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Here are a few ways you can approach your photographer.
- Be honest about your budget. While we photographers need to cover our costs, we also understand couples working with a budget. We often customize packages. Honesty will also set the tone for any future relationship you may have if you hire.
- Ask your photographer for suggestions on ways that you can bring the price down closer to your goal. I would think that you could save by not having an engagement shoot and no album - just shooting and the disc of images perhaps.
- Do you need 10 hours? Maybe 8 or 9 hours will cover everything. Think about what is most important to you. If preparation photos are, then have your photographer meet you then and leave a bit early at the end of the day. It may not be necessary to stay to the very end (but at least to cake cutting).
- Ask your photographer what they think is best for your wedding. We are here to assist you on your day.
I hope this helps.
~ Patricia Kantzos
I would suggest looking for talented photographers that are still building their business. We found one with a year of weddings under her belt (and a photography degree and many years of newspaper photojournalism work), and we got pretty much everything you're requesting, plus travel fees, for less than 2k - about 3000 images on dvds, about 300 edited images, 2 photographers for unlimited time (we used them 8 am to 10 pm), and we made our own albums. Not every shot was perfect, but they did a number of things that photographers we've worked with since with 20+ years under their belt didn't do as well.
Some people are happy with higher quality or more highly edited photos and less time. I love the fact that we have the WHOLE day documented, there are so many moments I had completely forgotten about until I saw the photos, and still find new things a year later. We actually switched photogs a few months before the wedding because our first one kept 'assuring' us we'd only want 5 or 6 hours for the whole day....um, I'll be the judge of what I want? ;)
But it's always worth asking a photographer if you love their work and the ballpark price isn't way off from your budget. Just figure out what pieces are most important to you.
I think searching for a young (but talented) photographer who is either looking to build a portfolio or just starting out is the way to go. My friend booked her wedding photographer (two shooters, all day coverage) on the CHEAP because they were just starting out. She also got a lot of stuff included into her package. I don't think you will be able to find a photographer who's been in business for a while who will give you 10+ hours really cheap. Like the above posters said, I would just be upfront about your budget and hopefully they can be flexible in building a package around that.
What you can do is find photographers within your budget or a little over and contact them. Be honest and ask them if they can work within your budget as well as customize a package suited for your needs. Who knows, maybe the photographer will toss in some other things that you didn't think of within your price range.
I think the key to finding somebody in your budget is to be willing to compromise more then just the album. Or you might want to go with a less experienced person. Maybe go with one great shooter and see if you could add a second shooter that was a student or building their portfolio. They can shoot the boys...they're not hard. :)
I think it's hard to expect 10 plus hours, 2 great shooters plus a disc for a discount. You need to be willing to give a little. Good Luck finding somebody!
this has less to do with business, more to do with expectation. you are expecting a lot of hours and things for low budget....
on other hand, in this business, you will ALWAYS find someone who will match your budget and needs, whether or not they are good is another question
as said above, i would look for students, or beginners, or perhaps people like us, who are part time and not in the business to make lots of money, so we offer quite reasonable rates for full packages.
but sometimes, we get enquiries for full day coverage, 2 photos, esession, full disc, etc...and like budget is 100 bucks....come on, be reasonable. thats less than janitor makes
It sounds like you already have a few photographers in mind. I would suggest writing to them and see if they offer any customized packages that meets your budget. Like you mentioned, taking out the engagement session may be away to go.
However, this also depends on who you are trying to go after. The popular ones or high end ones are less likely to agree to discounts as they are probably already booked or know they will be. But hey, no harm asking right.
Good luck!
no harm asking. just realise that we dont offer huge discounts not because we dont want to, but we have a business costs, expenses and overheads that we have to cover...if we don't charge crazy amounts in first place, our profit margin is really quite small. most people would be surprised how much it costs to run a big wedding photog business.
thanks for all the helpful tips, bees and pros! i spoke to my first-choice photographer today, explained my situation and we were able to come to an agreement on service and price that worked for both of us, so im very happy. the best advice i got was "be honest" - i took it and it worked, so thanks so much!
Good deal! I've found it's easier to negotiate longer lengths of time because they are already there. It's harder to negotiate shorter anything with wedding vendors.
Try working with a photography student! I am a student and have been working with a few weddings. Its by far the cheapest way to go about photography!
@ mayeast06: Can you share what the compromise was? I'm curious what kind of deal you got and what you're getting. Thanks!
I am a student Photographer. I graduate in March 2010. I did a wedding last weekend. I would suggest contacting a school in the local area. The Illinois institute of art in Schaumburg is where I go, and I know the instructors get leads and contact us where they see fit or ask if anyone is willing to take the job. Contact as soon as possible (students are very busy with projects as well as jobs and need time to schedule in an event- many people forget that for every hour of time spent photographing it could be up to 3 hours of editing photos so its a lot of work to shoot an event, especially a wedding). It is important to ask for someone who has had experience with an event, even if it was not a wedding. The overall atmosphere is similar enough and make sure/or request a student who either has thier own equipment or who has accesss to equipment (flash, lighting, backgrounds, other than the camera of course!) good Luck! If you were in the Chicago area I would offer my services!
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hopefully i can get some help on this one.
i dont have a big budget for photography but of course still want at least 10 hours of coverage with ideally two photographers and a copywrite free disc with all images. im willing to forego engagement/bridal portrait shoots and would even consider skippng the album in order to get someone "good" in my budget (im about 25% below what most people im talking to charge).
here is my question: how should i approach this w. photographers? what would make you as a photog most apt to want to to work with someone with these needs? and how much could/would you be able to discount as a result?
basically, im trying to figure out what my best approach should be. obviously i want to be able to get what i want w/in budget, but i understand photographers have a business to run as well and don't want to seem like I'm trying to pull a fast one or anything like that. i just have a budget i have to stick to.
any professional/lay person advice is welcome. thank you in advance!