Why do Wedding Photographers Charge So Much?
Understanding the Value of Wedding Photography
Most clients have this question on their mind that why do photographers / videographers charge so much for weddings? They have already invested in their equipment, all they have to do is show up, shoot for a few hours, provide images and collect money!
People often think that photographers and videographers are making tons of money (bling bling life). Unfortunately, life isn’t that sweet. Wanted to share my perspective on why do we photographers charge what we charge. You will notice that some of the photographers and videographers are making less than minimum wage set by province of Ontario. Not joking!
Before you read the article please consider that this is a business and as a source of income for photographers / videographers. Unless if we're referring to hobbyist or a college student with a $1,000 camera.
Total time spent on an event
Let’s start by understanding how much time do photographers / videographers spend on a typical 1-day wedding (8-10 hours).
Initial inquiry and correspondence (emails back and forth, phone calls): 1 hour
In person meeting + drive time: 1 hour 30 mins
Contract development, negotiations, finalization: 1 hour
In person or over the phone detailed consultation: 1 hour and 30 mins
Ongoing consultation over WhatsApp /SMS: multiple hours but on an average say 3-5 hours
Driving to and from e-shoot venue / wedding venue (these hours are typically not charged and not mentioned in the contract): 1-2 hours
E-shoot: 2 hours
Hall reception event: 8 hours
Culling photos (typical photographer shoots about 80-100 pics an hour. That’s around 1,000 photos per 10 hour shoot. Photographer then has to go through each photo, filter the good from the bad and then select the best ones for editing): 4 hours
Editing selected photos: 40 hours
Designing the album, ordering, delivering to client: 2 hours
That’s approximately an average of 70 hours, out of which 60 hours are invisible to the client, which is the reason why clients ask this question in the first place. I hope that it gave you some clarity and perspective of how much time is invested by a photographer / videographer for each event.
Bling bling life of the photographer
Now let’s take a look at how much money does a typical photographer / videographer make - the bling bling aspect “with the top down screamin' out, money ain't a thang!”
Album costs: A premium wedding album is typically included in a photographer’s package. An album from Costco or Walmart can be made for less than $100. But a custom-made album from a quality provider usually costs between $300-$500.
Assistant photographers: Big weddings require extra people to cover the event. These are usually hired by the photographers on an hourly basis. This cost is invisible for the clients.
Photography Equipment: A good photographer who covers weddings professionally should have all the necessary camera bodies, lenses and lighting to take top quality photos. Personally, I have invested $25,000 into this business. This is about the average that all good photographers spend. And this is not a one-time investment. Every year or two a new and better gadget hits the market. In order to stay ahead of the competition we have to keep upgrading the equipment.
Insurance: Equipment gets damaged and stolen. In order to protect it we have to insure it. That’s another $2-3k per year.
Marketing: If I am a great photographer then why would I need to market myself? After a few years in the industry referral business would overflow my calendar, wouldn’t it? The answer is not really. Yes we get referrals but we can’t rely just on referrals. There are so many photographers out there with which we need to compete, remember everyone with a DSLR is a professional wedding photographer! In order for clients to find us we have to market on Instagram, Facebook, Google. For a photographer my size I spend about $14k per year. There are other photographers I know which spend much more than this.
Other costs: SD cards for the camera, hard drives, storage costs for your data on the cloud, website costs, etc.
Bottom line
It is agreeable that weddings are an expensive affair and photography / videography is one of the expenses. Although there are photographers who charge north of $8,000, however, an average photographer in Toronto charges anywhere between $3,500-$5,000. Given the cost of running a business, mentioned above, I would say photographers / videographers are charging you fairly. Now that you have an understanding of why we charge what we charge I believe you will appreciate us even more.
Lastly, wedding photography is a worthwhile investment as it will be cherished by your next generations. It is an essential component of your wedding. Don't hesitate to contact me for your needs.
