mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

A few basic questions.

1. Are these friends of yours or just acquaintances?

2 Will you also be a guest at any of these events?

3. What prompted them to ask you to be their photographer?

4. The Bride and groom will probably be the ones passing judgement on whether they are happy with the pictures. Are they the ones offering to pay you, or is it the parents?

5. Do you have the correct equipment for the job, including a good quality external flash and low light lenses?

6. Do you understand how to use your camera in the semi auto and manual modes and know how to control for lighting condition in various settings?

7.Are they expecting jpegs or prints as the output? If print's how many will you print for them and at what sizes and how many copies?

8. Are you planning to post process the photos or just give them to the client SOOC? If you post process how many photos are you planning to give them and how long will it take for the processing of each one?

9. Will there be a signed contract between you and the client?

10. Or, is this more the in the nature of a favor, in which case you can safely ignore my first 9 points, just do it for free and they will have to live with the results.

If this however is not a favor but a job you have calculate all the time you will spend at the events, as well as the time and perhaps money (for prints) you will spend after the events putting together a package for them. Figure out your expenses and what your time is worth for these events and factor in your inexperience and the possibly less than professional results. Good luck.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Boo, Hiss, Hiss.

That thinking is EXACTLY the bane of anyone trying to make a living at photography.
If you GAVE it to them, why can't you GIVE it to ME?

He needs to price out what it takes to do the job, calculate a REASONABLE per hour rate for himself, based on his current abilities, and charge that.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

2 months ago you were asking questions like this http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-124197-1.html
And now how much to charge and what lens to recommend. I know we all have to start somewhere but at a Wedding??????

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

What is wrong with you people? The question asked was what lenses Wedding photographers use and some idea on what someone should charge. The opp was upfront with the people that they did not have much experiance. The folks still wanted them to do the pictures. Why don't you ansewar the question? Then to look back and try to prove that the opp does not have the know how by pointing out they did not have the knowledge of differant Nikon lenses. Wow too much time on your hands. Let's get back to helping folks out. - Dave

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

And you don't have to much time on your hands to give me shit?? Dude, I was a stone and marble mechanic for 23 yrs in south florida. We dealt with Bucket mechanics/no experience but bucket of tools/ taking the jobs away from the experienced professionals.. Not only did the home owners get Terrible jobs, but friends and family members, potential new home owners saw this, then steered clear of having this type of work done.. It cost the industry/professionals/ Money ever single time someone butchers a job, either a wedding shoot or a marble job.. And as mentioned, how does the OP come up with 3 different job offers if their not out selling them self as a photographer?? Answers the OP's question and Leave me out of it......

Hopesfate Loc: NC

:thumbup:
Same thing here has happened to me a few times.
I've stated that I do it as a hobby and don't feel I am qualified for a wedding but I would be happy to help. I honestly feel (in my case anyway) not charging a set fee and trying to market myself as a pro-(I am not) has been more beneficial to me than actually naming a price.
I don't feel the added stress of expectations that I am afraid I couldn't fulfill.
In the end I generally exceed their expectations and it works for all of us.
Photography I am still leaning and there is so much to learn. It gives me the practice and they are not obligated to pay They pay what they feel its worth and at times what can be afforded (I won't lie). I get to do something I enjoy and at times get nicely surprised as well.

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

They pay what they feel its worth and at times what can be afforded (I won't lie). I get to do something I enjoy and at times get nicely surprised as well.

When you take the pictures for what the couple can afford you are doing a great service. I know of many Weddings that the cost of a good pro would be more than the budget for the whole wedding. I may be old fashioned but I believe in getting married before the start living together. Sometimes this means doing the Wedding on the cheap. As a bonus you get the experience. The one thing you need to insist on before the Wedding is that YOU will be the photographer and they MUST cooperate with you during picture time. _ Dave

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

Lots of professionals offer sliding scale fees based on the client's (or patients's) ability to pay. Even attorneys (and Shakespeare was right) do work pro-bono (that means for free for the troglodytes). In this case, the OP seems like an honest and conscientious guy who wants to do the best job he can for his clients. I bet that he would go and scout out the location, do research on ideas for poses, even show ideas to the bride and groom, probably bring along an assistant or two to help, and maybe even rent equipment he may need but doesn't own - and because he's "still learning" he should do it for free? I guess it's only OK to charge for our services once we 'know it all', as many on this forum claim to do.

Those of us, myself included, who don't 'know it all' try to keep learning throughout our lives, we're humbled by how much we still have to learn, and challenged to do better and better each and every day. The OP obviously has some skills or he wouldn't have three pending clients, so, because he has yet to reach the 'elevated' status of 'know-it-all' he should do it all for free?

As a serial entrepreneur and business guy, I know this, your good competitors will make YOU even better, it's the stupid ones that will drive you nuts. Frankly, there's been some pretty stupid advice offered on this thread, IMHO, but the possibility does exist that I could be wrong, because, unlike many, I don't it all.

If your potential clients are dirt poor, do it pro bono, but why subsidize the wealthy when they don't need it? If you have a bleeding heart and want to do it for free, call your business Bleeding Heart FREE Photographic Services, and let us know how well you like it, at least until you 'know it all' then you'll be allowed to charge something, but still not as much as the 'real pros' who really know it all.

Sorry for the rant. Musta been something I read. Ugly can be fixed if you have enough money, but there's no known cure for stupidity.

Larrie Loc: NE Ohio

I agree!! BTW advise is $20 per comment. Please PM me with information for sending a bill or just forward a PO#

icram2

I'll add something else to this discussion. Trying to get good still shots of groups that need posing/setup is difficult when you are dealing with family. They just don't take your suggestions on how to stand, and where, very seriously. Kids that need to be in family portraits will not be controlled by their parents because--"It's just uncle Joe with his camera, not a professional you know". "He really doesn't know what he's doing" (so why should we take him seriously) When the "pro" is shooting everyone seems to know that this is costing (big?) money. So let's pay attention and give the person paying his money's worth. Trying to corral family for pictures is like herding cats. Candid shots, and action are OK, but family scenes can make you tear your hair out.

Larrie Loc: NE Ohio

Then you need a good Border Collie

Quickflash Loc: Loganville, Ga

In my opinion as an amateur, the only way to do a wedding with limited or no experience is the way I did it for my niece last year. They had a highly paid crew of photographers there, but my niece asked me to bring my camera because the family has always liked my photos. I did, and had no pressure backing up the pros. The pros didn't mind because I stayed out of their way. I did not charge and had fun and learned a lot doing it. I posted the photos online and asked if they would like prints of some of the photos. They said most of mine were better than the ones they paid for and I wound up printing about 150 pictures for them at no charge as a wedding gift. I felt compensated simply by their approval. The stress of doing it for money is something I want no part of.
Let the pros make a living and do what you can to help friends and family.

bgl Loc: Brooklyn,New York

I'd like to back that up with my own similar experience attending my nephew's wedding in North Vancouver B.C. last summer. What shocked me was the generally poor quality of the "professional's" results, especially with exposure issues. I was also surprised that the pro's DVD showed no efforts at post editing to correct glaring errors. Maybe the pro was not really a pro. Before I left N. Van I gave the bride and groom an uncompressed dvd of my files which they did no editing of before making multiple copies of to send to all the attendees. I would have preferred to have had some control (since a lot of my shots benefited from from tweaking and some should have been discarded). In any case my reward was the positive comments from my family and the fact that they printed a number of mine for permanent display.