[Venturi]

Keyser: that analogy just doesn't hold up under scrutiny.
Air traffic controllers are paid a steady salary, with paid vacations, full health care, half their taxes taken care of by their employer and their equipment and supplies are given to them.
Independent commercial photographers are self-employed, pay 100% of their own taxes and health care, get paid $0 for taking a day off, pay for their own office space and all of their equipment and supplies.
You can't compare $600 for a 3hr shoot to $200 per hour. For every hour a qualified, professional photographer spends at the shoot they've got at MINIMUM 2 hours of work on the back end. And as a business owner they are paying their own taxes - all of them, not just the employee half. You have operational expenses, equipment budgets, printing. Once you factor in all the expenses and down time the reality is those $600 weddings will add up far closer to $40K per year.

Miniman: if the money isn't there then it isn't there. So as Gary suggested you might try contacting the local photography club/group. There's a decent chance there will be a mostly competant photographer that is looking for more experience and/or portfolio fodder. Best of luck and congrats!

[paulelescoces]

I am also getting married this year, and hence have also been looking at options.

The only "sure thing" you can get is to get a "good" pro photog... I have seen many in the Barcelona area and notice a huge variability in quality.... strangely enough, the highest cost does not reflect the best work.

While you can maybe get a friend to do it... or a student, with an expectation of a "sure thing"... its a lot of pressure to put onto someone.

On the side of the Pro Photogs... as noted above... I have seen a variation in qualities... but also in the flexibilties of services offered, e.g. some offered the possibility of giving the original archives, on disk with no PP... at a fraction of the cost for the total package.... would mean you would have quite some work to do yourself in PP but I guess these are the compromises you make if you want to save money.

[Andi Lo]

If it makes you feel any better, I agree with you. Photographers, as with anything to do with weddings is a racket and most are vastly more expensive then they need to be. Seriously, you need a photographer for say three hours... even paying a .professionals' rate of $200 an hour that's only $600. Now for anybody that thinks I'm undervaluing the profession, this hourly wage equates to about $400000 a year if you were working full time. Not exactly chump change!

Remember that there's no way you can shoot weddings full time... most weddings are done on weekends in summer, after that the market dwindles.

[erickallemeyn]

I'm tempted to say yes, If your last resort is giving your gear to a family member!

I'm in Crete, IL (30m s. of downtown chi), but I'm far from qualified to shoot a wedding, wouldnt take any $ if you tried (well, gas and food maybe), and would make no promises! ...

Equipment:
K-x -- DA* 16-50, 50-135, DA 40mm
Decent Tripod

Maybe could borrow: (D90 -- kit lens, 35mm f/1.8, 70-300mm f/4-5.6)


No flashes, and no wedding experience . hmmm!

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Last edited by erickallemeyn; 01-29-2010 at 01:58 PM.

[ChrisPlatt]

My sister had the guests photograph her wedding when she got married in the early 1980's.
The grooms's father had owned a camera store, and that side of the family was very well-equipped.
My family had a few avid amateurs sporting 35mm SLR cameras, including my two brothers and me.
There were more than enough excellent photos to fill the large album, including my cover shot.

Chris

[miniman82]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I decided to just let my brother use my gear, and ended up with some very respectable shots! He's not a camera guy, so I just put the big flash on it, put it in Program mode, showed him how to use autobracket and went to town. There were many others taking pictures, so I'm sure there are still some great shots I have yet to see.

Here's a few from the POV on my K200d and FA50.

[miniman82]

[miniman82]

[miniman82]

[davegauntlett]

Mate, I am exactly the type of person you need to be looking for. I work for a camera store in Sydney, and am a burgeoning photographer in my own right. I dont, however, have the expertise just yet to charge big bucks for weddings. happy to go the flat rate just to get the experience and some cash. if you can find a local version of me (ie check your local camera store), thats another option. there are at least two of us that would happily do this if it were in AUS!

Good luck, both for the big day and the hunt for a good set of photos.

[davegauntlett]

BTW, those photos were great. my previous post now seems redundant! Great to see some nice shots there. Kudos to your brother!