What is the cost of a wedding photographer?
A photographer is a big investment for your wedding day and the regrets can be even bigger if you don’t invest in someone that you trust to capture your vision for the day. This piece will hopefully explain a little bit more about the difference between cost and investment. The difference between a “camera for hire” and a photographer, and why you probably aren’t the right couple to work with if you are asking “Can you send your price list?” from the get go!
Can you send your price list?
This can be a common question, and to an extent I do understand it being asked. If you are however jumping into my inbox or another artists DM’s with this straight away then it can be a tad offensive. If you like an artists photographs, their creativity and the way they capture magical, romantic moments then that should be the catalyst for your enquiry. Not the pound signs.
I personally insist on a meeting for every serious enquiry. Connection is important for me, for us both. That’s not for everyone I know and if a couple can’t make the time for a meeting, that is 100% ok, but for me if we don’t have that initial connection then we will struggle to get you great photographs. We have to be a match.
After we have met in person (preferably) or on a video call (minimum requirement) we will know if we gel, if we vibe and if we are a match! Am I the right photographer for you? Are you the right couple for me? Do you have a vision for your wedding day? Can I help you deliver that vision? It’s an investment in time with each other and that is where the relationship starts.
A photographer or a camera for hire?
If it is instant pdf’s and a cheap camera for hire you are after, then that’s not me. There are plenty of them out there and there is nothing wrong with the way they work, it’s their choice. They may not get to know you which could make your wedding day awkward, and they will no doubt turn up, overshoot and deliver 600+ images within a few days using AI software and with very little attention to detail with your gallery. But again, that’s not me. No way.
With a photographer like me what you will get is someone that invests time in perfecting their art. Someone who invests the money they earn in educating themselves, someone that surrounds themselves with better people, not to ego stroke but to learn and to then provide an improved offering to you.
I am very open about those that educate me, that help me, that I absolutely hound to learn more about what they do, why and how. Take a look at Anna, Jennifer, Jai and Jonas. These guys are the best in the world and they absolutely nail it in all that they do when it comes to weddings. In Anna and Jennifer we have two women that I absolute love chatting with and watching how they express love through images. They are true artists. Artists of love. Artists who have taught and that are teaching me so much.
A Luxury Service
Service is a huge part of the relationship between couple and photographer. Before I worked as a wedding photographer I worked in football fan engagement for around ten years. Let’s call it glorified customer service, but like a wedding, football has an emotional attachment and that matters.
I am so proud that most of my reviews start with talk about service, connections and romance before they talk about the photographs. It’s not just about that though. It’s about attention to detail with your images when creating them and also post production as I prepare your online gallery, art book or fine art prints.
On your wedding day, I won’t be shooting all the time, in fact I spend a lot of time sitting back, watching the story of the day unfold, picking up the stars of the day (like a movie) and following those people to capture the stories within the bigger story. For me, it’s the way the wedding story should be told. Less images, more focus and more detail.
Every single image in your gallery will be edited by me, cropped to perfection and delivered to the highest standard in one of my two signature edits. AI software is out there to help crop and edit, and while it can imitate colours and presets, it can’t replace the care that you need to perfect a photograph that should ultimately end up on your walls at home.
Artbooks
I wasn’t going to add these in this piece but as I type they find a place. Like the prints you can order or the postcard prints I will send you, the artbooks are of the highest luxury standard. Thick, thick pages on museum quality paper, the finest leather, velvet or hard covers you can buy. Why? Because that is what I would want and what I want couples like you to have. The very best. Are they cheap? Absolutely not, but like with anything in life and on your wedding day, you absolutely get what you pay for.
Oh…about that price list
I don’t actually have one! Everything I do is tailored to your wedding with photography as standard and some luxury services we can add in to make your photography service perfect for your very special day.
If you would like an information guide, I can send one of those of course! Just head to the contact page here, fill in a few details and we can start our journey together.
Stay in Love
Ryan x
