Wedding Photography Prices ExplainedWarning - Prices for Wedding Photography can be very high! The photographic business in the UK is unregulated and anyone with a camera can place an ad and start shooting weddings. It is not until you start looking for one that you realize what a vast range of services are available. Some are excellent but are others woefully poor. The old adage still holds true - you generally get what you pay for. Some charge seemingly really high prices. Besides their skill levels and artistry, photographers are like anyone else running a business and they have costs. Some people don't want loads of pictures or have budget constraints. So what can you expect for your money? The most common way of pricing used by photographers is to offer packages. A basic package will generally include some or all of the following elements:
So what prices are you likely to pay?As a benchmark for wedding photography prices, you should expect to pay about £1000 for the above.Using this as a standard, there are obviously ways that you will pay far more and conversely, a lot less. First let's deal with ways to save money:
If the budget is tight and let's face it, for most of us money is always a consideration, there are other ways to save without compromising your precious wedding pictures. Try
www.bachelorette-wedding-ideas for lots of cheap wedding ideas.
Feeling Flush? Here's how to spend more money!Wedding photography prices of more experienced and skillful photographers will range between £2000 and £5000 upwards.
One option is get a friend or relative to do the job. Unless that person is qualified or is a keen amateur you are taking a huge risk with your memories. Even so, not everyone is capable of doing the occasion justice. After all, some professionals struggle in what is one of the most stressful parts of the photographic trade. On the plus side you will have all the images at little or no cost - perhaps only the cost of reprints. The disadvantages are possibly inexperience/inability to cope with changing lighting conditions and to engage with people to get pleasing results with a minimum of disruption to your day. Factor in equipment failure and a lack of back-up equipment and it is easy to see how this part of your day could become stressful for YOU! A further point to consider is your future relationship should your friend or relative get it wrong. If you consider going down this route, at least get an idea of their abilities beforehand and have a few frames taken before the day. Students have to make a portfolio during their training and so long as you are willing to be their 'guinea-pig" for the day, this can be an inexpensive way to get your snaps. Call up the college tutor and get them to circulate your details to their class. The student's experience will vary enormously but at least they should be competent with their equipment and have a grounding in basic skills like composition and lighting. Don't expect elaborate equipment unless they're managed to borrow or hire second cameras and dedicated flashguns. The same caveats noted In Call a Friend above will apply. Some companies hire second shooters or operators to cope with periods of high demand during the wedding season. These photographers will generally be very competent and probably work as a part-time or spare time job. Just be aware of what the deal is - are you contracting with an individual or a company. If they are working for themselves - they don't have business overheads and are able to work for 'beer money', so it will be cheaper. On the other hand, if they are working for a company, the costs will be higher. You need to know how your images be processed and the associated costs. ContractWe're now entering a part of the business where you might like to think about a contract, even if it's only a simple agreement just to clarify each party's expectations.Return from Wedding Photography Prices to Home page
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