Wedding Photographer Information Home

 

 

To photograph a wedding, we charge professional fees ranging from $1200 to $4000. The photographer spends the day with you from well before the ceremony until the end of the reception. The fee also includes the preview set of pictures in a combination of 3-1/2 x 5 inch prints and reduced-resolution digital files on a CDrom. This collection of 425 to 600 images is shipped to you 2-1/2 weeks after the wedding.

The professional fee does not include reprints, enlargements, a finished album or a bound book. These may be ordered at additional cost after you see the previews and determine how you would like the pictures presented. Reprints and album orders may add a hundred to two thousand dollars to your wedding photography budget.

 

 

What do you pay for? Our fees reflect service and experience above expense minimums.

 

At least $400 in expenses - film and processing for 500+ preview pictures, 16 rolls @ $25/roll (minimum expense if you shoot your own wedding)

 

At least $400 in labor - skilled camera operator for 8 hours @ $50/hr (additional expense to hire a photographer who has no experience with weddings)

 

$ xxx - imaging options:

black and white;

pictures on CDrom or on the Internet;

medium format;

studio lights

 

$ xxx - protocol: "knowing the drill"

rapport with the families, the priest, the florist, the bandleader and the catering manager;

what a photographer who doesn't do weddings will charge you to overcome his reluctance to do weddings; what it would cost to hire a wedding consultant to spend the day with the camera operator telling him what will happen next and what shots to take

 

$ xxx - customer service: (also part of the cost of reprints and album binding)

taking the requested pictures;

timely delivery of the previews;

personal attention when taking orders and preparing finished albums

 

$ xxx - value added to the pictures: (also part of the cost of reprints)

"took pictures of things I didn't get a chance to see";

"made me look really good";

"captured key moments and great expressions";

"everyone in the picture looks great"

 

$ xxx - experience:

the photographer is familiar with weddings and receptions similar to yours;

the photographer has done a good job for people you know;

the photographer has worked at your church or club many times before

 

$ xxx - demand:

the photographer is likely to book another customer for your wedding date if you don't

the photographer receives several inquiries a week from word-of-mouth referrals

 

$ xxx - intangibles:

you are confident that the photographer can take good pictures in emotional or stressful situations;

you are confident that the photographer can take good pictures without adding stress to a situation;

you are confident that the photographer will exhibit professionalism, wit and charm;

you are confident that taking pictures will be a pleasant and relaxed experience

 

 

 

The exact fee is set at a meeting where we discuss the specific elements of your wedding day.

Fees are higher for the most experienced photographer. Datu Ramel has photographed 1400+ weddings. Our associate photographers, having worked fewer weddings, are available at lower fees.

 

The fee is in part based on the history of demand for wedding photography for that weekend of the year.

The fee is not based on an hourly rate. Some noon to midnight wedding day assignments are easier to shoot than a 6pm ceremony situation where the evening's schedule is more rigidly set.

 

More involved movements of people and photographers dictate a higher fee. (Bride's Mother's house in Glenview to ceremony in Wilmette to reception in Highland Park) will have a lower fee than (Groom's house in Westchester to Bride's house in Hinsdale to ceremony in Old Town to photos at Buckingham Fountain to reception at the Union League Club).

 

Additional photographers raise the fee. For most weddings a solo photographer can shoot hundreds of pictures while providing continuity of coverage. If the Groom has a large combination of families that would like to be photographed while the Bride and attendants are doing their pictures, a second photographer can be hired. If your guest count exceeds 250 and you want pictures of all the guests at their dinner tables, we may recommend a second photographer. Another situation calling for a second photographer is having parallel coverage of the reception in black and white and color. Each of the two photographers will shoot a different type of film.

 

The use of a cloth backdrop raises the fee.

 

The payment of a retainer in the amount of $100 to $800 will reserve a particular photographer for your wedding date.

 

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