Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Page 1 of 6 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 55

Thread: Genuinely Surprised By This

  1. #1
    Resident Antagonist Benny Smyth's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Worcestershire
    Age
    38
    Posts
    1,962

    Default Genuinely Surprised By This

    For the last few months, I have been second shooting at some weddings with a view to launching my own photography business in the first or second quarter of next year. I've sat down and worked out my business plan and in the process, I've worked out that - on average - every DJ event that I am booked for comes to about 15 hours altogether (from the initial answering of the enquiry to the pack away of gear at the end of the night and everything in between). I decided that I would double that for photography work as, based on my little experience, 30 hours should be enough to cover the pre-wedding stuff, shooting all day and all the editing afterwards. Based on that logic, I saw fit to double my DJ fee - twice the work, twice the price, and all that.

    After that, I decided to refer to Bridebook's annual survey to see what the average price of a Wedding Photographer was in the UK in 2018 - £1,264.00. This has genuinely surprised me, as I thought that it would be much higher than that! I wasn't expecting my starting out price to be at the low end of the market, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to be above average (albeit by £31.00).

    I'm not going to lower what I'll be charging as I based it on a business plan and I feel that it correctly values me. I'm just genuinely surprised at the average price and I think it shows how many are making a 'business' decision and how many are making a 'who is charging what' decision. I always knew photography would be similar to the DJ world when it came to this stuff, but I am gobsmacked at (on average) how little photographers are charging.

  2. #2
    Imagine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Ely, Cambridgeshire
    Age
    53
    Posts
    2,448

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Benny Smyth View Post
    I am gobsmacked at (on average) how little photographers are charging.

    Sadly, the world of the professional Togger is just as bad as ours as a DJ.
    EVERYBODY is now a photographer....you go and buy a camera, point it and shoot....innit?

    WE ALL KNOW that's not the case, the same as with DJs, and I think that somewhere along the line there needs to be some proper education of the public as to what things cost (I can't keep doing it on my own!).

    I know several photographers round here who are getting close to the wall. They're full time and just can't make it pay anymore. It's a great shame because there's some exceptional talent amongst them. But whilst brides and grooms are seeing all day packages for as little as £500 (and even less)....you have to ask when it's all going to end.

    Good luck with the photography though. It's something I've always fancied but never really had the time or opportunity to get into.

  3. #3
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,829

    Default

    I had a little chat with Benny on the back of this ( but actually before I'd seen any figures ) and it turns out I wasn't surprised. Guessed the numbers to within a Gnat's whiskers. ( OK, 10%, but close enough for Jazz, eh) ?

    Many trades are being squeezed, and I know one or two folk who are currently charging less than they once did for certain add ons than they did years ago, or they can't sell them at all. One of the pitfalls of modern technology is that it can make instant professionals of rank amateurs. Market is flooded, price plummets.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Bristol
    Age
    45
    Posts
    3,487

    Default

    I generally expect to see at least a couple of guests at every wedding who are now waving around at least a mid-level DSLR with a reasonable lens or two attached to it. I mean, even DJ's are at it!!
    I'm even seeing a few DSLR's turning up at kids parties and school discos now. I did a double take last weekend when a parent turned up with a Sony A7III with a couple of £k of lens attached. Turns out one his friends gets a discount as he works for Sony!

    Photographers these days have to have a damn good portfolio and, ideally, some kind of pedigree in photography (ex-press, etc) to be able to discern themselves from their competition.

    Julian
    http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
    Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
    https://julianburr.co.uk - Wedding, Family, Portrait and Product Photography

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Reading, Berkshire
    Age
    40
    Posts
    1,438

    Default

    Most photographers near me seem to go out around the £1,500 mark (these are good photographers at nice venues). Speaking to the photographer on Saturday, and there's a few going out for £4k a wedding!

    However, a good friend of mine does £950 for a wedding - or £1200 if he brings a second shooter (his wife, who is also a pro photographer).

    Doesn't seem much, but he does around 80 weddings a year. Add in some corporate work during the week, and you can do the maths.

    He's nearly paid off his mortgage and regularly goes for lengthy holidays.

    So it's not all bad...

  6. #6
    Resident Antagonist Benny Smyth's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Worcestershire
    Age
    38
    Posts
    1,962

    Default

    If, as a professional photographer, you are competing with Uncle Brian with a DSLR (great or otherwise) then there are some grave issues in your business approach. Much in the same way that I'm not competing with DJ iPad.

    75% of weddings last year (according to Bridebook) had a photographer present (up from 66% in 2017). Again, I'm surprised by those numbers but I'm willing to put a bet on which end of the market isn't having a photographer and if you're marketing yourself towards that 25%, then you deserve to miss out.

  7. #7
    Resident Antagonist Benny Smyth's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Worcestershire
    Age
    38
    Posts
    1,962

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post
    Most photographers near me seem to go out around the £1,500 mark.
    Snap, which is probably a big contributing factor to my surprise at the average.

  8. #8
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,829

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post

    He's nearly paid off his mortgage and regularly goes for lengthy holidays.

    So it's not all bad...
    Indeed, but I think you'd agree that he's earning his money. Sounds to me like " Work hard, Play hard".
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  9. #9
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    1,563

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Jules View Post
    I generally expect to see at least a couple of guests at every wedding who are now waving around at least a mid-level DSLR with a reasonable lens or two attached to it. I mean, even DJ's are at it!!


    Julian


    I actually take more £££s worth now out in gear for doing my little video montages than music gear

    It's something I've kind of considered doing a sideways step with but I come from a band background and I just love performing. As much as I find photography / film making fun, I don't get the same buzz from playing music.

    I did gain my PfCO for shooting with a drone earlier int he year, purely to cover my back from being grassed into the CAA for my DJ vids but when I realised how much energy and effort is going to go in to simply maintaining it - x amount of hours logged per month, a tonne of paper work and risk assessments, I'm looking into some other ways to exploit it as it's way too much effort just to catch 10-20 seconds of venue footage at the start of my DJ videos.

    On a related note. I saw someone on one of the fb bride forums today asking for videographer recommendations because she'd just been cancelled on.

    £750 she'd paid for 2 shooters from makeup to 3rd dance, drone, USB and a few other things!!! That's a stupid price before you even take into consideration that amount of hours spent editing.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Bristol
    Age
    45
    Posts
    3,487

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Benny Smyth View Post
    If, as a professional photographer, you are competing with Uncle Brian with a DSLR (great or otherwise) then there are some grave issues in your business approach. Much in the same way that I'm not competing with DJ iPad.
    Agreed Certain demographics are being tempted to allow Uncle Brian to do the photos to save a few quid. Definitely not where you want to target your services though...

    Julian
    http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
    Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
    https://julianburr.co.uk - Wedding, Family, Portrait and Product Photography

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •