Wedding Photographer - Any Recommendations?

[wmrcomputers]

Yes but remember you only get married the once (probably) so if the photos are messed up because someone is using you as practice, then you're stuffed.

I totally get what you're saying, and hence why people like those above can charge you £1800. As others have said, you really do get what you pay for. If you gave people an idea of budget it may help with recommendations within your budget. I could give you the details of a very good photographer who's work I saw at a wedding fayre, but I know that you'd be looking in the £900 region still.

Some of the ones on Facebook also show some very good examples of their work. Some are very very good at it, but just need to build their portfolio before they hike up their prices - hence charging prices such as £150 (which is for all images on USB without prints usually). If you were on a tight budget they might still do you proud. As it stands I'm charging half of what other photo booth companies charge - it doesn't mean mine's no good, I just need to gain a reputation to prove I'm even better than some. Undercutting is a way of spreading the word. You really have to choose quite simply between your budget and what you expect for your money then hope for the best. Saying that I've seen a £200 photographer do better than a £600 one before, so personally I'd want to see actual work. There's a wedding fayre on next Thursday at the White Eagle club on Riverway - possibly worth popping along??

 

[proactive]

Saying that I've seen a £200 photographer do better than a £600 one before, so personally I'd want to see actual work.

Excellent point.

There's a wedding fayre on next Thursday at the White Eagle club on Riverway - possibly worth popping along??

Excellent idea.

 

[highguyuk]

Wow - seems to be the thread of the evening!

I certainly agree with the premise that "young" businesses need to compete on price, even though the quality may be just as good or even in excess of other more established companies. What we've struggled with is the quality, but I think that is in part due to the quality of modern day cameras/phones etc. It is now fairly easy to take a "good" photograph yourself, so when looking through portfolios it is difficult to find stand out photographers. However, the point about it being a special day that cannot be ruined by a novice is hard to ignore.

Without boring you all, we're having a relaxed late afternoon wedding in the same venue as the evening reception. We only require a photographer for approximately 5 hours or so and I cannot justify some of the extremely high fees for this level of time. This is especially important as there are many photographers in the £1k bracket, who then wish to charge for example £60 on top for a CD of non-printable photographs! What exactly am I paying £1k for if it doesn't even include receipt of my own photographs!

Many, many thanks for all the suggestions. I've already followed up on a couple of them without success (as they are already booked) but will continue to look through. I would appreciate as many photographers as you're willing to throw my way! Finally, the wedding fayre next Thursday may well be a very good idea!

 

[Gramaisc]

Finally, the wedding fayre next Thursday may well be a very good idea!

6:30 - 9:30 pm - https://www.facebook.com/events/1395771707413589/ .

I've been to weddings where people were so 'relaxed' that they couldn't stand....


Change your names to something "exciting", sell the rights to OK/Hello and let them worry about it.

 

[proactive]

I've been to weddings where people were so 'relaxed' that they couldn't stand....

The best type of wedding in my opinion only beaten by ones where there is also a fight.

 

[Gramaisc]

The best type of wedding in my opinion only beaten by ones where there is also a fight.

I went to a Catholic/Protestant Scottish wedding in Rugeley - the windows were pre-boarded-up as we arrived in the car park - we might as well have been at a Mongolian wedding for all we could understand that was said to us - there were some phenomenal fights and the blokes were just as bad...

 

[wmrcomputers]

This is especially important as there are many photographers in the £1k bracket, who then wish to charge for example £60 on top for a CD of non-printable photographs! What exactly am I paying £1k for if it doesn't even include receipt of my own photographs!

This is something that I must admit gripes me. My sister paid £200 for a 1 hour photo shoot. She then had to pay around £20 per image she wanted putting onto a disc! Our family had a photoshoot done for £45 by a guy with a studio that gave us a full high res disc to take home, and then even offered to edit our favourite 20 images. I never called on him to do so as we felt bad when he charged us so little.

I would appreciate as many photographers as you're willing to throw my way! Finally, the wedding fayre next Thursday may well be a very good idea!

The one next to me at the wedding fayre last week was www.newmoonimages.co.uk
He had some really impressive examples of his work, but I couldn't acurately tell you how his pricing works. We heard him mention sums from around £650 upwards to people but what that included I haven't a clue. All I can tell you is that he is good

I'm quite amazed with the photography thread on here that we don't have any forumites who do this kind of thing. @shoes or @bigbluewolf do neither of you do weddings? You both display some awesome work on here.

 

[John Marwood]

There's a bloke who writes about cameras, can't remember his name, Wing or Dong or summat, anyway, I think he charges about £45,000 to photograph a wedding.

He's never done one mind

Wise bloke

Sleeps really well apparently

 

[John Marwood]

http://www.derekpyephotography.com/

No need to thank me now

 

[Jonah]

@wmrcomputers I photographed my friend's wedding three years ago. I won't do another one.

Because I was not "the" wedding photographer (but still the only person with a DSLR camera, two in fact), the guests with their smartphones completely ignored my requests for time and space to take photos and kept getting in my way all the time. This annoyed* me no end. Thankfully I did manage to get some decent photos mainly because I took my friends away from the crowd and told them they needed photos taking.



*Insert your own expletive here.

 

[Jonah]

www.thorneweddings.com

I know Jon, lovely bloke, takes great photos.

 

[wmrcomputers]

I photographed my friend's wedding three years ago. I won't do another one.

Have you ever considered that the entire situation could (and probably would) have been completely different though if it had been a strangers wedding? I think it's a shame because you take cracking pictures and it can be turned into a nice little weekend earner where you might earn more than you do all week. I mean... you can even take pictures with an iPhone that look amazing!!

Mind you, it's not for everyone I suppose.

 

[Mikinton]

I think it's a shame because you take cracking pictures and it can be turned into a nice little weekend earner where you might earn more than you do all week.

Being a wedding photographer is less about being able to take a good photograph and more about being able to organise people who aren't really there to have their photos taken.

I've a friend who used to be one and he used to take his wife along to help him; while he was taking the photograph of one group, she be finding out who everyone was and getting the next group ready. It's more like being a ringmaster in a circus.

 

[Jonah]

Have you ever considered that the entire situation could (and probably would) have been completely different though if it had been a strangers wedding? I think it's a shame because you take cracking pictures and it can be turned into a nice little weekend earner where you might earn more than you do all week. I mean... you can even take pictures with an iPhone that look amazing!!

Mind you, it's not for everyone I suppose.

The short answer is no. I only knew the couple and about 3 other people at the wedding. The other guests chose to ignore the fact that I was setting up photos and kept getting in my way. It's not something I want to do, people are a pain!

Thanks for the compliments!

 

[photography_bloke]

I wonder if @photography_bloke does weddings?

I do occasionally, for friends mainly - @highguyuk if you are still looking feel free to drop me a message with what you're looking for and we'll see what we can do I tend to specialise in documentary style images (i.e. unposed, taken whenever the opportunity presents throughout the day) although I can also do the group images.

If I had to recommend someone else though, it would definitely be Jon Thorne - top bloke, fantastic to work with, used to see him quite a bit but haven't bumped into him for a while

 

[littleme]

Whoever you choose, make sure you get to see a portfolio of their work before you commit. My son got married in the summer & while the majority of the photos are good - there are also ones that are not so brilliant - things like.....my father has his hands in his pockets in every single photo (I would of thought the photographer would of noticed & rearranged him), the one & only photo of the whole group that attended the wedding has one of my sons mates doing jazz-hands while stood directly in front of the brides mother (again, it would of been funny if there had also been one of everyone in their right places). He did seem to concentrate on only photos of the couple & the guest/group/family photos seem very hap-hazard & un-organized even though he did seem to take the time to arrange everyone....

 

[Wormella]

A friend took ours as a wedding present - this was only sorted out the night before in the pub - and we also got the photos other people took - we know enough people with decent cameras that were happy to let other play with them - we also had a fairly relaxed wedding. We were also very lucky with the photos he took, even the 'formal' ones - but we didn't have any fancy / staged I've seen work wonderfully at other people's weddings, just wouldn't have been for us.

It's all about priorities and budgets in the end.

 

[age'd parent]

I have done 2 wedding for friends, back when it was only back and white film, never ever again
I said after the second one, it is a nightmare for the photographer without any experience
to organise the formal pics and I was very disappointed in the results, even tho in those days
the married couple were delighted to get cheap photos, when I compared myself with
Peter Roger's results I decided that the stress wasn't worth it and have since restricted
myself to informal snaps at any wedding I was invited to.
You cannot beat a man with experience, who knows what he's doing, in almost any trade or profession.

 

[Bob]

http://neilmasseyweddings.com/

Neil Massey is brilliant, I couldn't recommend him enough.

 

[Ian France]

Hi all, please check out my website ... I can't stress the importance of hiring a professional.

http://www.fcphotography.co.uk