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Ok bees, I've officially decided that I will not be going with the photographers that I've already booked, The Pros, because of such bad reviews and things other bees have said. So now I'm on the search for another photog and have heard other bees mentioning Craigslist. I've come across alot of young photographers trying to get their feet wet and their prices are great. Just wondering if any other bees in my area have used or have contracted with a photographer off Craiglist.
Thanks!
I say that with craigslist, you do get what you pay for.
Most of them look like crap, but they don't cost much either :)
If you have the budget, why not go look at better listings like wpja.com
I am not from the Dallas area but I did find my photographer from Craigslist. I absolutely loved her style but she is new to wedding photography and was looking to build her portfolio. She has 8+ plus weddings to photograph before mine and is very open to suggestions. She and I got along from the get-go and communicate frequently. My wedding is not until May.
I say, do your due diligence. Talk to the photographer, research their style, and see if you get along with them. Many who post on Craigslist have been in the business for years and are only using Craigslist as another avenue to promote their company. Others, like mine, are looking to build their portfolio. It's worth a shot.
I had a great turnout with my craiglist photog... and my pictures dont look like crap!
My photog has been doing photography for a long time, just doesn't do it full-time. He has a fulltime job just enjoys taking pictures so does it as a hobby. We didn't pay a arm and a leg but our pictures came out wonderful
I'm down in Austin, and we found our photographer on craigslist. A TON of photogs use that site--the prices ranged from $500 to $5000. Many of those advertisements were from well known photographers in the area. Our photographer is about 200 miles away and she advertised in the Austin craigslist--I would have never found her otherwise. We are paying around $2500 for 8 hours of coverage on the wedding day. If you want her name, PM me--I don't think she charges travel fees to Dallas.
We lucked out on our photographers that we found on Craigslist. They were a couple of guys who are just starting out in the business. We actually got our engagement session for free and a great deal on our wedding photography.
I'd say do an engagement session with the photographer(s) you choose first before booking them for the wedding. That way you can see their work in person. Here's a link to our engagement session. :D
I don't get the "You get what you pay for" crap. There are a lot of students or self learners who are out there and awesome and don't have packages that start at $3000 because they are portfolio building. EVERYONE has to start somewhere.
We will probably post an ad on Craigslist looking for two or three photographers who are portfolio building and ask to trade our graphic design/web development services for their photography services. It will probably break even. The cost of designing a website usually equals out to the cost of photography.
I had amazing luck with craigslist! I looked on craigslist for my 2nd photog. He did an amazing job & I only paid $150 & I'm going to pay him more because he totally deserves it. If they are new to wedding photography, look at their family pics & couples pics. Are they blurry? Are they dark? Are there "grainy" dots in it? Can you see details in the whites?
Here are reasons why there are cheap craigslist photographers:
1. have little to no experience & are pretty bad at photography & wanting to get better.
2. have experience, are good, but want more experience so they can pursue photography as a career. EVERYONE starts somewhere, even the pros had their first weddings, starting from scratch.
3. got a fancy camera as a gift, or self-bought & want to make money from it
4. are good photographers but don't have the $$ for a website/advertising
5. are good photogs & wanting to compete in the craigslist market since so many people use it.
There's probably other reasons too, but this is just what comes to mind. How do you tell the good from the bad? Look at their portfolio. Make sure you sign a contract & read over it before signing.
Sometimes you do "get what you pay for", sometimes you don't. The majority of craigslist photographers are not as good as pros. Its not always the case thou, there are amazing photographers who seem to just be "natural photographers". If photography is really important to you, its best to go with a pro, they know what they're doing, they know their camera & settings.
I was really impressed by alot of the ones that I saw. Most of them seem to be starting out and was looking to build their portfolio. I'm certainly going to make sure I meet with them in person and make sure I'm comfortable.
Thanks to everyone for your ideas and input. I'm feeling a little more hopeful now. I may not have to use my 3 and 6 year old to take pics after all!
@serabell: Those are really good things to think about. Thanks! I was a little afraid at first because the prices were so affordable and the photos actually looked really professional. I'm going to contact a few and make appointments for next month when my FI comes home from Iraq to meet with them. I've used Craigslist a couple of times and had really good experiences so hopefully this will be yet another one.
Well it seems that we don't exactly all "get what we pay for" because we also found out photographer on Craigslist and she is AMAZING.
When we first found her we understood she did this on the side, maybe once a month. We decided to have our e-pics done by her (in Feb), they came out awesome. During this time she added me to her Facebook and website so we could continue to check out her work...and time and time again she does fantastic work. We haven't received our wedding pics back yet but I know they will be amazing.
Don't be so quick to dismiss someone because they're from Craigslist. We were very lucky to find someone so awesome. About 2 weeks before our wedding she opened her own studio, while also working full time. She obviously is GREAT at what she does!
I posted an ad in craigslist, and got about 50 responses. Out of those, probably 2 were acceptable (although overpriced for their quality), the rest were junk. I got plenty of "I'll shoot it for free or $100" and I guess if you don't have the budget then you do what you have to.
One thing I noticed is that some of them had great posed shots in their portfolio, but when I asked for images of reception/ceremony, they were crap. So I guess if you give them enough time and re-dos to do the posed shots they are good, but no so good when you need them to caputure things on the fly, which I consider the main thing when I hire a photographer to shoot my wedding.
Maybe it is because I am a photo editor and I'm picky when it comes to photos. But you show me 20 photographers from craigslist and I can tell you what's wrong with the images from 19 of em.
I am spending enough money on my wedding already, don't need to skimp on a photographer for one that is "building his portfolio" and then at the end of the day have missed moments because he wasn't used to shooting weddings.
I have read enough brides crying on how their wedding pictures came out bad, and then when you ask how much they spent on the photographer they say "Oh it was free, or I got it in craigslist for $500".
You do ocassionally get a good photographer for cheap in craigslist, but I do believe that is more of an exception than the norm, and I don't feel like gambling on my wedding day.
But at the end of the day, photos are a subjective thing, so if you like yours, then that is all that matters.
I'm a craigslist photographer mostly because I'm just starting out part time and my website gets a ton of traffic from CL. I agree some photographers on craigslist are a crap shoot, but there are two other really great ones in my area (I'm proud of the product I present clients with).
And it's not a "you get what you pay for.." it's more like: I'm pretty new only having shot 10 weddings, my prices will be lower than seasonal professionals until my clientele list grows and I have a larger portfolio.
As a bride, you have to ask to see a photographers portfolio. If the images are blurry or sub par- don't go with that photographer. If you like the 200+ edited photos this photographer has presented his or her couple with (usually you can get a link to an online gallery), hire that photographer. It's up to you as a bride to do your research.
Well seconding Wanderer's words, but if you do find a craigslist shooter, do some mini sessions with them before the wedding. It is a big hit or miss finding a decent to good photographers on craigslist.
I know that I did some mini sessions from craigslist back when I was thinking about shooting for real.
@TedNghiem: I think this is a FANTASTIC suggestion for brides if they MUST consider a CL photog. Nice thinking Ted! I would ask about booking just an engagement session with one of these photogs and then if you like the pics consider going for the wedding :)
We found our photographer on Craigslist, and she's great. She is reasonably priced and was offering a Great deal on her packages. We just did our Epics last week and had a blast working with her. I'm excited about her doing our wedding.
Be Careful!
I lost an $800 deposit to a photographer that didn't exist although I talked to him several times, and reviewed his pictures. Meeting with him wasn't an option and I thought I played it safe.
Just be careful, its free to post on Craigslist and people can steal pictures from other photogs and represent them as their own.
i found my photog on cl and she has been great so far! she had a wonderful portfolio and she was very reasonably priced! i should get my epics back this week!!! i think the biggest thing is, do your homework! meet with them in person! make sure you get along fine and you are going to get what youre looking for :)
I don't think it is fair to say all craigslist photographers are not good. people are on craigslist looking for everything these days...why wouldn't one use it as an advertising tool? With any photog...you have to like them and their work and meet with them and check references...etc. if you like them why does it matter where you found them??
I'm sure there are plenty of fine/trustworthy/talented photogs on Craigslist but I will tell you about my own experience.
I found 3 on CL whose work I really liked. The 1st one didn't return my phone calls. When I finally got a hold of her she said she was already booked for my date. (A quick email reply from her with this info would have bee nice.)
The 2nd one set up a meeting with me and were both (I thought) very excited about him shooting my wedding. The day of the meeting, he called and said he realized he was already booked for my date.
The 3rd one we actually hired and he shot our e-pics. And then a week and a half before the wedding he e-mailed me to tell me that he just realized he had accidentally double-booked our date.
So for me...CL was a bad experience entirely.
@Mrs. AF: I think some people are lazy these days and don't want to do homework. If I can't meet them in person and check references, then they don't get hired. I would never send money to someone I couldn't meet.
@Miss Tattoo:I agree totally, I know it is hard to find a photog is you are having a wedding in anoher state(like us), however my MOH is doing the booking for me in person, signing the contract, meeting with her. I feel comfortable and we email at least once a week(me and the photog) with new ideas. I found her on Facebook, that is a free site and she is amazing!
@Cheeks11
I didnt get my photog from craigslist but I did get my cake, video and florist and everything turned out great (and cheap!!!) 100.00 for the cake, video was FREE and the florist was 250.00 for EVERYTHING....sometimes (just sometimes!!) its worth the risk!!
Video http://vimeo.com/13903051 (this is just the highlight reel)
myflowerscollage.jpg (154.4 KB, 38 downloads) 1 year old Copy_of_cupcakes.jpg (66 KB, 44 downloads) 1 year old
@Baileyh: I LOVE your cupcake tower!! I had never thought about looking for that service on Craigslist. I found a photographer that I really like so I'm looking forward to meeting her soon. I'm going to go backonCraigslist and see what else I can find! Thanks for sharing!
@Cheeks11: Not sure if you found a photographer yet, but I found my budget photographer on Craigslist. It's Harmony Photography and she's located in Mansfield!
I shopped around. I am too picky (being a filmmaker, and my FI being a photographer) to get a videographer/photographer from Craigslist. My FI works at Wolf Camera, and he found someone who was amazing, and is doing it really cheap.
I would reccomend that no matter where you find the vendor, check the portfolio! Ask alot of questions. How long have they been shooting? Have they shot weddings before? What comes in their packages? What equipment do they use? How many photographers? Pre-wedding shots? All of the same questions you'd would want to ask, but may forget. :)
I know what it's like, posting around trying to get a start. Some Craigslist-ers are ligit, just be careful!
@roselynn_7: No we hadn't fully decided on one yet. I checked out Harmony Photography and they looked really nice. Are you just using them for the wedding or did you have engagement photos taken as well?
@Cheeks11: No, my sister used to be a wedding photographer so she did our engagements. And I've decided not to get bridals done either. :( While I don't think that they are absolutely amazing wedding photographers, their work is by far some of the best for the price considering most photographers charging that low generally have very little experience shooting weddings.
I just started my wedding photo business two months ago and being a startup company I had zero budget for marketing, so I contacted brides who posted in craigslist looking for photographers.
I did two weddings booked from craigslist so far and the brides were the sweetest people ever, and they just loved my photos.
New photographers have to start somewhere and craigslist is a good place to start. It's just that some of them are not as prepared as others. If you are looking for a photographer from craigslist, make sure to see some samples and ask them what camera they use. If they are using an entry level consumer DSLRs, then i think it's safe to assume that the quality of their photos will just not cut it.
I post for work on Craigslist, I don't think I'm all that bad :D We all have to start somewhere right?
OP, if you're still looking, check out Rootography.com, I love them!
@bomphoto: I disagree, you can use an entry DSLR with an amazing lens and an ounce of talent/know how and get amazing pictures!
I have heard good experiences and horrid experiences (more the latter). Here is my take:
1. Know who you are using. Ask for references. How many weddings have they shot? Typically, good landscape or portrait photographers CAN make good wedding photographers AFTER SOME EXPERIENCE. Do they have a sense of commitment like a website? A real contract form? Do they have insurance? What is their day job? If the boss says they have to go on a biz trip will they refuse to go because they have a wedding to shoot that weekend? If they are a stay at home mom doing this part time and the kids are deathly sick and she can't get a baby sitter what will happen then? YES I HAVE HEARD THESE THING HAPPENING WITH CL PHOTOGRAPHERS! Have they ever layed out an album? Ask to see proofs from an entire wedding to you know what to expect, not just their 10-20 best portfolio pictures.
2. The biggest risks with using someone new to the business (I will assume that most people that advertise on craigslist are new to the business) IMO are the following:
a). The person ends up giving up the business or cancels on you for whatever reason months later closer to your wedding date. If they are not serious about their business they have nothing to loose and no commitment. Also do they have a backup in case they can't make it for any reason? Newbies may not be networked enough in the business to have a backup photographer on call.
b) Lack of coverage. Most decent photographers can pull off a good number of decent photos during a wedding. A common mistake you see with amatuers a lot is lack of full coverage. Missed shots. Realize there may be a few missed shots. A second shooter will minimize this risk.
c) Equipment. Does the photographer have the equipment necessary. Do they have backups or do they just own one camera body, one or two lenses, and no flashes? Most beginners focus on natural light because flash photography is more difficult to master. Do they have photos in dark reception halls showing their skill with flash?
Insight.....
When you hire a well known pro, you are not just paying for their time, talent, and experience. You are paying for piece of mind, that they WILL show up, and do a great job no matter what the lighting conditions are or no matter what screwy things happen throughout the day (equipment failures,etc). You may want to email a few lower priced photographers and ask them what they could include for the budget you have. I think with the right screening you can get a decent photographer on craigslist, but it will most likely be a difficult weeding out process and require a lot of work on your end up front. And even then, nothing is guaranteed.
Just happened to come across this tonight. Stuff like this makes me cringe!
http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/evs/2108630433.html
We haven't officially booked our photographer yet but the photog we are planning on going with, we found through craigslist. We met with him and he was as nice as can be. His portfolio was AMAZING and his price was right. He has done a number of weddings and it seems his work just gets better and better. He is not a new photographer but he was just starting out with weddings when we met with him this past September. His background is mainly in sports photography. It was important to us to find a photographer with a photojournalism feel and he specializes in it (actually has the degree to prove it too). I am nothing but confident in his abilities to deliver amazing photos from our wedding.
@USER876: While those photos aren't my style, they may be someone else's. I didn't think that they were all that bad. Certainly not "cringe" worthy.
i saw that you were looking for a wedding photographer for your wedding date and did not know if you had anyone yet! and he has great prices for a 4 hr plus 100 of those edited..one 16x20 enlargement of your choice for 450 and 6 hr for 625 with 16x20 portrait enlargement with either package you would get them a cd to print them at any location of your choosing ....if your interested let me know!
We are going with a family friend whose website is doxaphoto.com. Shes wonderful!!! And VERY reasonably priced! She takes great shots and spends the entire day with you for one price!!! Good luck!
@wanderer: This for sure!
The typical Craigslist photographer (not all of course) are new pros trying to build their portfolio. This means that your wedding is among the first they will typically shoot and their don't have much experience.
My MOH booked a Craigslist photographer for her wedding and while the price was cheap she has had to shell out a lot more money in the end to make up for the terrible photos. After months of threats and back and forth she finally got her photos and they were awful and way too dark. She had to spend several hundreds of dollars more to have them retouched etc.
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