Question for Bride-to-be about hiring an aspiring photographer

Re: Question for Bride-to-be about hiring an aspiring photographer

• jennb2003

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  First, I will warn you that vendors of any kind aren't allowed to post, so while I don't personally find your post offensive, it may likely be deleted- just FYI. Regarding your potential prices, I think 250/hr is too high. There are several VERY experienced wedding photographers in the LV area that can be had for $100-150/hour. There is no way I would pick someone without actual wedding experience for double the price of a seasoned pro, no matter how their other photographs looked. Wedding photography is extremely important to a couple and nice looking regular photography just doesn't cut it as experience in my book.If I were to pick someone unexperienced, I would have to see a very extensive portfolio of other photos, especially of outdoor AND indoor scenes, and people with various lightings and degrees of zoom. And it would have to be bargain priced...like 1/2-2/3 the price of a cheaper end pro maximum. Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

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• matilda1215

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  I have to agree with above. $250/hr for a photographer will little to no wedding experience is a lot.  You may want to start out very low to build a following and a portfolio and then see what kind of price increase you can have from there.

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• georgegabriellecouture member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Thank you for the opinion. I really appreciate your input. I'm not looking into doing this until maybe next year (I'm still trying to adjust my schedule now that my daughter is entering an online home school for kindergarten ), that's why I've been asking around. Thanks again, good tips .Hugs,Ning

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• georgegabriellecouture member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Matilda,Thank you for the opinion too. Maybe next year I could start asking some friends here if I could photograph their wedding for a low fee or maybe even free, just to build my portfolio.

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• mloeks member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  My photographer is $400 an hour...and with the special she offered, she was $200 an hour. I'd say $250 is a lot myself for an inexperienced photographer.There are lots of brides, especially on Craigslist, that I think you could do some weddings and build your portfolio with reasonable prices. Just my opinion.

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• MrsSushi

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  I think your pictures are very nice. I would be interested in hiring you however. I got a quote of a experienced photographer  trying to update his port for 25$ a hour. Have you considered changing your prices ? What is your contact email?

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• georgegabriellecouture member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  mloeks, thanks for the input. I've thought of craigslist too, but I also heard so many horror stories about photographers who took a job from there and turned out that the people robbed his/her equipments . So I'm kinda leery. I can't afford losing thousands of $$ worth of equipment right now. Maybe I take a look there again and maybe somehow I can tell which one is fishy and which one is real.MrsSushi,My email is georgegabriellecouture@gmail.com. I am very meticulous about everything, lol (it's just a habit from being a designer and seamstress, I can't afford not being meticulous). I saw a lot of wedding photographers (not all, but a lot) that don't even bother to edit the images, or do just the basic editing. I always take at least half hour per pic for editing and make sure everything is right.

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• LVBride2010 member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Hi,I've done tremendous amount of research on wedding photography and lurk on professional wedding photographer boards all the time, so I'll throw in my two cents.Aspiring photographers usually start by shooting their friends or strangers (I've seen on various boards where people offer to shoot a wedding for free, in exchange they get to use those people's pictures), for free or very very minimal fee. Once they have somewhat a portofolio, they become a associate photographer and second shoot for established photographers (for free or very minimal pay). You will be suprised to see it might be tough to be hired as a 2nd shooter, even if you are willing to do it for free. This is because with the digital age, the cost of shooting is so cheap and there are soo many aspiring photographers out there.It's really hard to break into the industry without having someone train you first. People second shoot many weddings before they start doing solo gigs. Shooting a wedding is different from shooting portraits or landscape. Even if you are good at taking pictures, you need to be trained in wedding photography specifically. And regarding your price, I hate to say it, but its not realistic. The pros in this area don't even charge this much. Go on craigslist and you will see TONS of ads offering to shoot for less than $100 per hour. Again, I'd say second shoot for someone first, then start your own business with a low starting price. Then go from there.In any case, this is probably not the best place to seek advice in breaking into the industry. You should really get connected with the pros in your area or on the internet.Hope this is at least somewhat useful

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• georgegabriellecouture member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  LVBride2010, Thank you so much for your input, I really appreciate it. Yes, I belong to several boards for wedding photographers too. And trying to get everything neccessary to learn more about this craft. Thank you again

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