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Suggestions for a Wedding
- Thread starter M-5
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That's great. Are you willing to work for $100 if that's all the couple's budget allows?
My wedding experience goes like this
1st - Groom is a life long friend. Free, well, my friend says he would buy me a pint, i have yet received such pint. This one doesn't really count looking back, i went as a guest, didn't even see the bride in the morning.
So....proper ones where i was there from 9am with the bride til the end.
1st - Groom is a friend. I got an Xbox 360 as a present
2nd - Bride is a life long friend. I got £200 towards a lens in return. (after i paid out £70 renting a 70-200 2.8 IS, and made them a 30x20 inch framed print of THIS pic i took, i ended up like £40 up) lol, i did it for the experience though.
Shot on a 30D, Tamron 17-50 2.8
3rd - A minimal fee to build up my portfolio, recommendation from the bride above. I had Contract drawn up, insurance, the lot from this point onwards, even bought a 5Dii and hired a 24-70L for it.
A photo from that day.
4th - My sister's, Free.
sample
5th - another minimal fee, recommendation from a friend of the bride from the 3rd Wedding.
I have proved to myself that i can do it, so i have started charging more, and raising my price for next year's booking, which I have 2 booked already, and 2 more about to sign (fingers crossed). All from word of mouth.
1st - Groom is a life long friend. Free, well, my friend says he would buy me a pint, i have yet received such pint. This one doesn't really count looking back, i went as a guest, didn't even see the bride in the morning.
So....proper ones where i was there from 9am with the bride til the end.
1st - Groom is a friend. I got an Xbox 360 as a present
2nd - Bride is a life long friend. I got £200 towards a lens in return. (after i paid out £70 renting a 70-200 2.8 IS, and made them a 30x20 inch framed print of THIS pic i took, i ended up like £40 up) lol, i did it for the experience though.
Shot on a 30D, Tamron 17-50 2.8
3rd - A minimal fee to build up my portfolio, recommendation from the bride above. I had Contract drawn up, insurance, the lot from this point onwards, even bought a 5Dii and hired a 24-70L for it.
A photo from that day.
4th - My sister's, Free.
sample
5th - another minimal fee, recommendation from a friend of the bride from the 3rd Wedding.
I have proved to myself that i can do it, so i have started charging more, and raising my price for next year's booking, which I have 2 booked already, and 2 more about to sign (fingers crossed). All from word of mouth.
If you shoot reportage then in a way your choice is simple
You document what you see regardless of the weather
Carrying lighting is something all photographers should consider
Elinchrom kits are small powerful and so easy to keep in a car boot
Im a professional
Therefore its how I make a living
Would you invest 1000's of $'s in equipment and then go to work with it for $100 ?
Maybe.
But that's besides the point. If you're not willing to offer your service to people who can't pay or can't pay much, they're not your market and you shouldn't worry about them. Your market is people who can pay the price you want to charge. Concentrate on them. People who can afford professionals are going to hire professionals most of the time. However, the fact of the matter is that most people cannot afford to hire a photographer who costs, say, $2000 to photograph their wedding. Or maybe they can afford it but it's not a top priority for them and they'd rather have a better honeymoon, or a down payment for a car or house. What do you think those people should do? Just simply not have wedding pictures?
But I do worry !
Personally if people do not want to employ me for whatever reason then thats fine
What I am concerned about is the amount of amateurs who start off doing a wedding for a friend etc and then suddenly announces wow that went ok and next thing you know they are advertising in the local paper I'll do your wedding for some rediculously low price
They turn up without enough kit
No insurance
and worse still no bloody idea !
Thats what I have a problem with
If someone who likes snapping away and wants to help out a pal who cant afford or indeed want a professional then thats great its their day
Just dont launch yourself at the general public on the back of it.
So why does something that has nothing to do with you bother you?
If a B/G opt to go with the ridiculously low priced shooter and end up with crappy images, how is it skin off your back?
I agree with much of what you're saying, but I think there's also room for cut-rate amateurs (especially since I kind of used to aspire to be one myself). I think the key is consistently educating customers so that they understand the value both of professional services and the differences in quality it can lead to. There are a lot of reasonable price points out there that should be filled, including high-end professionals at the top of the field, professionals, lower-priced professionals, paid amateurs, and free amateurs.
As I'm sure you well know, there are many professionals who are going to produce inferior work to some of the paid and unpaid amateurs as well. And not just amateurs passing themselves off as professionals. I took extra photos at a friends wedding last year (for free of course), and my pictures were superior to those of the low-price professional they hired. It helped that it was an outdoor wedding so my lack of top-end equipment wasn't an obstacle (not that the professional had really top end equipment). Did the same at several other weddings and was variously on-par with the professional or inferior to the pro. I went to another wedding recently where this professional photographed the wedding:
http://www.katehausblog.com/
Her work is absolutely superior to what I can do. I can find things I would critique about her pictures, sure, but I know I can't produce that quality consistently. Huge difference between a real professional, a "professional", and an amateur. I didn't take pictures at that wedding as the bride and groom knew that hiring a real pro was worth it to them.
What would be great is if more people fully understood that and made the appropriate choices based on that understanding for themselves. I think that's a better tactic for professionals to take. Educate customers (and give kind warnings to people who think photographing a wedding is easy) rather than berate people who are trying to do their best.
It has everything to do with me !
I'm surprised that you can't see the potential damage to the industry the cut price merchants are doing
I dont actually know any professionals that produce the inferior work you refer to
I am certainly not a "low cost pro"
I charge a professional fee for a professional service
Exactly as it should be.
Don't get me wrong, I completely understand, however: Has this not been going on since the dawn of business? There will always be a tiered system of services/products: If I remember correctly from Business MGMT 101 you have three, the budget minded (K-Mart,) the middle of the road (Target,) and the "prestige/luxury" (Nordstroms.)
I would assume it is the same in photography: You get the
-Friend of a friend/craigslist/acquaintance w/ DSLR charging next to nothing
-The aspiring pro with a substantial and growing body of work slightly undercutting the top pros
-The top pros with top prices.
It is like this in EVERY industry.
I think we are only noticing it more right now because of this darn economic climate. I would imagine in a few years things will seem more "right in the world"
I keep my finger on craigslist to "mentally chart" the competition, and see plenty of "Pros" with their flash websites and gear lists and $3k packages who's work I would hardly consider pro.
They are out there, and I do feel bad for the B/G expecting a pro only to wind up with a guy who has a fancy camera yet lacks any understanding of the finer photographic skills
Just a final thought about this flash business. Sure, I don't like it, but there is one thing that artificial light (of any kind) does guarantee: catch-lights in the eyes of the subject. I think the trick with flash is to set it to the lowest setting - if you don't want the subject illuminated by it - and you'll still get the catch-lights.