I just made Jim Bryant proud!!

[naeno]

My sister's mother-in-law just called me and told me that her granddaughter was getting married in October. She told me they had already set up a photographer at a good price, but was wondering if I could possibly give them a better deal. The person doing the wedding photographs was going to charge $400 total and take "as many pictures as my granddaughter wants and give all the pictures to her on a CD so she can print as many pictures as she wants wherever she wants."

I brought up that a wedding is a one shot deal, and I've only got one camera, so I don't do weddings yet. I told her to make sure the photographer had a second shooter so one could photograph posed photos and one could do candid photos. I told her about the hours and hours that should go into post processing to make the pictures really pop. I also told her she needed to make sure her "bargain" photographer was going to do all that and there is a reason why true pros charge $1000-1400 at minimum for a wedding. She thanked me for all the pointers and told me she'd talk to her granddaughter about them. After I hung up the phone, all I could think to myself was, "Well, if Jim knew what I just did, he would have been proud!"

$400 is jack squat to do a wedding. Sounds like a "craigs list" deal.

[RexK_Cozumel]

yeah seriously. if a photographer offers to do a wedding for $400 either s/he has no idea what s/he is getting into, is going to do a really poor job, or if going to take the money and no show.

[OsmosisStudios]

Friends of mine (a lovely couple) do weddings on occasion. The LEAST they charged was her brother, and even that was $800.

[fletch]

If someone is charging $400 for a wedding they will likely do a worse job that you can. It was the right thing to turn down the job dut you should really push the point that "if your pay peanuts you get monkeys" in the world of photography.

Judging someones work by their online portfolio is not enough, those will be the 20-30 best photos that person have ever taken. Before you hire them as to see a few exapmles of entire weddings so you can judge the finished product. Having just received my wedding album and been very happy I can tell you how important it is. A friend was not so lucky, went the cheap route and now really regrets it.

[naeno]

Originally Posted by maxharvard

$400 is jack squat to do a wedding. Sounds like a "craigs list" deal.

That would be my guess, but I don't know for sure.

I pushed my points as far as I thought was appropriate. I didn't go so far as to guarantee her the pictures would be awful, but came pretty darn close!

[vandergus]

I think it's good that you explained to your friend that with photographers, just like most other goods and services, you get what you pat for. I think it's also good to keep in mind, though, that not everyone can afford to spend a grand on wedding photographs. Saying you shouldn't spend less than $1000 on a wedding photographer is like saying that you shouldn't spend less than $20,000 on a car (those numbers are arbitrary). Everyone has different budgets and different expectations about what they need from a photographer/car. Many people will be satisfied with the budget option but those with more discerning tastes (like those in this forum) would probably spend a little more to get the better quality. Again, it's great that you're helping to set those expectations for your friend. If they think the photographs from a $400 job are going to be on par with the photographs from a $1500 job are going to be equal, then your education should be appreciated. But if they simply can't afford $1500, don't make them feel bad if they choose to go cheap.

[naeno]

Originally Posted by vandergus

But if they simply can't afford $1500, don't make them feel bad if they choose to go cheap.

I simply brought up things for them to discuss with the photographer, which they appreciated. Many people have no idea how much work actually goes into photographing a wedding, and I wanted to make them aware of what they should look out for. As I said before, I didn't tell them the pictures were going to be awful, but that they needed to be very aware of what they were getting.

Trust me, I understand the need to go cheap (I did for my wedding, and was lucky that it turned out fine), and wouldn't embarrass anyone for trying to save money (frugal is my middle name). BUT, knowledge is power.

[smc1377]

I ran into a guy asking me what I charge to do weddings and I told him I would need to know what all needs to be done before we can ever talk price. Anyhow, long story short, he was just a dork with a camera who thought he could charge $400 to show up at a wedding, take pics and then give CD's to the couple and call it good. I tried enlightening him about how much work SHOULD go into it, but he refused to listen. I'm sure he's probably the guy (used in the generic sense) doing that wedding above.

[Jim Bryant]

naeno...........hell yes, I'm proud as hell Glad someone is taking my advice not to sell themselves cheaply.

Originally Posted by naeno

My sister's mother-in-law just called me and told me that her granddaughter was getting married in October. She told me they had already set up a photographer at a good price, but was wondering if I could possibly give them a better deal. The person doing the wedding photographs was going to charge $400 total and take "as many pictures as my granddaughter wants and give all the pictures to her on a CD so she can print as many pictures as she wants wherever she wants."

I brought up that a wedding is a one shot deal, and I've only got one camera, so I don't do weddings yet. I told her to make sure the photographer had a second shooter so one could photograph posed photos and one could do candid photos. I told her about the hours and hours that should go into post processing to make the pictures really pop. I also told her she needed to make sure her "bargain" photographer was going to do all that and there is a reason why true pros charge $1000-1400 at minimum for a wedding. She thanked me for all the pointers and told me she'd talk to her granddaughter about them. After I hung up the phone, all I could think to myself was, "Well, if Jim knew what I just did, he would have been proud!"