How Much Would or Did You Spend on a Wedding Photographer

[Nicomis]

Just out of curiosity, What would you, or did you spend on a wedding photographer. Craigslist is full of housewives and uncle Bobs, who are willing to use their Canon Rebel T1i to shoot and subsequently ruin your wedding photos for anywhere from $100 to $300. Additionally, I am sure most of you ladies have a friend who doesn't work, and who's hubby bought them a Canon 5DMKII, and they decided that shooting overexposed pictures of their own babies, and friends babies, qualifies them as "professional photographers". They will typically shoot your wedding for $500 to $2500, with results ranging from GOD-AWFUL, to pretty good (only if the wedding is outdoors with great lighting). Most of them refer to themselves as "Natural light Photographers". This is code for "I do not understand lighting so I can only get good images in the daylight. Lastly, you have a pro. This is someone who has a formal education in photography, or if not, was shooting weddings with film SLR'S in the 80's. He/she will understand lighting, and off camera flash, and provide you with many quality images. These guys are usually from $1000 to $5000, depending on the services you select. Now there is a huge jump from craigslist to pro, but, but from Suzie Homemaker to a Pro the difference is not that great. Some people are ok with snapshots from friends and family, and some people are OK with $300 uncle Bob. Although I have had many a teary eyed bride come to me with jacked up wedding pics, because she wanted to save a dime. I either had to have them dress up again, or photoshop the hell out of their pics. Both options cost more than they paid originally. So who would or did you pic? Just trying to see how important wedding day pics are to couples in these hard times.

[g450]

Been married for a month now. Feels good.

 

Anyway, they all wanted something starting at $500 and up. Way too much IMHO. I have noticed that some of these so called professionals do this out of the trunks of their cars and do it more as a hobby or 2nd job than anything else. I think that way too often you are paying the big bucks for somebody elses overinflated ego of their camera skills. I took a pass and saved some money. We were more than satisfied.

 

I have two digital cameras and a video camera. Had my Stepdad video it for us and it turned out perfect. Used Windows DVD maker to make the dvd. And between my two digital cameras and friends and family taking photos there were plenty of shots to sort through. And most were more than good enough for framing.

 

The money we saved we used on our honeymoon. Lots of pix from that as well.

[Nicomis]

Been married for a month now. Feels good.

 

Anyway, they all wanted something starting at $500 and up. Way too much IMHO. I have noticed that some of these so called professionals do this out of the trunks of their cars and do it more as a hobby or 2nd job than anything else. I think that way too often you are paying the big bucks for somebody elses overinflated ego of their camera skills. I took a pass and saved some money. We were more than satisfied.

 

I have two digital cameras and a video camera. Had my Stepdad video it for us and it turned out perfect. Used Windows DVD maker to make the dvd. And between my two digital cameras and friends and family taking photos there were plenty of shots to sort through. And most were more than good enough for framing.

 

The money we saved we used on our honeymoon. Lots of pix from that as well.

If $500 was too much for you, you did the right thing. The images you would have gotten would not likely have been much better than what you got. Somebody who knows what they are doing, or at least has been doing it for a while couldn't run a business shooting weddings for that. Now Google Eric Delaforce. If your results look like what's on that website your friends and family missed their calling.

[g450]

Well it's all subjective. Yeah if you have the money and see your wedding pics as a work of art and should be displayed in the louvre (sp?) then great.

 

But me and my girl are simple people. It was one step higher than a typical redneck wedding. For folks like us, if the scene is crisp, in focus, interesting, well lit and devoid of flaws we were happy.

 

For us it was simply a matter of capturing that day, nothing more. No need for any arty-fartsy stuff.

 

We still havent gotten all the photos yet from other family members but have more than enough right now for a nice wedding album. We are happy.

 

Far much better than my first wedding where my XW almost divorced me the day after we got married because I had a friend use my Nikon SLR and the dummy did not know how to wind the film in it correctly. IOW NO pictures. She never let me live that down for over a decade. So yes pictures are important.

 

On a side note I spent about $2000 total for wedding, reception and one week honeymoon. I gave her the option of paying for a professional and she decided she didnt want to spend that much. Our decision was based on her past experience with her niece taking pictures at other events. She did a good job and she even made the wedding cake and was her maid of honor. She was awsome.

[Nicomis]

Well it's all subjective. Yeah if you have the money and see your wedding pics as a work of art and should be displayed in the louvre (sp?) then great.

 

But me and my girl are simple people. It was one step higher than a typical redneck wedding. For folks like us, if the scene is crisp, in focus, interesting, well lit and devoid of flaws we were happy.

 

For us it was simply a matter of capturing that day, nothing more. No need for any arty-fartsy stuff.

 

We still havent gotten all the photos yet from other family members but have more than enough right now for a nice wedding album. We are happy.

 

Far much better than my first wedding where my XW almost divorced me the day after we got married because I had a friend use my Nikon SLR and the dummy did not know how to wind the film in it correctly. IOW NO pictures. She never let me live that down for over a decade. So yes pictures are important.

 

On a side note I spent about $2000 total for wedding, reception and one week honeymoon. I gave her the option of paying for a professional and she decided she didnt want to spend that much. Our decision was based on her past experience with her niece taking pictures at other events. She did a good job and she even made the wedding cake and was her maid of honor. She was awsome.

 

You should look at "My Publisher" You can put together your own wedding photo books and they come out really nice. You can get a really nice book for around $95 depending on features and # of pages.

[pink_sugar]

I never understood why people spend thousands of dollars on a wedding photographer. A photographer was provided by our chapel and the photos were terrible. Us and one person, no group shots, no natural poses. I also blamed that on the fact that we were rushed through our wedding and reception by my husbands mom and the chapel staff. However I have friends who's relatives are photographers who did their other relatives photo's for free and they turned out pretty well. So you can get great photos without spending out the butt for good photos. I don't think I would spend more than 500.

[Got it]

Our budget is 4-5K.

 

There is a big difference between a professional and an amateur. We want to get color and black and whites with candid as well as posed.

[RiverRunning]

Well, I'm ridiculously lucky.

 

One of my cousins went to school for photography - and he's very talented. He's shot the weddings of some other mutual family members/friends. We've just asked him to do some simple shots...and then we've got other friends with ridiculously awesome cameras. Basically, everyone's going to be taking the pictures. We're setting up something so that everybody can upload the pictures after the wedding and get prints that way.

 

I have another cousin who went to school for videography - also very talented. And an uncle who plays in the biggest wedding band in the state, who has offered to play for free.

 

So what would I pay? Zero. I think I'd do that even if I didn't have a photographer for a cousin.

 

Most around here seem to pay $2 - $5k. If I were going to pay for a photographer at all, I'd go for around $2 - $3k.

 

But at the end of the day...it's just not that important to me. As long as a few shots come out nicely, I don't mind the rest too much. How often am I going to look at the wedding pictures/video anyway?

 

Most relatives maybe pop in the wedding video once every five or ten years. And they look at their wedding photos a little more often, unless said photos are on display.

[pink_sugar]

You can also find photographers who've just finished school or building portfolios who will do it for free to build their experience and portfolio. This is called a TFP (trade for photos) he keeps photos for photography and he also keeps the copyright and you get the photos also.

 

I've had this experience on modeling websites who exchange services as a trade.

[sweetjasmine]

I wouldn't be willing to pay over $1,000 unless I had a ton of money to burn. It's been a struggle to find someone decent. Where I'm looking, there are only two kinds of wedding photographers (visible ones, anyway): the "cheap" ones who charge $2k-4k and take worse pictures than I do, and the talented ones who charge $5k plus and have over-the-top restrictions on their work.

 

I refuse to pay $2k-4k for some crappy photos which I could've shot with my dad's 1970s Canon back in high school and which have been Photoshopped in a vain attempt to make them good, whether it be the inappropriate black & white with OMG a splash of over-saturated color!!!1 or the over/under-saturated hipster thing. I also refuse to (and cannot!) pay $5k plus for the services of a photographer who will prevent me from sharing photos, stamp everything with a large, glaring watermark, and control absolutely all rights to the photos so I can't even get a print without calling them up and shelling out $20+ per. I understand the need to protect one's work, but the whole point is to have family photos as a keepsake.

 

We're trying to look for a student. I'm more willing to trust a student who has demonstrated they have a good eye than a "professional" with a mediocre portfolio. I don't want or need post-processing and print services - just the photos. Of course we haven't actually been able to find anybody yet. Most students are on summer break. Worst case scenario, I would ask my good friend to do it. He's done a few weddings (informally) for family, and his work is excellent. He's just the last resort because I'd rather not have any family or friends have to worry about taking photos when they should just be relaxing and enjoying themselves.

[wildgeese]

 

We're trying to look for a student. I'm more willing to trust a student who has demonstrated they have a good eye than a "professional" with a mediocre portfolio. I don't want or need post-processing and print services - just the photos. Of course we haven't actually been able to find anybody yet. Most students are on summer break. Worst case scenario, I would ask my good friend to do it. He's done a few weddings (informally) for family, and his work is excellent. He's just the last resort because I'd rather not have any family or friends have to worry about taking photos when they should just be relaxing and enjoying themselves.

 

I would absolutely, one hundred percent, go for a student with talent. Take a look at some pictures that they've done before (most young photographers will be able to give you the link to their Facebook or Flickr) or they can direct you to some friends with experience shooting weddings. While I am not engaged yet, I know exactly who I want my wedding photographer to be. She's only 18, but my goodness, she has talent and I know they'll be spectacular.