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I am a local San Diego Wedding Photographer and I am always looking to improve my services. What are the most important things you are looking for in a photographer?
When you email or call a wedding photographer what questions do you normally ask and
What sort of responses do you like to hear? And what responses annoy you?
For example if you wrote to a photographer " Hey there, we were interested in your pricing?"
What type of response would you like to hear, and what additional info should the photographer respond with?
Hey,
I have taken a few photographer classes and i am interested in becoming a wedding/birthday/event photographer. I was wondering how the rates are for beginners, and if anyone has any tips, advice, book ideas, anything, it would be much appreciated 
Thanks!
How much does an average wedding photographer make?
A friend of mine is coming from out of state to take pictures of my wedding (she is a pro photographer in her state). She’s not charging me anything for her time, travel costs, or the photos. What kind of gift would be appropriate for her? She has told me she’ll refuse any amount of money that I try to give her.
A lot of photography pricing advice online seems to be for professionals. I am sub-pro/amateur – basically, I am a photo student who is in demand. I don’t necessarily need to pay for equipment (although that would be wonderful), but I definitely don’t want to have dirt cheap rates because I actually do good quality work and don’t want to be a push over. So far I haven’t bought photoshop, but I want to, and I haven’t had to get any prints done for my commissions. My growing experience ranges from candid wedding shots, band gig, theatre production, and my upcoming commissions are product shots for business owners. Thus far my commissions have relied on the client’s choice of how much they want to pay, which has resulted in a couple of free commissions unfortunately – but I did gain experience. My hometown is a metropolitan, college town and when at my school, that town has a more rural setting. I shoot with a Canon EOS Rebel XSi (and hoping to upgrade before I graduate).
How should I go about pricing as a rising photographer?
- candid wedding?
- band gigs? band portraits?
- general portraits?
- products?
- plays and stage performances?
How should I price prints?
- where are good places/sites to get prints done?
I would really appreciate thorough and honest answers. I know that there are so many factors that go into pricing, but some ideas and advice would be really helpful. One of my acquaintances does headshots for our university’s actors/actresses for . Although I haven’t done much portraiture and have been asked to do more event-related work, so I am not sure where to start prices.
To FotoZ: That’s why I tried to mention information about my towns – one is more urban and one is more rural. I live in Virginia (United States).
I have had a family ask me if I would like to do their family portraits and their eldest daughter’s senior photos for them. I have shot 2 seniors, 1 engagement, 1 wedding, and just some portraits for friends. Then in September I am shooting another wedding and 2 bridal portrait sessions. But the ones I have done so far were for free because I just started out doing amateur photography and the photos I have done so far are for family and a couple friends. I can’t hand out freebies for the rest of my life in photography and especially if I want to start my own photography business. I do have a nice camera (D3100 Nikon and have 2 lenses for it, a 18-55 mm and a 55-200 mm) which I absolutely love. I am a amateur photographer and training to be a professional photographer. Not someone who just says they are and doesn’t pursue after it. ¬ someone with absolutely no experience. What prices are good for a family portrait session and a pricing for senior portrait session? I dont want to charge too much because like I said earlier, I am a amateur photographer in training to be a professional photographer. If anyone has had experience with this and knows what pricing is cheap and fair please let me know, I would greatly appreciate it
I have a long time family friend (my fathers age, so not like a friend I go and hang out with in a casual environment or anything) who is a professional photographer. He has been letting me tag along with him on jobs since I was in high school to learn the ins and outs of photography, since I’m both passionate about it and have natural ability he’s been working to refine. At this point (I’m 22 and have been "interning" since I was about 14), I’m more than able to do photography professionally, but I won’t set up my own business out of respect for him for teaching me for free all these years (I will be when my husband and I move elsewhere next year, but I won’t steal his business away from him here).
Usually, in the studio or on location shoots, most people don’t mind me being there, since I’m introduced as a student and am always very respectful and friendly. He always asks if they are ok with me taking photos side by side with him for practice, and if they are, I do, and if they aren’t, I just observe (rarely people object). I have been to several wedding with him, but seeing as he’s one of the more sought after photographers in town and his wedding rates aren’t exactly cheap, I come along as a student, but have never carried a camera myself. I have shot weddings before for friends and family as their "wedding gift" so I am quite familiar with doing weddings, and have always produced exceptional shots. This weekend, he invited me along to do a very large wedding, and suggested I bring my personal camera along to capture some of the candid moments with the guests (he will provide a memory card that belongs to his studio). It is the first time he’s ever asked me to shoot a wedding side by side with him. I’m pretty laid back, and wouldn’t have minded if he had a student taking photos when I got married, so long as he was doing the main shots, but I know a lot of people are far less relaxed on their wedding day than I was. I am just curious if most brides would mind this, keeping in mind he would be doing the main photography, I would just be helping out getting extra photos, there would be no extra fee, and all the photos would go back to his studio, not to my personal equiptment?
I’ve done a couple shoots for various people and was, was asked to do a wedding in September for a lady ( I used to work with) daughter and didn’t give her a price back then, because I didn’t know what to charge. In the past I’d charge /hr for stuff and that’s pretty cheap compared to the hours i put into it. I’m also a graphic designer and have been practicing for the past 5 years. I’m good at what I do and I take great photographs. I decided to make a contract of all my fees and so that I wouldn’t get screwed over again as I have been taken advantage of by my "friends". I have a business, I’m here to make money. So my senior portraits are 0 – 0 – includes 2-3 hours of my time, all images on dvd, release for prints, image correction, etc. My family portraits are alittle more because hence there are more people involved, but those are around 0-0, with 3-4 hours, and the rest included. Weddings, 0, 7 hrs of coverage, images on dvd, color correction, 2-8×10s. And a 0 non refundable retainer, to hold the event, and that amount comes off the total package. I don’t know if location has anything to do with it, but I come from a small town in Kansas, and I think 0 is pretty reasonable for a wedding shoot, which would last ALL day. Excluding mileage, luging around equipment, etc. Any ideas? Thanks.
Checked out some photographers around here, and a man in Garden City, KS weddings start out at 5.00, while another one in Liberal, KS starts out at ,000 and some includes mileage and some doesn’t. I think for what i’m offering its pretty darn reasonable. I’m also including prints that I didn’t mention up there and not charging them .00 per photo on the dvd, which there are usually over 300 photos…
People don’t want an inexperienced wedding photographer doing the job, and you can’t get a job doing it if you don’t have the experience. How can I break this catch-22? And no, I don’t personally know anyone getting married.