How much is a wedding photographer in Nottingham?
Why do wedding photographers cost so much?
Are wedding photographers expensive?
Weekend Warriors Vs Professional
Do I need 2 Photographers?
How much is a wedding photographer in Nottingham?
You can expect to pay between £1,200 - £2,000 for a wedding photographer in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. The average price of a professional wedding photographer for a full day is £1,500 and will include all images and maybe an album. At the lower price point of £1,200 you can typically expect full day coverage with digital files only. High prices account for additional products being added to packages.
Why do wedding photographers cost so much?
This is where an easy question will lead to a long explanation, but it is important you get the full picture to understand why you believe they cost so much.
There are 2 types of wedding photographers, them who have a day job and cover weddings at the weekend. (commonly known as weekend warriors) You then have full-time professional wedding photographers. This is an area that is a minefield in itself, you can read about the differences between a Professional photographer Vs Weekend Warrior further below.
It all starts with your photographer being trained. Professional photographers do not just pick up a camera and hope for the best, they will have spent at least 2 years training and like everything, training does not come cheap but is an investment for your future. You can not start the training without having the equipment required. Just one professional full-frame camera will cost at least £3k, lenses can also cost you thousands and you will be going to need a full range of lenses along with several hundred more for a speed light and that is before things like batteries, memory cards, tripods, lighting stands, and modifiers. the initial cost for one camera with lenses and all of the above is now £5k - $6k Although a photographer in training may start off with 1 camera and a lens, when they take on a wedding they will need at least 2 cameras, maybe even 3. With that in mind, you need 3 times everything else. My own kit bag on a typical wedding will exceed £20k of photography equipment.
Photography is not cheap.
In order for a photographer to offer their services, they will need to have a website with all the information at hand. Creating a website, maintaining the website, and the cost of the domain name and hosting of the website costs money.
The world lives in a social area with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.. It is no longer good enough to just have a website. While these platforms may be free they take a lot of time to keep up to date.
Having a website and a social presence does not automatically bring customers. You have to promote them with ads and campaigns, Google and Facebook advertising can cost a few hundred every month... Then there are the wedding shows that need to be attended, You have to spend a lot of money on a good stand with thousands of pounds worth of albums and other material on display, not forgetting the cost to attend the wedding show itself and the flyers and brochures you need to have.
hang in there, I did say this was a long answer.. But it will be worth it.
OK, so the photographer has a website and a social presence and the work starts to come in. From here on there will be quite a lot of communications via email or phone etc. eventually leading up to a personal meeting. All of this is more time in email responses, traveling, a couple of hours in a meeting before then signing contracts. Communication will continue at various stages right up to the point of your wedding day.
On the wedding day itself, your photographer will have already invested in a number of suits or for the female photographers, a nice dress or smart trousers. Professional wedding photographers will not turn up looking out of place. When it comes to traveling, you can expect your photographer to be up early for the preparation shots before then traveling again to the ceremony and again onto the reception if not in the same place. On average at least 6 trips will be made.
Your photographer will be carrying thousands of ££££ worth of equipment which of course requires insurance. they will also have other insurance to such as public liability and indemnity insurance.
Your photographer will be at your wedding all day and through into the evening, not stopping and putting every ounce of their energy and training into practice to produce some great images.
Of course, every professional photographer will also be trained in people skills, organizing guests at a rowdy wedding should be a piece of cake, Your photographer is often called upon to help fasten and lace up the dress, correctly fasten buttonhole flowers on the ladies and men. Your photographer may even turn into the master of ceremonies. A photographer's job is not just about taking photos.
Home Time. Finally, after what may have been a 12hr+ working day and nearing midnight, the first thing your photographer will do is back up their all-important photos. Maybe even put all the batteries on charge ready for tomorrow's wedding. Finally, they may then be able to eat something and enjoy a drink before crashing out and starting all over again in the morning.
But that is not all, far from it. All your images need editing and albums to be made. Editing a full wedding where thousands of images may have been taken can take day's obtaining the images for your album and creating a stunning album takes days. The software that is needed to process your images costs hundreds. The images then need to be presented on to USB sticks and into an online gallery all of which costs more money. Your wedding album will also be professionally made and will cost hundreds.
Time, I have spoken about time quite a lot in this breakdown. With all the communications, meetings, your wedding, traveling and all the post-work that goes on after your wedding, your photographer will have spent around a week working on your wedding. With all the costs associate as broken down above, your photographer still needs to pay themselves a wage. Trust me, that wage minus all costs is not as handsome as some may think, some photographers make a little more than the minimum living wage. But they love the job and wouldn't change it for the world.
I hope this has helped you understand just some of the behind the scenes costs and involvements as a wedding photographer. Of course, there is always so much more that I have not listed, Solicitors, Accountants, computer equipment, storage, maybe even a studio, off-site storage, stationery, branding, ongoing training, and refreshing skills, refreshing camera equipment every few years (they don't last forever) and there are so much more, lots more I not even spoken about.
Being a wedding photographer is an amazing privilege, It does come with its downsides though. During the school holidays and throughout spring and summer you can forget about your own family holidays. This is when weddings take place, so you either turn down the business and not have a business or you sacrifice family time and holidays when everyone is enjoying holidays. It is a tough life if you have a family.
Are wedding photographers expensive?
No, they charge enough to cover their overheads, their expertise, and the products you wish to include. They then pay themselves a standard wage. Professional photographers are not expensive, Photography is expensive.
Weekend Warriors Vs Professional
There are 2 types of wedding photographers, them who have a day job and cover weddings at the weekend. (commonly known as weekend warriors) You then have full-time professional wedding photographers. This is an area that is a minefield in itself. People will often claim they are professionals and yet do not do the job on a full-time basis! some will run their businesses from a Hotmail account, and some will not have a studio.
My interpretation of a professional is someone who is exactly that. They are professional, They have professional branding and conduct their business from a professional studio, and work at this full time.
Would you visit or trust a dentist who has trained for years, claims is a professional yet they do a completely different job in the week and does dentistry on a weekend to top their money up?
The weekend warriors will typically charge much less (it is extra pocket money for them) they may even not pay tax or declare this work to HMRC. Although this itself can be a minefield, They do not want to be seen as a part-time weekend warrior so they will put the prices up to match them of professionals.
You can only imagine how on earth do you, as a wedding couple distinguishes between an amateur photographer and a professional photographer!
Do they have an email address that matches their business name, ie. not a Hotmail or google email account.?
Do they have a studio you can visit or do they like to meet in the local put or nearby hotel?
They should have thousands of followers on social media,
You should be able to go back years on social media and view hundreds of weddings. (you're not going to find a professional photographer who has done 50,60,70 weddings)
Quality of work should also stand out.
Are they insured? ask to see their insurance for public liability and indemnity.
How long have they had their website will often indicate if they are newbies or long-lasting photographers. Use this website https://web.archive.org/ type in the name of the photographer webpage and see how far back it goes.
Do I need 2 Photographers?
Is there such a thing as 2 photographers?
Let me ask you this, do you need 2 dentists, bus drivers, or checkout staff to ring your shopping through?
People will often look at hiring a professional photographer and during their search, they will come across things like "all day coverage" + 2 photographers + this + the world, etc...
Wait.. think about it... How much is the average price of a professional photographer? £1,500 is the average. So why would 2 x photographers cost the same or less? or maybe you're offered a second photographer for as little as £200!
The truth is, there is normally only one professional photographer (assuming he or she is a true professional) the 2nd photographer is 80% of the time the main photographer's wife or husband who tags along and takes photos hoping for the best, You may come across the term as a husband and wife team, but hey.. You got 2 photographers and it makes you look good right! The other 20% will be people wanting to learn and get into the business, they will carry bags and lighting stands for the main photographer and basically be their shadow.. But hey it looks good because you have 2 photographers at your wedding right!
Couples often insist on 2 photographers so one can be with the groom while the other can be with the bride getting ready. They also insist they want as much captured as possible. So let us break this down and then ask yourself if you actually need 2 photographers.
The bride will be spending an hour in the chair having beautiful makeup applied, followed by more time having the perfect hair styled. The dress will be hanging up alongside the bridesmaid's dresses, the shoes will be out, flowers and bouquets arrived and jewellery laid out. The bridesmaids giggling along with the bride.
The Groom..... Has his suit hanging up.. With his best men... Playing Xbox... No hairstylist or makeup artist to be seen, No bouquets being delivered, no jewellery laid out..
Who do you think needs a photographer to capture moments of a lifetime?
Any professional photographer will always capture the groom and the groomsmen when they arrive at the church or venue anyway. The buttonholes, the rings, and some beautiful casual shots of the men. So tell me again.. do you really need a second none professional photographer capturing either the bride or groom?
What about at the venue capturing moments the other might have missed?
Do you really think 2 x photographers are going to be photographing other ends of the room or different rooms at the same time? No, they will be together following each other all day, often discussing what they are going to be fed. If one misses something then the other has no chance. having 2 photographers together = more chatter and missed moments.
The truth here is that any professional photographer will be working none stop, If you see it, they will see it, Professional photographers have 2 eyes, believe it or not, they are trained so one is always on the bride and or groom while the other is always scanning the room for them moments. Single photographers work more efficiently and quicker on their own.
Having asked couples in general conversation when they are in my studio for example, how many photographers did they have for their wedding, if they say 2, I ask why? So many have said it is because it looked good and made them feel important.
Some said because they thought they would get more photos. When asked how many photos did they get for their wedding they turn around and say 200-300 !!!! On average as a single professional photographer, I supply anything between 500-800+
So, Let me ask you again... Why do you need 2 x photographers (or 1 photographer and + 1) ?
Do you need 2 x photographers (or 1 photographer and + 1)?