It's not easy to think commercial
After the successful conversation last week, and a tour of the venue for the wedding, it was time to submit an award yesterday. An “All-In” price. And since I have now learned to think commercially, and certainly not to sell myself for less than I would be worth… I made a calculation in which I included everything that would be involved.
Huge responsibility
Then you can think of the hours that I have to photograph. A full day that starts with dressing the bride in the morning and ends when the bride and groom are leaving the party late at night. In short, it is a long intensive day with more than 12 hours of photography, continuously being focused and, above all, constant pressure on my shoulders to perform. Because photographing a wedding also entails a considerable responsibility. You can never do it again. Every photo has to be outstanding, and you don't have a second chance. You can't miss a moment as a photographer ... The bridal couple often misses many moments on such a day, but as a photographer you just can't.
After the day, the job continues
After the day is over, a huge job starts to deliver high quality photos to the bridal couple as quickly as possible. And this is not just some pictures. You often shoot 1000 or more on such a day. And with a selection you have to reduce that to a maximum of 500 photos, of which at most 50/100 will be processed in a wedding-album. But every photo has to be edited, because a RAW file has to be developed. What used to be done in the darkroom with the film rolls development, now every photographer has to do that on the PC. And that also entails many hours of work.
Even more costs
When that is done, you have to start compiling the album. That is also a job that will take you a few hours. And I have not yet mentioned that you also need a backup camera on the day of shooting. An extra memory card, an extra battery… and oh, I haven't mentioned the gas costs yet.
That comes with a price tag
You already understand, there is a price tag for such a job. And that is precisely where the problem is, because most people do not think at all about the costs you have to make, AND the amount of time you spend on it. Time that I cannot use to do things for myself. Time that I can't spend on blogging, time that I can't spend on trading and time that I spend delivering quality to someone else because I think, “I'm doing it good, or I'm not doing it! ”.
Should I sell myself at a bargain?
I was told that they came to me because they wanted me badly as their wedding photographer, and that I should make up my price. And they also wanted me to EARN on that! However, it turns out to be a little different now. Because I am not registered with the Chamber of Commerce and the tax authorities as an 'entrepreneur - professional photographer', they apparently assume that I can do it for a bargain price. Not taking into account the fact that my camera also depreciates with every click I make, without taking into account the fact that I have to incur a lot of costs to deliver a good product ... and that I have to spend a lot of time working on their photos, like every professional photographer has to do to.
The costs
I did make my price … and well, they find that price disappointing. Which I can also somewhat imagine… but the fact is, it is not cheap to hire someone for a full day with all the equipment. It's very simple… I'm not going to incur any costs to rent extra equipment myself, I normally wouldn't have to. But at a wedding I MUST have a backup camera. Because believe me, if my camera should fail for whatever reason ... then I will be told that I should have taken that into account. That's right, that is also my responsibility on such a day. So I take that into account and make sure I have a backup. But that backup must be able to deliver the same quality, so that means that I have to rent the same camera as mine for that day. These are costs that I will not bear myself, normally I would not need it.
I can't use that whole day to do other things. My partner even has to take the day off because otherwise our dogs have to stay home alone for more hours than is responsible. So it also costs him hours. And I can't do anything else that day either… in fact, I have to constantly stay focused and make sure I'm 2 steps ahead of what's going to happen. For me, it is a day of running up and down and hard work. Those hours can be paid, and if you hire someone you know that you have to pay for it.
The bridal couple wants a beautiful luxury photo book. Logical! And yes, I can take care of that, only did they expect that I would bear half the costs for it? LOL, no… NO WAY! They can just pay for that, and of course I want to arrange everything and ensure that there is a beautiful wedding album with great photos. But, that will take some time, and time is money!
After a wedding, the photos take an average of 60 to 80 hours of editing time. Which amounts to about 2 weeks of full-time photo editing. Since I also have other things to do, those two weeks will quickly become three weeks. But then you end up with beautiful photos, completely neatly finished and all RAW files edited to offer the highest quality. But again applies to this… those hours must be counted.
I didn't even calculate ALL costs
As an extra, I add a nice USB stick for the bridal couple with all the photos of their day are on, in the form of a nice little glass bottle with a cork USB cap. The names of the bridal couple printed in gold on the bottle. And no, they don't have to pay that… that's a small service on my part. Just like I didn't count the gas costs ...
I can't do it for less
Well, long story to write off my frustration. The bottom line is that I have given a price, specifying the costs. And that it is now considered TOO expensive. It hasn't been said yet that it won't go ahead, but they wanted to think about it. Fine! Do that. Because really, I understand that 1200 euros is a considerable amount. But if I add up all the hours and costs, then I really can't do it for less.
When I asked what they had thought of themselves, an answer came that I actually wanted to laugh very hard. They had thought of 600 euros themselves. Yes seriously, I do know that there are hobby photographers who photograph a wedding for 600 euros. But, I don't!
I never thought I want to be a wedding photographer
Of course, I could say that I take that 600 euros and take the photos on their day. But then it is without an album, without backup equipment, and without the hours of editing afterwards. Is that what they want? I might think, "For my portfolio," that's what was said by them. But seriously, I am not at all waiting to throw myself into wedding photography. Yes, I like photography… But I've never felt like I want the responsibility every week or every month to capture one of the most important days in someone's life.
To be honest, I deliberately never ventured into that… I usually photograph animals or nature for a reason. I shoot because I like it. Of course, it is an honor to be asked, but ... it is still an honor to be asked just because they apparently thought a professional wedding photographer was too expensive and expect that I can do it for a bargain?
Should I do it for the bargain?
I have also been looking at prices myself, many wedding photographers start at 2000 and higher. I understand very well that this is a lot of money. But taking on such a job, a whole day, including 2 to 3 weeks of post-processing, including a wedding book, including a USB stick with all the photos, including renting backup equipment…
It would cost me money!
Can they honestly expect me to do it for a bargain just because I am not registered as a professional photographer? I don't think so. Then it would cost me money to accept this assignment. That there are hobbyists who do it… that's another story. I think they don't take responsibility for backup equipment, and they think it's 'just taking pictures', forgetting the hours of work afterwards. Or they deliver raw photos that are not edited at all, and therefor don't have the quality they could have. Am I biased now? I don't think so ... but if it is, then it is ...
My price for the entire assignment, all-inclusive, is 1200 euros. Now it is up to the bridal couple to decide what they want.
1200 is normal. Not a lot by any means.
I remember, abt 3 years ago we paid €1500, plus a hotel and two-way airplane ticket to the spot of wedding (island of Mallorka)
I know, even though it does sound huge to me too, but I know it's not TOO high. But it seems they want me, they want quality, but they don't want to pay for that because I am not a registered photographer. And it feels, they only came to me with 'beautiful words about how badly they want me to do it', because the wedding photographers are too expensive to their liking. And that's where I came in the picture, apparently. Expecting me to do it for a bargain. Well, sorry! I can't ... not if they expect QUALITY.
And I want to deliver that quality, or I am not going to do it. Not going to sell myself short this time.