Photography Pricing

[Gin Bootles]

wow that is too expensive for me! i hope i can get a good deal! but if i spend that much on a photographer.. im gonna be in debt forever

[asiamarie1]

WOW, way to expensive for me too...I am absolutely thinking about not having a professional photographer at all...I have a friend with a great camera and she won't charge a thing. She will even do a TTD session for us if we want...The only thing we won't get it touch-ups, but realistically I don't care about that...

 

[Gin Bootles]

has anyone had any luck with the photographers at the hotel?

[Vancouver Bride]

Thanks MarieSam! Your post was very helpful in deciding what I think is the second most difficult decision after choosing the resort/location! We want to fly in a photographer from Vancouver to the Dominican Rep, but are still trying to figure out if we can swing that on our budget. 

[Beth O]

We just had my sons wedding in Mayan Riviera and I spend a lot of time checking out photographers. We could not afford a lot of money. I found a great local photographer Luz Maria Avila out of Cancun. Let me say her price was under $1000 for 4 hrs and a disc of 50 pics to music then another 200+ on a cd. You can see her work at www.luzmariaavila.com

[JayKay]

For us photography was important, but not to the point of spending a rediculous amount of money and be in debt over it.  We considered flying someone in, but that just wasn't in the budget.  We then starting looking at local photographers in jamaica and I think got quotes from every single one.  We ended up booking Merrick Cousley as his prices were great and his pictures are good.  For $1200 we are getting full day coverage and all our photos on a disc. 

[amanda2286]

I was able to find a local photographer who was willing to shoot my wedding for free as long as I paid all his travel expenses.  It's going to end up costing around $3000 which I thought wasn't too bad.

[Vancouver Bride]

We are thinking of flying in our own out of country photographer to the Dominican Rep (and paying his/her flight and accomodation so that they are a "guest" at the resort the entire week). Does anyone know if this strategy to get around work visas and resorts preferring their own photographers still works? I have read in the forum that it worked for other brides, but also hear rumors that resorts are cracking down on this.

 

Thanks ladies!

[AfricanVenus]

Photography was a MAJOR deal, but I didn't want to break the bank over it. We hired a local photographer, Aurora Gutierrez, and a Canadian videographer, UrbanVid (of Urban Weddings). Local does not equal no quality. She's got 5 years in the business, comes highly recommended, and still works out of Southern California, where she's originally from. We got a sweet deal with Aurora: A 30-pg coffee table album for us (12x12), 2 parent albums (6x6), a 12x16 photo, 8x11, 5x7, and several wallet sized photos. We also got a CD slideshow set to music and a website for our guests. Additionally, she was there all day (contractually 8 hrs, but she stayed longer), surprised me with a second shooter I didn't have to pay for, and shot a TTD session the next day. All of this for $1650! And her stuff isn't just so-so. I thought we got a lot of bang for our buck. We only had to pay $50 in travel fees as she was from a further part of the state we were getting married in and needed to pay tolls.

 

As for our video, the guys gave me a sweet deal after I helped them catch an intellectual property thief. They charged me a 1/3 of their normal rate, because they wanted to add to their portfolio a destination wedding. Their work is amazing! Initially, we only contracted for one videographer with the usual: travel fees and accomodations. He helped me find a cheaper ticket than I would have found and I found him a nice hotel that was cheap and close to our hotel. That came up to $1500. At our wedding, he surprised me with a second shooter (I was already familiar with his work as he works for the company so I wasn't worried). The reason he added a second shooter was because he wanted to make the video as great as it could possibly be. That touched me and was such a mark of professionalism.

 

So, that part of our budget was high, but we thought it was an even split and we don't regret our decision. The product of both vendors was amazing. I think B2Bs can get what they're looking for if they're willing to shop around and think outside the box. Some vendors will give you great deals. We were blessed to be able to get so much for what we thought was a little. Don't just settle for anything and you won't be disappointed.

[mrsbruff2b]

My first choice was too expensive (quoted 9k)

My second choice was PERFECT.  They had such an amazing package for us and it was all under $3k!!  Great award winning quality.  I was ready to book.  Then they told me they weren't available.  I was devastated. 

The third agreed to match the price, but I also discovered she was unavailable for our date. 

 

Since then, we've approached a few other photographers from Toronto, many are just out of our range. I'm still on the hunt for quality, price and service but I am not willing to compromise because I KNOW that there are great photographers out there who are able to do it.

 

I found La Luna on these forums and when I approached them , I LAUGHED out loud at the screen.  They quoted me $15k+ for the equivalent of the above package. LOL I found myself "settling" with their quality already, I was highly disappointed. Honestly, still laughing. XD