Photographer?!

[beck3001]

Hi, would I be unreasonable to ask how much you're paying for a photographer or how much they charge for a basic memory stick package?

I'm basically starting out in photography, I've studied and have a lot of interest and was looking to do some weddings for people as I'm practicing I wanted to do these at a low cost for people and wanted a better idea of what people would be willing to pay!
I would rather ask honest opinions than just research any photographers.

Thank you!

[beck3001]

Bump

[sonyaya]

I'm paying £1500 for digital only photos, I get him for 10 hours.
Good luck!

[beck3001]

Gosh!
I was thinking whilst I was practicing to only charge around 300 for the day!
Where about are you?
Was just wondering if photographers seem to charge more in one place to another.

[putputput]

We paid £900 and that included a 20 page book and all day coverage. We were really pleased with that deal and it was the cheapest we found that was decent quality.
For £300 would you even cover your costs? I wouldn't expect high quality for that price.

[putputput]

We are south east. It probably does make some difference where you are.

[sonyaya]

beck the photographer is from London (though we are marrying in the Midlands). While practising you will need to make yourself attractive - I've known some even do it for free just because otherwise couples don't think it's worth the risk.

[IcanMooCanYou]

A good, experienced photographer won't charge much less than £1000. You can get some for £500 but if they really are decent they would be able to charge more. As a 'practise' I would say £300 is ok but you would have to be very confident that you could deliver some way towards a professional job- after all, you are charging.

I'd say that if you have never photographed a wedding before, you should definity think about offering your service for free once or twice (or with your costs covered). Do this on the basis that the bride and groom allow you to use their photos for your advertising in future AND be very honest that you have never shot a wedding before.

There are also loads of wedding photography courses for a few hubdred pounds who use models for you to practise on!

[beck3001]

Yeah it would cover costs as I have all equipment, the only costs would be the memory stick to have photos on.
If I was travelling then I would take that into account.
I will always be honest, I have experience in shooting, I have photos that I can always produce and show to at least show that my photos aren't awful! I'm just new to weddings and was getting a little more insight.
I have researched photographers myself as well, also being at weddings fairs and looking into my own wedding I know what some costs could go to with professionals. I was just asking honest opinions on whether people would take that little risk and what they would pay for the risk.
I would be editing photos as well. It's more time than cost for me but I have plenty of that around my permanent job too.

[beck3001]

I would offer for free too, like I say, very open to opinions and suggestions so thank you too!

[beck3001]

Area does seem to make a difference and if the photographer is travelling as I'm in the midlands and the wedding fairs I've been to differ in price depending on where we've attended.

[Spam88]

I'm in South Wales and we paid £950 for two photographers all day and pictures on a memory stick. More experienced photographers in the area charge upwards of £1200 and there were some charging around the £700 mark but their pictures didn't look anything special.

I'd expect to pay less than we did for someone with very little experience, but I'd be wary of pricing yourself so low that people assume your quality is also low. I think you've got two separate issues - what/if you charge when starting out to build up a portfolio and what you charge once established but with little experience. For the latter, I'd have expected to pay around £700 around here, but you probably need to scale that to the standard costs in your area.

[beardedlobster]

I think our photographer chargers £1450 for memory stick then the price increases as you add albums, engagement shoot etc...

My soon to be cousin in law started out last year and charged around £500, within a year though she is charging double that as she now has word of mouth clients and an extensive portfolio of work.
Best of luck to you.