Wedding Photography – What am I Paying For?
Why is Wedding Photography Expensive and What Should The Cost Be?
Trying to work out how much to spend on your wedding photography can be a nightmare, you can find wedding photographers for a couple of hundred up to several thousand pounds. The average cost of a wedding in the UK for 2019 was around £30,000, expect your wedding photography to reflect that. While I talk mostly about photography below, this all applies to videography as well. There are some very expensive seeming photographers out there, so why do they charge so much for a day’s work? The TLDR answer is, you’re paying for much more than just a day’s work.
What Am Actually Paying For?
The photographer’s time:
You may think that the wedding photographer rolls up, gets the camera out and just clicks away for one day, only to walk off with a large wedge of your cash, but the truth is far from that.
A wedding really represents several weeks of work per wedding, there is the marketing, emailing, scouting locations, and face to face meetings all leading up to your big day. Then on the day, there is often a long drive, sometimes to multiple locations and a full day’s shooting to contend with. Afterwards, there is the drive home again and usually, an hour spent backing up your photos to multiple drives as well as the cloud, all to make sure your photography is secure. There’s also equipment to check over and pack away.
The following day there is usually a sneak peek to put together and a bit of social media work to do. That’s assuming we don’t have a wedding the following day.
Then over the following weeks, there is the editing and processing of the images, album design etc.
Wedding Photographer’s Equipment
If you’re into photography, you’ll often hear people say that the camera doesn’t matter, and there is a grain of truth to that. But that isn’t the whole story. So why would I need a camera that costs £1k-£4k? Why do I need lenses that cost the same?
Cameras are just tools to us as photographers (ones which we obsess over at times lol) and as such, we need tools that won’t break and are capable of doing all the jobs we put them to. We need to have something that is capable of shooting in low light, fast enough to get the bouquet throw and catch, quiet enough that the vicar doesn’t kick us out, allows us to adjust all its settings to get the results we want. A camera that is reliable, preferably with dual card slots so that there is an instant and continuous backup of the photos if one card fails. We might require that it can film as well and if so, what is it like for sound and video quality?
And that’s just the one camera. We then need a second camera, especially if we are shooting with prime lenses as we can’t afford to be changing lenses at a crucial part of your day. Then there will be one or two back up camera bodies in case one or both of our main cameras stop working. I know I said above that we pay more for reliable cameras, and we do, but just in case, a professional will always have a backup.
Lenses are another big cost for photographers. Some of the lenses we choose will cost more than the camera bodies themselves. I mainly shoot with an 85mm on one camera body and a 35mm on the other, but during the day I might switch to a 135mm, or a 28mm, or something even wider to get a large group shot in. Different lenses have different qualities and jobs for your day. I even have an ancient Minolta lens which has a lovely feel to it. Some of it is down to preference, some of it is down to the lenses we need to do our job. We also have to have backups in case a lens breaks.
So, the camera body and lenses are our main bit of kit, but then you have to add on a harness for carrying/holding both cameras, bags to keep all the equipment safe, lighting for special off-camera shots and shooting when it gets really dark, spare batteries and SD cards, and lots of other little bits and pieces that we need for the job.
Wedding photographer’s Office
Shooting weddings, we don’t always have a studio, but we will have an office either at home or elsewhere. The main expense here is usually the computer. We can’t work on the cheapest computer either, we need one that is capable of handling large files and jobs. We’ll also need an expensive monitor for colour accuracy, a printer and maybe a scanner, and loads of backup drives. I shoot on average 130gb/wedding and with just 30-40 weddings per year that’s around 5-6 tb with the finished files and catalogues included. Most of us don’t just keep it on one drive either but will have it either on a RAID system or copied onto several external drives and probably on the cloud as well.
Then there are some other hidden expenses such as rent/mortgage, taxes, heating, water, electricity, internet, etc.
Experience
Cliche warning – you get what you pay for. A good wedding photographer’s experience should never be undervalued. There are very few wedding-related jobs where the provider is present for the whole day, with the possible exceptions being wedding coordinators and MCs who are present at a venue when it all takes place on-site.
The biggest reason I get hired, aside from the quality of my work, is my calm attitude. My aim is to always be pleasant and relaxing to have around, on what can be a very emotional day. Why am I so calm? Part of it is my natural personality, but that all stems from my experience. I’ve seen nearly all there is to see at weddings and I’ve been there when things go wrong. I can’t wave a magic wand if things do go off the deep end, but the chances are that I’ve seen it before and know how to calmly deal with it. I recognise that for most couples, it is their first wedding and am happy to help where I can. Be that some suggestions to help with the timeline, down to which side the button hole goes (the most common question, that).
When I am working I have plans and backups already in place. These are things that I have learned over my career so if photography is important to you, go with experience.
There is also experience outside of wedding photography which is important and adds value. I’m an experienced portrait photographer, I’m first aid trained which I redo every couple of years, I have studied martial arts for 26 years and taught them for over a decade. What’s the relevance of that? Hopefully, the first two are obvious, maybe not so much the martial arts. What they have given me is the experience in dealing with a wide range of people and handling large groups of people. Plus, I’m always happy to kick someone in the head if they annoy the bride 🤣 (I kid, always sweep the leg 😉 ).
But when it comes to experience, don’t take my word for it, or any photographer’s word for it. If the photographer’s experience is important to you then check out their Google Reviews and their Facebook Reviews. Talk to couples they have worked with and make sure you’re happy. After your wedding, leave a review for your photographer to help other couples out.
Training
I have a First Class Honours degree in Photography, Masters degree in Digital Media, Adobe certification in Photoshop and a Licentiateship with the British Institute of Professional Photographers. I also try to attend extra training with my peers every year. Two years ago it was with David Stubbs Photography, last year videography with Adam Wing, Rachel Joyce and this year Karen Julia. All this extra training costs money, but it means that the service you get is that much better.
Wedding Photographer Insurance
It should be obvious, but a wedding photographer should have Public Liability Insurance and Professional Indemnity Insurance as a minimum. If they don’t, then drop them and get someone who does. Don’t be afraid to ask to see proof of their insurance. If they are on the level then they’ll be happy to show you.
Travel
I live in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester but my jobs take me all over the North West and sometimes further afield. I don’t do destination weddings but have been as far as Ireland for one. The most obvious travel expense for a photographer is their car. It has to be reliable and able to transport all our gear and backup gear. Using public transport would be great, but for most weddings that just isn’t an option.
Second Shooters
Sometimes, you want the groom’s prep covering or extra shots from your day. For this, you want two photographers or videographers. When this is the case, expect to pay a bit more as we want to be able to pay our second shooters fairly. The cost of a second shooter varies but you should expect to pay an additional £150-£350 depending on your requirements. Some of the higher tier photographers automatically bring second shooters with them at no extra cost. In reality, that additional cost is already built into their packages.
So What Should it Cost?
This is the bit to which there is no easy answer and that is something you need to put some thought into. I’ve given you an idea above of the average cost of a wedding, the average cost of a wedding photographer in 2019, according to The Wedding Photography Industry awards, was £1560. You can spend £300 on a wedding, or £3,000, or a lot more. This is where a bit of planning and research is necessary. Work out what your total budget is for your wedding, as I said above the average is around £30,000. With your total budget worked out, you can then work out what 5-10% would be. For £30,000 that is £1,500-£3,000. My current prices can be found here.
Look at the style of photography you want, the main styles out there are traditional, documentary, and creative. Most of the photographers I know are a mixture of all three, though everyone has their preferences and strengths. Personally, I am about 80% documentary and the other 20% is a blend of traditional and creative. If you’re not sure what traditional, documentary and creative photography means then drop those terms followed by “wedding photography” into Google images or Pinterest, and you’ll soon get the idea. When you know what you want, find a few wedding photographers in that style that you like the look of and ask them how much they charge. It may be that you need to up your budget a bit to get one you truly want and click with.
The one thing to bear in mind when choosing your photographer and photography budget is this: How important are your memories of your wedding to you and your partner? If you’re just doing the wedding for legal reasons after being together for 40 years, then you may not care that much and just want a few photos of your day. If however, you’ve spent a long time planning the ideal wedding, then you may want to go that bit extra and make sure the one tangible takeaway from your day (besides the ring and new husband/wife), is done right.
So yes, there is a lot more than just turning up on the day, and that all comes at a cost. There are also things outside of the job which our work needs to support, that make us better people and photographers. For me, that is life outside of shooting and editing. In no order of preference, I have reading, a wife, martial arts, kids, exercise, shopping, cooking, friends and relaxation to do. These are all things that have to be in my life for me to be happy and healthy, and they all deserve my time.
When I’m at my best, I do my best work and my best work is capturing memories that you will treasure for a lifetime. That is what you are paying for.
Check out my packages, portfolio and contact me.
Have a look at these other helpful posts:
5 Bespoke Lancashire Wedding Venues
Booking a Wedding Photographer
Feeding Your Wedding Photographer