The Wedding Photographer
Let me get this straight: I am not a wedding photographer; I only take photos of them taking photos of weddings. It’s a meta thing.
To the left, if you haven’t guessed, is the photographer. To the right, Janine the Bride. Or vice versa, if you’re dyslexic or da Vinci. Or in another world entirely, looking through Alice in Wonderland’s mirror. Whatever. I have an open mind. For all I know, in a parallel universe somewhere, brides wear black pants and carry cameras to the altar while wedding photographers wear flowing white gowns and take pictures with a bouquet of flowers. You never know. So it’s best never to assume.
My feet were already feeling less than comfy when I took this photo. Much later, a piece of my skin, the size of my thumbprint and less than a millimeter thick, tries to slide off my the ball of my left foot and leaves a tiny pool of blood in my shoe. I don’t know what it is, but my left foot must like ruining my favorite pairs of shoes.
Update: Since this Photo Friday’s topic is Portrait, and the picture sort of fits, I added the link.
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8 thoughts on “The Wedding Photographer”
So, the question is…
Did the professional photographer use a Canon or Nikon camera?
Nikon, of course =-) April, that is a beautiful shot. Take that from someone who gets paid to shoot weddings. That is a shot that I would be very proud to have in my portfolio.
Parl, the wedding photographer used a Canon 20D, I think. But I was on a Nikon D50. Like Broch, I’m a Nikon fan. 😉
And thanks for the high praise, Broch! That wedding weekend was actually the first time I seriously tried shooting people — aside from that one soccer game in the park, I mean. I need the practice as I don’t really get to take many pictures of people at all. I totally wouldn’t mind getting paid to shoot a wedding one day. 🙂
You would be surprised just how easy it is to get started shooting them. Once you have the right technique down, which I would say you do, and the right equipment for the day, go for it! I started with people that I know, and it snowballed from there.
Hm. How much do wedding photographers normally charge? And how many photos can the bride and groom normally expect from a wedding photographer on the job?
I’m sending Janine and Brandon all the photos I took there as a wedding gift on top of what I gave them just before they drove me to the airport. Most of the photos don’t look nearly half as good as this one, but I took over 700 photos total, lol. That includes all the stuff leading up to the wedding itself. I’m hoping they like at least a tenth of the photos, though it was really more of a shooting practice for me. In other words, my ratio of great shots wasn’t as good as it normally is.
Love the flip-flops on the floor… 🙂
Holy Moley! 700 Shots??? I normally shoot 400-500, with about 4/5 of them being keepers. For the past year, I have been charging $500.00, and what the bride and groom end up with is several cd’s worth of images. I provide all of the images in color and b&w. I have also been throwing in the engagement photos for free. This year, I’m stepping up to charging a base price of 700, and offering extras such as post production on choice images. I’m also going to be setting a limit on the number of hours that I am available to shoot. On a few occasions, it has turned into an 11-12 hour day. Those occasions almost caused me to quit shooting weddings, and sell my gear.
Do know that what I charge isn’t “Normal.” If there are any “Real Pros” that read this, they would cringe at my prices, as well as the fact that I just “Give” the files to my clients to do with as they choose. By doing that, i release the copyright of my work to them. Frankly, that is where the money factor is. I hate to say it, but my time is so much spoken for, that I don’t want to deal with the administrative hassle of working back and forth with the client to select photos and obtain prints.
Back to your question, sorry for the tangent, on what is “Normal?” For my area, a wedding photographer can easily command 2500.00 for the day, before it is all said and done. That usually includes a book of proofs, but no pictures of choice.
Sorry for the long winded answer, please email me if you are thinking seriously about getting into this line of work.
Nikki, I believe the flip-flops belonged to the flower girl. 🙂
Broch, the two wedding photographers at Janine’s wedding also charged $500 total. They’re still new to the business so they charge less at the start to gain some clients. The woman would shoot the posed portrait shots, and the man that came with her would shoot more candid photojournalistic shots. They were a much better deal than the other photographer Janine considered, who quoted $1,000 and works alone. I read a Photoworkshop article of one well-known artsy wedding photographer who charges at least $3,000 though, so I really wasn’t sure what the average was.
And my 700 shots? That includes shots I took one and two days before the wedding. Many of them were of the bride’s dog, Casey. 🙂
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