, and shooting at f/1.2, etc. etc. etc., and that's all great, but I'm sure lots of your family members aren't interested in all that.

So in other words, find a photographer that will do what you want - not what they want!

[waterwonder]

We used these guys (who know my wife)

To my eyes they did a great job and fitted into the day perfectly - and I've just noticed some of our photos are in their literature.

Website suggests pricing of £1000

http://www.jennawoodward.com/whatwedo

[GetCarter]

LongQ said:

GetCarter said:

where is Simpo when you need him?

About 300 miles away.

That's a round trip to the shops for me.

[Simpo Two]

GetCarter said:

That's a round trip to the shops for me.

You'll find me in Aisle 4 between the washing powder and the cake decorations

[condor]

I'd suggest just getting a photographically trusted family member to be nominated photographer and let other family members take their own pics.

[markmullen]

condor said:

I'd suggest just getting a photographically trusted family member to be nominated photographer and let other family members take their own pics.

There is far far more to photographing a wedding than being a competent photographer. The guys who do this all the time are very good at managing the B&G and guests to ensure they get the best shots. That skill is arguably as important as photographic ability and is likely lacking in a trusted family member which will see you get (possibly) technically correct photos (eg well exposed and in focus) but otherwise st photos.

Don't scrimp on photography, when the day is done all you'll be left with other than memories and a big credit card bill is the photos.

[GetCarter]

Simpo Two said:

GetCarter said:

That's a round trip to the shops for me.

You'll find me in Aisle 4 between the washing powder and the cake decorations

Hopefully not on the floor. Aisle 3 does that.