My wedding, moonlighting and value = the longest post ever!

I love when I just start writing on a sporadic topic and it takes the form of a complete and informative blog post! Cool.

Recently, since I am engaged now and all, I've been looking for my own photographer. I came across a few really interesting articles discussing why the price of wedding photography is so high. An average price, based on my personal experience, in Northeastern Ohio and nearby states is anywhere between 2k-7k dollars. All of which vary depending on services offered for that price. Now, sure you can find a wedding photographer for less, but I am talking about professional, quality photography.

So here is a little list I have compiled of the +'s and -'s of searching for my own photographer:

+
I want fully edited, timelessly post processed images, where two images in the same setting have the same effects. classic.
I want two photographers, because I know first hand what kinds of details I miss by being the sole photographer.
I want someone who runs a legitimate, tax paying, legal-software, insured-equipment and educated (not necessarily with a degree) in their field- business.
I want a CD
I want an Album
And I want someone with a really dynamic personality, that is going to snap Justin out of his goofy-fake smile, or me out of looking angry when I think I'm looking sultry. I want someone who can lead the herd and tell my friends and family where to be, because God knows, my family is like a herd of farm animals haha.
I want someone cool, funky and fun. I don't want them to wear a black polo or a black blazer and tennis shoes. I want someone with spunk and style and feathers and bows!! Like me!
I want someone who is going to find the available light and make it amazing, and who will look for the tiny little details of my day that I worked so hard to plan and capture them in the most beautiful way.
I want to go to an easy to navigate, up to date, fresh, modern designed website to contact and order my photography.
I want sharpness, pristine color and focus, classic yet creative compositions.
I wanna look goooood.
I want someone who will become a friend and an ally after it's all said and done.

-
I don't want a shoot and burn photographer.
I don't want someone who just shows up day of, without any pre-considerations for the day, without a schedule or a plan and says they are just there to "capture every moment"
I don't want a big company that outsources everything, even down to the actual photographer, day of.
I don't want someone old, and weird, and who shoots with relics and wears white socks with black shoes.
I don't want someone pushy or rude, or who thinks the day is more about their portfolio than it is about my memories.
I don't want someone on their first, or second or even their third time. I know, I know, everyone has to start somewhere, but this is MY wedding, my ONLY one, so my main photographer is going to be a pro.
I don't want to pay more than 5g's and I'm aiming for less than that. I mean, I could have the camera of my own dreams for 5k and take my own darn pictures. BUT, I know the value that someone who charges that provides with their service, it's just not for me.
I don't want print deadlines or order minimums.
I don't want a photographer with a bad template website and janky ordering software
And I don't want ANY selective color, pop of color or textured photoshop actions. Just. No.

So, when I made that list, I started really narrowing down my search. It has helped immensely.
And to that point, I also know that a photographer that offers all of the things on my + list is going to cost more than $2,000. I've researched, and investigated, and built my business on that fact. I just don't feel that quality wedding photography comes with lasting value if it only costs a couple hundred dollars. If you're a photographer and you're charging less than $1000 you're not charging enough!

It's like anything; you want a pool to splash around in for the summer, so you go to Target and buy the $200 "big blue lagoon" instead of having the local Pools and Spas store come out and give you an estimate on a professionally installed above ground. Why? Because you know the professional one is going to cost more than you want to spend. You value your time in the water, and having fun but not enough to make an investment on a lasting, valuable product Your rationalization is 1. instant gratification and 2. if the Blue Lagoon springs a leak, you can just buy a new one next year.  I'm not sure how I got from wedding photos to pools, but you get the idea. There are a variety of different services and price brackets to fit everyone's needs, some people just want a shoot and burner and thats perfectly fine, as long as you know what you're getting.

So, back to the thesis here, which is why photography is so expensive. Here is another (oh yes, i love my lists) list:
This list is something I condensed from this article, that I used Father Google to find, hence the title, haha.

1. Labor Costs - 
Full coverage for a wedding shot by us can last as long as 12 hours, sometimes with additional driving time, and then usually 3 or 4 works days of processing. (Processing is a lot of things. In my office, it means transferring files, organizing files into their proper folders, backing up those files, featuring the sneak peeks, culling images for the good ones and getting rid of the bad ones, color correcting, spot correcting (blemishes, etc) editing for the 'look' I'm going for and uploading the albums online, then posting them on the blog for the feature AND writing about it, all the while corresponding with the client on progress and getting it done within a reasonable time frame.) One wedding can consist of 30-40 hours all inclusive from beginning of correspondence to the end.
2.Staff-
If by hired help you mean my soon-to-be-hubby, then I guess I buy him Starbucks from time to time, does that count?
3. Equipment-
Right now, we use 3 bodies, and are trying to make the switch to the professional versions of our trusty Nikon brand SLRs. Lenses are a whole different ball game. I want to use all prime lenses. Those are expensive, but they're the key to getting the look I want. (Oh, add that to my list of +'s, I want a photog with prime lenses, baby)
A body itself or a nice prime lens can cost more than $1500 and when you start adding that up for backups and different size lenses, its costly to have quality. Also, editing software, the legal, business kind, yeah it costs a lot. There is a reason people pirate it and don't buy it. (We bought it. Legit.)
4.Insurance-
Just like for your car, its necessary and its pricey.
5. Website-
Lucky for me, I have a live-in web designer. However, we've yet to prioritize or find the time to build a complete, original site....I'm working on it. For those who don't have a live-in designer, a template site or subscription site can cost $30-$100 per month just for being live. Ordering software and scheduling software that best fits your style, it costs money too. And hosting, and domain registration, and maintenance and SEO, and, and... with web the list goes on. Can you say Cha-Ching, err uhh, Kerr Plunk.
6. Advertising-
Google Ad Words, Facebooks Ads, Billboards, Bridal Magazines, Blogs- but also think, sample albums (do you KNOW how much those things cost? We'll get into that in the next section) sample prints, free materials, business cards, sample gallery wraps and the list goes on. What kind of salesperson would I be if I didn't have ANYTHING to show my clients. I would be a shoot and burn photographer, and I do not want that. 
7. Photo Extras
I provide a giant list of add-ons, from look books to hard covers, legends and layflats, all custom designed. As well as gallery wraps and collage prints, photo boxes and more...and this stuff is expensive. I don't even mark up the retail price, I break even, and charge for my time. A timeless, layflat, leather cover, matted wedding album costs AT LEAST $300 before I even put a photo in it. 
8. Education
We all know student loans aren't a joke. They're mean. Luckily, there are a lot of resources for photographers to get education, sometimes for free, but usually not. Seminars and conferences range from $150-$500 a pop, and that's if they're local or web-based, obviously that price climbs if travel is involved.

So, is it still poking you in the arm, the question of why it's so darned expensive to hire a photographer? It's not like I am running around from vacation to vacation, throwing wads of money at passersby. Nope, we live pay check to pay check like most of the world. And if it wasn't for my moonlighting at the restaurant and Justin doing the same a couple nights a week, we would be here at all. The reason is that developing any business is a personal investment for the owner. The investments they choose to value and to spent their hard earned money on will either push them in a direction of success or pull them towards failure. The line items on the path in the direction of success obviously cost more. We have to pay for the development of our business and the cost of that is reciprocated in the proper pricing of our services. Along with it being a business investment, it is a personal investment, we've chosen to cover all the items in the list above ahead of time, so as not to put all our eggs in one basket, per say.

So even though as a consumer, you may only see the photographer for 5-8 hours, and they may look like they're having a great time snapping away and mingling with your guests, and eating your wedding cake and all the while you're wondering why you've paid them 5 grand to be a guest at your wedding, there is SO much more that goes into wedding photography.  And I hope my research has helped you see that. We're thankful that many of our personal attributes allow us to in-source, (is that a term? the opposite of out-source) many of our needs like web-design, and album design, brand design  and labor costs because if we didn't our pricing would be very different.

It comes down to value for me. Its what you value out of the service or the product that you pay for. If you value quality, you have no problem investing in it. If you value creativity and originality, the same. If you value the final product, if it's that awe factor, that "ooooo look at that, I wish I could have it, I really want it". You value it so much, then you're willing to make the investment. And wedding photography IS. An Investment.

PETER! That was a long winded post. Whatevs, I hope you get something out of it! Start a conversation, let me know what you think!


And to leave you with the most random photo ever, I had a really busy day yesterday and realized that I was wearing my headband like a Kung Fu master, for hours, and Justin never said anything, until I was about to go get a peanut butter milkshake, and he decided then, before I went into public, I should fix it. HA! Little does he know, that this is totally IN right now.

Happy Thursday, Cheers to the weekend!!