Whole day wedding photography for less than $800?

[lobsterkia]

Wah .
One day service for less than SGD800 ... :cry: :cry::cry:



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Moderator Note:
Originated from Actual Day Wedding Photographer Needed (budget below $800)

posts moved to new thread for discussion

 

[armee]

I don't think she is unrealistic . Some bridal shop offer only $688 for AD wedding for 200 photos.
I have seen that the quality is ok too..
Now the budget is below 800. I think most of the mid range photographer will be interested..

 

[uboat51]

And I have work with afew old timer Bridal Studio photographer.
I being the videographer sought after by the couple.
They are only paid in the range from $200 - $350 for a 10 hr day.
Ya and they provide about 200 Good images

Their quality is pretty good actually.

 

[boracayangels]

200 good images 4R photo, I hope, for the sake of all photographer not the soft files or digital files!!!!!!

well 200 small digital at 10 dollars each will also cost $2000/-

Then again all soft files package low res only charge 450 for 3 hrs of shooting.
Last round generated about 500 images, clients said WoW, yeah this one this one 200 times lay, guess they are happy with 200 keepers.
But only provided 4R.

Pietan......

 

[shuigao]

They are only paid in the range from $200 - $350 for a 10 hr day.

Wow how to live like this. 1 full day $300 (let's say), 8 jobs a month = $2400, isn't this even lower than fresh grad salary nowadays?

 

[Sito82]

thats excluding transportation, cost to maintain your camera, electricity to charge your camera. Guess those are students who are earning pocket money perhaps?

Wow how to live like this. 1 full day $300 (let's say), 8 jobs a month = $2400, isn't this even lower than fresh grad salary nowadays?

 

[TWmilkteaTW]

Wow how to live like this. 1 full day $300 (let's say), 8 jobs a month = $2400, isn't this even lower than fresh grad salary nowadays?

hmm dontknow why u would want to compare like this.
but anyway..nowadays.. fresh grad dont even get 2.4... depending on which industry..some can be as low as 1.8-2..

Erm dont get me wrong.. $300 is too low IMO.

 

[uboat51]

Wow how to live like this. 1 full day $300 (let's say), 8 jobs a month = $2400, isn't this even lower than fresh grad salary nowadays?

8 jobs is too little a month .. hehe ..

I guess these uncles work on quantity. They have jobs almost everyday.
Photography is like a walk in the park for them.

Jut like most professional who are very good at what they do.
They don't expense much effort but for the newbies here who only takes jobs once ina few months, the procedure, travelling , waking up early may be atask to them.
Finding the correct aperture and speed ISO is still a trail and error, but for these uncles, it's like stirring coffee.

If everyone here has been shooting for over 2 years, photography would be a walk in the park for many of us too

 

[uboat51]

pardon me .. i meant over 20 years ... LOL.
Shall not Hijeack the thread anymore .. cheers ..

 

[catchlights]

And I have work with afew old timer Bridal Studio photographer.
I being the videographer sought after by the couple.
They are only paid in the range from $200 - $350 for a 10 hr day.
Ya and they provide about 200 Good images

Their quality is pretty good actually.

8 jobs is too little a month .. hehe ..

I guess these uncles work on quantity. They have jobs almost everyday.
Photography is like a walk in the park for them.

Jut like most professional who are very good at what they do.
They don't expense much effort but for the newbies here who only takes jobs once ina few months, the procedure, travelling , waking up early may be atask to them.
Finding the correct aperture and speed ISO is still a trail and error, but for these uncles, it's like stirring coffee.

If everyone here has been shooting for over 2 years, photography would be a walk in the park for many of us too

pardon me .. i meant over 20 years ... LOL.
Shall not Hijeack the thread anymore .. cheers ..

$200 is shooting on film, $350 is shooting on digital, but that is many many year ago.

yes, they can shoot 3 full days in a row, and 10 hrs a day. and nowadays still the same but the rate is much higher

this is how they do it,

10hrs service start from 7am to 2pm, 7pm to 11pm, come early or stay later will have surcharge, $50 for each hour at least.
using mid range DSLR and consumer grade zoom lens.
camera set at medium jpg, auto WB and aperture mode, some in P mode.
one lens one flash thru out whole day, rain or shine, indoor or outdoor, the flash is always on, so WB is consistent.
all shots are shooting from eye level, and make sure all shots get eye contact, so they always shout "look at the lens, 1, 2, 3, smile!" (in mandarin) before clicking the shutter.
only shoot posed shots, which mean all shots are staged, you want PJ style, they either tell you don't know or just tilt the camera to 45 degree and shoot.
so the tea ceremony photos will look like award presentation, the family photos will look like clan association group photos, the rest of photos just like MP walk about, everyone will smile and look at the camera, very decent photos indeed.

as such, they don't have to shoot thousand and thousand of photos, just need to download and burn into CD, pass the CD to bridal shop and collect money, bridal shop will select 200 photos and send for printing.

no meeting with customers, all standard template shots, no fancy shots, no post processing, just one lens one camera and one flash, that is how they able to charge very low and shoot 100 over weddings a year.

 

[catchlights]

many wannabes don't know about these, they are offering $2000 worth of services and products but only charging a fraction of that, needless to say they won't last very long.

 

[Agetan]

Uhm... everyone has their own ideas about charging to be honest.

Some family are happy if they bring $2000 a month home... some family would rather have $200,000 a month... and some in between or more... Different stroke for different folks really.

Unfortunately, it isn't about how good you are as a photographer, but how good you are in marketing your work count.

If you want to complaint that these people are charging low, ask yourself what have you done to help them to charge to the right price for their work?

Of course, I always say, charge enough to make the ends meet and have some left for rainy days... For people who shoot on side line, making $800 extra per week isn't that bad. For professional who makes a living out of this, one would really need to think a better way of making income that support the family.

Clients will need to be educated by the photographer and of course, at the end of the day, it really depends on how much budget that the clients want to spend....

 

[theo505]

The best is stick to the price you are asking for. The pros and average photographers will not touch this kind of projects because for every project they work on alot of effort, skill and time goes into it. Usually the below average or etc will likely go for the project.
To the clients what you pay for is what you get.

 

[saveDqueen]

Yes, I agree with the rate of a bridal photographer from $200-350 for 10hrs through some works involved. Not being sarcastic, the quality of the work is good but not exceptional. For which I have seen several exceptional work and they are charging rocket prices that I would not dare to, but they are getting lots of business.

And think about why are they charging these prices. Do they edit? Do they package the end product and deliver it to the customers? What responsibilities are they tied to on their end, or isit a one day off thing?

Reality tells the truth, if you charge a certain price with decreasing customers, reflect upon it. Find grounds and reasons to explain your work and I believe by finding a common ground with your clients sets your business apart from others. If any photographer think that they are worth more, then they should offer something that those photographers could not, this is the beautiful part of this profession as you could choose your work.

But at the end of the day, this is business, we compete. And I believe success stems from oneself.

 

[surrephoto]

$200 is shooting on film, $350 is shooting on digital, but that is many many year ago.

yes, they can shoot 3 full days in a row, and 10 hrs a day. and nowadays still the same but the rate is much higher

this is how they do it,

10hrs service start from 7am to 2pm, 7pm to 11pm, come early or stay later will have surcharge, $50 for each hour at least.
using mid range DSLR and consumer grade zoom lens.
camera set at medium jpg, auto WB and aperture mode, some in P mode.
one lens one flash thru out whole day, rain or shine, indoor or outdoor, the flash is always on, so WB is consistent.
all shots are shooting from eye level, and make sure all shots get eye contact, so they always shout "look at the lens, 1, 2, 3, smile!" (in mandarin) before clicking the shutter.
only shoot posed shots, which mean all shots are staged, you want PJ style, they either tell you don't know or just tilt the camera to 45 degree and shoot.
so the tea ceremony photos will look like award presentation, the family photos will look like clan association group photos, the rest of photos just like MP walk about, everyone will smile and look at the camera, very decent photos indeed.

as such, they don't have to shoot thousand and thousand of photos, just need to download and burn into CD, pass the CD to bridal shop and collect money, bridal shop will select 200 photos and send for printing.

no meeting with customers, all standard template shots, no fancy shots, no post processing, just one lens one camera and one flash, that is how they able to charge very low and shoot 100 over weddings a year.

Thank you for this very accurate and in-depth description about what bridal shop hired ad pgs do... I have friends who are shooting bridal shop jobs and it's really sad to see them being insulted/criticized every kopi-session about their rates. This is why it is justifiable to be paid "so low" for what they do.

 

[Agetan]

$200 is shooting on film, $350 is shooting on digital, but that is many many year ago.

yes, they can shoot 3 full days in a row, and 10 hrs a day. and nowadays still the same but the rate is much higher

this is how they do it,

10hrs service start from 7am to 2pm, 7pm to 11pm, come early or stay later will have surcharge, $50 for each hour at least.
using mid range DSLR and consumer grade zoom lens.
camera set at medium jpg, auto WB and aperture mode, some in P mode.
one lens one flash thru out whole day, rain or shine, indoor or outdoor, the flash is always on, so WB is consistent.
all shots are shooting from eye level, and make sure all shots get eye contact, so they always shout "look at the lens, 1, 2, 3, smile!" (in mandarin) before clicking the shutter.
only shoot posed shots, which mean all shots are staged, you want PJ style, they either tell you don't know or just tilt the camera to 45 degree and shoot.
so the tea ceremony photos will look like award presentation, the family photos will look like clan association group photos, the rest of photos just like MP walk about, everyone will smile and look at the camera, very decent photos indeed.

as such, they don't have to shoot thousand and thousand of photos, just need to download and burn into CD, pass the CD to bridal shop and collect money, bridal shop will select 200 photos and send for printing.

no meeting with customers, all standard template shots, no fancy shots, no post processing, just one lens one camera and one flash, that is how they able to charge very low and shoot 100 over weddings a year.

Interesting...

Not bad for side income, but standing for 1000 hours (assuming 100 weddings @ 10hrs ea @$350) a year for making $25-$30k annual profit after the equipment cost a year for doing some thing is not bad... better than working in McDonald.

However, as a full time professional that support a growing family might be challenging.

Regards,

Hart

 

[JasonB]

When you are so used to hunger and eating cheap, bring you to a restaurant you also refused to believe you really deserve a good meal.

Such is the sadness of the low end segment. They lock themselves in a cage they built themselves. People can tell them, hey just unlock the cage, fly and be free, but they cannot convince themselves, too much uncertainty in the dangerous high skies, better stay in the cage.

Thus come the buyers. What a nice bird. $800 only? Cheap, I buy. Beautiful wings. Too bad can't fly. Chirping also can lah. Still good.

 

[catchlights]

for those who offer service only in very low rate;
they see themself like factory workers,
thou the rate is cheap, but bear in mind that they don't need 5DMKIII, or D800E
they don't use pro lenses,
don't shoot with two bodies with prime lenses,
don't shoot RAW,
don't need many pieces of 32GB memory cards
don't need photoshop or lightroom
don't need highend computer,
don't need calibrate monitor
don't need bring notebook to go for shoot,
don't need spend hours and hours post processing
don't need run here and there to find creative angle
don't need go high and low to find interesting viewpoint

and they also don't need to meet up with customers,
don't need to exchange 20-30 emails before confirm a shoot,
don't need spend money to create and update hardcopy portfolio,
don't need create fancy website and pay advertisement,
don't need to join professional and trade associations
don't need to attend workshops, seminars and conference

that is how they can maintain very low overhead and charge so cheap,
have all the time they can and shoot day after day.

that is nothing wrong with this, just the way they position themself in the photography business.

 

[catchlights]

on the other hand,
many "just started out" photographers don't work out their own figures for how to charge,
they only see what is the so call "market rate" and offer the same,
and come to clubsnap and similar places to see what are the "pros" doing and offering,

they thought they have the awesome gears, and the customer will be impressed
they thought they offer a faction of what others is selling, they can still can make some "profit"
they thought they are going for extra miles but don't understand they are short changing themself


probably can get a few assignments here or there and make some money, but make money is not equal to making profits,
doing a business is about making profit, you are not running a non profit charity organization,
without profit, how are you going to fund your business?
do you have unlimited saving to pump into your business?
how long can your family support your business?

#1, if a job make you lose money, doing more of these will drain all your resources.
#2, if a job don't make profit, doing ten of this jobs you still won't make any profit.
#3, if a job only make a little profit, doing more you still able to sustain.
now you tell me, which type scenario possible for you to maintain your business as a newcomer for a year or two, and possible to rise your rate without losing too many customers?

 

[catchlights]

to those who just started out, try not to compete price with hobbyists, you simply can't outbid them with prices, after a few jobs, they quit, but more hobbyists will come in, you are fighting a price war that never end.