The best wedding photographers in Canberra

Roundhead89 said :

LSWCHP said :

Pork Hunt said :

Postalgeek said :

phototext said :

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

Maybe the OP should just hire a panda; it eats shoots, and leaves.

A wombat eats, roots, shoots and leaves…

Nothing to do with wedding pics, but…

I used to have a T-Shirt showing the Combat Wombat in greens carrying an SLR, and that was his motto. 🙂 They were good days.

Um, is that SLR as in Single Lens Reflex or Self Loading Rifle?

The latter, happily. 🙂

Besides being a z-grade troll who’s probably only here because the 14-year-olds on 4chan called him names, CGN appears to be defending a group that doesn’t really exist. Every amateur I know (and I know a few) wouldn’t do a wedding for quids because they shoot the subjects they like and do it for their own enjoyment. Anyone who knows what they’re doing also knows their own limitations, and the last thing you want is an amateur wedding photographer who suffers from illusory competence.

tim_c said :

darcyperkins said :

The tricky thing is finding a decent amateur before they realise they’re worth more…

That’s just it. There are a few pros commenting above who have no doubt earned their stripes. But you don’t simply become a pro just because you decide to be. They all got their experience somehow – and what were they before they were experienced enough to be a pro? Probably amateurs and/or hobbyists – there are some who are just starting out, and others who are just about ready to be pros (or perhaps are already ready, but choose not to be pro for other reasons).

My brother and sister took the photos for our wedding and were very pleased with the results (and the price!) – it was their 3rd or 4th wedding. Their first wedding shoot was for our cousin who was not impressed with the pro photos for her sister’s wedding and asked my brother and sister to take photos for her (having seen other photos taken by them). They were very nervous about it, and weren’t ready in the right place to capture some key events (they learned some valuable lessons though!) and even now cringe looking back on some of the shots, but the cousin (and many of her friends) are still impressed and happy with the photos. My brother is now working casually for a local pro – sometimes as the main shooter… thankfully we got married when he had enough skill, experience and knowledge to be good, but not quite ready to turn pro! (Though being my brother, he’d still be happy to do it for us for the same price now).

Just remember: in the months or years after the wedding, will it be the cake or the limos or the food you will be showing to your friends and relatives, or even your children? Probably not, but you will be showing all these people the photos (that is, unless your photographer really wasn’t ready/suitable for the task!).

That’s pretty much how I got my start too. Wedding day photography for a friend, then his brother, before some other family members and friends. I got some great photos at all of them – but looking back now, the percentage of great shots vs average wasn’t quite so high back then!

I was lucky enough in between to tag along with some established pros, who are in the top segment of wedding photographers in Canberra, and learned a hell of a lot from them.

That’s the thing with this business – there’s no ‘professional photographer’ certification. Anyone who’s charging for their work, whether they should be or not, is free to call themselves a pro. Although membership of an organisation like the AIPP is not something I’ve yet pursued, it’s definitely on my agenda. Accredited membership requires peer-review, meaning that the quality of that professional’s work will be at or above a certain standard at least – taking a lot of the risk out of the choice. Naturally though, they’re likely to be the photographers who charge more.

darcyperkins said :

The tricky thing is finding a decent amateur before they realise they’re worth more…

That’s just it. There are a few pros commenting above who have no doubt earned their stripes. But you don’t simply become a pro just because you decide to be. They all got their experience somehow – and what were they before they were experienced enough to be a pro? Probably amateurs and/or hobbyists – there are some who are just starting out, and others who are just about ready to be pros (or perhaps are already ready, but choose not to be pro for other reasons).

My brother and sister took the photos for our wedding and were very pleased with the results (and the price!) – it was their 3rd or 4th wedding. Their first wedding shoot was for our cousin who was not impressed with the pro photos for her sister’s wedding and asked my brother and sister to take photos for her (having seen other photos taken by them). They were very nervous about it, and weren’t ready in the right place to capture some key events (they learned some valuable lessons though!) and even now cringe looking back on some of the shots, but the cousin (and many of her friends) are still impressed and happy with the photos. My brother is now working casually for a local pro – sometimes as the main shooter… thankfully we got married when he had enough skill, experience and knowledge to be good, but not quite ready to turn pro! (Though being my brother, he’d still be happy to do it for us for the same price now).

Just remember: in the months or years after the wedding, will it be the cake or the limos or the food you will be showing to your friends and relatives, or even your children? Probably not, but you will be showing all these people the photos (that is, unless your photographer really wasn’t ready/suitable for the task!).

I think it’s fair to say any business in the Wedding industry raise the price as soon as the word Wedding is mentioned.

after all it’s just a piece of paper the government can use against you and screw you with later in life when you apply for a old age pension.

The OP can save money by just having one photographer on the day – many Canberra ‘professionals’ will insist that there is a 2nd photographer there as well. Most 2nd photographers are only students or part timers and any photos they take wont be missed when push comes to shove. You’ll save a few dollars having just the one if you are on a budget.

7captains said :

close your eyes, bite the bullet and pay the $2k for a professional wedding photographer! I made the mistake of wanting to save a few dollars, and asked my husband’s aunty who is a an photographic artist (galleries around oz and the world). She reluctantly said yes- only because taking photos for a wedding involves a lot of other technicalities, preparation, post production. This coming from a professional. Wish I heeded her reluctance. As back up my father in law who deems himself a good amateur also took photos.
Disaster. Don’t do it!
It took 9 months to get our photos, and the guilt trip for even asking. My fil’s photos were terrible.
Years later we have a CD which is a collation of all the photos our friends took with their smartphones/ digi cameras.
In retrospect we should have paid the $2k given all the post production work (presentation etc), and a 2nd album with all our amateur photographer friends photos.
If you need to make budget cuts on the wedding to pay the $2k, then forget the flowers or just go to woolies and buy a few bunches for $100. Make your own wedding cake (who remembers the what the cake tastes like by the end of the night). Be creative in how you all get to the wedding reception- bikes? walk? save on the limo’s there.
But don’t save on the photographer, as you’ll want great photos to show the great grand kids! And also that silent vanity that we all have- a good photographer will make you look uber great, where as an amateur will be too focused on their own artistic merit to care about how you look.

Bit hash, but you pay for monkeys you get monkeys or whatever that saying is.

Excellent post – thanks for contributing this other side of the the story – I hear this time and time again, and could post many similar stories – but it’s nice to hear it from the horses mouth so to speak not just from a photographer with a vested interest!

I’ve done a few photography jobs. Photographs for work, including one that went into a journal. Also things for friends and friends events. as far as weddings go i did one for free, with one exception. They hired a professional for the ceremony and some professional photos. I take some very good photos. I have an uncle who has a better camera than me, but takes lousy photos. that said weddings require more than just a good camera and ability to shoot good photos. Its a specialisation.
Look at allhomes for example. Some properties are photographed well in a professional manner (not necessarily by a professional. Others not and I bet the ones with better photos get more views.

Also IMO photographers don’t bump up their costs considerably just because its a wedding. They have very valid reasons and many wedding clients can be difficult.
That said venue hire and other things definately IMO bump up their prices considerably.

A professional you can check their previous work as well. Its a gripe many people have, however most of the money a pro makes covers some expensive ongoing costs. You see very few wealthy pro photographers going around. in fact most only do weddings because otherwise they couldn’t afford to live and do other work they actually enjoy.

close your eyes, bite the bullet and pay the $2k for a professional wedding photographer! I made the mistake of wanting to save a few dollars, and asked my husband’s aunty who is a an photographic artist (galleries around oz and the world). She reluctantly said yes- only because taking photos for a wedding involves a lot of other technicalities, preparation, post production. This coming from a professional. Wish I heeded her reluctance. As back up my father in law who deems himself a good amateur also took photos.
Disaster. Don’t do it!
It took 9 months to get our photos, and the guilt trip for even asking. My fil’s photos were terrible.
Years later we have a CD which is a collation of all the photos our friends took with their smartphones/ digi cameras.
In retrospect we should have paid the $2k given all the post production work (presentation etc), and a 2nd album with all our amateur photographer friends photos.
If you need to make budget cuts on the wedding to pay the $2k, then forget the flowers or just go to woolies and buy a few bunches for $100. Make your own wedding cake (who remembers the what the cake tastes like by the end of the night). Be creative in how you all get to the wedding reception- bikes? walk? save on the limo’s there.
But don’t save on the photographer, as you’ll want great photos to show the great grand kids! And also that silent vanity that we all have- a good photographer will make you look uber great, where as an amateur will be too focused on their own artistic merit to care about how you look.

Bit hash, but you pay for monkeys you get monkeys or whatever that saying is.

Just like every other profession, there are professionals who charge a price that allows them to keep their dignity and self respect, and at least make a little bit of a profit and then there are amateurs who think they’re good enough to pull off a wedding but don’t know jack.

Yes, there are plenty of people in between – perhaps someone who will be one of those professionals in the future but needs to build up their portfolio and is willing to spend 80+ hours for no profit – but for the most part, if you are good enough, you would charge more.

But this is no different to anything else. Want some plastic surgery but can’t afford a real doctor? Ol’ Jane bought some lip fillers online from eastern europe and is more than willing to plump up your lips in her garage for $20. Now you have herpes and one side of your lip is twice as big as the other? Don’t worry – you saved a bunch of money compared to those price gouging doctors!

The point is, if you want a professional, you could easily find one, if you want to pay an amateur to take mediocre photos you’ll be disappointed with you can easily find that as well.

The tricky thing is finding a decent amateur before they realise they’re worth more…

thatsnotme said :

I’d be happy to talk to you about what you’re after, if you leave a contact here. I’d prefer not to post up a link…I’d rather keep my RA life and real life somewhat separate!

Thanks! Email should now be visible in profile.

To be a good wedding photographer they really do have to be great a people person, and be able to direct small and large groups. I’ve experienced the difference between one and a good amateur photographer first hand.

Mysteryman said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Flickr.com

All y’all move.

Your posts on this issue are demonstrating a increasing lack of knowledge on the subject. You clearly don’t know anything about what it takes to be a *good* photographer, or even what makes a good photo. Now would be an opportune time to finally make a sensible decision and just stop posting.

About the only sensible decision left when it comes to CGN is ‘ignore the troll’. Like any juvenile seeking attention, if you ignore him he’ll eventually just go away.

Mysteryman said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Flickr.com

All y’all move.

Your posts on this issue are demonstrating a increasing lack of knowledge on the subject. You clearly don’t know anything about what it takes to be a *good* photographer, or even what makes a good photo. Now would be an opportune time to finally make a sensible decision and just stop posting.

Source?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Flickr.com

All y’all move.

Your posts on this issue are demonstrating a increasing lack of knowledge on the subject. You clearly don’t know anything about what it takes to be a *good* photographer, or even what makes a good photo. Now would be an opportune time to finally make a sensible decision and just stop posting.

MagicMonkey said :

Why don’t you post your contact email so photographer’s in your price range can email you directly.

Via their hotmail account..

Why don’t you post your contact email so photographer’s in your price range can email you directly.

By the way, for anyone interested or concerned about the selling practices of wedding photographers… One thing the AIPP tries to do is accredit and set standards for the professional arm of the industry. The AIPP had a code of ethics that members are accountable to. High pressure sales tactics are against this code of ethics. Members can (and have been) removed from the organization for breaches, so this is one advantage of hiring an AIPP accredited photographer. While there are no 100% guarantees in life no matter who you hire at least they are accountable and you have a much higher chance of getting someone who will behave ethically. Of course most non members also behave ethically but are only responsible to their own codes.

devils_advocate, we were given a CD from which we could make enlargements up to about the size of an A4 page (8×12). There was a higher resolution disc available, but we didn’t want to make any prints bigger than that ourselves.

The cost for the photography on the day and 520 postcard size prints in a ‘proof’ album was $1100 and our photographer came in the morning and stayed for the whole reception.

About 6 months later we went back and got a couple of our favourite pictures on canvas and a really good album. All of that came to just over $2400.

devils_advocate said :

I would like to ask one serious question and one not-as-serious.

1) From what is posted above, seems wedding photos done reasonably well for the day can be between $1500-$2000 – does anyone have any recommendations (i.e. names! phone numbers even better), including how many hours this included, and is a CD of digital images handed over at the end?

I’d be happy to talk to you about what you’re after, if you leave a contact here. I’d prefer not to post up a link…I’d rather keep my RA life and real life somewhat separate!

My starting price is $1,450, for four hours. You get your photos on disc, in full resolution (ie JPEG files at full size). You’re free to do whatever you want with those files, with the exception of using them for commercial purposes.

2) More importantly – do wedding photographers get laid all the time, like Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers?

I wish! To be honest, the way I’m feeling at the end of most weddings, I’d be a dud root anyway 😉

Flickr.com

All y’all move.

sarahlucy said :

I got married 5 years ago and was very happy with the prices and service I had from my photographer. It looks as though she’s still in business: http://www.badcat.com.au

Roughly how much (if you don’t mind my asking) and did you get the electronic hi-res images?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

mossrocket said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

How insulting.

Yes, many people can read manuals, twiddle knobs and press buttons – maybe as good or better than a professional – but they don’t have the artistic ‘eye’ that makes the piece of equipment capture the moment.

By all means, you could buy a nice DSLR, a copy of Photoshop and do a half decent job with a bit of practice. But years of experience, calmness in the face of what can be the most hectic day in a couple’s life, and a professional attitude are what you are paying for…

Total BS…

In this day and age, the amount of amateur photographers doing incredible stuff is at a all time high.

And on a side note, the fact pros hold the negatives at ransom is absolutely disgusting. It should be a quoted price. Minimum charge of prints then negatives released.

Absolutely agree that many amateurs are doing incredible stuff these days. However most of these things are in controlled environments with models, plenty of time to experiment etc, not at weddings…. weddings are a whole other ball game. I challenge you to put forward some evidence to back your claims:

1. Post us some links to website galleries of amateur wedding photographers who are producing a consistently high standard of work from actual commissioned weddings…. work that shows a professional level of technical ability, craft, skill & artist or creative merit.

2. Post your income and explain why you deserve to earn what you do before accusing others who are just trying to make a living! Explain why and how and what constitutes price gouging by a photographer. Do you have their business figures (including full expenses and profit/loss statements) to prove this claim? A high price does not in itself mean someone is overcharging – have you thought perhaps that they put a lot more time and effort and quality into what they produce? Why are some cars more expensive than others? (or any other product for that matter) – usually because they’re more expensive to make!

And your side note is completely out of touch. Yes there may be a fed dodgy operators but professional photographers on the whole do not hold negatives to ransom. Most packages these days do include the negatives, at any rate professionals should and mostly do outline exactly what the client is getting and for how much. The client can then decide if they are getting value for money or not and choose to purchase or look elsewhere!

I would like to ask one serious question and one not-as-serious.

1) From what is posted above, seems wedding photos done reasonably well for the day can be between $1500-$2000 – does anyone have any recommendations (i.e. names! phone numbers even better), including how many hours this included, and is a CD of digital images handed over at the end?

2) More importantly – do wedding photographers get laid all the time, like Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers?

I’m a working photographer and I also head up and admin (along with 4 others) the Photographers Den on Facebook. We’ve got over 1200 photographers over there ranging from those that just picked up a digital camera through to full time 20+ year seasoned pro’s.

I’ve also shot a number of weddings and I’ve shot them cheap… but weddings aren’t my specialty and right from the get go, I tell any potential client that I don’t specialise in weddings… period!. I shoot commercial property and real estate.

As time goes by and I shoot more weddings I’ll also charge more… much more. Thats not because I’ll earn a bucket load of money out of it, it’s because of the time involved in bringing it to a standard that meets a pro level. I currently loose money (time vs money) if I shoot a wedding.

As Fusion mentioned earlier, the costs are unfortunately hidden to the public when it comes to photography. A basic wedding kit will cost you the same as a decent new car… thats no joke and no exaggeration. You can price it for yourselves by going to Teds website and checking out some high end camera gear. Professional photographers don’t get gear any cheaper than regular folk… in fact, we often pay more due to getting professional services from particular brands. Regular customers can’t get that, you need to be a pro.

Heres a very quick rundown. If I had to buy it all again today
Canon Brand (As thats what I shoot)

– 5d mk3 body x 2 (or a lesser body as backup (7D))
– 4 x Backup Batteries for bodies
– 17 – 40 F4 L Lens
-24 – 70 f2.8 L
– 70-200 2.8IS L Lens
– 50mm 1.4 (or 1.2 L)
– 8 x 16Gig Mem cards (Ultras)
– 2 x 580exII Flashes
– 24 x 2800mha Batteries
– 4 by chargers
– Various lighting modifiers and misc gear like cables, mem card readers, etc.

And you can often throw in an assistant or second shooter too.

And then theres the general cost of running a business
Now you can add Insurance at $1000 per year+
– A good Laptop
– A damn good PC/Mac
– A damn good amount of HD space
– A good backup solution (Generally network attached)
– And optionally an AIPP/ACMP membership ($350 – $550 per year)
– Website + Hosting
– Advertising
– Accountant
– Online File Hosting
– Internet Connection with large downloads/uploads
– phone
– Fuel
– Car Maintenance
– etc, etc.

The list goes on and on… its no different to paying a decent electrician or plumber with the exception that a photographer takes their work home with them and can easily double or triple the time they spend working after a shoot.

A good photographer will be formally trained and/or be well self trained through very expensive workshops.

On top of my own photography, I also edit weddings for photographers and part of being a group admin, I’m also often lending a technical hand in solving problems (as does Fusion). Many of those problems occur due to many photographers lack of experience and lack of knowledge about their gear.

A good wedding photographer should have no qualms about letting you see a whole wedding album from start to finish if you ask. I suggest you ask if you have any reservations and always try and find good references.

Unfortunately, wedding photography is expensive but its also relative to the time, equipment and experience of the photographer you hire. I’ve watched a lot of wedding photographers grow from cheap and inexperienced to nominally priced and experienced to very experienced with a price to match. They have to charge for a profit, and most still have a second income even then. It’s not an easy gig to make a living out of, especially if its your only source of income.

The sad truth is that most photographers who try to make a living out of photography will fail at it and return to 9 – 5 jobs.

I’d have no hope in chasing my dream if it weren’t for my partners income while still building up my business.

LSWCHP said :

Pork Hunt said :

Postalgeek said :

phototext said :

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

Maybe the OP should just hire a panda; it eats shoots, and leaves.

A wombat eats, roots, shoots and leaves…

Nothing to do with wedding pics, but…

I used to have a T-Shirt showing the Combat Wombat in greens carrying an SLR, and that was his motto. 🙂 They were good days.

Um, is that SLR as in Single Lens Reflex or Self Loading Rifle?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

And on a side note, the fact pros hold the negatives at ransom is absolutely disgusting…

Can’t wait until we start hearing your expert analysis on copyright law, haha.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

fusion said :

Hi, I am the ACT president of the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photographers), have shot over 500 weddings in the last 10 years, and have helped train and mentor hundreds of wedding photographers, so I have a vast knowledge of the industry.

I would like to clear up a few of the misconceptions that have been posted here in response to this post if I may…..

It’s easy to bandy accusations about re price gouging but lets look at some facts: According to industry surveys the average wedding photographer in Australia earns $37,000. 9 out of 10 wedding photographers are part time and have a day job or other supporting income because they cannot make even a basic living out of their photography! So while it may seem that they are charging exorbitant fees the fact is that most wedding photographers are not charging nearly enough.

Speaking for myself, my fees are in the higher end of the market but my wife who is an ASO6 in the public service earns more than me. The running costs of my business are about $1500/week so assuming I actually had a wedding every week of the year I would need to charge at least $2000 to even make a $500 wage! And I still wouldn’t get holiday pay/super and I would have to pay GST and my tax out of that! Most wedding I spend 40-80 hours on so if you divide $500 by even 40 hours you will see that I would be earning well below min. wage, not really suitable for a highly skilled and trained professional…. if you don’t believe me you are welcome to come to my studio and I’ll show you my books and my last tax return – I have nothing tot hide….

It may also interest people to know that I earn the same wage for weddings as I do for any other jobs like portraits if commercial events – it may seem like wedding prices are higher but that is usually because there is a lot more work involved in shooting a wedding than there is for other kind of events. More meetings, more post-produciton etc etc

So the fact of the matter is if you are paying your photographer less than $2,000 then it is highly likely you earn far more than they do!!! There are plenty if new photographers out there that you can find to shoot your wedding for under $1,000 but they soon learn they can’t sustain those prices and will start charging a lot more after a year or two. So generally if you are paying those price you will be getting a student or a much less experienced photographer.

As to the discussion on amateurs doing a better job that professionals well that might happen on a rare occasion, and it may be the case that some “amateurs” are that in name only, and have a lot of experience even though they don’t charge for weddings…. but it is a nonsense to make a blanket statement like that. You may have an anecdotal case of where an amateur did a decent job but as someone who has been in the industry a long time I can tell you that there are hundreds of horror stories for every few good jobs done by those with no experience.

I understand if people cannot afford a professional photographer, that’s fair enough, it is a luxury service for some, but you do take a much higher risk in getting a friend to shoot your wedding when it comers to back up equipment, experience, risk-management procedures etc etc… and it is not fair to paint all photographers as price gougers…

If you can’t make your way doing your job, then get a better job. Do not resort to gouging peeps on what is one of the best days of their lives.

do you condemn your doctor, lawyer, plumber, mechanic, dentist, graphic designer,architect, glazier, caterer, etc… for gouging?

wake up, dude. fusion outlined the expenses, even offered to show them to you. now you deride him/her for this without even acknowledging this information and offer. nice work.

now, back to the pit with ye…

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Total BS…

In this day and age, the amount of amateur photographers doing incredible stuff is at a all time high.

And on a side note, the fact pros hold the negatives at ransom is absolutely disgusting. It should be a quoted price. Minimum charge of prints then negatives released.

Even by your own low standards this is absolute drivel.

Numerous people above who actually know what you’re talking about have explained why you’re wrong but once more with feeling.

Being able to take a good photograph does not mean you’re ready to be a wedding photographer.

To do a good job is about people management not photography.

Experience counts for a lot.

As to the terms and conditions and price, come to an agreement that makes you happy. or get a mate to shoot it and hope you get something.

Just don’t get angry and stop spouting rubbish.

mossrocket said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

How insulting.

Yes, many people can read manuals, twiddle knobs and press buttons – maybe as good or better than a professional – but they don’t have the artistic ‘eye’ that makes the piece of equipment capture the moment.

By all means, you could buy a nice DSLR, a copy of Photoshop and do a half decent job with a bit of practice. But years of experience, calmness in the face of what can be the most hectic day in a couple’s life, and a professional attitude are what you are paying for…

Total BS…

In this day and age, the amount of amateur photographers doing incredible stuff is at a all time high.

And on a side note, the fact pros hold the negatives at ransom is absolutely disgusting. It should be a quoted price. Minimum charge of prints then negatives released.

Jungle Jim said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Can you show me where I have been hostile? Please post a screenshot.

Dude – you’ve been here for long enough to know it’s not possible to post screenshots on this site. Stop asking for them, it’s getting really old.

Check your HTML skills bro. A simple link will suffice.

fusion said :

Hi, I am the ACT president of the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photographers), have shot over 500 weddings in the last 10 years, and have helped train and mentor hundreds of wedding photographers, so I have a vast knowledge of the industry.

I would like to clear up a few of the misconceptions that have been posted here in response to this post if I may…..

It’s easy to bandy accusations about re price gouging but lets look at some facts: According to industry surveys the average wedding photographer in Australia earns $37,000. 9 out of 10 wedding photographers are part time and have a day job or other supporting income because they cannot make even a basic living out of their photography! So while it may seem that they are charging exorbitant fees the fact is that most wedding photographers are not charging nearly enough.

Speaking for myself, my fees are in the higher end of the market but my wife who is an ASO6 in the public service earns more than me. The running costs of my business are about $1500/week so assuming I actually had a wedding every week of the year I would need to charge at least $2000 to even make a $500 wage! And I still wouldn’t get holiday pay/super and I would have to pay GST and my tax out of that! Most wedding I spend 40-80 hours on so if you divide $500 by even 40 hours you will see that I would be earning well below min. wage, not really suitable for a highly skilled and trained professional…. if you don’t believe me you are welcome to come to my studio and I’ll show you my books and my last tax return – I have nothing tot hide….

It may also interest people to know that I earn the same wage for weddings as I do for any other jobs like portraits if commercial events – it may seem like wedding prices are higher but that is usually because there is a lot more work involved in shooting a wedding than there is for other kind of events. More meetings, more post-produciton etc etc

So the fact of the matter is if you are paying your photographer less than $2,000 then it is highly likely you earn far more than they do!!! There are plenty if new photographers out there that you can find to shoot your wedding for under $1,000 but they soon learn they can’t sustain those prices and will start charging a lot more after a year or two. So generally if you are paying those price you will be getting a student or a much less experienced photographer.

As to the discussion on amateurs doing a better job that professionals well that might happen on a rare occasion, and it may be the case that some “amateurs” are that in name only, and have a lot of experience even though they don’t charge for weddings…. but it is a nonsense to make a blanket statement like that. You may have an anecdotal case of where an amateur did a decent job but as someone who has been in the industry a long time I can tell you that there are hundreds of horror stories for every few good jobs done by those with no experience.

I understand if people cannot afford a professional photographer, that’s fair enough, it is a luxury service for some, but you do take a much higher risk in getting a friend to shoot your wedding when it comers to back up equipment, experience, risk-management procedures etc etc… and it is not fair to paint all photographers as price gougers…

If you can’t make your way doing your job, then get a better job. Do not resort to gouging peeps on what is one of the best days of their lives.

I am able to claim I am a hobbyist photographer. I take photos of all sorts of things, but it is for me, not for others that I do it. I may share my images, I may even sell a couple, but I don’t compromise and take photos other people want. I could never be a wedding photographer.

One way to ensure that the wedding photographer is the real deal is to see other weddings that they have taken photos of. If they don’t have other weddings that they have taken photos at, chances are they are not a pro.

It is not a cheap profession. The costs associated with editing, printing and framing are not small. They probably do get discounts for bulk, but it is a lot easier to get a package with a photographer than to print and frame your own. The costs are reduced as well.

The OP might like to contact the AIPP, to get some suggestions about a wedding photographer. This will at least weed out the amateurs, and ensure that the person that you use is recognised as a professional. (there is a find a pro section on their site)

I got married 5 years ago and was very happy with the prices and service I had from my photographer. It looks as though she’s still in business: http://www.badcat.com.au

Solidarity said :

not every pro photographer is actually pro

well, actually they are – ‘professional’ just means ‘i derive a living from this service’.

what you mean in ‘not all pro photographers are good’. that is true…

but trivial, as not all professional [insert profession of choice] are good at their craft… but your argument made it sound like not many pro photographers are good. you really need to temper your argument.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Can you show me where I have been hostile? Please post a screenshot.

Dude – you’ve been here for long enough to know it’s not possible to post screenshots on this site. Stop asking for them, it’s getting really old.

that’s not what i meant.

what i meant is that there are a lot of “pro” photographers that label themselves as pro, but in actual fact they are s***.

it gets hard because every single photographer out there shows you a set of photos they have taken*, and they all look good… but they’re not all available at a time that will suit… not every pro photographer is actually pro

*they might have not even taken the portfolio photos if they’re really dodgy

Solidarity said :

So Wedding photographers have a tough gig, therefore I should pay lots for them?

You may get a lousy job with an amateur, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get a lousy job with a pro.

[not aimed just at you, solidarity – it’s this whole thread] oh, for chist’s sake, stop with this ‘oh, but some professionals are lousy, too’ meme with photography.

this is a complex and difficult art and practiced really well by few people; and only people who invest a lot of time, patience, exertion and themselves towards developing their craft. you can get a lot of lousy service jobs done by ‘professional’ mechanics, or buildings done by ‘professional’ builders. how many people rate the professional driving skills of the last cab ride they took?

photography isn’t about who has the best equipment. photography is done by using a box with a hole in it and having some appropriate light-sensitive material inside to capture some quantified amount of light. it is also about creativity, imagination, artistic temperament and, especially with any form of portraiture, interpersonal skills.

like any service, you get more or less what you pay for. if you engage a genuine professional (like fusion) you’ll have some comeback if you have genuine greivances about the service provided. this has comensurate cost associations, which fusion has outlined very clearly.

as far as answering the op, i’d be inclined to approach the cit photography department and seek the services of an enthusiastic, promising student willing to shoot the job. in any case, whoever you go with, you should look at their portfolio, find someone who’s ‘eye’ you like, who you can get on with and can do the job of the photographer you envisage for your wedding (everyone’s idea of what they want are different – having shot many many of these things – so i don’t at all take the early disagreement comments with much more than grains of salt…) these are the people who will have a lot of the skills you seek and not yet at a point charging the prices you’ll pay for more seasoned photographer with a serious business.

[and just before i finish the rant, i can’t let the comment about posed ‘natural’ pics go by. the way i approached the more or less ‘staged’ shots was to work with the clients, find a venue / environment they wanted to be in and got them to explore / interact with that environment on the day and shoot what happened – candid shots, if you like, all the way. i know that was just me, and some photographers want to ‘stage’ pretty well the whole day, but my take was this is the couple’s day and i’ll shoot what i see…]

/rant

and btw, congratulations to your son and his bride to be – i hope it’s a fabulous day! 🙂

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

How insulting.

Yes, many people can read manuals, twiddle knobs and press buttons – maybe as good or better than a professional – but they don’t have the artistic ‘eye’ that makes the piece of equipment capture the moment.

By all means, you could buy a nice DSLR, a copy of Photoshop and do a half decent job with a bit of practice. But years of experience, calmness in the face of what can be the most hectic day in a couple’s life, and a professional attitude are what you are paying for…

So Wedding photographers have a tough gig, therefore I should pay lots for them?

You may get a lousy job with an amateur, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get a lousy job with a pro.

Hi, I am the ACT president of the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photographers), have shot over 500 weddings in the last 10 years, and have helped train and mentor hundreds of wedding photographers, so I have a vast knowledge of the industry.

I would like to clear up a few of the misconceptions that have been posted here in response to this post if I may…..

It’s easy to bandy accusations about re price gouging but lets look at some facts: According to industry surveys the average wedding photographer in Australia earns $37,000. 9 out of 10 wedding photographers are part time and have a day job or other supporting income because they cannot make even a basic living out of their photography! So while it may seem that they are charging exorbitant fees the fact is that most wedding photographers are not charging nearly enough.

Speaking for myself, my fees are in the higher end of the market but my wife who is an ASO6 in the public service earns more than me. The running costs of my business are about $1500/week so assuming I actually had a wedding every week of the year I would need to charge at least $2000 to even make a $500 wage! And I still wouldn’t get holiday pay/super and I would have to pay GST and my tax out of that! Most wedding I spend 40-80 hours on so if you divide $500 by even 40 hours you will see that I would be earning well below min. wage, not really suitable for a highly skilled and trained professional…. if you don’t believe me you are welcome to come to my studio and I’ll show you my books and my last tax return – I have nothing tot hide….

It may also interest people to know that I earn the same wage for weddings as I do for any other jobs like portraits if commercial events – it may seem like wedding prices are higher but that is usually because there is a lot more work involved in shooting a wedding than there is for other kind of events. More meetings, more post-produciton etc etc

So the fact of the matter is if you are paying your photographer less than $2,000 then it is highly likely you earn far more than they do!!! There are plenty if new photographers out there that you can find to shoot your wedding for under $1,000 but they soon learn they can’t sustain those prices and will start charging a lot more after a year or two. So generally if you are paying those price you will be getting a student or a much less experienced photographer.

As to the discussion on amateurs doing a better job that professionals well that might happen on a rare occasion, and it may be the case that some “amateurs” are that in name only, and have a lot of experience even though they don’t charge for weddings…. but it is a nonsense to make a blanket statement like that. You may have an anecdotal case of where an amateur did a decent job but as someone who has been in the industry a long time I can tell you that there are hundreds of horror stories for every few good jobs done by those with no experience.

I understand if people cannot afford a professional photographer, that’s fair enough, it is a luxury service for some, but you do take a much higher risk in getting a friend to shoot your wedding when it comers to back up equipment, experience, risk-management procedures etc etc… and it is not fair to paint all photographers as price gougers…

Pork Hunt said :

Postalgeek said :

phototext said :

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

Maybe the OP should just hire a panda; it eats shoots, and leaves.

A wombat eats, roots, shoots and leaves…

Porky baby, can I interest you on some of these screen shots?

Pork Hunt said :

Postalgeek said :

phototext said :

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

Maybe the OP should just hire a panda; it eats shoots, and leaves.

A wombat eats, roots, shoots and leaves…

Nothing to do with wedding pics, but…

I used to have a T-Shirt showing the Combat Wombat in greens carrying an SLR, and that was his motto. 🙂 They were good days.

Postalgeek said :

phototext said :

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

Maybe the OP should just hire a panda; it eats shoots, and leaves.

A wombat eats, roots, shoots and leaves…

phototext said :

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

Maybe the OP should just hire a panda; it eats shoots, and leaves.

Jethro said :

Ko. said :

Comic and Gamer Nerd will do an entire wedding album of screenshots for you for $13.50.

Gross.

Haha how did I miss this?

Il do that service for free though!

Conan of Cooma said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Just because someone is a amateur, doesn’t mean they don’t know as much as you, don’t have as much experience as you or don’t have the same gear as you.

Actually, that’s the definition of amateur, negative implications included. If an amateur was as good as a pro, they would move on to become pro, and would no longer be amateur. That’s how the cycle works. If you truly were a gamer nerd you would have no issue understanding this. I guess this must be your comic reading side showing through.

There are many many reasons not to turn pro. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should or have to.

re “realistic”; You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means…

Not everyone with a decent camera is a photographer…

What it sounds like you want is an amateur/hobbyist photographer. Try getting on to some of the local photography sites; you could try “The Photographer’s Den” on Facebook and offer the job for quotes.

I do a bit of photography, (you may have noticed.) I would never do a wedding as it’s a “one off chance” event, and so important to those involved.

I was watching someone do a wedding shoot at the national Arboretum last night, lovely setting. Wouldn’t have got me to shoot it for love nor money..

oh, and btw, I have heard plenty of horror stories over the years about backyarders.

Not turning up, turning up late, losing shot film, scratched film, under or over exposed film, formatting the wrong memory card, cameras breaking, batteries running out, getting drunk, sleazing onto bridesmaids…

A professional wedding photographer turns up on time, knows what to do, shoots, leaves and you get your images at the agreed time and they look like wedding photographs.

If you go with a backyarder or an amateur who takes nice landscapes but knows eff all about wedding photography you have no one but yourself to blame if you get back shonky photographs of your special day.

“BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.”

I know that water runs downhill…. doesn’t make me a plumber.

I know that electricity is dangerous… doesn’t make me an electrician.

I know that Comic Sans is ugly… doesn’t make me a graphic designer.

I know how to take very good photographs… doesn’t make me a wedding photographer.

I’ve done a few in my time and it is friggin hard work, very stressful (you only get one chance to capture a wedding), under variable and uncontrolled lighting conditions with often a tonal range that just hurts (black suits, white dress, ouch) with limited time, half the people stressed out or drunk or both and there is always some friggin amateur photographer who insists on telling you what you are doing wrong.

The Horror.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Just because someone is a amateur, doesn’t mean they don’t know as much as you, don’t have as much experience as you or don’t have the same gear as you.

Actually, that’s the definition of amateur, negative implications included. If an amateur was as good as a pro, they would move on to become pro, and would no longer be amateur. That’s how the cycle works. If you truly were a gamer nerd you would have no issue understanding this. I guess this must be your comic reading side showing through.

Ko. said :

Comic and Gamer Nerd will do an entire wedding album of screenshots for you for $13.50.

Gross.

thatsnotme said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Can you show me where I mentioned I even am a amateur photographer? I’m hopeless! Yet I know many amateur photographers, several who have done weddings for free and done a better job than any pro I ever seen.

And major lol @ making it look natural. All pros stage pictures. It’s impossible to make that look natural.

Stop trying to justify your ridic prices.

Ok, so you’re not actually coming from any position of experience at all then – not even as someone who can take a half decent photo.

You know what? I can make a ‘staged’ photo look natural. I’m not going to lie to you – I found it really hard to do that early on. With time and practice though, I’ve learned how to make a couple feel comfortable enough that they can be in a ‘staged’ environment, but they don’t look like they’re pretending. Mostly, because they’re not – I’m just lucky enough to be part of the joy and excitement they feel after becoming married.

Those photos are probably 10% of all the photos I’ll take on a day though. Surely you’re not trying to tell me that a the ‘first kiss’ is something I’ve staged? Or that moment when one of their voices cracks reading their vows, and their partner looks at them with an expression that is 100% compassion and love? I’m there to get that shot, and when I’m looking back at my coverage of a wedding, I’m far more proud of photos like that, than the shots where I’ve got time to think about what I’m doing.

So I’m done with responding to your posts – I’m proud of what I do, and I’m proud that when I say goodnight to the couple on their wedding day, their thanks to me is almost always warm and heartfelt. It tells me that I’ve managed to be a part of their day – not just a wedding day inconvenience that they need to suffer through. And I sure as hell feel no need to justify anything to you.

Apologies to the OP for the hijack – I hope your son and his fiancee end up with some photos they’re still smiling at 50 years from now.

You don’t seem to understand the difference between staged and natural.
Are you really trying to say that the kiss during the ceremony can only be captured by you? Do you want to know why that shot looks natural? Maybe because that’s not a staged photo…

54-11 said :

CGN, why all the continual aggro about relatively minor things? You need anger management or something?

You take away from people who just want to read threads and see what valuable information the Canberra community can input, not your hostile responses to everyone else’s opinion.

Can you show me where I have been hostile? Please post a screenshot.

If I see somebody trying to fleece others I will point that out. It’s not being hostile, in fact it’s helping the OP.

thatsnotme said :

Disclaimer – I’m a part time wedding photographer, which will obviously affect my opinions. I hope that this post is constructive though – certainly not having a go at the OP.

So what do you think is a fair price for what you’re wanting? And what range are we looking at for these ‘horrendous’ prices – does anything over $1,000 fall into that category?

oversampled is right – for a professional to keep a business viable, there’s a price they need to charge. When you consider that a pro is likely carrying around over $10,000 dollars worth of equipment at least, has to pay tax on your fee, insurance for their gear as well as liability insurance…and the list goes on…then you start to see that the fee you pay isn’t just profit going straight into their pocket.

On top of that, you should double the time that the photographer works on the day, to cover processing time to get your photos ready to hand over to you. That’s not extensive photoshop work – just making sure your photos are consistent, correctly exposed and coloured, and don’t include shots of you pulling some embarrassing face as you blink at just the wrong time. Basically minor work to make sure that your photos look as good as they possibly can.

Bargain basement photographers are going to have to cut corners somewhere along the line. Whether that’s down to using cheap gear, lack of experience, or just not bothering with editing after the fact, by paying a cheap price you’re less likely to be paying closer to what wedding photography is actually worth, and more likely to be paying for a poor result.

Personally, what you’re asking for (nothing fancy, just all your edited photos on disc ready for you to print) I charge from $1,450 for. I realise that while I’m not up in the high end, it’s also a lot of money – you’d better believe that I take time, care, and pride in my work, because I’d hate for someone to be disappointed for that price. If I was charging $500? Maybe I could justify to myself not taking as much care…

Finally, just one piece of advice if you do find someone who’s more in line with what you want to pay. Please please please ask to see a full wedding worth of photos that they’ve taken. It’s going to be far more representative of what your son and his fiancée will actually be paying for, than what you might see on their website or portfolio. Anyone can get lucky with a few shots that end up looking great – consistency is what you want from a wedding day though. Best of luck.

I would have to say that this is a pretty reasonable price.

When we were married 10 years ago we were also put off by some of the prices for wedding photography, 2-3000 dollars was too steep for us at the time (half the price of the reception!).

& none of them would give you the negatives, so if we wanted something extra later you had to pay. No thank you.

We found a guy in Belconnen who did the whole thing for about 600 plus processing and we kept all the negatives. He was part time as well.

The biggest thing? We liked him, he was a nice bloke and this made all the difference because he got some nice shots.

The other thing, he stayed all night (we fed him as one of the guests) so we didn’t have to do things like mock cutting of the cake or speeches at a certain time. It was our wedding and we didn’t want the photographers dictating proceedings.

The pictures turned out really well and to this day we are happy with them.

If I could remember his name I would give it to you but I cant sorry.

There is a guy I used to know called Peter Chin, he does it part time and is an extremely nice guy. I have not seen him for quite some time so I don’t have is details either but if you find him in your travels give him a go.

Pork Hunt said :

Ko. said :

Comic and Gamer Nerd will do an entire wedding album of screenshots for you for $13.50.

Source?

Sauce?

CGN, why all the continual aggro about relatively minor things? You need anger management or something?

You take away from people who just want to read threads and see what valuable information the Canberra community can input, not your hostile responses to everyone else’s opinion.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Can you show me where I mentioned I even am a amateur photographer? I’m hopeless! Yet I know many amateur photographers, several who have done weddings for free and done a better job than any pro I ever seen.

And major lol @ making it look natural. All pros stage pictures. It’s impossible to make that look natural.

Stop trying to justify your ridic prices.

Ok, so you’re not actually coming from any position of experience at all then – not even as someone who can take a half decent photo.

You know what? I can make a ‘staged’ photo look natural. I’m not going to lie to you – I found it really hard to do that early on. With time and practice though, I’ve learned how to make a couple feel comfortable enough that they can be in a ‘staged’ environment, but they don’t look like they’re pretending. Mostly, because they’re not – I’m just lucky enough to be part of the joy and excitement they feel after becoming married.

Those photos are probably 10% of all the photos I’ll take on a day though. Surely you’re not trying to tell me that a the ‘first kiss’ is something I’ve staged? Or that moment when one of their voices cracks reading their vows, and their partner looks at them with an expression that is 100% compassion and love? I’m there to get that shot, and when I’m looking back at my coverage of a wedding, I’m far more proud of photos like that, than the shots where I’ve got time to think about what I’m doing.

So I’m done with responding to your posts – I’m proud of what I do, and I’m proud that when I say goodnight to the couple on their wedding day, their thanks to me is almost always warm and heartfelt. It tells me that I’ve managed to be a part of their day – not just a wedding day inconvenience that they need to suffer through. And I sure as hell feel no need to justify anything to you.

Apologies to the OP for the hijack – I hope your son and his fiancee end up with some photos they’re still smiling at 50 years from now.

Pork Hunt said :

How can we be assured the wedding will be realistic?

Perhaps one of the parties will abstract herself.

Yeah, I call BS. I’ve seen some lousy so called professional Wedding photographers. We had a few friends help out with photos at our wedding for next to nothing and we are incredibly happy with our photos. We made a point of not mentioning the ‘wedding’ word for anything to do with our wedding (wherever possible). Even though our cake wasn’t traditional, the cake maker knew it was for a wedding – ended up charging us $1000 and the cake was the worse thing about our wedding. I’m sorry, but just because someone sets themselves up as a ‘professional’ and has expenses, I’m not going to chip in and pay for them unless it is something really special and is priced similarly to if the same thing wasn’t for a wedding.

The other thing I knew about our wedding was that we weren’t going to do the $80 a plate, steak one person, chicken the next, steak the next. Every argument I’ve heard for overcharging for wedding catering is absolute crap.

A English comedy show a while back had an ongoing skit where a couple would approach various businesses such as florists and order flowers for say $60 (or UK pounds), then would accidentally mention it was for a wedding and automatically get the wedding price of $120 for same item.

Weddings, it sets you up as a target in the same way as looking like a tourist in a 3rd world country!

Can you show me where I mentioned I even am a amateur photographer? I’m hopeless! Yet I know many amateur photographers, several who have done weddings for free and done a better job than any pro I ever seen.

And major lol @ making it look natural. All pros stage pictures. It’s impossible to make that look natural.

Stop trying to justify your ridic prices.

Ko. said :

Comic and Gamer Nerd will do an entire wedding album of screenshots for you for $13.50.

Source?

Ko. said :

Comic and Gamer Nerd will do an entire wedding album of screenshots for you for $13.50.

Hopefully he’ll post some screenshots of them here so we can critique them.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

thatsnotme said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

oversampled said :

Sorry to break it to you, but professionals who are good enough to do a truly good job and not stuff up the most important life event you can photograph, and who aren’t ‘back-yarders’ usually ask a realistic amount for their work in Canberra because weddings are one of the few photographic jobs in this town where they can earn enough to pay for their rent, their equipment, their car, their house and so on, without going out of business in the quiet season.

You get what you pay for.

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

Your mistake is to equate professional wedding photographer with simply knowing how to use a camera. It’s not.

Well, a wedding photographer would have that opinion, wouldn’t they?

Again, BS.

Just because someone is a amateur, doesn’t mean they don’t know as much as you, don’t have as much experience as you or don’t have the same gear as you.

Of course a wedding photographer would have that opinion. The fact of the matter is, I know what it’s like to shoot someone’s wedding, and you obviously don’t.

I fully realise that there are amateurs with the same – or better – gear than I’ve got. I fully realise that there are amateurs who have been taking photos for longer than I have. I fully realise that there are amateurs who likely have more theoretical knowledge than I have.

I also know that without having a good knowledge of how the day will flow, I’ll likely miss important shots. I know that without having the confidence to direct my couple during the day, their photos will end up looking awkward and staged. I know that at the end of the day if I’ve been able to build a rapport with my couple – a process that begins from the first time we meet – that their photos will look more comfortable and natural.

We’re talking about photographing someone’s wedding day here. I’m sure there are some amateurs that can just run with it and do a great job – but that’d be the exception, not the rule. A wedding day is about a hell of a lot more than pointing and clicking.

So how about before you go telling me my latest reply is BS, you tell me what experience you’ve had with wedding photography? Aside from sitting on the sidelines imagining you could do a better job?

Comic and Gamer Nerd will do an entire wedding album of screenshots for you for $13.50.

oversampled said :

Sorry to break it to you, but professionals who are good enough to do a truly good job and not stuff up the most important life event you can photograph, and who aren’t ‘back-yarders’ usually ask a realistic amount for their work in Canberra because weddings are one of the few photographic jobs in this town where they can earn enough to pay for their rent, their equipment, their car, their house and so on, without going out of business in the quiet season.

You get what you pay for.

THIS. You want good photos, you pay for them. If your son is the kind of person who can’t tell a good photo from a lousy one, then by all means pay bargain basement prices.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

You are clearly one of the people who doesn’t know anything about photography. Yes, there are plenty of amateurs who can use a camera. And their photos are clearly amateur, sometimes even horrendous. But thankfully for them there are people like you who wouldn’t know the difference.

How can we be assured the wedding will be realistic?

thatsnotme said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

oversampled said :

Sorry to break it to you, but professionals who are good enough to do a truly good job and not stuff up the most important life event you can photograph, and who aren’t ‘back-yarders’ usually ask a realistic amount for their work in Canberra because weddings are one of the few photographic jobs in this town where they can earn enough to pay for their rent, their equipment, their car, their house and so on, without going out of business in the quiet season.

You get what you pay for.

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

Your mistake is to equate professional wedding photographer with simply knowing how to use a camera. It’s not.

Well, a wedding photographer would have that opinion, wouldn’t they?

Again, BS.

Just because someone is a amateur, doesn’t mean they don’t know as much as you, don’t have as much experience as you or don’t have the same gear as you.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

oversampled said :

Sorry to break it to you, but professionals who are good enough to do a truly good job and not stuff up the most important life event you can photograph, and who aren’t ‘back-yarders’ usually ask a realistic amount for their work in Canberra because weddings are one of the few photographic jobs in this town where they can earn enough to pay for their rent, their equipment, their car, their house and so on, without going out of business in the quiet season.

You get what you pay for.

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

Your mistake is to equate professional wedding photographer with simply knowing how to use a camera. It’s not.

Disclaimer – I’m a part time wedding photographer, which will obviously affect my opinions. I hope that this post is constructive though – certainly not having a go at the OP.

So what do you think is a fair price for what you’re wanting? And what range are we looking at for these ‘horrendous’ prices – does anything over $1,000 fall into that category?

oversampled is right – for a professional to keep a business viable, there’s a price they need to charge. When you consider that a pro is likely carrying around over $10,000 dollars worth of equipment at least, has to pay tax on your fee, insurance for their gear as well as liability insurance…and the list goes on…then you start to see that the fee you pay isn’t just profit going straight into their pocket.

On top of that, you should double the time that the photographer works on the day, to cover processing time to get your photos ready to hand over to you. That’s not extensive photoshop work – just making sure your photos are consistent, correctly exposed and coloured, and don’t include shots of you pulling some embarrassing face as you blink at just the wrong time. Basically minor work to make sure that your photos look as good as they possibly can.

Bargain basement photographers are going to have to cut corners somewhere along the line. Whether that’s down to using cheap gear, lack of experience, or just not bothering with editing after the fact, by paying a cheap price you’re less likely to be paying closer to what wedding photography is actually worth, and more likely to be paying for a poor result.

Personally, what you’re asking for (nothing fancy, just all your edited photos on disc ready for you to print) I charge from $1,450 for. I realise that while I’m not up in the high end, it’s also a lot of money – you’d better believe that I take time, care, and pride in my work, because I’d hate for someone to be disappointed for that price. If I was charging $500? Maybe I could justify to myself not taking as much care…

Finally, just one piece of advice if you do find someone who’s more in line with what you want to pay. Please please please ask to see a full wedding worth of photos that they’ve taken. It’s going to be far more representative of what your son and his fiancée will actually be paying for, than what you might see on their website or portfolio. Anyone can get lucky with a few shots that end up looking great – consistency is what you want from a wedding day though. Best of luck.

oversampled said :

Sorry to break it to you, but professionals who are good enough to do a truly good job and not stuff up the most important life event you can photograph, and who aren’t ‘back-yarders’ usually ask a realistic amount for their work in Canberra because weddings are one of the few photographic jobs in this town where they can earn enough to pay for their rent, their equipment, their car, their house and so on, without going out of business in the quiet season.

You get what you pay for.

BS

In this day and age there are plenty of amateurs who understand how to use cameras effectively better than so called professionals.

Sorry to break it to you, but professionals who are good enough to do a truly good job and not stuff up the most important life event you can photograph, and who aren’t ‘back-yarders’ usually ask a realistic amount for their work in Canberra because weddings are one of the few photographic jobs in this town where they can earn enough to pay for their rent, their equipment, their car, their house and so on, without going out of business in the quiet season.

You get what you pay for.