How come with the age of digital it's harder to make a living with being a wedding Photographer?

Question

In the film days people would pay 2,000 dollars and not complain. Now (I'm all digital) they say "What!! That's too much!! So why the big change over the last 4 years?

Answer 1

its due to the prolifferation of mcdonalds photographers,

in the next 24 hours 10people will buy a digital camera then ask here "how do i take professional pictures"

and the funny thing is they go out ruin someones memories then blame their camera

my advice diversify

EDIT: take the first two answers as evidence people think its the camera, they dont know its lighting/flash technique, composition et cetera......poor fools they will have horible wedding shots until they remarry --- these are the same people think if they buy a hammer they can build a house - an expensive hammer of course

a

Answer 2

I agree with everything everyone has said. I'm one of those who thought that wedding photographers charged way too much. Now that I am seriously getting into photography and realize all the really hard work that goes into it I recognize that there is a world of difference between the work of a professional photographer and someone with a good camera. The industry is saturated with these amateurs who set up home based businesses, snap some portraits on AUTO, download it onto a CD and let the customer get the prints. Sure they are probably okay but that is the camera's doing not the person taking the picture. With a professional photographer you're going to get the WOW factor the makes the money worthwhile.

Answer 3

I'd say two root causes:

1) The proliferation of cheap (albeit poor-quality) digital wedding photographers clogging the market. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised if the first thing you saw when you open a box for a Digital Rebel or D40 is instructions on posting your first Craigslist wedding photography ad. (At the very least those instructions must be listed before the part about using the manual functions ;)

These low-level photographers don't really impact the high-end shooters directly, but contribute to the overall devaluation of professional photography.

2) The proliferation of digital cameras among households mean that more people are taking more pictures than ever before. The sheer volume of photos that people take has replaced the impetus for quality portrait and commemorative work in many people's minds. Thus, the market for professional portrait studios is getting tougher and tougher, as people can now regularly obtain a reasonable *likeness* on their own, even if it is not a beautiful photograph. At a certain point, in many peoples minds, 200 snapshots overshadow the value of one brilliant photograph.


I'll look at the silver lining, though: in the old days, just having the right gear and the basic technical knowhow to achieve an acceptable likeness was, in many cases, enough to survive as a professional, even if the quality of work was hackneyed and uninspired. Now that achieving a properly focused and exposed picture is within the grasp of most people, most of the time, the burden is back on us pro's to step up the quality of our work with technical perfection and inspired lighting and compositions.

The bottom line is that the customer will need to be able to look at your photographs and instantly understand why you are worth a true professional rate. They need to instinctively realize that uncle Bob with his D-SLR couldn't do what they are seeing, no matter how hard he tried.

You will also have to educate the customer on the other (non-technical) factors that differentiate a true pro: backup gear, licenses, etc...

Answer 4

Everyone has a camera...or at least a phone with a camera and unfortunately we all think that we can take photos as good as the experts.

I think the state of the art of digital has improved the novice photographer to the point that uncle jim bob thinks that he can save the soon to be married couple a couple of grand...and of course he does....while his pics may not be the greatest....they capture the moment and for 90% of the soon to be married.....they are good enough.

I'm one of those "I can do it guys" married to a photographer with an artistic eye. My photos are absolutely no match to hers even when we shoot the same subject matter at the same time/moment.

I'm not sure what an answer for your dilema might be...maybe look at reducing your fee which of course is a horrible suggestion...but might mean the difference between your working or not.

Good luck to you.

Answer 5

A lot of people think that digital = less expense. While that may be true in the fact that you don't have to spend money on film/processing chemicals or processing fees, the level of expertise is what they really are paying for, always has been.

This is what we as professionals have to get across to the clients.

That and people are wanting more for less. They are getting so used to WalMart/McDonalds/convenience stores/drug stores/Starbucks on every corner and giving rock bottom prices, they think that photography should be no different.

Answer 6

Because everyone who buys a DSLR thinks that makes them a professional photographer. So they go out and charge 5 or 6 hundred dollars, deliver lousy images and move on.

Plus, people own digicams and think they take great images so they don't understand that a real professional creates great images. Back when a Hasselblad or Mamiya RB67 was the common wedding camera people were impressed.

Answer 7

Bad Economic for our life after 20's centuries,also there were a War, increasng the petrol prices,etc.that why they have to save some money for their children and living after their Wedding.

Answer 8

It's the instant feedback...In the film days they had to trust you were getting the correct shots and that they were good. And if you did, you were valuable and were paid. But now anybody can know if the shot was good or not; your skill is somewhat diminished because you know right then and there if you need a do-over.

Plus you don't spend money on film. So with digital after you're done, you download the pictures and reuse the flash memory.

Answer 9

because these days ud be better off being a divorce lawyer lol actually i think because of digital cameras n stuff people can take their own pictures and see how they look right away n just retake them to what they want so y pay for it thats what i think i dont think i would ever hire a pro photographer

Answer 10

I agree with the other poster, but I'll add that because cameras are so much easier to use (e.g. you know instantly when you get a bad picture), people might tend to have a non-professional take their photos.