Photography decisions

[gujarwala]

Before anyone gets upset at me posting this I have been researching

 

And it seems the more I research the more questions arise than answers lol.

 

Here's the situation - wedding is in Riveria Maya in Dec/2010, photography budget is $1500 to $2000, but my expectation/hope is to also have a lot of photos taken for that price, including a TTD session and maybe even some shots at the ruins, marketplace, etc.

 

I haven't yet found any of the vendors who will do all that for the above price?

 

One option there is a photographer from Canada who is friends with one of the guests and would like to come on the holiday, so said he would photograph for the cost of the trip + $300, which falls within the range. He said he can take all kinds of pictures every day of the week - the catch is he has never done wedding photography before I don't think that's a huge deal however my wife is wary that he may not take great wedding pics if he is inexperienced in it, however on the plus he will be available all week as opposed to only several hours like the local photographers.

 

For a living he photographs sporting events, celebrities, etc. and sells images to various publications.

 

What do you guys think - should I go with the local photographer or is there any experienced ones out there who will do it all for $1500 to $2000 (hopefully closer to $1500).

 

Please feel free to PM me as well.

 

Thanks!

[msredd3129]

Have you tried Octavio Montes?

[knitgirl13]

You can try Sascha Gluck or Ivan Luckie. Both offer services under $2000. I personally wouldn't trust my wedding photos to someone who has never shot a wedding before.

[TATrisha]

I honestly wouldn't go with a photographer who hasn't shot a wedding. With that said, everyone has to start somewhere... but still.

From the US it looks like travel to your destination would be around the $1500 mark. obviously that changes based on depature city... but still. $1500 for two people for three nights (December 17-20)

 

So, I would search around. Hopefully you can either fly a photographer in for just the cost of travel (someone wants to increase their portfolio) or that will do it for $500. I think if you talked to some of the photographers on the forum you'd be surprised at how many would be willing to do that.

[gujarwala]

Thanks guys for the responses. I started thinking, how about we bring the non-wedding experienced photographer for the trip cost + $300 and then pay someone like Sascha to do 2 hours of coverage of the wedding for an extra $650 I believe his rate is, which woudl still put our total cost under $2,400. If we were to use one of the experienced ones in Mexico for the whole works it looks like it will be over $3k.

 

I did notice Captured Soul Photographer who would do extensive work for $1600 + the trip, that's an option as we would still be under $3k.

 

Haven't seen anyone who will do it for trip + $500ish to build their portfolio like you mentioned Tlseege, although I would be very happy to hear from someone like that, if you're reading this please PM me.

[TATrisha]

Photographers cannot PM you. You will have to contact them. But if you go to the vendor market place you'll see a ton of them listed and you can start contacting them from there.

OR, look at photographers who are local to you. You'd be surprised at the amount of them that would love to add a destination wedding to their portfolio.

[GroomsArePeopleToo]

gujarwala

 

what are the dates you are looking at, I may perhaps already be down to the area.

[luchdiamond]

You might want to try Sascha Gluck

[gujarwala]

Thanks for all the responses everyone, I did end up finding a local photographer who agreed to do it for the trip + $800. She is friends with a few of the guests so she will spend all week with us and take many pictures of all the events. I find if you don't know the photographer personally they usually offer too take pictures during the week for only a certain # of events or certain # of hours, so I'm happy that because she's a distant friend she isn't going to be counting events or hours.

 

I did get info from Sascha and his rates and what he offers were very reasonable. That would have definitely been my first choice had I gone with a local photograher in Mexico.

[sammy2882]

Photography is expensive, but it's one of the only things you have left when your day is over... Just keep that in mind!