One of the most common questions people ask me is “how do people justify charging thousands of pounds for a single day’s work?”.
Well, this is an old topic, but here’s my take on it. The wedding day is hugely important. An extraordinary amount of time will have gone into planning every tiny detail, not to mention the thousands of pounds spent. Enough Bargain Buckets and Viennettas have been ordered to feed all your guests. People may be travelling from far and wide to share the celebrations. It’s a unique day, never to be repeated, and you want photographs to help you relive it.
So, who will you trust to provide the photographs of this hugely important one-off event? On one end of the spectrum, there’s your cousin Barry who owns one of those expensive digital SLR cameras. He’s done some fantastic photos from his round the world trip. He’s got the gear, and he clearly knows how to take photos, so he’s bound to do a great job of the wedding…right?
Well, no. Wedding photography is unique. So although cousin Barry might have some fantastic landscapes from the Australian outback, do you really know how good he is at photographing things that move? If he drops his camera on the way to the ceremony, does he have a backup – or is that game over for your photos? Can he design and provide a professional quality album? In short, do you actually know what you’re going to get? You may be lucky…but then again, you may not. How much of a risk are you willing to take?
On the other end of the spectrum, a seasoned pro can show you, in advance, EXACTLY the sort of thing you can expect. You can see images and testimonials from previous weddings, so you know he can actually cope with your fast paced, demanding event and still produce meaningful images. He will have backup equipment, and even backup photographers, so you know he can cope with emergencies and not let you down. And he’ll work with professional labs and album manufacturers, unlike cousin Barry, so you know your memories will be properly presented and stored. He can do all this because he has invested years, and thousands of pounds, working on his photographic technique, putting all the equipment together, gaining membership in industry associations, and building relationships with professional suppliers.
And by the way, a wedding photographer’s work goes far beyond the wedding day itself. Post-processing, album design, print ordering, framing, uploading…it’s more likely to be anything up to 5 days work per wedding. Cousin Barry may not have thought that through, and you may not even see any photos for months. A pro will tell you when to expect your images. He can do this because he has invested time in developing an efficient workflow that ensures you will see your photographs as quickly as possible.
The result is that once you sign a contract with your wedding photographer, you can tick it off your list and move on to the next item. It’s taken care of. You know what to expect, and when to expect it. The value you place on that feeling of confidence depends on a combination of your risk appetite, your budget, and the value you place on photography. Whether the answer is £100 or £10,000, there are photographers who will gladly take your money. Just make sure you fully understand, and are happy, with what you’re getting in return.
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