The truth is most wedding photographers are likely working at or below minimum wage. Or worse paying to be in business and losing money to get a start. What? How?
Why then do wedding photographers in general give you sticker shock?
I know what you are thinking my friend, cousin, or uncle has good camera he bought for almost $1000.00 If he charged $400 bucks he'd make $400 that day and all would be happy. Right!
Well not exactly. Let's say your photographer is charging you $1000. X photography will not make a profit. They are basically paying to shoot your wedding. What? Oh yes. Google this subject. It's a good read, especially when you are in the market for a wedding photographer. X photography will loose money to get a foot in the door in the wedding photography industry. I know! I did that.
See other awesome posts on this subject below. This is not a vent session, but a hard look at the numbers.
So you are shopping for a photographer and you keep seeing around $2500 to $3000 for a basic package price and you get your digital files and an album. Let's say that photographer books 12 weddings in a year at $3000.
Yahoo!! $36,000 that year. NOT SO FAST
$36,000 in hand
-3600 albums this is low end too ($300 for an album)
-7370 in ads/insurance/ and presentation
-500 storage archival
-1300 education
And I know I'm forgetting a lot of fees here but this is just a quick rundown.
$23,230 Not bad!
now there are TWO photographers at most weddings
So that is only $11,615 a year. And that is seasonal! Ouch!
min wage in Wisconsin is $7.25 an hour or $15,080 a year.
So you see most wedding photographers are working at or below min wage. Which is why it takes sooooo darn long to get your photos. Most wedding photographers work another job because this gig doesn't put food on the table.
Let's break it down.
Basic Equipment costs for one of us.
$6000 to $10,000 Full frame camera body
$2000 that long lens you see from across the church so we are not in your way
$1000 lighting
$250 memory cards
$2000 other lenses for portraits and wide angles
$2000 Computers to process your awesome pictures
$1000 software upgrades to edit and store your pics. Oh and storage... that's a whole other blog post.
Yeah yeah yeah so we already have all that. True. But we all know technology changes rapidly and the value of electronics in next to nothing a year or two later. So we need to keep up with this to bring our clients the latest and greatest. And we need to insure all of it and insure ourselves against any liability that may happen while shooting. Which leads me to the other costs involved of doing business.
Advertising/ Insurance/ shipping/ presentation materials
$720/yr Insurance
$700/yr on Weddingwire.com ads
$2990/yr on The Wedding Planner and Guide Bridal Show in the fall and winter and ad space in the Guide
$960/yr on Once Upon a Time Bridal Guide for ad space and show the Baraboo/Dells area
$400/yr for space on line to have a proof viewing and purchasing site
$1000/yr to update samples for show materials
$500/yr on paper goods for business letter head, stickers, product packaging, ect...
$100/yr on shipping your files and albums to you
$3600 in album fees for 12 weddings - again low average for $300 an album
Storing your photos
$500/yr on external hard drives and DVDs to archive past weddings for the What if? Read an awesome blog post on that here.
Education
Wait don't we already know what we are doing? Yes, but there is so much more to learn to be the best!
A monkey can take a picture, and artist takes a photograph. It's work to get in there and get elbowed on the dance floor to get the shot of the groom playing tuba with good light focus and skill. - yep true story
$1000/yr travel and admission to conferences and seminars
$300/yr for on-line courses and tutorials and subscriptions and memberships (this is the low end)
Oh and taxes, cell phones, gas to and from venues, iPads,...... OK now I'm rambling, and starting to prep for end of year taxes. But I think if you are reading this, you get the point.
The Unseen - Time and Art and Heart
Hours a week on Lightroom and photoshop and uploading to get your photos out to you
Hours Blogging, Facebook, Pinterest to promote our business
Hours of meetings, emails, and phone calls with clients
Help moving the wedding tables off the dance floor because the venue won't because x amount of $ wasn't paid - yep true story
Help with sewing your dress before walking down the isle -yep another true story
Staying calm at each wedding day crisis - we've been there seen it, there is a solution!
And I think we can all raise a glass to that! Cheers and....
Happy Wedding Planning!
-Erin and Wes
Other Awesome posts on this subject
primaverastudios
brianpowell
nelsonphotographers
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