Hiring 2 photographers

julieam615

My fiance and I found an amazing photographer. We love her, her pictures are beautiful, however; she is expensive. We can only afford to hire her for 6 hours. We are thinking, that our wedding ( ceremony, reception and all) would probably be an 8-10 hour affair. Is it OK to hire a second (not as fabulous, but less expnsive) photographer to take over after the first photographer's 6 hours are over? Has anyone had experience with this?

Thanks!

gracesauve

As a photographer I have never run into a situation like that but if there is no way your primary photographer can make you a deal than hiring someone to cover the rest of your celebration might not be a bad idea though I'm sure your primary phyotographer may feel a little jaded by being combined with a 'cheaper' replacement. Maybe not...but I definitely would and would probably just try to work out a deal with you in the first place to cover the whole day.

Just my 2 cents.

Ella and Pedro

Have you asked her if she has a more affordable colleague, someone she knows is in the business but just starting out etc., who she can recommend and who she would be comfortable working with?  I would be very candid and explain that if you could, you would hire her for more hours but it's not in your budget.  And, if you are doing your wedding off-season or not on a Saturday PM maybe you can ask if she could please offer you a slightly better rate? 

We hired two women who do outstanding work - their normal fee is $4,000 for the both of them, not including any prints or album - but because our wedding is end of March (before the busy time here in the mid-Atlantic region) I asked if we could pay $3,500.00  - which they both agreed to.  We would not have been able to afford both of them if not.  This way, we got both.  Otherwise, we would have done one of the plus an assistant (which is listed on their price list as $3,500.00)....

Good luck!

smith5jm

Another reason to talk to her about it- our contract with our photographer specifically states that she will the exclusive photographer for our event and prohibits us from hiring another one.  If she has similiar terms, you would not be able to hire a second, seperate photographer. 

Knottie_22386816

How much would you be paying a potential second photographer?