Your wedding day is fast-approaching. You have locked down the venue, shipped in your wedding gown, consulted your décor vendor and finally to tick off the list is photography. Upon meeting your photographer, you wonder why a one day wedding coverage costs so much.
For the longest time, photography has not been prioritized with some people throwing it out of the window and others not awarding it the value for what it’s worth.
Photography is the best investment you will ever make on your wedding day. It is the only thing you get to keep after the wedding. 10 years down the road, you won’t care about the food you ate or how cute your wedding cake looked. It will be the photos that count for they will bring to remembrance and reminiscence all the beautiful moments that graced your day.
Your wedding photographer keeps in tow at all times from the break of the day until the last guest says goodbye. Unlike other service providers like makeup artist, caterer, décor vendor, and other wedding rentals who retire once they have delivered their services.
What is the value of photography?
Oftentimes, couples presume that when they hire a photographer for a wedding, they are paying for equipment used or the number of photos delivered. But wedding photography is bigger than that.
Planning
Lo and behold, behind every great wedding is immense planning including;
- Location scouting
- Pitching ideas
- Preparing pre-weddings
- Filming memory lanes
- Occasional meetups with the couple
This could take up one to two months of preparation. Usually, most couples have no clue where they want to have their photos taken. It is the photographer’s job to enlighten the couple about the suitable locations available as well as providing advice on different aspects such as the best time to have a shoot, the style of clothes to wear in case of a pre-wedding, the number of photographers needed depending on the size of the wedding and many other things.
Professionalism
In essence, wedding photography prices put into consideration the professionalism of the photographer in handling the client and delivering high end results? A good professional photographer is;
- Organized
- Competent
- Reliable
- Communicates effectively
- Accountable
- Delivers on time
- Keeps time
Experience
Like Albert Einstein said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” It is golden and that is why it influences photography prices. A photographer who has been in the industry for over 10 years has a higher value. An experienced photographer will not only be trusted to get the job done but also provide guidance on how to manage time, choose the best locations for photo shoots and any other information deemed necessary. He’s proficient in decision making and skilled at what he does hence charging what he’s worth.
Style
Every couple desires to have a beautiful unique wedding. This comes at a cost. To achieve this, you need a photography style that can be proposed by your photographer. This could range from having a photojournalistic style, traditional, portraiture or a mix of photo styles. From concept development to composition, lighting, backdrops, your wedding photographer aims at creating distinctive work that is remarkable and adds value to you.
Quality Deliverables
Different weddings have different needs. The services delivered and price charged are determined by what the couple wants to be done and the deliverables. Usually, a big wedding of over 700 people require more manpower, in terms of the photographers on ground, more albums compared to a relatively small wedding of 200 people. Other deliverables that influence pricing include; photo books, memory lane or love story, signature photos, to mention but a few.
Time
The whole process of documenting a wedding is time consuming and demanding. It constitutes;
- Pre production which involves planning before the wedding – logistics, location scouting, pitching and research.
- The Production stage is the actual work day which involves capturing photos and video of the wedding from when it starts until it ends
- Post production involves image selection, editing photos to enhance their beauty, editing video to tell a compelling story, printing photo books and boards. As well as passing on the expected deliverables.
This scope of work therefore takes a lot of time and needs a lot of attention to deliver high quality work that will make the client happy and satisfied.
Marketing and Branding
If not through word of mouth, you probably got to know about your photographer through other means. This could have been through their website or social media presence. Part of wedding pricing includes charges for website maintenance and updates so as to keep the brand alive and relevant.
Cost of equipment
Besides the skill of the photographer, what makes images awesome is the kind of equipment used. Good photography equipment is expensive and delicate. Thus the cost of wedding photography puts into consideration the cost of equipment and maintenance. Worth noting is the constant upgrades of equipment that compel photographers to purchase the latest gear so as to maintain good quality work.
Photography prices therefore hinge on a lot of things. The higher the quality, and deliverables needed the higher the price.
On that note, it is imperative to prioritize photography on your wedding budget to a minimum of 30%. Booking your photographer earlier is an added advantage to give you more time to connect and devise ways you can effectively work together to achieve great results.