£100 P/hr wedding photographer

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joncro

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Hi all, my partner and myself are getting married on the 18th oct (hopefully) we have to watch the pennies and have a very limited budget. Regarding the photography, is it unreasonable to ask a photographer local to the event to spend 1hr on site taking group pictures and supply me the unedited pictures on a memory stick for £100?
Thanks
 
You might get someone for 2 hours for £200
 
Really close to the date, you might get someone for not much more, anyone at £100 is likely to be s***e and you'd be as well off giving your camera to a guest on auto.

I'd happily turn up for a short period of time on a date I hadn't booked for longer. But to be totally honest, for £100 it's not really worth a trip out. Even without PP, a couple of hours pre meetings and arrangements and getting the kit together, an hours shooting and an hours travel, we're down to £20 an hour after fuel and other direct costs.

Plenty of wedding photographers might appear to charge less than £100 an hour, but all that other time is less than the time on the job. So £1000 for 10 hrs is actually nearer 20 hrs but that's £50 an hour.
 
joncro said:
Hi all, my partner and myself are getting married on the 18th oct (hopefully) we have to watch the pennies and have a very limited budget. Regarding the photography, is it unreasonable to ask a photographer local to the event to spend 1hr on site taking group pictures and supply me the unedited pictures on a memory stick for £100?
Thanks
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It isn't unreasonable to ask. Just don't be put off with either no answer, or one you don't wish to hear for all of the reasons above. £100 to commit a day (even if it is only an hour with you), gift the images with no upsell is a big ask.

For the 18th October you might get a reasonable wedding photographer, just down the road, with nothing better to do - and if £100 gets food on the table or the rent paid then of course it is better than nothing - in that respect you are more likely to get a jobbing full-time pro than someone for whom this is secondary income and who might forego £100 to spend a day with their family. You won't get anyone in any kind of demand, anyone reasonably busy with portrait or commercial work or someone who slogged their guts out through the summer making their money and is looking for a brief respite before the pre-Christmas rush.
 
Not unreasonable at all...
If they are local to you and have a passion for photography £100 for an hour is more than decent money.
 
As a general rule, I have a minimum spend of two hours (and it's more than £100). Most others I know do similar, though I'm sure you can find someone willing to do it for less.


Fatheadedlizard said:
If that's all you want I'm sure somebody in your wedding party has a camera and they can take the shots -- just put on your invites we have no photographer so please bring your cameras
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But then you would have some random with a point and shoot who doesn't know what they're doing... they also wouldn't be able to be a part of the group photos.

Oh wait, I forgot, it's all that hard work in Photoshop after the fact that makes a decent photographer isn't it. ;)

Phil V said:
a couple of hours pre meetings and arrangements and getting the kit together, an hours shooting and an hours travel, we're down to £20 an hour after fuel and other direct costs.
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A couple of hours pre meetings and arrangements? To rock up for an hour and take some group photos? What the heck are you meeting about? Getting kit together? Is it not all sorted and ready to go? If I got a call now, I could be out the door with all my gear in less than two minutes.
 
wambam said:
Not unreasonable at all...
If they are local to you and have a passion for photography £100 for an hour is more than decent money.
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I don't believe a passion for photography has anything to do with this.

No disrespect to the OP who will undoubtedly have a wonderful day with his new wife, surrounded by friends and family... because that has nothing to do about how much money you spend on your wedding but who you share it with.

But to turn up for just an hour to shoot some group photos at a wedding of someone you don't know is all about the money, and not passion.
 
Phil V said:
Really close to the date, you might get someone for not much more, anyone at £100 is likely to be s***e and you'd be as well off giving your camera to a guest on auto.

I'd happily turn up for a short period of time on a date I hadn't booked for longer. But to be totally honest, for £100 it's not really worth a trip out. Even without PP, a couple of hours pre meetings and arrangements and getting the kit together, an hours shooting and an hours travel, we're down to £20 an hour after fuel and other direct costs.

Plenty of wedding photographers might appear to charge less than £100 an hour, but all that other time is less than the time on the job. So £1000 for 10 hrs is actually nearer 20 hrs but that's £50 an hour.
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Likely to be s***e ? that's a big statement, are you sure? maybe a critic or a pro photographer may not be impressed with the pictures but i'm pretty sure if someone with a passion or just starting out in professional photography with a 24-70 f2.8 could take more pleasing pictures than a wedding guest with a compact camera.
I've been interested in photography for a couple of years now and i don't claim to be anywhere near your level but i do know my way round a camera.


Thanks for your advice anyway.
 
meonshore said:
I don't believe a passion for photography has anything to do with this.

No disrespect to the OP who will undoubtedly have a wonderful day with his new wife, surrounded by friends and family... because that has nothing to do about how much money you spend on your wedding but who you share it with.

But to turn up for just an hour to shoot some group photos at a wedding of someone you don't know is all about the money, and not passion.
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The tog doesnt need to be passionate just professional, i dont want the best photos of all time, just standard sharp group shots taken with a quality camera & lens by someone who knows how to use it.
 
joncro said:
Hi all, my partner and myself are getting married on the 18th oct (hopefully) we have to watch the pennies and have a very limited budget. Regarding the photography, is it unreasonable to ask a photographer local to the event to spend 1hr on site taking group pictures and supply me the unedited pictures on a memory stick for £100?
Thanks
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joncro said:
Likely to be s***e ? that's a big statement, are you sure? maybe a critic or a pro photographer may not be impressed with the pictures but i'm pretty sure if someone with a passion or just starting out in professional photography with a 24-70 f2.8 could take more pleasing pictures than a wedding guest with a compact camera.
I've been interested in photography for a couple of years now and i don't claim to be anywhere near your level but i do know my way round a camera.


Thanks for your advice anyway.
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There will always be someone who will be prepared to do this for you but the results will be abysmal. You get what you pay for.
 
Blank_Canvas said:
There will always be someone who will be prepared to do this for you but the results will be abysmal. You get what you pay for.
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I agree and you'll only get ONE chance at this wedding Photography - not like you could re-shoot is it - My advice is budget for a Professional for a couple of hours at least 18th October is my Birthday- good luck in which ever route you choose

Les
 
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Phil V said:
anyone at £100 is likely to be s***e
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I disagree with this.. could possibly be but not likely to be.. anyone taking the task on would presumably be confident enough..

Phil V said:
I'd happily turn up for a short period of time on a date I hadn't booked for longer.
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same here..does that mean we are both s???

Phil V said:
But to be totally honest, for £100 it's not really worth a trip out. Even without PP, a couple of hours pre meetings and arrangements and getting the kit together, an hours shooting and an hours travel, we're down to £20 an hour after fuel and other direct costs.
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I dont see any clues as to where this is so travel? plus they did say someone local so that cost would be in...also i dont think theres any expectations of meetings.. sounds like.. heres the time.. heres the venue.. can you pop along and take an hrs worth of pics and hand them over..... well if that was close enough and I had nothing better to do then I would go for the 100 quid.. BUT the important thing is.. I wouldnt book it in advance and risk losing a days work or a proper wedding (theoretical as i dont do weddings)


OP get married on a wed morning and you have more chance :)
 
I don't shoot weddings here, but i would only do it with edited images. A wedding tog needs/should try to control final output to a degree to maintain their own creative output.
 
meonshore said:
But to turn up for just an hour to shoot some group photos at a wedding of someone you don't know is all about the money, and not passion.
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Could be good for the portfolio is somebody is starting out. For me personally I had one initial wedding which triggered all my future bookings, but the gap between that one wedding and the first booking to come around was the best part of a year. A few extra shots to pad the 'portfolio' out could be useful as long as the photographer is honest about it.
 
Why not look at Facebook pages, seems to be plenty of "professional photographers" who do a full day for £150-200 inclusive of edited pictures.

I would suggest you look locally.
 
dejongj said:
Why not look at Facebook pages, seems to be plenty of "professional photographers" who do a full day for £150-200 inclusive of edited pictures.

I would suggest you look locally.
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And judging by the examples posted on FB from my area including tasteful HDR weddings. It's probably worth shopping around !

You really do get what you pay for ! - Its a case of 'buyer beware' you can't repeat the day so tread with extreme caution.
 
joncro said:
Hi all, my partner and myself are getting married on the 18th oct (hopefully) we have to watch the pennies and have a very limited budget. Regarding the photography, is it unreasonable to ask a photographer local to the event to spend 1hr on site taking group pictures and supply me the unedited pictures on a memory stick for £100?
Thanks
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First off, congratulations!!!...hopefully, as you say lol

Your replies would imply that the pro full-timers and even the weekend warriors wouldn't touch this and your question is therefore answered....sort of.

However, I reckon, as a not-wedding-photographer, that a local gig (ie sod all travel) at £100 for the hour, a load of group photos so no stresses about snapping bride prep etc and not even a moment spent on pp is a bloody bargain for some lucky local snapper with a bit of free time on the day.
 
Cheers Rob, im not taking anything away from pro wedding togs but as you have seen from my op. I just want sharp group pics! Judging by the pics i see on the olympus omd and xt1 threads id be more than happy with the quality of a amateur tog who knows what hes doing. Very suprised with some replies on this thread!
 
I have no pro experience, but like many of the answers above, typically you get what you pay for in any service. Just set your expectations accordingly. If the guys above are Pros then you can't really begrudge their answers if they're being honest in their opinions, however curt they may choose to be.

Whatever the case, I hope you find some aspiring photographers near who can help capture your special day. Have a great time!!
 
meonshore said:
I don't believe a passion for photography has anything to do with this.

No disrespect to the OP who will undoubtedly have a wonderful day with his new wife, surrounded by friends and family... because that has nothing to do about how much money you spend on your wedding but who you share it with.

But to turn up for just an hour to shoot some group photos at a wedding of someone you don't know is all about the money, and not passion.
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Ok Passion may be the wrong word ,
just because the they may not of done a wedding before , dosen't make them Granny with a point and shoot.
I'm sorry but taking a few group shots is not rocket science.
 
wambam said:
Ok Passion may be the wrong word ,
just because the they may not of done a wedding before , dosen't make them Granny with a point and shoot.
I'm sorry but taking a few group shots is not rocket science.
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In principal, of course it's not rocket science, and I'd bet there are hundreds of decent photographers who would be happy to take £100 for an hours work.

But that's not any actual help at all.

Because those guys aren't clearly 'available', so effectively can't be booked.

Unfortunately the people who do advertise to shoot for peanuts are indeed s***e, they've not learned to shoot and then tried to make money, they've decided that making money from photography doesn't require any training or talent, and that charging peanuts means you can get price shoppers who don't question quality.

Let's not argue about whether that ought to be right or wrong, just have a look locally to find the cheapest photographers.
 
No it's not rocket science, it's about the fact that let's just say its at 1hours travel and at best 1 hour at the venue (which will likely be abit more ) then 2 hours edit . So BEFORE we take into account gear cost , insurance , tax , fuel and the fact your tied up for 1/2 day we are at £25 per hour not the £100 per hour that people seem to think it is ..... Not rocket science but also not good business sense
 
stumac said:
No it's not rocket science, it's about the fact that let's just say its at 1hours travel and at best 1 hour at the venue (which will likely be abit more ) then 2 hours edit . So BEFORE we take into account gear cost , insurance , tax , fuel and the fact your tied up for 1/2 day we are at £25 per hour not the £100 per hour that people seem to think it is ..... Not rocket science but also not good business sense
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To be fair OP said local and unedited images ...
 
to be fair if you were local to me i might do it - but i wouldn't be giving you unedited images (no one who's any good will do that) - I tend to work from £50 hour so an hour on site and an hour to edit images £100 - assuming you were very close by and I had nothing else on that day. (i'm in Devon so its merely theoretical - I won't be driving to chesterfeild for that kind of cash)

That said to get someone half way decent you'd need to wait til the last minute because no pro or semi pro is going to tie up a day for £100 when they might get a more lucrative booking.

(there are of course bargain basement shooters who'll do a whole day for £100 - they are mostly crap though so its caveat emptor)
 
Yip , between Facebook , groupon and gumtree you'll get sorted
 
wambam said:
To be fair OP said local and unedited images ...
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What's 'local'?

I live in just outside a fairly small town and 1/2 hour from here into town on a Saturday is about right. So that's an hours travel. My 'local' area is 2 hrs each way, so an hours shoot could be 5 hours, more typically 3 to be fair.

In London it's much worse than that.

It's like that ridiculous 6x4 print for £10. I pay a quid, and £3 postage, but I selected and ordered it. Then I inspect and repackage it, take it to the post office and pay more postage. At £10 I've made virtually nothing for my time, the only way it makes sense is a totally automated system or sell bigger prints that have a more visible 'value'.
 
Phil V said:
I've just checked out some gumtree photographers locally. I stand by all I said earlier, these people have no idea what a human being looks like.
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I agree but that's the best place to get someone for £100 or cheaper that's willing to throw aload of Raws at you and never to be seen again
 
big soft moose said:
to be fair if you were local to me i might do it - but i wouldn't be giving you unedited images (no one who's any good will do that) - I tend to work from £50 hour so an hour on site and an hour to edit images £100 - assuming you were very close by and I had nothing else on that day. (i'm in Devon so its merely theoretical - I won't be driving to chesterfeild for that kind of cash)

That said to get someone half way decent you'd need to wait til the last minute because no pro or semi pro is going to tie up a day for £100 when they might get a more lucrative booking.

(there are of course bargain basement shooters who'll do a whole day for £100 - they are mostly crap though so its caveat emptor)
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There are of course "Pro shooters" who'll charge alot more than £100 and be utter crap. Caveat emptor indeed...
 
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wambam said:
There are of course "Pro shooters" who'll charge alot more than £100 and be utter crap. Caveat emptor indeed...
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If you want to have an honest debate rather than baiting pro's, we can swap PMs and I'll show you what an £100 photographer local to me looks like and what a £800 one looks like. You can show me some local to you to disprove it if you really want to.
 
Cheer up folks. No need to get into an opinionated argument! ;-)
 
rich_ said:
Hehe, my business is technology but I just normally don't frequent forums coz of this!
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This is lighthearted banter. Except in rare circumstances I read everything as if it was a bunch of mates ribbing each other over a beer.
 
18th October is a Sunday? Is this a church wedding?
Some thoughts, sorry bit random, brain dump.

To the OP, if you go this route, you'll need to think about the brief you give the photographer, what exactly you want, what sort of group shots, maybe a little advice on best place to take the shots if you know the location\venue well. Bride & groom, with either parents, with both, with friends etc

Wouldn't you like any other shots, during the ceremony, signing the register. Is this time and shots proposed strictly limited by budget?

If you expect a photographer to just turn up and shoot and handover shots, when would this be and how? Would you give media card to be handed over after the shoot, or want them delivered digitally somehow. Note: risk of loss of media card in the euphoria of the day, going on honeymoon etc.

What rights does the photographer have to the images, can they use them in their portfolio or do you want all copyright handed over as well.

As a photographer yourself, think about the photographer handing over the images. What if you don't like the shots, would you slag off the photographer on social media (all risk to the photographer?) What protection to the photographer would you propose, bearing in mind you propose to edit the images.

If money is tight and you think photography is something that can be cut back on, how about asking for this as a present rather than household gifts? Perhaps some guests could club together. Photography always seems to be an area people think they can scrimp on, but those moments are special.
 
I agree with what everyone is saying to some extent. i read somewhere the average wedding in the UK costs £22,000! we have a tenth of that budget and can invite only family members and one best friend each to the wedding.(55 guests in total)
If money was no objective, i would pay for a full package (£1000 lets say) but the money is simply not available, so because we cant afford a professional tog to capture our day, i get suggestions of a guest to use a compact camera! surely there is some middle ground to be explored?
My brother in law is also a capable photographer and will be bringing his DSLR but i want him to enjoy the day without being the 'Photographer'.
So i can understand professional photographers feeling narked that it appears i'm trying to cut costs on the pictures, we are actually cutting costs on the whole wedding.

The wedding is a civil service ceremony. Handing over the images is easy part surely, i supply the tog with a usb stick before the event and i collect it from him a few days after the event.
We are not asking for money or presents from our guests.

Anyway thanks to all who have taken the time to reply to my OP i'm sure it will all work out just fine in the end!
 
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