Wedding Photographers

ncit9933

Can anyone who's been there before tell me the average price of Wedding Photographers?
I've heard some ridiculas prices like €2500 for a few days work.

Is this true or over the top?

JimmySmith

ncit9933 wrote:

Can anyone who's been there before tell me the average price of Wedding Photographers?
I've heard some ridiculas prices like €2500 for a few days work.

Is this true or over the top?

€1200 plus you get all of the negatives or original digital images is about average.
Make sure you specify that you want the negatives and if they are digital, the full sized uncompressed images.
And make sure you agree a price for everything before you start.

One of the best is
www.robermullan.com
He shoots digital and gives you all of the images if you ask.

ncit9933

That's doesn't sound as bad.
Some of the price I was hearing were crazy and some of them didn't even give the photo not included in album...

jimmycrackcorm

given that you'll hardly ever look at your wedding photos after, it is very hard to justify the price that these guys charge. Better to ask a friend to take some digital photos. Previously the whole point of a professional photographer was that as you couldn't see what the result would be like, you needed the skills to ensure that the film would turn out fine.

Chipboard

We got married 2 months ago and we hired a guy called Stephen Sheridan 086- 0881735. I cant say enough good things about him. The shots were excellent, he wasn't too intrusive (even the priests thanked him off the altar for not getting in the way) and he was great crack.

We got the album a few weeks ago (he gives you one with all the shots) and it was excellent. He's also giving us all the shots on disc. We have to pick around 30 shots to have put in the main album and he's also giving us 2 parents albums.

You won't get better.

I wouldn't recommend getting an amateur to do it. I do a bit of photography myself and I'm told I'm quite good but setting up proper wedding shots is not as easy as it looks. I wouldn't dream of doing it unless I was just an add on to a professional. Asking a friend to record your big day is alot of pressure for an amateur. If your mate screws up you might not be too upset but most brides would be gutted.

By the way, reportage shots (spur of the moment type stuff) look really well in the album and Stephen is very good at them.

Padraig Mor

ncit9933 wrote:

Can anyone who's been there before tell me the average price of Wedding Photographers?
I've heard some ridiculas prices like €2500 for a few days work.

Is this true or over the top?

Not over the top at all. Getting married soon and most photographers are thieves. Majority of 'name' photographers will cost €1500 and over for their cheapest package. Members of the main association/cartel (IPPA) will generally charge €1900 and up. Top prices are in the €5000 range. Very few will give you the negatives unless you pass them another couple of hunderd (worried about their 'reputation' apparently). Look around though and you might be surprised with what you find - we have a guy who does general commercial photography (i.e. not just weddings etc) and is only costing us €550. That doesn't include prints or album though.

masterK

The age old advise holds here, shop around. The reason these guys charge these prices is that people pay them. As has been said there are plenty of decent photographers who will give you a reasonable quote and will be willing to supply negatives, copies on CD etc.

If you have friends/work colleagues etc that have been married in the last year or two find out who they used/how much they paid/where they happy and get numbers and contact them, word of mouth is hugely important to these guys so most will try to look after you.

LFCFan

The chap we got charged around €1,100 and that included pics from my wife and bridemaids getting ready up to cutting the cake, a preview album with all the shots in it, 40 prints and a very nice leather album. He has a website too http://www.kielyphoto.com. Very nice chap and his wife helps out on the day. Highly recommmend.

jimmycrackcorm

Take it from me that after a few years of marriage you'll never look at the things again. The only advantage of having an official wedding photographer is that he seemingly has the authority to organize people to get together for the photos. Get a friend with a half decent camera to do it instead - it's thememoriesyou are trying to capture - not the lighting levels.

Sponge Bob

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Get a friend with a half decent camera to do it instead

And a bossy person to herd them into the right groups