Average price of a good photographer

[MustangFan]

What the average price for a photographer?

I fell in love with a photographers pictures and haven''t found anything quite like it. He''s $2500 for the full day and gives you 2 8x10 and 1 11x14
Plus lifetime access you your proofs! Album is extra

 

[AsscherGirl]

MustangFan, you are in Jersey right? If so, I''d say that''s a good price for NJ. See if the photog. can add an album.

I think the avg. photog. in Jersey is closer to $4,000 with the album. I''ve seen up to $8,000.

Hope that helps!

 

[Kit]

I feel like that is low. We are booking ours for $3800. That includes six hours, full resolution digital negatives and a $1000 credit towards prints or albums or whatever. We''re getting hitched in Richmond, VA. I think you got a good deal, especially if you are loving the photos.

 

[labbielove]

That seems like a great price for a photog that you love. It''s not unusual to have albums extra- I think that makes sense,

One question, do they offer you the option to purchase the high resolution DVD of all your proofs with copyright, so that you can print them yourselves? You may want to ask, it''s usually 200-300 extra, and is what we are doing so that we can have all the photos in our possession, and also to make less expensive parent albums,etc. as gifts.

 

[MustangFan]

the album is $1300 extra with 60 prints!
so $3800 for the full day and album

 

[MustangFan]

doesn''t look like they have that option

 

[So_happy]

We are in Rhode Island but we found a husband/wife team that''ll come out for 10 hours and they cost $1700 which includes an engagement sitting, dvd and ownership of the prints. No albums but that''s okay with us. And this pair is a very very recommended team. We love thier work and them!

 

[MustangFan]

you are luck to find someone that cheap! Do they come to NJ?

 

[Mandarine]

Mustangfan...I felt the same way you did when I started searching! there was nothing within my budget in my area...

So I e-mailed the Art Institute and asked them for recommendations on their recent graduates, people that are looking to build their portfolio. I got an e-mail from one girl, I met her and saw her work and loved it!!!! She''s very professional and her pictures are top quality! she''s just cheaper because she''s trying to build herself as a photographer here.

Anyway, I''m paying $1200 for the entire day (from getting ready to the AFTER hours party!) so that''s form like 2pm to like 2am!!. I get an 25 page coffee table album, $150 on prints of my choice, edited images and a copy of the CD (full resolution pictures)!

There are options out there, you just have to look! E-mail the art schools, post a message on craiglist, etc....

Good luck!!

M~

 

[neatfreak]

While I''ve seen numbers all over the map, a reasonable average seems to be $1500 for all day shooting and some form of album. That number is from my searching in MA, WI, AND San Francisco since we contemplated all those places at one point. But some of them, geez, they can really go up from there in price.

 

[Trelala]

I don''t know the average, but I can tell you we booked our photographer for 6 hrs for $4500. San Francisco bay area. It''s a bit on the high end here, does not include digital "negatives," album, proofs. All that is separately charged. We didn''t want to spend over $3000, but after researching more, we knew this would be worth it.

 

[MustangFan]

yes, he includes the high resolution dvd and engagement session is include he just doesn''t advertise it, well I got my photographer, but don''t have the place yet!!

 

[E B]

Our photographer is $3500+ for full packages, which we can''t afford. She''s amazing, though, and so we''re paying her for her time and a CD of high-res images.

 

[RoseAngel04]

We found a fab photog with the coffee-style/photobook album included at about $3,0000! I think this is about average or a little under for my area.

 

[anchor31]

We''re paying 1230$ for 8 hours, high-rez CD, deluxe album, 60 thank-you cards and 2 enlargements for the parents.

 

[jesterjigger]

You can ask for the high resolution dvd, they may cut you a deal even though they don''t normally offer it. My photographer is $1250 or maybe $1500 for high resolution cd, shooting for eight hours, and I think I get proofs too. His photos are amazing, I can order prints as well if I want.

Make sure you check around in cities that are an hour or two away, my photographer is about two hours away from my location, but he''s cheaper than any I found in my actual city (and he''s from what''s generally known as a more expensive city to begin with).

Also, ask your florist if she has any suggestions, as well as the site coordinator and the caterer/reception site. They''ve seen lots of photographers and can tell you the good and the bad and might have some recommendations...maybe you could even get a discount.

I didn''t know that ahead of time, but my florist asked who I was using and she said he was really good when I let her know. My reception site had also had the cake lady bring a cake a couple times before and they said make sure we tell her an hour before the cak actually needs to be there, because while the cakes are beautiful...she runs late sometimes.

 

[diamondfan]

I must tell you that seems reasonable to me. I have heard of them costings in the thousands, much higher, and I guess the logical answer is that at the end of the day, all you have are your photos and videos. Cake is eaten, flowers die, and for years you will have the pictures. So if you love his work, it does sound fair. Is there any site that breaks down what percentage of your affair should be devoted to pictures?

 

[MustangFan]

Diamondfan,

Yeah, the wedding announcer budget says $1200 and $2500 is way over that. I''m basing it on a 15k wedding, but the budgeter doesn''t base it on NJ prices!!! lol