Destination Photography for Dummies...

I know this is a silly question....but I have a few questions about destination photography?

 

1. How much does it typically cost? (I have to fly the photographer to the location...How long do they stay?)

 

2. Is it worth it? Pros v. Cons?

 

3. What have you paid for your photography? (if you don't mind sharing... )

 

Any help/thoughts would be appreciated!!

I'm not getting married until June so I cannot tell you about the photos yet but each photog's fees are different. The lady I hired is staying for three days. In addition to the photo fee, FI and I are paying for the flight and hotel stay. Is it worth it? Yes, we are still paying less for way more hours of coverage than many of the local photographers in PR quoted us at. I also like that she is on out time schedule not a resort's. We have contracted for the TTD, rehearsal, and a casual session in addition to the wedding day coverage. I'll PM what I paid if you like.

Would you mind? That information would be so very helpful to me!

Thanks so much!
Good Luck!

You can find all sorts of budgets, work with the photographer, most of us are flexible and can accommodate. You don't need to fly photogs from the states.

there are many really good local photographers, so I would look into that first.

 

You definitely have to pay the photographer's travel fees, I think 3 or 4 nights is sufficient, you definitely want them there a couple days before to make sure there are no problems and they don't miss the wedding. You should also have them there for a day or two after if you want to do a trash the dress session.

 

At most you should pay travel fees (air + hotel and a stipend for food if not all inclusive) + their regular wedding photography fee. However some photographers will charge you less than their regular photography fee in recognition of the fact that they are getting a free trip.

 

The price they charge you on top of the travel fee really depends on the photographer, how much they usually charge, and how many DWs the've done before. If they have never done a DW I would try to get them to do it for free (i.e. travel fees only) or a few hundred dollars, maximum a thousand in my opinion (they need to build up their portfolio!) If you are getting a photographer that is very popular and usually charges 4000$ or more for a wedding, you can probably expect them to ask the same plus their travel fees for a DW. Obviously the less expereinced DW photographers are the ones most likely to give you a deal.

 

Make sure to find out what you are getting from them, I got a full day photography (starting at the salon at 9am and ending approx 10pm in the evening), a TTD session (approx 1.5 hours) and also some other random photos during the week (mainly taken on two seperate occasions, once on the beach, and once at the ruins, but also a few taken at random other times such as dinner). If they are doing all that for you, it' makes sense they are charging you their full photography fee + travel, seeing as they are doing more work than they would normally do for a 1 day wedding.

you know there is such a variety of photographers out there in all sorts of styles and all sorts of price ranges... first ill answer your questions and then ill give you some advice....

1. the typical wedding photographer charges on average from about 1500-3500 for the photography. there are plenty that do it for just the cost of the trip out and some that demand everything under the sun paid for on top of their photography services.

2. there are lots of pros and cons to bringing your own. first pro is that you can shop around and find one you are happy with and fist your personality and style as opposed to the one at the resort. usually they are with you pretty much the entire day and not just 3-4 hours . some stay for several days ( i know im stayign 10 days with one couple in november to photograph their adventrures) ... cons wise... its usually gonna cost a lot more but you can usually gaurantee it will be what you want

my advise is this... really think about how important the photos will be for you. are you the type of person that takes pride in photography. do you appreciate quality work, will you be wanting to put lots of photos up and send pictures out to friends and family and share them. really break down the cost to bring a photogrpher out with you and think are you the type of person that would be content with the resort photographers. sometimes there are some great ones there.

maybe im biased but if you are on a strict tight budget and are content with the photographer at your resort then i say go with that. but ... if you know that you want to ensure that the photos you get are going to give you joy every time you see them and want to relive those memories forever in a unique and artistic way ... get the pro to come with you...

hope that helps