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$1400 for our wedding photos, rip off?

Just Plain Chad
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NaM

NaM

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I'm going to play devils advocate but...why does it matter at this point? Your wedding is over and you seem to be happy with your pictures so who cares if it's a good deal or not because you already paid it??

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TATrisha

TATrisha

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Quote:
Originally Posted by KJT1985 View Post
So part of me thinks it's ridiculous that anybody would charge that much for pictures but at the same time, it's sorta a once in a lifetime thing and if you both like the pictures and neither are too upset at the cost it's not a rip off. Do they make like 500% profit on it? Sure they do.
I have to say something in regards to this comment. I just want to set the record straight:
For people who purchase from resort photographers who don't do ANY editing, or even just minimal editing, then yes. There is probably a very large markup.

However, for normal photographers, this is COMPLETELY false!!!! COMPLETELY! And I don't want anyone to think that we charge what we do simply because it's a once in a lifetime event so we can. That's not the case.

For instance, the wedding I just photographed in Mexico. Just the wedding.
10 hours of photographing. For every hour of photographing I do approximately 6 hours of "other" stuff. That would include editing, sorting, blogging, burning a disc, mailing, and backing up. So to photograph one wedding is 60 hours worth of work.
Let's pretend that you hired a photographer for your wedding for $2,000. First things first, remove 40% of that, because that's what we pay straight to Uncle Sam. So now, the photographer is getting $1,200. Divide by 60 hours of work. The photographer is making $20 an hour. Not bad, but it certainly is not a lot! Now, please don't forget the cost of goods. So what if your package included a book? Images? Online Gallery? These things all cost money. Not to mention the cost of our insurance, our equipment, etc.

In the end, many of us photographers end up making very little money. We don't do it to be rich. We do it because we love it and we have a passion for it. We love capturing such beautiful emotion and capturing the love on one of the best days of your life. It's what we do. It's what we love to do. But please don't think that we are making easy money, as it is anything but!
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boscobel

boscobel

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Thanks for the breakdown, Trisha! I know that my photographs were my one big regret with my wedding. I didn't find this forum until too late and had already booked a local person for my AHR and we don't love any of those photos. They're not awful, but totally not the right style. I think seeing the breakdown of what a photog has to pay or put into each session should make the pricing seem more reasonable.

 

I know that since i didn't love any of my photos, I played around with editing and it's freaking hard and time consuming! I'm sure you get better with it the more you do it, but a wedding takes well over 1000 photos usually and to edit that many. Wow.

 

Anyway, just wanted to say that seeing that info is really helpful!

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~Melissa~

~Melissa~

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Originally Posted by Tlseege View Post
In the end, many of us photographers end up making very little money. We don't do it to be rich. We do it because we love it and we have a passion for it. We love capturing such beautiful emotion and capturing the love on one of the best days of your life. It's what we do. It's what we love to do. But please don't think that we are making easy money, as it is anything but!
Well said Trisha!

It's tough especially in this market right now but you have to really love what you're doing to make it worth while. I know your passion is for weddings and my heart is obsessed about them too :-) It's a wonderful job though for sure.

Plus another thing I always say is you get what you pay for.
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jk1101

jk1101

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first of all - Carly, how freaking cute is your dog?!!!!

 

I am paying more for photography than anything else in my wedding. A great photographer is worth it...to me anyway. You guys are right - the behind the scenes work is just as important as the actual taking of the pictures...it's a lot more than pointing and clicking. It's an art and you can't put a price on it.

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luciel2820

luciel2820

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Just like most of the girls here have said, if you love your photos then its definately not a rip off. A rip off would be paying half of that and hating all of them. Im spending a bit less on photos but its only because I have a tiny budget and 50% of my budget is going to travel and stay alone. I searched a long time for a photographer until I found one in my budget that was giving me the exact thing that I wanted.

Just hope that I get beautiful pics now.

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KJT1985

KJT1985

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tlseege View Post
I have to say something in regards to this comment. I just want to set the record straight:
For people who purchase from resort photographers who don't do ANY editing, or even just minimal editing, then yes. There is probably a very large markup.

However, for normal photographers, this is COMPLETELY false!!!! COMPLETELY! And I don't want anyone to think that we charge what we do simply because it's a once in a lifetime event so we can. That's not the case.

For instance, the wedding I just photographed in Mexico. Just the wedding.
10 hours of photographing. For every hour of photographing I do approximately 6 hours of "other" stuff. That would include editing, sorting, blogging, burning a disc, mailing, and backing up. So to photograph one wedding is 60 hours worth of work.
Let's pretend that you hired a photographer for your wedding for $2,000. First things first, remove 40% of that, because that's what we pay straight to Uncle Sam. So now, the photographer is getting $1,200. Divide by 60 hours of work. The photographer is making $20 an hour. Not bad, but it certainly is not a lot! Now, please don't forget the cost of goods. So what if your package included a book? Images? Online Gallery? These things all cost money. Not to mention the cost of our insurance, our equipment, etc.

In the end, many of us photographers end up making very little money. We don't do it to be rich. We do it because we love it and we have a passion for it. We love capturing such beautiful emotion and capturing the love on one of the best days of your life. It's what we do. It's what we love to do. But please don't think that we are making easy money, as it is anything but!
yeah, I was really just referring to resort photographers since that's the kind in question...
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Snickers

Snickers

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Wow, this thread has been an eye opener for me as I am not sure how much I am willing to spend on pics. My fiance could probably care less as long as we have a few nice ones, but I would like a few more than that.

 

This might sound dumb, but the cds they usually give you, are you able to print off pics from those or not?

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KJT1985

KJT1985

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Originally Posted by Snickers View Post
Wow, this thread has been an eye opener for me as I am not sure how much I am willing to spend on pics. My fiance could probably care less as long as we have a few nice ones, but I would like a few more than that.

This might sound dumb, but the cds they usually give you, are you able to print off pics from those or not?
Yeah, our resort gave us the copyright waiver but it really depends on the photographer. Better ask if that's important to you.
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dolfinluck

dolfinluck

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Originally Posted by Snickers View Post
Wow, this thread has been an eye opener for me as I am not sure how much I am willing to spend on pics. My fiance could probably care less as long as we have a few nice ones, but I would like a few more than that.

This might sound dumb, but the cds they usually give you, are you able to print off pics from those or not?
i would def ask and also ask up to what size can you print. If you can only print up to a 4x6 and want a lot of 8x10s then you will have to go thru them which could cost a lot more money.
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