2009 11-01 - Pricing 101

(Article written November 2009)

...Whoa there, tiger! You REALLY need to read this article before you say "I do!" to your first job as a lead wedding photographer.


I get asked this question pretty regularly, but I don't mind because my answer gets better each time! DISCLAIMER: I am not formally trained in business management or coaching. This does NOT constitute good business advice at all, this is just my un-educated opinion based on personal experience. Just warning you in advance! ...So, back to the question- what you charge for your first wedding?


Right off the bat let me just say- If you know the couple can afford more but are simply de-valuing photography, DON'T FALL FOR IT. If you show up to that wedding and the cake, flowers, limo, or dress / shoes etc. cost 10x more than what you're getting paid, well... YOU'VE. BEEN. HAD. Sorry! You just got taken for a ride by someone who doesn't care at all about photography. Or if it's just a friend who *thinks* you'll do a good job and is simply naive about what quality wedding photography looks like, again you should do your best to convince them to hire an experienced pro. I'm sure there's plenty of photographers whose work you admire that you could recommend.

Anyways, this article is not really about those situations. It's about the clients who truly are low-budget, and how you as a photographer might go about getting into business either by shooting for THEM, (the low budget bride) ...or by holding out for greener grass. Here we go...

The first thing you need to remember is that it's practically business suicide to sell yourself short and do your first job for free, or even for a few hundred bucks. Why is it suicide? Because you're not just starting off on the wrong foot, you're shooting yourself in the foot. You won't be known as a budding professional, you'll be known as "that friend with a camera who shoots friends' weddings for free..." NOT GOOD. At the very least, you're going to want to avoid that stigma. Even if you get roped into a couple friends' weddings, make sure they understand what a value they're getting, (TELL THEM how much you usually charge) ...and make sure they understand their obligation to you- You're shooting their wedding for free, in hopes that THEY will send their friends your way. Don't just give the couple a disk and say "have a nice life!" Get them some sort of photo album, photo book, prints, canvases, whatever you can so that they've got a physical product to show EVERY friend and family who comes over. Otherwise that disc may just sit on a shelf for 1-2 years while they get settled into married life. If you don't get people to understand this, it will never be an actual career. If you want to keep this as a hobby, that's great! Otherwise, keep reading.

Of course ALSO, quite simply, if your work is only as good as "free", or if your confidence is only worth a few hundred dollars, maybe you shouldn't be shooting solo. The risk of a bride and groom being left with mediocre or even boring photos is too great...

Your goal should be to hold out until your experience and confidence make you FEEL like you're worth something decent. $2000 would be sweet, but it depends where you live. I know it sounds like a crazy amount for your FIRST wedding, but here's how you do it- PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! You need experience and talent, which will bring confidence and consistency, and confidence / consistency are *FAR* more important than anything else. The confidence that you can handle any lighting condition, and can roll with whatever might happen on the wedding day, while still delivering decent or hopefully amazing photos... You should assist / 2nd shoot at at least 10 weddings before you shoot your first solo wedding. And / or you should already be AMAZINGLY good at your ability in two different respects: making beautiful artistic portraits, and capturing emotive candid moments.

The best part is, you can get good at BOTH of those things in a general way, without being at an actual wedding; so I think that's an absolute requirement. Nobody should go into their first solo wedding without the confidence that they completely understand their camera, lens, and light. Since you can master these things *without* being at a wedding, there is just no excuse NOT to.

So get out there and PRACTICE. Any time you're hanging out with friends and you notice good light, grab someone and take their portrait. Practice finding good light, and creating a flattering pose. I don't care if you only have an iPhone at the time, it's better than nothing. The same goes for candid moments- At any gathering of friends or family, you can pick up your camera, a low-light lens, and practice mastering your camera, anticipating a beautiful moment, and capturing it artistically.

Yes, there is immense experienced to be gained by actually being at a wedding, and getting familiar with THOSE artistic moments and lighting conditions. But my point is that you should be able to go into your first wedding with a mastery of your camera, and a great understanding of LIGHT, COMPOSITION, TIMING, and POSING. Those are the four elements that you will notice in EVERY memorable photograph ever made...

For the record, I'm not saying this stuff about "don't low-ball!" just to protect my own busienss, or to be elitist and try and make it seem like this is the hardest job in the world... I'm simply looking out for the brides! We all as photographers have heard the stories from the brides who say it was the biggest mistake of their entire wedding to have hired a random unknown photographer. Maybe they paid little or nothing and got mediocre / bad results, or WORSE, maybe they paid $1000-$2000 and got completely ripped off. (*cough*Craigslist*cough*) Either way, the bride is going to spread a negative word about wedding photography in general. She's either going to say "hey, I got decent photos for free!" ...OR... "I paid a ton of money and it wasn't worth it at all!" NOT GOOD. And like I said, worst of all, that couple is going to spend the rest of their life with bad wedding photos.

So, what if your experience level just is not that high yet, and one of your close friends BEGGED until you said yes? Never fear- You can still gain some experience between now and then, especially if the wedding is 6+ months away. Tag along at a few weddings as either a 2nd shooter or at least as a guest, and PAY ATTENTION! In fact I'd go so far as to say, at at least one wedding you should focus LESS on the photos you're taking, and pay attention to how the paid professional is working, what photos they're taking, how they're anticipating moments, etc. Or maybe, note what they're doing WRONG... Also, even without attending weddings, you can prepare yourself for to shoot great portraits, low light candids, and stuff like that. MASTER YOUR CAMERA! Since camera operation is something you can practice any time, like I said there's no excuse not to know your camera well. I'm working on an article about what all goes INTO a wedding day, you can read that HERE. (Not done yet, so don't bother clicking on the "here" ;-)

In summary- whatever you do, DO NOT get into the mindset of "this is my first wedding, so I shouldn't charge much." Quite honestly, if you lack the confidence to perform well at that first wedding, you shouldn't be shooting it as the only pro in attendance. Luckily, you can become a skilled portrait artist and candid photojournalist BEFORE your first wedding job. Obviously that doesn't mean you're going to be worth $10,000 from day one. It's just a matter of building that confidence and consistency, which as I said will involve 2nd shooting as much as possible, and shooting any time a social event comes up.

And when all else fails, call in the cavalry. Using communities like The [b] School, you can probably find LOTS of local professionals, either just starting out like yourself, or more experienced, and they'd probably be willing to tag along with you on your first time out. I personally make it a point to 2nd shoot two or three times a year, because it gives me so many opportunities to think outside the box and watch someone else work. :-)


Good luck!
=Matt=