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Don't cut anyone off your guest list. What is your budget? Check out www.robertbradshawphotography.com. He's very reasonable for the Bay Area and he's REALLY friendly. :)
Try looking at Craigslist. I've heard of some brides finding great deals there for photographers who are new and need photos for their portfolio.
check the local colleges.. SF has tons of starving photog students
we would like to keep it between $1k-$2500.
i will definitely look into photog students in the area.
students, other relatives or Friends! please do NOT call up guests to uninvite them, or move the reception, that is so drastic. the wedding is in august according to your profile, so you have PLENTY of time to find someone to do it. at the very least, you can go out & buy a digi camera & teach a cousin or friend to take photos, then give them the camera as payment!
try ed pingol...he does amazing work and his prices are reasonable. i can't remember exactly, but you can google him. is there any chance your father can help pitch in financially for you and your fiance to hire a photographer? he's kind of dropping this on you last minute, as many of the popular photogs are already booked. or, if your father is a pro wedding photographer, or pro photographer in general, maybe he has some friends or knows someone who can step in as your wedding day photographer at a discounted price?
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I highly recommend Joel Flory! He did our wedding in October 2006, and shoots with his wife as a team. They were amazing - highly talented and absolutely a joy to work with. Not sure where their pricing is at currently though, but worth asking him.
You can check out our pics here: http://clients.joelflory.com/nigelandjackie
And his website here: http://www.joelflory.com
Good luck!
We're using Carmen Alvarez, who has tons of experience, a great eye and is also affordable. Her more basic packages are within your price range and offer decent coverage. She also gives you all the digital files as part of the deal.
Carmen's site: http://www.carmenalvarezphoto.com/forpeople/
She's currently updating her site, but will send you her more recent work if you contact her.
Good luck!
meelahj,
We are using Hana Chung. www.hanachungphotography.com She is currently in Irvine, CA but is relocating backup north to the bay area early this summer. So depending upon your date it might be great. I think we are paying around $1800 for all day and an engagement session. She Rocks! Plus I was sent to her by the bees, so as a bee I am continuing the tradition;)
Do hire a photog, but perhpas pick a package that doesn't include anything but the photography and the hi-res images. It's the cost of the touch-ups, DVDs, and wedding albums that really add up.
Our photog offered a bare-bones option that was basically just paying for her time and skill behind the camera. We'll just make out own prints and albums when we have the money.
http://www.wpja.com/ is also a great resource, you can search by area & price. that is how we ended up finding our photog. i remember there was someone on there in the nyc section (for price comparision) who was around 1200, unlimited time, and you got all your pics on cd.
i second ed pingol! his site is edpingol.blogspot.com. in the interest of full disclosure, he's a friend of mine but he's utterly fantastic! he did my sister's senior portraits and she's still raving about them [a whole year later] and i've been telling him to make sure he keeps a spot available so he can shoot my future wedding whenever the bf and i sit down and get engaged, lol. plus, he is super friendly and easy to get along with. good luck!
I agree with the Craigslist suggestion. Get an up-and-comer who needs portfolia shots. Create an album after the wedding on Blurb, when you have the finances to do it. Or go out to different photographers and see if they'll do similar digital-only, no-album lower-priced packages for you.
Putting your reception 2 hours away from your ceremony would make it so that most people would only go to one or the other. Thats a huge distance.
Also, if you've already mailed STD's or Invites - it's improper to take back the invite (or STD as it were). I've sent STD's to people I'd love to "b" list but can't now.
What I would suggest is changing your food options to a buffet, maybe a pot luck done by the family. I went to a wedding once where the whole thing was 2 banquet tables full of hand made southern food and it was amazing and so much fun!
As for the photograper, all the options handed out by the gals are great - but please remember, you will get what you pay for - so don't expect to get $5,000 phtos for $500, up and comers are still learning and building a portfolio so the margin for little errors is greater. I've been in the photography industry for over 10 years.
When you do meet with a photog, ask to see a full wedding they have done - anyone can take 2-3 great shots and put them on a web site, you want to see the whole day and see what they caught! Just a tip :-)
Good lukc, it will all work out in the end!
I would try looking for a photog where you have to only pay for their services and for the photos, instead of opting for an all-inclusive package that includes albums etc. you can always buy and create albums later on when your budget allows for it.
i agree with the other responses - cutting your guest list should probably be your last option. maybe there are other little things you cuold cut back on?
Try Huy Phan (www.huyphan.com). He's based out of Sacramento and has great prices that definitely fit within your budget and he's willing to travel throughout the Bay Area!
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My fiance is a great amateur-looking-to-become-professional photographer (he has all the nice equipment) and he'd be very interested in shooting your wedding for a very low price. Message me if you're interested.
thank you all so much for your help...i've already contacted some of your references. i really appreciate all the comments and suggestions. i realize that i really freaked out, i think its a combination of the wedding, leaving the country in a few weeks (until 13 days before the wedding), and being in school that are throwing me off. i love that i can come here for support! :)
YOU MUST CHECK OUT AMBER from www.artisticimagerypro.com
SHE IS AMAZING!!! Did I say she is AMAZING?!!!
Her base price is $2500, but she includes 2 photographers and an e-photo session!
If you end up using her, please tell her that Mary referred you!
I CALLED LOCAL WEDDING PLANNERS AND ASKED FOR CHEAP WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND MINE ACTUALLY WORKED AT A UNIVERSITY AND PHOTOGRAPHED THE SPORTS EVENTS AND SHE WAS AWESOME IT WAS 1500 DOLLARS WE GOT 10 CDS WITH ALL RIGHTS JUST AS IF YOU WOULD TAKE THEM AND THEN A MINIUM OF A 1000 PICTURES TOOK AND THEN WE GOT 3 COPIES OF EACH PHOTO AND THEN SHE PUT ONE COPY IN PHOTO ALBUMS THAT MATCHED OUR WEDDING COLORS... SHE ALSO HAD PACKAGES FOR 500 AND UP 1500... SO I WOULD SAY CALL THE LOCAL UNIVERSITIES AND ASK THEM IS ANYONE DOES WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHING AS A SIDE JOB OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT
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hey everyone...i had a mini-crisis about an hour ago and you all have been so helpful that i figured you'd know exactly what to do.
originally my father was going to be our photographer and we were thrilled! but after much thought he's decided that he'd much rather sit back, chill and enjoy his daughter's wedding...while my FH and i totally understand this it means that we now have to rework our budget to include a photographer...
so my question is, what do we do? what i've been thinking is that we possibly make some personal phone calls to people telling them that due to unforseen circumstances we have to drastically cut our guest list (i can already see the family drama that will arise if we do this)...another possibility is to change our venue to my aunt's house but the FH is not too thrilled about having both the ceremony and reception there and she lives quite a distance (almost 2 hours) from our current ceremony site so i'm not sure how feasible that is or how much we would lose if we do that....any advice is greatly appreciated!!
and since i am now looking for a photog if anyone has any recommendations for anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area that'd be great!
thnx :)
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