Why are wedding photographers so expensive?

Wedding Photography & Videography Insights…

A lot or preparation and post-production efforts go on that most people aren’t aware of.  Here’s a quick insight for you:

1. Equipment.
   Wedding photography and video is kind of important – it’s the sort of event that you have to get right first time.  If we miss the shot, there’s no going back for a take two.  So although you don’t need the latest and greatest, most expensive equipment available to be a good (or great) photographer, it actually does help a lot for important jobs like weddings.  Have a good lens is paramount.  A good lens will be one that has super fast focussing and works well in darker conditions, amongst other factors too.
   There’s other important equipment too – like having a good flash, several memory cards, a backup camera and lenses, tripods, batteries, the list really does go on!
   This equipment is expensive.  They’re the tools of our trade and without them, we can’t do our job.  And as with most tools, they are subject to wear and tear and need replacing or repairing for time to time.  So we have to factor this in to our pricing.
2. Preparations.
   As a wedding photographer, it’s important to really get to know and understand the flow and schedule for the day.  Sure – I could just turn up and wing it – and due to the occasional unprepared couple, I’ve had to do this – but it’s not ideal.
   Leading up to the wedding day, if I don’t know the photo locations we’ll be going to – I like to scope them out first – drive or walk around, if possible at the same time that we’ll likely be there on the day, so I can work out angles, lighting and get a feel for the general environment there.
   I’ll always map out my travels for the day.  For a full day wedding gig, we’ll often start out at one of the couples homes, then travel to the other, sometimes back again!  Occasionally we’ll meet bridal parties at hair salons, hotel restaurants etc…  Then usually off to the ceremony location, up to 3 or 4 photography locations before heading back to the reception venue.  Sometimes we venture off to other locations after the reception too!   So mapping out the day takes a bit of thought, preparation, working out timing and logistics.

The day before a wedding, I’ll spend a considerable amount of time ensuring all my memory cards are empty, formatted and ready to go.  I’ll spend quite a few hours charging batteries – depending on what equipment I’ll be using on the day I might need to rotate up to about 15 batteries through the chargers.  I also get all my gear out, sort it out so that it’s ready in order that I’ll need it and make sure it’s all working.  And yes – there’s been the occasional bolt to the camera hire store to grab a replacement / substitute piece of equipment that decided to fail on me overnight for no apparent reason!

3. On the day.
   The night before a wedding, I usually have a restless night sleep.  I’ll often lay in bed thinking about the important parts of the day / special requests from the couple, and think about how I’m actually going to make it work.  When a couple requests a particular shot – I need to think about how, where and when I can make it happen.  As I said earlier – if I miss time things, I risk missing out on the shot completely.
   Wedding photography and videography often involves a bright and early start and a very late finish – I’ve even done a 16 hour day once! Although most weddings are around 12 hours work for me.
   I’m always nervous leading up to a wedding.  I’m worried I won’t get the right shots, or I’ll miss something important.  It’s a high pressure job because you’ve literally got one chance to get it right.  Having experience in weddings is what helps the nerves to settle, and knowing the schedule for the day is super important too for the same reason.
4. The Edits.
   So next comes the challenge of sorting through and editing hundreds, sometimes thousands of photos!  And guess what – most couples want their photos… yesterday!  Don’t we all!
   So as quickly as possible we have to backup the photos so they don’t vanish into thin air accidently.  Then we have to sort and cull – although you might think you want ALL of the photos, looking at half-smiles, blinks and blurs can get tiring after a while.  So we remove the nonsense for you.  We’ll then colour correct and adjust exposure if need be.  This might not sound like much – but remember there could be hundreds or thousands of photos that all need individual attention here.  So this process can take days.
   We then need to prepare the photos for you to view.  In my case, because I shoot in raw – I need to now convert all the photos to jpeg files for you to be able to see them – and of course I need to upload them to my secure server so you can get your online gallery and share it with your friends and family.  Let me tell you – uploading thousands of photos takes time (and data)!
   Of course I’ll get started on art-working some of my favourite photos while I’m waiting for you to give me your feedback on your favourite photos!  And, can I just say – it usually takes couples on average 2 to 3 weeks to get back to me with their list of favourites!  (If it takes you that long just to look through them – remember how quickly we had to sort and correct them!).
   Now I haven’t even touched on what goes on with the video side of things… that’s a whole other story!
5. Preparing Products.
   With the development of our new packages a few years back, we decided to start including some of the old-fashioned stuff, like prints and albums!  The digital world is amazing to say the least, but nothing compares to being able to touch and feel, and hold a photo in your hands, or flip through an album.  Something about it just warms the soul.
   When we’re talking wedding photography – we certainly don’t skimp on the quality.  You’ll get the highest quality prints and books.
6. The other stuff.
   Then there’s the other stuff like hiring staff and additional equipment, registering a business, insurance, website, listing your business on appropriate search sites, education to keep our skills and knowledge up to date… Then there’s the time we spend with emails and correspondence – there’s a lot of that to do – let me tell you! These things all cost time or money or both.