What should I pay for my Wedding Photographer?
To pay or not to pay… that is the question. So one thing that every wedding has is a budget. Some have really large budgets, some have a small or tight budget. Either way, you will be able to find someone to take pictures of your wedding.
What is the difference in and expensive and cheap photographer?
Please know that moving forward I am generally speaking. I am in no way categorizing photographers. Better way to say that is not all cheap photographers are bad and not all expensive photographers are great. At the end of the day it is 100% on you the bride. No grooms, I am not leaving you out, but in my 20 plus years of shooting weddings I work with the bride 99.9% of the time. She is the one picking the photographer. I always tell my potential brides to do their research. Before you even look at pricing find photographers work that you like. That draws you in. That makes you say, wow, that’s beautiful. In that journey ask yourself what you like about those images? Your wedding is something that you have been dreaming about and planning in your head every since you were old enough to realize that one day you will have your very own, personal wedding. IT’S A BIG DEAL! When it comes to your pictures. These are going to be something that you look back on for the next 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. If you are lucky enough to be my grandparents… you will look back on them for the next 74 years. So do yourself a favor, before you sign the contract with a certain photographer, make sure you LOVE the work that they produce. Once you find the images that you love and discover what it is about those images it is time to start researching pricing but that is not all that you are researching!
It is not just about pricing when picking your Wedding Photographer.
Now that you have spent hours, days, weeks, and possibly months researching wedding images and you know what style that you love it is time to start looking fitting a photographer into your budget. If you are fortunate to have a mid-size to large budget then you wont have as much work to do. Find the Photographer that produces the work you like and start fielding quotes. If you have a limited or mid-size budget than you may want to find a few photographers to pull quotes from. As you already are probably realizing, wedding photography alone can range anywhere from $500 to $10,000. Those numbers can vary greatly and I will dive into why a little later in this blog. For now lets say that you found the photographer that you LOVE their images and they also fit your budget. Are you done? Unfortunately, no! There is still research to be done. You have probably heard of the horror stories of Wedding Photogs not showing up, or leaving mid-wedding. You also have probably heard of the photographer losing your images or just ghosting a wedding party and never delivering your images. I personally was hired after the original photographer was fired by the wedding party. Their engagement session was a mess. The photographer was not interested in giving them what they wanted and was arrogant and not easy to work with. Then while at a friends wedding that the same photog was shooting and she was very hard to work with.
There are stories of photographers leaving a wedding simply because the brides cousin showed up with a camera and was taking pictures on his own. Let me repeat that. The Wedding Photographer LEFT mid-wedding. Make it make since. So not only do you need to find images that you love and that fits your budget, you need to look at reviews, and research them as much as you possibly can. Meet with them. Talk to them. Ask tons of questions. Get a feel for who they are. I like to meet over coffee and chat. For me as a photographer it is just as important to me to feel that they are a good fit for me. Just realize that this is your big day. Not theirs. You are paying for a service and you need to get what you want. You both are going to work together for in most cases at least a year so you need to be a good fit for one another. At the end of the day if there are red flags then they are there for a reason. I do not want to scare you and make this sound like a big issue. This process may sound like a ton of work and in some cases it might be but lets circle back around to, this is your big day that you have been dreaming about for as long as you can remember. It is worth spending the time to make sure that your fairy tale is absolutely perfect. With a little bit of time and effort it can be that and even more than you expected.
Are there differences in Wedding Photographers?
YES!!! There are differences in wedding photographers. In some cases there are big differences. Lets get away from the horror story parts that I just talked about and lets just talk about the actual photography part. In most cases you will find the differences in experience. There are Photogs that are really just starting out in the business. They may take great pictures but are really new in the business and are trying to build their portfolio. We all have to start some where. They will charge less to gain the experience. In this case they are more than likely one person, maybe one person with an assistant. More than likely consider themselves a “Natural Light” photographer. I am not down playing that but most of the time that can restrict them as to a shot that they can land or not land. It can be restrictive to quality. These are things that they will learn moving forward with experience. Some people think that they are hiring someone to “just take pictures.” realize that shooting wedding can be tricky. A photographer will be tested at every single wedding they do. There are different ways to approach an outdoor wedding verses and indoor wedding. If you are indoors a photographer will immediately walk into a room and analyze where the light is coming from. Where light might need to be added. Are the ceilings high or low. Why does that matter? Because we like to be able to bounce light off of a ceiling or walls if possible for a none direct/natural light feel. What color are the walls? I have been in a venue that had super dark walls and you don’t bounce light off of a black wall. If you are outdoors there are techniques to shooting throughout the day. If you are shooting a wedding at noon, most cases you are not, but I have had to. Then you need to be able to make the most out of that situation. Photographers will use things like lens filters and High-Speed Sync or if you are me, you use both. These tools help a photographer to land the correct exposure. A seasoned photographer will know what questions to ask well before the wedding even starts and knows how to control the scenario and keep the day moving smoothly. If there is a wedding coordinator they will get to know them and work out how to work together though out the day. They will ask questions like… Do you want a ton of cell phones in our wedding shots? What I personally find these days are the bride will not want people using their phones during the actual wedding and they will have the person doing the wedding to ask people to kindly keep their phones put up during the wedding. A few brides do not care and I it should be in the contract that this was the agreement. In todays world it is impossible to shoot a wedding and not get the audience with their cell phones if they are allowed to do so. It is part of the gig now. I am personally ok either way. Like I said earlier, this is YOUR big day and you have the say. In saying that, if cell phone are allowed a photographer needs to be extra aware when getting the shots. The last thing that you want is for someone with a cell phone to stand up right in front of your camera during something like the first kiss! I have not had that happen personally but the brides need to be fully aware that is a situation that can happen. For me, 99% of the time the brides ask for people to put camera away. We have not even touched base about the weather related possibilities. We have talked about being able to know how to deliver while shooting at noon and in super bright situations. There is also the shooting at night. Bride and groom are leaving at night. People are holding sparklers. How do you get that clean shot in a night time situation? Does your photographer switch from strobes/flash to Consistent light? These are things that you as a non-photographer have to learn or know or even care about. But, I like to say that there are levels to this. At the end of the day I can not tell you who to pick or why to pick them. I am also not one to say how a fellow photographer is shooting and handling their business is right or wrong. All I can tell you is what I do and how I work.
What to expect from me!
I am a San Antonio, Texas based Wedding/Portrait Photographer. I have been in this game for over 20 years and have seen a ton change. I am a people person first and I love what I do. When you work with me I have a team of people that are with me. We know how to work together in order to deliver you the package that I promised plus more. I do not believe that “Bridzillas” are born, I believe that they are created. They are created by over promising and under delivering and that is not how I work. I shoot both natural light and strobe or flash. I basically bring the equipment that I need to get the job done and that is not just a camera and a couple lenses. The bigger the wedding the better. The more that you want the more that we deliver. If you want to add video and drones to the package then my team gets even bigger, Everything that we do is high-end and approached that way. In saying that, taking the pictures and video and all of that is the easy part. I have been doing this for as long as I can remember. That should be the easy part. Experience has allowed me to be in that position. What I and my team take pride in is delivering while creating a fun, easy to work with, no stress atmosphere. Every single wedding is its own personal love story and we love capturing that. I know it sounds like a sales pitch but it is not. You can ask any one that has ever worked with us and I am positive that they will tell you exactly that. We go into this thing as a business decision and always come out the other end as Family.
It is YOUR big day!
At the end of the day, this is YOUR big day and you deserve to have it go exactly as planned. Sure budget is a part of most weddings but I am certain that with enough work you can find that perfect fit. It may not be your first or second choice but that perfect photographer, videographer, DJ, venue, caterer and everything else is out there. The most important part of that equation is to do your homework. Research and meet people. Do not wait until the actual wedding to have fun. Enjoy the whole process.
