how expensive is a wedding??

[googoodoll]

One does not simply buy a product or service. One buys quality, prestige, exclusivity and peace of mind.

Unless you aren't willing to pay - then you just get the product but don't expect any added value

 

[bwana]

Yup, which goes to my point of perceived value.



I'm not the one arguing that there isn't a scale of quality in these genres and they shouldn't be compensated accordingly, so I'm not sure what your point is. Joey L is going to charge more for commercial photography than some two steps above amateur from Brakpan. He's worth it. For some reason you seem think a higher price is related exclusively to ego in the wedding photography industry.

Or is wedding photography the only genre where they shouldn't charge more because good photos are a result of mostly ego and luck?

Are you by any chance a wedding photographer?

 

[RanzB]

Are you by any chance a wedding photographer?

Nope. I do offer wedding packages, but I don't pursue that. I prefer commercial and event photography, and have recently been shooting more fashion and beauty than anything else.

In any case, I'm not sure what that has to do with your argument.

 

[bwana]

Nope. I do offer wedding packages, but I don't pursue that. I prefer commercial and event photography, and have recently been shooting more fashion and beauty than anything else.

Do you charge the same hourly rate for all of your endeavours?

In any case, I'm not sure what that has to do with your argument.

Because a wedding photographer is more likely to believe they're worth what they charge.

 

[RanzB]

Do you charge the same hourly rate for all of your endeavours?

Pretty much. The only ones I quote more per hour are corporate jobs as they're boring. Obviously wedding packages as a whole cost more because they tend to be longer hours and have a tangible end product.

Because a wedding photographer is more likely to believe they're worth what they charge.

So basically you're saying that you think I am framing my argument around my own believed self-worth. Nice try, but I don't charge anywhere near that. I have seen, and met, and worked with some that do, and believe me, a lot of them are worth it.

Brett Florens is one of the leading wedding photographers in SA, a published author of a wedding book/DVD and will be featured on CreativeLive soon. His rates definitely start over R20k, but we should probably go tell him to stop since it's a matter of ego and luck.

 

[googoodoll]

Pretty much. The only ones I quote more per hour are corporate jobs as they're boring. Obviously wedding packages as a whole cost more because they tend to be longer hours and have a tangible end product.



So basically you're saying that you think I am framing my argument around my own believed self-worth. Nice try, but I don't charge anywhere near that. I have seen, and met, and worked with some that do, and believe me, a lot of them are worth it.

Brett Florens is one of the leading wedding photographers in SA, a published author of a wedding book/DVD and will be featured on CreativeLive soon. His rates definitely start over R20k, but we should probably go tell him to stop since it's a matter of ego and luck.

Brett Florens something like R75k and fully booked for the next 2 years or something...

 

[RanzB]

Brett Florens something like R75k and fully booked for the next 2 years or something...

R75k would be for his Unlimited Prints option.

 

[ebendl]

Listen to a couple of episodes of this podcast: http://www.prophotoshow.net/

The guys on the panel are all professional photographers - some of them do weddings, some of them corporate and some fine art. It's interesting to see the industry (granted, the US photography industry) from another side.

A wedding photographer these days has to be on top of his game since every uncle and tannie has a cheap SLR now and Facebook as a publishing platform. I found it particular interesting in how the one guy was challenged to produce good looking shots faster since one of the old omies at one of the weddings that he shot was publishing "official wedding photos" on Facebook the day after the wedding. The photographer's reputation actually got tarnished a bit as the shots were poor yet people thought those were THE wedding photos.

The other guy told a story of how he actually started getting more business after he raised his prices - since he was perceived as a better photographer. So yes, there are cases of people believing the most expensive photographer are the best - but hey, do your homework, get multiple quotes and then go for the combination of people skills, quality of shots and service and price.