Photography

MissWallen · May 2013

Hey everyone,

So long story short, we were planning on having our engagement and wedding pictures taken by my fiance's sister's friend, as well as have my fiance's sister take care of the price tag. Turns out, she is not contributing very much $$ anymore so we need to find a new photographer. I tried searching on here but didn't have much luck.....we definitely cannot afford over $1200 for photography.

Does anyone have any suggestions?? We are not getting married until June of 2014, so we have some time. I appreciate your help!!

professorscience · May 2013

I think Evan Godwin falls in that price point. Karen Scruggs MIGHT, but I'm not sure.

Edit: Honestly, your wedding photos are, IMO, one of the most important parts of your day. When the day is over and done, you'll have those pictures to look back on and remember how happy you were and how much fun you had. I strongly encourage you to scrutinize your budget and find extra money if photography is important. I'm not saying hiring a photographer for $1200 is always going to be a bad thing, but I just feel like it's definitely a "get what you pay for" kind of thing sometimes.

MissWallen · May 2013

I am trying my hardest to save up as much money as possible. We really are paying for everything ourselves, and we are both struggling 28 year olds! Obviously I want beautiful photos, but I just can't wrap my head around paying an arm and a leg. Everything adds up so fast and it really takes the fun out of planning a wedding.....I'm just trying to keep my head above water and not freak out haha. I'll check out those recommendations :-)

professorscience · May 2013

I totally understand -- we paid for nearly all of our wedding on our own! There are a lot of cost-cutting measures you can take and just because a photographer costs $3K does not mean they're the best. Check out Budget Weddings for ideas.

Also keep in mind that you can probably set up a payment schedule with the photographer you choose so that you're not dropping a ton of money all at once.

fallbride1109 · May 2013

If there's any way you could stretch it to $2K I would add Stephanie Brazzle to Amanda's list. I'm sure there are some great photographers in that budget, I am always just hesitant to recommend someone whose work I'm not familar with.

http://stephaniebrazzleblog.com/

Honestly though, Evan is probably my favorite in that price point. I can't believe he hasn't raised his prices because I think his work is deserving of more than what he charges.

http://evangodwinphotoblog.com/

jillrenee&brett · May 2013

I totally, 100% recommend Evan Godwin. Our package was around $1000, so I booked him immediately. He is super busy since his pricing is so great, so get touch with him ASAP. I am so happy I went with him. He is super talented and has an artistic eye. Plus he is hilarious and fun to talk to!

Bladxs2 · May 2013

I have Stephanie Brazzle photographing my wedding THIS Saturday, May 18th. I'm so excited but I will tell you, her prices have gone up along with her experience and her extreme detail in the quality of her work. Can't wait!

angelsong21 · May 2013

I agree with everything professorscience has already said. Photography is worth every penny. We initially were going with a budget photographer before he decided to bail on us after we paid our deposit. It was then that I realized you get what you pay for, not only in quality of images but also sometimes in professionalism as well. I'm not saying that there are not good budget photographers or that all budget photographers are unprofessional, but I am saying that good photographers charge more because they have the experience, the talent, high-quality, and good reputation to do so. We made the jump (against my H's wishes at the time) to pay more than double our budget for photography and cut back elsewhere. I can tell you from my own personal experience that if you can in any way swing it, it is absolutely worth it. Those images are priceless! Your wedding day is a blur -- things are happening so fast that you don't have the time to process much of what is going on. Those pictures when you get them back will mean the world to you! Good luck and I hope that you find someone wonderful to shoot your big day!

[Deleted User] · May 2013

I know stefani for now is in the price range but not sure how much room she has for weddings (editing since one of the people I suggested would rather not do them as often). If stefani mainly does families/babies/engagements stuff like that so she is good for that too.

Stefani -

http://www.stefanimarcus.com/

https://www.facebook.com/StefaniMarcusPhotography?fref=ts

fallbride1109 · May 2013

mdtaylor1981 said:

Two people I know are working on their portfolio's for weddings and they are below your 1200 budget, Just because someone falls under 1200 doesn't make them bad :) I have met both of the ladies personally and Stefani also has taken pics of my little one. Natasha is great to (her birth photography is amazing) but both are working to expand in different fields so they are charging less for weddings.

No, but it does make them inexperienced at weddings. Most people in that price point are trying to build their portfolios, like you say.

[Deleted User] · May 2013

I guess my point is there is a difference between hiring someone inexperienced in general vs someone who is an experienced photographer who maybe is looking to expand in their skills. One doesn't have to be experienced in weddings to be great at it, of course if anything you just get even better. Alot of photographers didn't start out doing weddings. Most I know did not. It's just turned int their nitch just like any other type of photography.

Being good doesn't equal you have done just that one type of photography for a super long time. But It's def not like hiring a rookie right out of school who has shot a handful of people. I would pick someone who is already an established photographer who doesn't shoot a ton of weddings over someone who isn't established at all and I think that's what people really are getting at when they talk about photography and weddings. Making sure you have someone who knows how to take photos. You don't have to be an official "wedding" photographer to be great. I know plenty that just they prefer to not do weddings because how time consuming they can be not because they are not good at it. I think it's a good alternative for those with smaller budget with out compromising good photo's.

FWIW for the birth of our daughter we hired a wedding photographer (he is with F8 studios) because he was looking to expand into the field and the photo's are awesome. He is a well known (highly expensive) wedding photographer (we couldn't afford him for sure). So you never know. Sometimes the best photographers are not the ones labeled one thing.

MissWallen · May 2013

I'm so glad that you guys have some great suggestions for me! Obviously I want to have great photos, so I appreciate everyone's opinions. I'll definitely check into these people and report my findings. I'll be willing to pay a bit more if we really enjoy the photographer's work that's for sure. I just would prefer to not have it become outrageous as I'm sure many of you understand. :-)

MissHtoMrsO · May 2013

From Natasha... "I have shot several weddings and am not looking to move into weddings. You are the 3rd or 4th person to contact me today asking about portfolio building on weddings and I'm not sure where that info came from." "I am not looking to move into doing wedding photography full time or to build my portfolio..."

angelsong21 · May 2013

Here's the thing: a person may be a GREAT photographer in other realms (newborn, lifestyle, etc) and just be trying to branch out into weddings and build their profile in that area. I understand the point being made that a person would most likely rather hire a professional photographer who is getting into weddings versus a person right out of school with little photography experience under their belt. But there's still a reason they are priced lower. Wedding photography requires some different, very challenging skill sets. A great, successful wedding photographer is exceptionally good at posing people, bringing out and capturing specific emotions and chemistry between two people, on top of the usual lighting, angles, etc. Those are definitely skills that take a lot of time and mindful practice to acquire -- they don't just happen. So yes, you are getting someone with more general photography experience but their experience may or may not translate well to weddings. It's a whole different subset that requires different skills than many others. I think wedding photography is one of the most challenging niches of photography because of the variables and the ability to pose a couple and capture specific emotions and what's important to them.

I'm just saying that I don't think you can downplay a photographer having experience in weddings. I think it's likely much easier for a wedding photographer to dabble and branch out into other areas (newborn, food, architecture, landscape, etc) versus another type of photographer trying to branch a little into weddings. But to be fair, I'm not a photographer. This is just based on observation so anyone can feel absolutely free to correct me here!

[Deleted User] · May 2013

I apologize about Natasha, I know last year when she and I were talking she was accepting, she may have decided she did not want to do as many. I do know Stefani does a small number of them. I will say that my photographer we had for births finds births more challenging.

If I were to look for someone who isn't classified as a wedding photographer (which really just means they prefer weddings over anything else and usually because they make more doing them BUT they are more time consuming) I would find someone who does a job that captures those moments.

Someone who can do say good engagement photo's OR say someone who does birth well (which isn't some easy you take something messy/scary/somewhat painful and turn it into something beautiful. It's a challenge. The thing most that I am told by those I know who do photography (I have about 8 different friends in the field all specialize in different things) is two main things. 1. weddings are time consuming and fast paced! 2. you have do deal with brides. There are no do overs with weddings (much like birth) so you have one chance to get it right. That can feel stressful.

So yes, there are things to learn/know.... But I think depending on what field of photography they are in many could rock a wedding. Now if someone did say studio type photo's I think they would have a hard time and probably would not hire them. So it really does depend on their work. I just think it's good for people to keep in mind (especially those with budgets) they don't have to sacrifice everything for good photos if they are smart at how they shop for them.

[Deleted User] · May 2013

MissHtoMrsO said:

From Natasha... "I have shot several weddings and am not looking to move into weddings. You are the 3rd or 4th person to contact me today asking about portfolio building on weddings and I'm not sure where that info came from." "I am not looking to move into doing wedding photography full time or to build my portfolio..."

I haven't talked to Natasha today but I took her name off since it seems she may not want recs at this time. Sorry about that.

[Deleted User] · May 2013

Okay Natasha has raised her prices and she does limited weddings.... I talked to Stefani tonight she still does weddings (not a ton of them) but she will not be able to do any for spring of 2014 for she is looking to have a baby around then. However she said she is open to 2013 and fall of 2014 I can make no promises but if she is available she is decent price.

Photography

Re: Photography

Choose Another Board

Search Boards