Photography Help Also!!

[Courtneylub]

I am so confused about what I want in a photographer. We don''t have much of a budget for it ($2000 for photography/video combined). I have found someone who will do both for $2000 AND include all of the following in the package:

6 Hours of Service (photographer & videographer)
Unlimited photo shots & full video coverage
1 photographer & 1 videographer
Quality digital photo editing and enhancements
Bridal discount on prints
2 DVD copies of your wedding day
1 copy of all proofs in 4x6s
1-16x20
2- 8x10
4- 5x7
Our stunning signature wedding book- up to 300 photos
Disk with all photos
Signed copyright release so you can print your own prints.
And signed copyright release on video.

I know this is a very good package!! But when I look at her online portfolio, I''m not impressed. I will obviously need to come up with my own poses (hers are not creative or artsy in any way). Have a look for yourself:
http://www.crystalwhitephotography.com/-/crystalwhitephotography/

My question is, should I stick with this and just use my own creativity? Or get rid of the video portion, hire a $2000 photographer only and maybe have a friend/employee video tape the wedding?

After looking at the other recent thread on photography, I really feel this one isn''t as high quality.

Also, her "stunning wedding book" is the coffee table BOOK. Not actual pictures in an album, the pictures are printed on the pages. Are these becoming popular now? Are they long lasting and good quality?

 

[Cleopatra]

I see what you''re saying about the "poses" - they seem so forced and awkward.

First off: "6 hours of service" - how long is the ceremony/reception going to last? Is it a church ceremony? Will it last an hour? Will you have the typical 4 hour reception? If so, you''ve already eaten up 5 hours of the service time. This means, one hour of "getting ready" pictures. And by one hour before the ceremony, you might be "Ready" already....just a thought. If this isn''t an issue, then ignore

I actually have a "coffee table book" with pictures printed on the pages. It''s nice quality - but these are not expensive at all. I made a 30 page book using Snapfish for $20. So, you may want to create a nice book yourself with the rights you''ll receive on the prints - sort of a scrap booking project.

What area are you in? I''m pretty positive that you can get better for the price you''re willing to spend. I''m in a fairly large city and I found my photographer for $1,700 and got a GREAT package and LOTS of talent!

 

[Courtneylub]

Date: 2/21/2008 9:31:20 AM
Author: Cleopatra
I see what you''re saying about the ''poses'' - they seem so forced and awkward.

First off: ''6 hours of service'' - how long is the ceremony/reception going to last? Is it a church ceremony? Will it last an hour? Will you have the typical 4 hour reception? If so, you''ve already eaten up 5 hours of the service time. This means, one hour of ''getting ready'' pictures. And by one hour before the ceremony, you might be ''Ready'' already....just a thought. If this isn''t an issue, then ignore

I actually have a ''coffee table book'' with pictures printed on the pages. It''s nice quality - but these are not expensive at all. I made a 30 page book using Snapfish for $20. So, you may want to create a nice book yourself with the rights you''ll receive on the prints - sort of a scrap booking project.

What area are you in? I''m pretty positive that you can get better for the price you''re willing to spend. I''m in a fairly large city and I found my photographer for $1,700 and got a GREAT package and LOTS of talent!

6 hours is plenty for me. The ceremony will be 15 minutes long and the reception 4 hours. I don''t need one all day

I live in Houston. I was thinking of doing the following:

Spending $1600-$1800 on a quality photographer that will most likely only offer the copyright-free DVD of proofs. We talked about buying a large digital picture frame to hang on the wall and having that be our digital wedding album.

 

[Cleopatra]

Yeah - I completely agree with that decision! You want a quality photographer. I''d gladly X out the video portion if my budget only allowed for a talented photographer. You can always enlist a cousin or friend to video.

 

[enbcfsobe]

Date: 2/21/2008 9:43:19 AM
Author: Cleopatra
Yeah - I completely agree with that decision! You want a quality photographer. I''d gladly X out the video portion if my budget only allowed for a talented photographer. You can always enlist a cousin or friend to video.

ditto. we''re not doing video. to me, the pictures are far more important and i will look at them way more often than a video. i think its a situation where getting the most for your buck is more about quality than quantity. if you get rights to the pictures (either own the copyrights or have a written agreement allowing for their use), you can use any service you want to create albums and prints. that will allow you to save for them later so they''re not lumped in with the up-front costs of the wedding. just be careful that the photographer doesn''t require you to use a specific website to do prints and albums -- sometimes those exclusive agreements can jack up the prices. good luck!!!

 

[Stephanie]

No video here either unless we have a friend do it or something. Use the budget for all photography...

 

[SarahLovesJS]

If you''re willing to drop video, I would. I wouldn''t say the portfolio looks absolutely horrible or anything, it''s just like you said not impressive. If photography is important to you, find someone else definitely and keep this one as a backup because they aren''t terrible, just not the best.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

If you''re willing to drop video, I would. I wouldn''t say the portfolio looks absolutely horrible or anything, it''s just like you said not impressive. If photography is important to you, find someone else definitely and keep this one as a backup because they aren''t terrible, just not the best.

 

[Gypsy]

Ditto to all that said you should use the whole budget for photography. Her work isn''t very good honestly.

 

[ksprincess]

Courtney,

I''m going to have to agree with everyone else...not too impressed, plus most of her photographs are primarily in black and white, which may mean she has difficulty taking good color pictures. Keep looking! I know how hard it is to find what you want, but you can do it!

 

[Courtneylub]

I think I found a gem of a photography deal! $750 for a wedding package

http://www.bendthelight.com/

I really like this portfolio.

 

[Cleopatra]

yes yes yes!! This photographer looks GREAT! Beautiful color photographs and has a true eye for artistic compositions! STEAL of a deal! Yay!

 

[Courtneylub]

Date: 2/21/2008 2:02:10 PM
Author: Cleopatra
yes yes yes!! This photographer looks GREAT! Beautiful color photographs and has a true eye for artistic compositions! STEAL of a deal! Yay!

They are fairly new, so they''re building their portfolio by giving that deal the whole year of 2008! I''m grabbing it! Now I can slend the money elsewhere....hmm. Professional videographer or not? I found one for $750.

 

[ringster]

Date: 2/21/2008 1:57:32 PM
Author: Courtneylub
I think I found a gem of a photography deal! $750 for a wedding package


http://www.bendthelight.com/


I really like this portfolio.

it looks fabulous and $750!!! a great deal and a great photog. they travel too - too bad i didn''t know about them before i booked my photog!

since they are new, just make sure that they have experience taking photographs in teh type of lighting you will have for your event and ask them to show you pictures of those type of lighting areas if they have them. look at the full albums and pictures they have done for the weddings they have photographed.

i was going to go with a photog who is starting out but i wasn''t impressed by the evening pics that they took so even though the price was great, i didn''t want to chance it. the website tho that you potential photog does look very very promising. good luck!

 

[teetee]

Wow what a great find. I agree with ringster about the lighting because if your wedding reception is at night and in low light, your photos may turn out really grainy if they don''t have good equipment and technique. But I really like their style.

I noticed that their package does not include an album but since they will give you the digital files, you can always make your own coffee table book at blurb.com.

 

[Courtneylub]

Date: 2/21/2008 11:35:46 PM
Author: teetee
Wow what a great find. I agree with ringster about the lighting because if your wedding reception is at night and in low light, your photos may turn out really grainy if they don''t have good equipment and technique. But I really like their style.

I noticed that their package does not include an album but since they will give you the digital files, you can always make your own coffee table book at blurb.com.

They are actually coming the day before to test the lighting. I''m very impressed with their contract, wedding timeline sheet, etc. For being fairly new at weddings, they sure have their stuff covered. I''m confident they will do a good job and I''m glad I came across this awesome deal. $750 is a steal..even without offering prints or albums. Now I''m just trying to figure out if I want to spend more money on a traditional album, or do the coffee table book instead. I also really like our digital picture frame idea. Buying a large one and having a digital wedding album, so to speak.

Oh and they charge $300 for travel from San Antonio to Houston which I think is fair for 2 photographers.

 

[Courtneylub]

Still having trouble with this portion of the planning!!

Do I:

#1 Pay $1050 for what looks to be a great photographer
Order the expensive prints and albums from them, but get what I pay for and be happy with the photography portion or the wedding!
Sacrifice a professional videographer for this.

#2 Pay $1050 for what looks to be a great photographer
Create and order my own album on www.mypublisher.com and get my own prints.
Hire a decent videographer.

 

[Cleopatra]

Personally, I would do Option #1. I have no desire for a videographer though....so, i guess I can''t really help

 

[Stephanie]

I don't really know about prints. But I do love the new photographer!

The only thing is the payment in full, up front. It may just be me, but I have issues with that. Of course, with that price, it looks worth it.

 

[Courtneylub]

Date: 2/25/2008 2:22:39 PM
Author: Stephanie
I don''t really know about prints. But I do love the new photographer!

The only thing is the payment in full, up front. It may just be me, but I have issues with that. Of course, with that price, it looks worth it.

I''m noticing that most photographers are requiring at least that much for a deposit.

I just don''t know if I want to create and purchase my album separately and hire a videographer....or have them take care of it and not worry about a professional videographer.