The Cost of Wedding Photography
We’re often asked the question “why is wedding photography so expensive?”
From the customers perspective they perceive their wedding photographer must be making a fortune when you think that they are charging thousands for what appears to be a day’s work… but is that really the case?
Being a good photographer requires extensive training and also expensive equipment. Yes, you can find cheap wedding photographers in any of the local press or on the internet – but they are cheap for a reason – they are either cutting corners by not having insurance or cheap equipment, or they are just charging far less than it actually costs – so they’ll be out of business before long.
Here at Birmingham based John Charlton Photography we decided to have a closer look at our costs and explain them so that people can understand that it’s not just pressing a button!
Dancing - by Birmingham based wedding photographer John Charlton
Labour costs
This cost is pretty much the same across all industries and services. Our work doesn’t end when the wedding does, following the 5-10 hours we’ve spent covering your wedding we’ve then got somewhere in the region of 3 days spent editing and finishing the photographs. This may include retouching or other post-production work.
When you consider that there is only 52 weekends in a year then that also increases the cost of labour.
Staff salaries
If you book us and the wedding is large enough to need an assistant, your costs are going to be higher. In return for getting more images from various places on your day, we will also have to pay those assistants.
Equipment
The equipment that we use is not your typical point-and-shoot camera. We are generally using camera that retail at around £2000 each, and then the lenses we use range from between £600-£1500 each. We also carry back-up equipment in case our primary equipment fails – this adds to each overall wedding price. So generally we’re arriving at your wedding with about £6000 worth of equipment to capture your day perfectly. If we were to include the costs of computers, software such as Photoshop, car etc then as you can image the costs rise further.
Corrine and Ashley by John Charlton - Birmingham based photographer
Insurance
As our equipment costs so much, we have to insure it – just in case something happens to it on the day (we’ve had someone knock us over at one event – just so he could get a photograph!). This insurance also covers us should one of your guests trip over our equipment and injure themselves.
Web site
Our Website costs money to run, maintain and update – pretty much most of this is done by ourselves, but that is still a time cost.
Advertising
In the same way as our website, we have advertising costs in terms of local papers and wedding magazines, plus going to wedding fayres
Photo extras
Wedding albums are generally not cheap. We’re slightly different in that we offer albums separately, but some photographer add them into the price. It also then takes time to design an album.
Education and Professional Membership
The more educated the photographer, the better the use of techniques to capture your wedding day. Here at Birmingham based John Charlton Photography, we take pride in the fact that John continually is learning and going on courses to improve his knowledge and technique. Training and education does not come cheaply – but for us, it’s the vital ingredient. We’re members of the SWPP and BIPP – both professional organisations for the professional photographer. Not only do they provide legal and business support – it also member we’re able to network with a far greater range of photographers from around the world.
So, when you’re comparing photographers and you ask why person X costs more than person Y, the answer could well be that they have invested more money in their skills, equipment and business overall, than someone who only does weddings “as a weekend” thing.
Your wedding is generally a once only event; you want to make sure that your photographer is the right one for you and who will capture your day as you wanted. That’s why it’s important to budget according for your photographer.
