Why Are Wedding Photographers So Expensive?

The ceremony and reception venues are booked.other photography products included in their quoted
You have an idea of the style of dress you want,packages. Your wedding will easily require 80 hours of
colors and who will be your maid of honor and bestyour photographer's time if not more.
man. The excitement is building! Next up is5. Tools are expensive - A qualified photographer will
photography. You know you're going to wantbe carrying $10,000 or more in equipment on their
wonderful pictures of your big day. But a cursoryperson during your wedding. The digital camera gear
glance at wedding photographers and their prices canwill usually have to be replaced every few years.
be an exercise in sticker shock. Photography withoutThat's expensive, considering professional caliber
a doubt is expensive. But why? They're just picturescamera bodies cost more than $2,500 to replace. The
for pete's sake!photographer must also upgrade computers and
Here are eight reasons good wedding photographerssoftware just as frequently. Add to that burden the
are so expensive:normal wear and tear on all equipment and the costs
become eye popping.
1. They are qualified - When considering6. Commitment to you - As a wedding photographer
photographers and their fees it helps to rememberI can tell you it is much more pleasant to explain
you are not paying for merely a photographer's timeprices to clients once rather than apologize for the
on your wedding day. You are paying for the ten, 15,quality of their pictures forever. Ten years from now
or 20 years of commitment which is required towhen viewing your wedding album, you will not be
create wonderful images in the handful of hours theyconcerned with how much the photographer cost but
will shoot pictures during your wedding day. By payingyou will be concerned with the quality of their work.
more than you might have expected for a qualified,Good is almost never cheap and cheap is seldom
experienced photographer you are grantinggood. A good photographer understands this and
yourselves the extra reassurance you will enjoy yourbuilds their business with a priority placed on a
wedding memories for years to come. Like mostcommitment to your pictures and experience first
professions, becoming a consistent qualityand foremost.
professional photographer requires years of hard7. Growing the business is costly - A wedding
work. Many photographers attended college inphotographer does not receive much repeat business
photography, cut their teeth working for years asfrom our clients. If we did that would mean a lot of
assistants or as newspaper staff photographers.failed marriages! Referrals to family and friends are
They also spent countless nights surfing onlinenot uncommon but there are only so many friends
forums talking about the latest and newest ways toand family about to be married. Word-of-mouth
improve their work. They are always networking andbusiness from happy clients is important, but it rarely
reading countless books just to keep up to date.is sufficient to fill a photographer's calendar.
They have shot many millions of pictures of a myriadPhotographers, more so than other businesses, have
of subjects. Your wedding shouldn't be a long slog upto invest more into marketing plans that introduce
a steep learning curve for your photographer. Yourtheir businesses to new potential clients. Many of
wedding pictures and overall experience ultimately willthese advertising efforts are expensive. A page 1
suffer.placement on The Knot's photographers website
2. Important one-time events require seriouslisting costs more than $5,000 annually. That's not
responsibility - This is a once-in-a-lifetime event that ischeap.
a culmination of months or years of work. There is8. Integrity - Imagine trying to decide between two
no chance for a reshoot, not with so many importantphotographers for your wedding, one photographer
people in your lives coming from so many far awayplays by the rules and doesn't cut corners to save a
places to be with you and your future spouse forfew extra bucks but they have a higher price.
this one day. What happens if your photographerAnother photographer has a lower price but cheats
drops their camera? What happens if one of theirthe rules and cuts corners so they can low ball the
camera disks is corrupted? What happens if yourcompetition. Which one is more likely to have your
photographer breaks their ankle two days beforeback when you need it? For some photographers
your wedding? At each wedding, a truly professionalintegrity is sacred. They understand the long-term
wedding photographer has to be prepared for thesuccess of their business is impossible without it.
risks of covering a one-chance event. That meansIntegrity requires them to deliver on their promises
keeping multiple disks on hand, image recoveryon time and exceed expectations. Their internal
software, multiple good quality cameras and a list ofbusiness affairs are conducted with integrity also.
contacts that can fill in for them in the event theyThey pay their fair share of income taxes like you do
can't shoot. The contingencies are numerous. Suchand carry adequate liability insurance. Integrity
preparedness can be costly and time consuming torequires them to collect sales taxes and pay them to
maintain, hence the higher fees for clients.state governments in their entirety on time. Such
3. Seasonal nature of work - Photographers can onlyethical practices are not always easy to maintain and
reasonably expect to have one wedding per week.often require us to pass on some of those costs to
These almost always take place on a Saturday. Forclients. Unfortunately for some integrity is seen as an
many markets, including the market my businessinconvenience or an impediment. While these issues
serves here in Kansas City, the winter months aremay not seem relevant to your decision in
not a popular time to hold a wedding. Weather canphotographers, a person or a business which honors
be very unpleasant and make travel downrightall of their obligations is much more likely to honor
hazardous. Hence photographers outside of the Suntheir obligations to you. A more expensive
Belt can expect to be busy only seven to eightphotographer doesn't guarantee such integrity but it
months of the year. A photographer is having a verymakes it far more likely. Wedding photography is
solid year if they have 20 to 25 weddings. In orderexpensive. No one can disagree. There are a myriad
to provide you and future clients an excellent service,of reasons a photographer has to charge such rates
photographers have to protect their business' marginsto ensure their survival over the long haul. As you
for the entire year with those 20 to 25 weddings.ponder your options and choices don't lose sight of
4. A single wedding represents a major timehow important your memories from this day will be
commitment - Your wedding is more than ato you. They shouldn't be trusted with just anyone.
commitment by your photographer for working theThe photographers may cost more than you originally
day of the wedding. They will pour many hours intoexpected but ask yourself a question: Is it better to
the planning, editing, processing, presentation andpay more than you expected or less than you
shipping of the pictures, not to mention albums andshould?