Your price is how much?!?!?

Question

So picutres are something that is VERY important to me. I have been searching high and low for a good photographer for our wedding this fall. I finally came across someone who really "Wows" me!

The catch is, the cost is $2,000 just for the photographers time....No pictures included. They will give you the digital proofs, but you have to pay for all of the printing and books.

Is this a rip off? In your opinion, do you think it is worth it?

Answer 1

It seems a little high but my daughter married in September and we have some really great shots of her and her new husband with my mom who is now gravely ill so the photos with her Grandmother are now priceless. My neice was my daughter's maitron of honor and did not have professional photos of her wedding and kept telling my daughter keep smiling you'll treasure these for a lifetime. It is amazing how my daughter and future daughter in law (son marries April 7th) have been reliving my wedding photos with me which was 30 years ago and going strong. Good luck

Answer 2

Depending on photographer and the area, this price could be very well on key. With photography, especially wedding photography, you get what you pay for. If the style wows you, set up an appointment with the photographer to make sure that his/her personality really "Wows" you as well. Make sure that the photographer you talk to will be the one who is shooting your wedding.

Another thing to take into consideration is that you are giving the digital proofs, which I'm understanding to mean that you will be given full ability to print off what you'd like, where you like. Most photographers don't sell thier rights to the images (meaning you'd have to go back to them whenever you wanted a print of an image..) and those that do can charge quite a bit for just the digital files and the right to print them (I believe in this area its $500-$1000 for files and rights).

Of all this things you spend money on for your wedding, very few will you be able to keep until your 50th wedding anniversary. Your wedding photography, if done well, will be the best reminder of everything that went on that day (cuz it will go by in a flash). If you can afford this photographer, like his personality, and he does professional, high quality work, I would definately go for it.

Answer 3

Wow, I can definitely empathize with you. The first photographer I hired for my wedding wanted $5,500 just for showing up...no pictures at all. Everything was done "a la carte". He was a very well known respected NYC photographer, but something about it just hit me the wrong way. If you are really in love with his work, inquire about exactly how much the actual printing of the books, photos will be. From experience, the main book can cost of upwards of $800 to be made. I can't tell you if this person is "worth it" or not, since i haven't seen their work, but if YOU love it and think this person will do the best job, go for it. I venture to say you could probably get them to come down a bit on that initial 2K.

Answer 4

The price is not unreasonable for a top of the line photographer. If it is within your budget to pay for the fee and the additional costs for printing and books, then I would think it would be worth it since the photographer is what you are looking for. The most important factor in making any decision is if the vendor can provide services that fit your vision and your budget. If it's within your budget, go for it. If not, you may have to compromise on what you want based upon your budget. We actually increased our photography budget so we can get a photographer and package that better suited our vision and in the end it was worth every penny.

Answer 5

the different between a proffestional photographer and an ordinary photographer is that the pro knows what you wants
and an ordinary one knows what he wants
because it is a very special day i will go for it cause you will never marry every year and this is once a life time
what we are looking here is quality not quantity and this quality picture will hold your memories when time pass by
remember this wedding album will be seen by everyone
and a perfect shots make the difference
2000 is a good price for a pro
and you will not feel sorry on that decision
goodluck

Answer 6

Here is my advice:
View his portfolio, check out his/her work

But don't stop there - check out the work of three other photographers in various price ranges.

Now, pick out exactly what you want; and what you can afford.

You might decide this particular photographer is a cut above the rest of them and well worth the money.
OR
You might decide that he's very very good but so is one of the other three which is way more affordable.

Do this tiny bit of shopping and you'll know your answer w/out a doubt.

My daughter is also getting married. Congrats to you and good luck w/the planning - it's hard work.

Sadi

Answer 7

This is a complete rip off. Most packages are $2000 with everything. I am paying between $1500-2000 for pictures during my rehearsal dinner, ceremony, after pics, and the reception. The photographer takes at least 800 pictures and I get the proofs with it also. Now do you feel like you are getting ripped off? Keep searching...

Answer 8

That is WAY too much for me.

I'm paying $1600. For that, I get her there from the time I'm there getting ready until we leave after the reception. We get all the proofs in a proof album (at least 300, as many as 500) along with a $400 album credit (we pick the album it's set in), 2 parent albums with a 100 pictures each, our pictures hosted online, & a fine art album.

Answer 9

That's pretty fair. $200 to $250 an hour would be standard rate,and your wedding is probably going to last at least five hours, and he or she will be hiring an assistant, also. No photographers give you photos in the price, because how would they know what you want?

Get your large photos from the photographer, and snapshots from Target or something.

I would be worried if I found a photographer willing to work for less than $100 an hour - that means they're trying to undercut everyone else, and their quality probably suffers for it.

Answer 10

I think you could find a much better deal. That is way too much considering that the price doesn't even cover the pictures themselves. Shop around a bit. I am sure you can find a much better deal. Another option is placing an ad on craig's list or a local site of that nature looking for photography students or advanced amatures who are looking to build their portfolios. Often times you will find their work is very good, fresh and inexpensive. They are creative, hungry and willing to put in a lot of time and effort because they want the experience and want show pieces so they can build a business doing wedding photography. This is what we did for our wedding and it worked out very well for us. She did our engagment pics, my bridals and was with us from a few hours before the wedding as we were getting ready through most of the reception. If you go this route, be prepared to weed through a lot of offers. Make sure you get samples of their work ahead of time and see if they can meet with you to do test shot so you can see first hand how they work and also how well you mesh. Actually that was how we got our engagement shots. She offered to meet with us at a place of our choosing and shoot our engagement pictures just so we could try her out. Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.