Worth Reading
This is an article written by a business ideas and stratagies expert and worth reading with regards to the cost of a wedding photographer. At the end of the article you will see that we have decided to totally ignore his advice, however as we are sure you have come to experience on your search for your wedding photographer many have not.
The True Cost of a Wedding Photographer
I have just read an article that talks about the true cost of wedding photography and I have to say it is very interesting and clearly shows that the majority of wedding photographers are undercharging for their time.
As a result I have decided to write a series of articles that will help you increase your profits, and increase the enjoyment you get from being a professional photographer whether you are a wedding, portrait, event or commercial photographer.
So who am I and why am I qualified to write on this subject. Well my name is David Finch, I am a Chartered Accountant, and I have been running my own Marketing and Advertising business called Purple Frog for 22 years during which time I have helped small, medium and large businesses grow and prosper and I want to pass on details of how you can develop your photography business by first of all thinking through the basics of business and then by helping you understand how you can apply the principles of building a brand to help you grow yours,
So where do we start?
Time is a key word from my perspective and this is the element I want you to consider first. Whatever your background and whatever your reasons for becoming involved in Photography you have to admit that it is time consuming and does not just involve turning up on the day taking some pictures, processing them and then forgetting them.
The business principles I am going to talk about apply to all types of Photography but I am going to use Wedding Photography as an example in this instance.
Time is involved in all the following stages of a wedding photoshoot:
Initial meeting (2 hours)
Visiting the venue if new to you to decide the best place for shots (4 hours)
Preparing a plan for the day and then agreeing this with the bride and groom and often their families (4 hours)
Turning up on the day, normally early to be able to cover the preparation before the wedding and then staying late to cover the evening reception as well as the wedding breakfast. (14 hours)
Checking your images, deleting those you do not like, adjusting those you do and putting together a selection to show the happy couple. (7 hours)
Spending time going through these with them, selecting images for use in an album, or maybe more than one album if mothers-in-law both want different parents albums. (2 hours)
Choosing images to go in frames, on canvas or any other type of wall mounted display solution. (2 hours)
Designing albums, frames or other presentation solutions. (14 hours)
Archiving pictures for future reference or possible additional orders. (1 hour)
This list is pretty comprehensive but I have no doubt that many of you will be able to add to it. Based on those I have listed though we are looking at 50 hours which is considerably more than a weeks work and certainly greater than the day most photographers charge.
Bottom Line – Making a Living
It is important that you make a living and also enough money to ensure you can renew cameras, lights, computers and other equipment especially if you are full-time but even if you have other sources of income do not let this be an excuse for giving your time away for free. The current average wage in the UK is around £25,000 per annum and therefore based on 48 weeks in a year (you do not get paid holiday working for yourself) and 35 hours a week the hourly rate is around £15.
I want you to remember at this point that you are a professional photographer and therefore £15 per hour is the minimum you should charge, to be honest as you are unlikly to be commissioned every week you should be looking at a rate of £25 – £30 per hour and as what you do is unique you should be nearer £50 per hour as this will allow you to make money to invest in new equipment etc.
So if we base our calculations on 50 hours work at £30 per hour, your minimum charge for a wedding that involves all the above should be £1,500 plus the cost of albums, frames, prints etc. and if you have an assistant with you you will need to add in their time as well at a rate which at least covers what they cost you.
If you provide less then you can charge less, and if you want to do a special deal then you can but remember you are paying for this out of your pocket as you cannot sell your time twice.
But this makes me too expensive!
At this stage I can hear you all exclaiming that you have competition cheaper than this and that you need to charge the same rates as them, or worse even lower in order to be competitive. Well the straightforward answer to this is that you are wrong, in fact it is following this logic that causes prices to fall continually and for pressure to exist at all times for you to reduce your price.
I agree that you cannot sell something that is of a given perceived value for more than the next person and this is the crux, you are a professional photographer you have a talent and bring great value to a wedding. Your competitors do as well but how you sell yourself and your services along the way you talk and act is vitally important together with the service you finally deliver.
I have just read an article that talks about the true cost of wedding photography and I have to say it is very interesting and clearly shows that the majority of wedding photographers are undercharging for their time.
As a result I have decided to write a series of articles that will help you increase your profits, and increase the enjoyment you get from being a professional photographer whether you are a wedding, portrait, event or commercial photographer.
So who am I and why am I qualified to write on this subject. Well my name is David Finch, I am a Chartered Accountant, and I have been running my own Marketing and Advertising business called Purple Frog for 22 years during which time I have helped small, medium and large businesses grow and prosper and I want to pass on details of how you can develop your photography business by first of all thinking through the basics of business and then by helping you understand how you can apply the principles of building a brand to help you grow yours,
So where do we start?
Time is a key word from my perspective and this is the element I want you to consider first. Whatever your background and whatever your reasons for becoming involved in Photography you have to admit that it is time consuming and does not just involve turning up on the day taking some pictures, processing them and then forgetting them.
The business principles I am going to talk about apply to all types of Photography but I am going to use Wedding Photography as an example in this instance.
Time is involved in all the following stages of a wedding photoshoot:
Initial meeting (2 hours)
Visiting the venue if new to you to decide the best place for shots (4 hours)
Preparing a plan for the day and then agreeing this with the bride and groom and often their families (4 hours)
Turning up on the day, normally early to be able to cover the preparation before the wedding and then staying late to cover the evening reception as well as the wedding breakfast. (14 hours)
Checking your images, deleting those you do not like, adjusting those you do and putting together a selection to show the happy couple. (7 hours)
Spending time going through these with them, selecting images for use in an album, or maybe more than one album if mothers-in-law both want different parents albums. (2 hours)
Choosing images to go in frames, on canvas or any other type of wall mounted display solution. (2 hours)
Designing albums, frames or other presentation solutions. (14 hours)
Archiving pictures for future reference or possible additional orders. (1 hour)
This list is pretty comprehensive but I have no doubt that many of you will be able to add to it. Based on those I have listed though we are looking at 50 hours which is considerably more than a weeks work and certainly greater than the day most photographers charge.
Bottom Line – Making a Living
It is important that you make a living and also enough money to ensure you can renew cameras, lights, computers and other equipment especially if you are full-time but even if you have other sources of income do not let this be an excuse for giving your time away for free. The current average wage in the UK is around £25,000 per annum and therefore based on 48 weeks in a year (you do not get paid holiday working for yourself) and 35 hours a week the hourly rate is around £15.
I want you to remember at this point that you are a professional photographer and therefore £15 per hour is the minimum you should charge, to be honest as you are unlikly to be commissioned every week you should be looking at a rate of £25 – £30 per hour and as what you do is unique you should be nearer £50 per hour as this will allow you to make money to invest in new equipment etc.
So if we base our calculations on 50 hours work at £30 per hour, your minimum charge for a wedding that involves all the above should be £1,500 plus the cost of albums, frames, prints etc. and if you have an assistant with you you will need to add in their time as well at a rate which at least covers what they cost you.
If you provide less then you can charge less, and if you want to do a special deal then you can but remember you are paying for this out of your pocket as you cannot sell your time twice.
But this makes me too expensive!
At this stage I can hear you all exclaiming that you have competition cheaper than this and that you need to charge the same rates as them, or worse even lower in order to be competitive. Well the straightforward answer to this is that you are wrong, in fact it is following this logic that causes prices to fall continually and for pressure to exist at all times for you to reduce your price.
I agree that you cannot sell something that is of a given perceived value for more than the next person and this is the crux, you are a professional photographer you have a talent and bring great value to a wedding. Your competitors do as well but how you sell yourself and your services along the way you talk and act is vitally important together with the service you finally deliver.