What a minefield it is! I reckon most people setting up their own business find this a extremely hard issue, in particular early on. Photography isn't any different. I'll let you know below my experiences as well as some of the tips I discovered in the process. First though, be sure you make everything extremely clear in your wedding photography agreement in order to steer clear of any unpleasant mix-ups later on.
Okay, so if you are starting up attempting to determine what you should charge for wedding photography, you not surprisingly want to try and extract the maximum amount out of each and every customer you'll be able to. But ideally, you'd like them to go away satisfied as opposed to feeling totaly ripped off and pressed in to purchasing or swindled in to buying, even worse. And of course, you'd like lots of work as well. 2 wedding events annually, even at $5000 each, is not going to settle the bills.
Okay, so if you are starting up attempting to determine what you should charge for wedding photography, you not surprisingly want to try and extract the maximum amount out of each and every customer you'll be able to. But ideally, you'd like them to go away satisfied as opposed to feeling totaly ripped off and pressed in to purchasing or swindled in to buying, even worse. And of course, you'd like lots of work as well. 2 wedding events annually, even at $5000 each, is not going to settle the bills.
Particularly early on in my career, and if you're in this place now, it's equally important merely to find work to acquire expertise and build up your portfolio and referral network. I personally began simply following 3 different professional photographers around at 3 different wedding events. This wasn't assistant work, I simply asked friends or friends of friends who were engaged and getting married if I could photograph their wedding day, and follow their photographer for the day. In exchange, they were given all the photos I took on dvd. Next, I charged $150 for my 1st paid wedding. You could do more free of charge if you feel more at ease this way, but do not wait very long before charging. You should already have some expertise and people should pay money for them, plus they will take you much more seriously too.
After that job, I worked my way up to roughly $800 over the next few weddings, as I improved. With this experience behind me, I had produced a good enough collection of images to put together a good web site, and to prepare some good sample albums. At this s
After that job, I worked my way up to roughly $800 over the next few weddings, as I improved. With this experience behind me, I had produced a good enough collection of images to put together a good web site, and to prepare some good sample albums. At this s
Particularly early on in my career, and if you're in this place now, it's equally important merely to find work to acquire expertise and build up your portfolio and referral network. I personally began simply following 3 different professional photographers around at 3 different wedding events. This wasn't assistant work, I simply asked friends or friends of friends who were engaged and getting married if I could photograph their wedding day, and follow their photographer for the day. In exchange, they were given all the photos I took on dvd. Next, I charged $150 for my 1st paid wedding. You could do more free of charge if you feel more at ease this way, but do not wait very long before charging. You should already have some expertise and people should pay money for them, plus they will take you much more seriously too.
After that job, I worked my way up to roughly $800 over the next few weddings, as I improved. With this experience behind me, I had produced a good enough collection of images to put together a good web site, and to prepare some good sample albums. At this stage, I started charging $2500 plus for the complete days coverage. The amount went up progressively as my portfolio, skills and products have improved.
Obviously you don't need to charge that amount of money. You'll be able to run a very successful business focusing on low-cost weddings, where you could even do several a day, and perhaps offer just a disc to the client. You can also offer less expensive albums at this reduced price point, and possibly not offer as much before and after wedding input. Whatever route you are taking, the very best of luck with it.
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After that job, I worked my way up to roughly $800 over the next few weddings, as I improved. With this experience behind me, I had produced a good enough collection of images to put together a good web site, and to prepare some good sample albums. At this stage, I started charging $2500 plus for the complete days coverage. The amount went up progressively as my portfolio, skills and products have improved.
Obviously you don't need to charge that amount of money. You'll be able to run a very successful business focusing on low-cost weddings, where you could even do several a day, and perhaps offer just a disc to the client. You can also offer less expensive albums at this reduced price point, and possibly not offer as much before and after wedding input. Whatever route you are taking, the very best of luck with it.
About the Author:
If you would like some more info on what's the most effective way to charge for your wedding photographic services, and for lots of other wedding ideas, visit this site, or visit www.photographygems.com/wedding-photography-contract/ for additional information on how to set up a wedding photography contract.