Wedding Photographer Cost - Buyer Experiences and Price Information

The photographer was great with the guest and made sure we had every shot we needed in order to build our own wedding album. We only wanted the CD and a few pictures retouched. Just the important ones of me and my husband. She was great!

Having done Weddings before, I knew what to look for and I hope this helps you. You should review several Wedding Albums of the photographers work. Do not base your decision on one portfolio piece of work. You are looking for consistence and the photographer�s ability to tell a story through pictures. Understand what comes with different packages such as, album styles and how many prints are included. When does the session start and is competed? Do you get the originals shoots on a DVD? Does the photographer carrier back up equipment (2 cameras, 2 flashes and lenses)? Have a firm contract in writing spell out the details with payment in full upon delivery of the pictures in your hands. Have a clause in the contracting stating expectation of quality before paying in full. Work off of referrals from other people that have gotten married. Ask them what they liked and dislike about their photographer. It is not your problem how they pay for their equipment. You can pay $5000 for a person that takes great photos and is a jerk to your guest or you can pay $500 for someone who doesn�t understand composition and capturing the moment. Price does not mean better quality of work. Character, personality, consistence, professionalism, an eye for what looks good in the moment and understanding of the shooting conditions. If you are having a wedding inside with poor light, make sure your photographer has the ability to do it and ask for examples of his low lighting ability. You want to save money? Print your own album and pictures. Some places give you the option of creating an album a year after the wedding.

My fiance and I just took engagement photos and I have to agree that the repoire and chemistry with the photographer is very important. Our photographer was so easy going and fun, she completely put us at ease and it showed in our beautiful pictures. I am hoping to convince her to dive into wedding photography because it is important for me to trust and like my photographer on my big day!

I really like how our images came out. We received a album, framed 20x24 image, parent albums and dvd with our images with our custom music. My images were like looking a story. Mr Bagley team did a wonderful job.

You are right. It takes absolutely no effort to push the shutter. But is pressing the button the only part of taking a picture? Lighting, contrast, color, composition, timing, equipment quality, professionalism, timely delivery, final product quality and creativity are only a few of the other factors involved in hiring professional photographer for. A 35mm high quality digital camera is estimated to run for about 100,000 exposures. Just like a car, it has a shelf life. That means eventually it will need to be replaced, if you are not already keeping up with the latest equipment already. This depreciation is the cost of doing business. The taxi cab company knows this and their costs are built into the mileage. Lighting equipment, lenses, backup equipment, computers and much more also goes into the process. As a business owner if you do not build these expenses into your cost of doing business you will soon be out of a job. You are also paying for talent. Should all actors get paid the same amount because it is only acting? Good actors get paid more because they are better at convincing the audience. Estimate that an average wedding is easily 2000-3000 photos for the entire day. Edit that down to the best 500. At 3-5 seconds per photo that's between 2 and a half and 4 hours. At 30 seconds per photo that's another 4 hours of editing. Additional retouching is between 10 minutes and a couple hours. We haven't even spoken about transfer time, conversion time, backups, burning, talking to the printer, delivery, or travel time involved. Have you ever tried to advertise your business? You can easily be spending another couple thousand a year on getting your next jobs. I strongly encourage you to take your own camera to a wedding sometime and snap away. Then edit every single one and get them all printed. Then go to a wedding photographers website and see if your photos even compare. If they do then it looks like you have a new career opportunity and more power to you.

We negotiated with our photographer about the cost, traded work on her website for 30% off the cost. She was very professional, had great ideas for shots, and the pics I have seen so far are great (it's only been 2 weeks since the wedding, our photos aren't due for another week). I am very shy about photos, and she was both a little pushy with me and understanding, which was exactly what was needed (I may hate getting my photo taken, but my wedding day is important and I do want photos of myself). My advice is to attend a wedding expo to see who is out there, compare their prices, check their references, and choose a photographer with a nice personality, great photo styles and ideas, and great references. Try not to make cost the deciding factor, you can save money elsewhere.

As father of the groom I was not made privy to how much the wedding pix would cost. My son just told me the cost was $2500. I almost crapped my pants! You gotta be kiddin' me. I've been a working professional for 33 years with a college degree and I sure as hell don't make $600 an hour. Way overpriced from my perspective. Hell, with the digital cams available today, a baboon could take great pix for a fraction of the cost. You photographers are WAY too high on yourselves. How freakin' hard could it be? Click

thank god that there are some people out there who can side with the true professionals! this stuff does cost tons of money to upgrade and maintain, recently i purchased a medium format 50 megapixel camera and body alone was $20,000, these no way im shooting a wedding for $100!somethings got to pay that bill and it certainly isnt a $100 wedding!i think $650 is a bargain! i believe that once you cross that threashold of bringing over $20,000 in eqiupment you should start charging first class $$ for your services.afterall you do get what you pay for!!

I stumbled across this article a few months after receiving our photos and just wanted to share my experiences. We hired Craig at lusterstudios.com and were at first a little concerned that he was not a large studio with lots of shooters but it actually worked out better just working directly with him. We found that we barely noticed him at the wedding but the shots he caught were amazing and everyone looked so natural. We ended up having to stretch our budget a bit to get the collection we wanted but knew that "budget" photography was not the way to go. My sister hired someone off craiglist and it's been a year and she hasn't even received her all of her photos yet and the ones she did receive weren't very good. A few other things that helped us make our decision was that our photographer carried insurance, had back up equipment, and we just list his photojournalistic style a lot. We had a lot of guests comment at the wedding about how polite he was and where I found him. My advice is to find someone that you feel comfortable around and that has an overall good value for what you're looking for. If you like formals then look for someone that does that. We wanted unscripted "real moments" and saw that in his portfolio. Take your time choosing because there are a lot of photogs out there!

Some of the customers and photographers here are a joke, there is no words that can describe all this so i wont start! I'm sure everyone who paid for a nice photographer and people who our photographers agree with me! Just really funny to read and lots of BS is all i gotta to say some cheap people...

P.S. anything at $500 should be no more than 4 hours coverage with unprocessed photos only!

I read all of the above comments and I was shocked by some of my fellow professionals. I charge a floating scale based on the coverage each couple wants and can afford. I will never make reference to my costs, I will prove my professionalism and make no excuses for the cost. If what you desire cost $10,000 thats what it cost's if I do it. If what you want for your special day is $2000 then tha's what it costs. Being a professional means I charge what my work is worth and I must prove that every single time I work. As I go through my 20+ years as a professional I know what my work is worth. And believe me you often get just what you pay for, so choose carefully.

Just wanted to correct my previous post, we didn't pay $15,000 for Linda McDowell. We paid $1,500.00...and I miscalculated the hours. She actually was there about 5.5 hours, not sure how long she was actually taking pictures though.

One thing I learned from the whole experience is to NEVER trust someone based on what they say and get everything in writing. Not only was our photographer very rude and unprofessional at the wedding, now she is refusing to give us what she promised in our discussions with her by phone. It has been almost 2 months since the wedding and all we have seen so far was a very poorly made "photo show" online. When we questioned why the photo show had pictures of myself looking like I had 3 arms, one with my eyes closed, none at all with me and my mom, none of the entire bridal party, one with my husband with his hair sticking straight up, and believe it or not, the best photo she took and included on the show was of a man from the banquet hall carving meat...anyhow we received her reply stating we paid for a "ford" not a Cadillac and that she did her best and maybe since I didn't touch up my makeup and hair, that is why the photo's were unflattering. Now she has deleted our photshow so we have no proof of what she sent. If you live in the Pittsburgh area and know of anyone considering Linda McDowell, please refer them to this email, or at least get what you expect in writing and possibly notarized from her. Good luck even getting her to call you back though once you have made your final payment which she requires two weeks prior to your wedding.

I feel proud of myself because I found this company (Jolie Images). They took really beautiful photographs of my wedding ( me getting ready, my entire ceremony & my reception) and all for under $600.00! I told them I would refer them to my friends and spread the word. I guess they have really low overhead costs so they pass those savings on to brides & grooms with a tight budget (like me). If you visit their website: www.JolieImages.com you can see my pix up there & see for yourself what you think :-)

I've been a photographer/videographer for 17 years and I have to say that with the recession that we are in I had to lower my prices just in order to generate a healthy flow of business. Most of my packages went for well above 2 grand and now I'm offering packages as low as $500.00 with the same quality and a great price. I have to be upfront about this my gear is very expensive but I don't need to pass the cost of my camera on to my client unless they request I use a camera they will not live without and I don't have it. Less be real with ourselves if you could walk away with a 300.00 a day pay check for four hours of work would you be happy? I sure can and if I'm doing 10 gigs a week then that's 3 grand for me. With all the online processing sites I can make professional prints a fraction of the cost because most of the online labs are competing with one another and sometimes offer huge discounts, if you don't believe me look for yourself mpix is one site that offer great professional prints at a fraction of the cost. I own my own gear all up to date Canon DSLR's and if you want a great photographer. Call me, my name is Celeb Photographer A.J. Miller and I do great work for all the celebs in T.V., Radio, Music, and Movies. Check the better business and see for yourself. Don't get suckered in by a photographer with an 11 grand price tag.

ANYONE can pick up a camera, get a photography gig and call themself a "Photographer". But it's those FEW people who not only have an EYE for it, but a true, deep PASSION. I let my clients look at my portfolio but THEN I take them for a FREE shoot (small... almost like an "engagement shoot") and let them see how we would work together for themselves.

Photography (and ESPECIALLY wedding photography) should almost be like you're dancing with the photographer... any passion or chemistry between the two will be seen through the pictures- GUARANTEED!

This is supposed to be a site to help people guage the cost of hiring a wedding photographer! Not a site for a bunch of overpaid camera humpers to come on here and bitch about how much their equipment costs, and how much time is spent on their work. If you don't make enough, CHARGE MORE! Every business has overhead costs, every business has to advertise and woo clients, and every business has to buy expensive specialty equipment. You are all using these excuses to justify your cost for time spent, but you forget to mention that you also charge absurd amounts PER SHEET of photos. Lets remember that a sheet is 8x10 and the average cost of one of these is $20 - $50! You all have about as much right to bitch about your poor underpaid selves as the gluttonous CEO's who are running this country to the ground. You all make me sick.

When working with clients and photographing weddings, if you take into consideration the amount of time the photographer actually may spend with some clients for a wedding package that may be $2500-$3000 with services and product. The photographer may be working up to 30 hours. Phone call, consultation, booking, engagement session planning, shooting, viewing, Print prep, wedding planning session, rehearsal, 4 hours of shooting on a wedding day, which usually means 5-6 hours of time set aside for this event. Add onto this design, archiving, printing, etc. Wedding services should be more expensive! But will our clients pay?

I'm a professional wedding and portrait photographer and I have to agree that when it comes to wedding photography, you get what you pay for. There are so many AWACs (amateurs with a camera) in Hawaii who are willing to shoot a wedding for a few hundred dollars. But chances are that if you go by price alone and book an AWAC, you will be disappointed with the quality. Is it worth taking a chance on your wedding photography? My advice is to do your homework, and then book an engagement portrait session with your top pick. Yes, this may add a couple of hundred to your photography budget, but there is no better way to check the work of a photographer. He or she may even waive the fee for the e-session if you book them to shoot your wedding. I offer my e-session clients a complimentary or deeply discounted fee (based on the package they select) if they book me as their wedding photographer after seeing the engagement portraits.

I would also echo what another photographer mentioned... the cost of equipment. I use state of the art Canon digital cameras and lenses. I spend on average $10,000-$15,000 a year upgrading camera equipment - Oh and then there is computers and software - add another $3-4,000 to my overhead... Add to that the cost of office space, cell phone, internet access, web hosting, health insurance, business insurance, car insurance and marketing expenses...

When I look at all of this I really do not make a ton of money off of each wedding and the $300/hr is quickly eaten up by expenses.

I will also echo what one of the other posters mentioned about getting what you pay for... If you want a cheap photographer look on Craig's list - there you can find a photographer willing to shoot your wedding for $500 - just remember that when the wedding is over and the photographs you get are a disappointment there is no remedy... you can't do a re-shoot, there are no do overs - weddings happen once, so be sure to hire someone who you feel has the experience to get the type of photos you expect... if you want snap shots, that guy from Craig's list will probably suit you fine, if you want photos you will treasure for a lifetime then be sure to hire someone who can deliver the goods.

Just like you wouldn't want the cheapest doctor doing important surgery on you or a loved one, you won't want the cheapest photographer - unless you really don't care about the results...

Rates for wedding photography vary greatly by geographic location. If you live in a major metro area where the cost of doing anything is more than average then you should expect to pay more for your photography.

My wedding photo services at JohnThePhotographer.com currently start at $300 and hour with a three hour minimum (photos on CD and a few proofs). Brides and grooms should realize that for every hour that a photographer spends actually taking photos he or she has to spend about two hours doing photo editing and digital processing.

So when I charge $300 and hour for a wedding it is really dropping to $100/hr when digital lab work is taken into account. Add to that the time spent marketing the business and consulting with clients and prospective clients and that hourly rate declines dramatically.

My response to an obviously distraught individual over my comment made over 10 months ago...who by the way left no real way to respond and lied about her real information. Anyway, I need to say I was upset at the misleading of brides to shop for a budget photographer they can hire a professional for what? Anyway, I have no more time for this. Rebecca please read my response to you.
What Rebecca wrote to me:
Just wanted to drop a note to say that I saw the comment you left on the Cost Helper article. I was surprised to see someone actually post their company's name with such a vicious comment. You may be a very talented photographer, but personality goes a long way too. That comment was not a good advertisement for your business. (http://www.costhelper.com/cost/wedding/wedding-phographer.html)

I have been a pro photographer for 14 years.
I have a certificate in photography and a degree in the same.
3 years of school (about $40,000 in the early 1990's).
I shoot weddings with one assistant (usually pay them a flat fee of
$250 per day and $50-$100 for rehearsals).
We bring three DSLR cameras, one medium format with digital back, about a half dozen lenses and a flash for each camera. This is about $20,000-$23,000 in equipment.
We won't shoot a wedding without attending at least one rehearsal.
This means a minimum of 2.5 - 3 days per wedding; One or one half day for rehearsal, one day to shoot, and one day to create albums, put together media packages, etc.

Any MORON who thinks any REAL photographer will shoot a wedding for a "$100" is an IDIOT.
$100 will not even pay for one battery in our flash units. Our primary flash unit runs $1100 without it's slave unit and extra battery. Our primary lens runs $2600. Our medium format with digital back was $11,000.
HEY, IDIOT, WHO SAYS IT IS $100; WHAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION, PORTFOLIO, AND INVESTMENT IN GEAR DOES YOUR "$100" PHOTOG GUY HAVE? KODAK DISPOSABLE AND A BUDLIGHT??? BTW, if you like small claims court then hire some monkey (not a photographer) to shoot your wedding for a $100 (or even $500). These types are the kind who end up getting sued more than all other persons who CLAIM, and who are, photographers COMBINED.

Our photographer required that the amount be paid in full 2 weeks prior to the wedding. We did such. Responses to our emails, phone calls and any inquiries go unanswered. I suggest that any prospective client of a photgrapher give them the financial incentive to respond to you by making payments as the products / serivces are delivered. We're crossing our fingers hoping that the wedding pictures and books contracted for will some day be delivered.

Being a professional photographer, I think I can safely say that there is no professional photographer out there who is doing weddings at $100 a pop - that's almost insanity. Even people just learning to do weddings don't charge so little. On my first wedding, I charged $500. And that alone was being very generous for full-day coverage.

REAL THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER:
Make sure they have a good portfolio; look at their portfolio with your partner or maybe a parent (whoever is paying, I suppose!) and everyone should agree to the quality of the photographer you're looking at.

Don't be sucked in by small prices: if you find a photog who is inexpensive but has no portfolio, be wary! You might pay little in dollars, but if the photographer ends up butchering your wedding, you'll pay greatly in missed memories.

You truly do get what you pay for.

At my own wedding, my husband and I decided we would budget out the photographer, asking, as is suggested in the article above, friends and family to take photos instead of hiring a professional. The results were horrendous. Most of the photos are out of focus, or bleached out, people have their eyes closed. There are no pictures of me with my parents or other family members. There are no photos of me and my husband together. I regret the money I spent on the dress, the flowers, the cake; but I wish I had spent something on a photographer. I have nothing but my own memories, and I can't share that with people. Even if you only spend $400.00 to hire the photographer for two hours after the wedding to do portraits, it is definitely worth it. You can never live that day again.

The article written is obviously authored by an out of touch has no idea what they are talking about Blabber mouth with little to no respect for the real photographers or photography as a whole! I'm insulted the he/she would say that there are ''Budget photographers'' when if you meet one they are either desperate for a gig or a drink, but to say that there are real photographers starting at a hundred is VERY NIEVE... & insulting! Remember it's true, you get what you pay for. Try printing nice prints from disposable cameras! Ha what an idiot! 11,000 is a bit ridiculous as well for what these other people are saying! Geez where are you people from? I want to cover a wedding for 11K one photog.... Ha ha ha! Get your prices right and stop short selling a professional! I wouldn't expect you have written anything much either... you must be a budget writer.

We got married in November of 2007 and we couldn't be happier with our photographer. He was awesome, had great ideas for shots, easy going and the best part was we got the originals with our package. We got a full set of 4x6 prints, the original files on disc (including a copyright release), a photo dvd set to music and 8 hours of photography coverage. He also included a bunch of B&W, Sepia, and even colorization where just the flowers are in color. Amazing work. Since we have the originals, we have made our own books for ourselves and both sets of parents. Saved us a ton! We got a steel!

we have never really been fans of photography...but my domestic partner and i really enjoyed what we got out of this experience. it was like nothing we ever did before. we had a private photoshoot before the reception and afterwards they continued to take photos all day into the next. we were very happy with the results. we would refer Connington Inc. to anyone!

My wife and I aren't very good about printing photos, arranging them, and creating albums so we bought a package that includes photography and 3 printed books. The photography itself was about $1,000. They took pictures all day (preparations, family photos, ceremony + reception, about 10 hours) and we got the photos on a CD when we got back from our honeymoon. The studio is now supposed to touch up the photos, professionally lay out the books, and print 1 big one for us and 2 smaller ones for our parents, and the books + layout adds the other $1,588, which in hindsight is pretty pricey. So far, we were pretty happy with everything, but we're waiting for the books. We wish we started our search a little earlier -- the studio's head photographer was already booked on our wedding day -- but we started our search a little late.