Why is Wedding Photography So Expensive – Everything You Need to Know
We all know that wedding photographers are always in demand. As long as there are people getting married, wedding photographers will always be present at the venue taking shots and making sure that the perfect memories are always captured. Even though wedding photography has been around for the longest time, the one question that people always ask is “why is wedding photography so expensive?” and well, we are going to answer it for you today.
In this post, we are going to look into the things that make wedding photography expensive, and get into detail about why such is the case. Trust me, wedding photographers are not trying to scam you and in almost all the cases, charge you fairly. Still, we are going to make it very simple for you to understanding.
Why is Wedding Photography So Expensive
Now, hiring a wedding photographer is no longer a difficult task. I remember how I hired one for my wedding—I simply started exploring all the wedding photographers in my city before the wedding, found the one that I liked the most, got in touch with them, and got everything sorted.
Now, I paid what they asked me because being a photographer, I did understand where that price is coming from. But a lot of people have little to no idea about these things and that is what we are going to clarify in this post as we look at why these photographers charge so much.
1- You are Paying for Experience
Whether you are hiring a wedding photographer or a corporate photographer, you are not just paying them to take pictures. Anyone can take pictures with a half-decent camera or a smartphone. You are paying these photographers for their experience—these photographers have spent year training themselves to be the best at what they do. Countless hours have spent into learning every small detail about photography.
Comparatively, if you are on a budget, you can always look for someone who has less experience in the field and hire them. They will not charge you as much but be sure to check out their portfolio before hiring them. Even if you are starting out, gaining experience and expertise is no longer a difficult thing for most aspiring photographers as they can just read articles and watch videos on photography to learn more and more about the craft.
2- Wedding Photography is a Time-Consuming Process
Wedding photography is a process that takes a good chunk of the photographer’s time. From the moment you decide to visit them, check their portfolio, and decide to hire them, to the moment they give you the date, and show up at the wedding venue before guests, scout the location, and ensure they have everything ready—there is a proper thought process involved that takes time.
Wedding photographers never just wake up on the day of your wedding, grab their camera bag, and show up. There is a lot of back and forth involved that goes from the start all the way till the end when they finally deliver your photos and during all of this, even though wedding photographers are working on other projects, they are also dedicating the time ensuring that your wedding is just as memorable as you want it.
3- Expensive Camera Gear
Regardless of the niche of photography one is in, a camera and the accompanying gear are always an investment and never a luxury. This means that photographers want to earn a return on the money they have spent on a camera and honestly, cameras can be quite expensive. Not just that, there is a lot of time spent perfecting their craft and skill. Because shooting with a modern camera is perhaps the simplest thing there is. But knowing how to take the perfect shot without having to take retakes, and knowing the angles, and other minute details of photography takes a lot of time.
Photographers spend years perfecting their photography, and only then do they reach a point where they can start charging more for their work and the same is the case with wedding photographers. They have spent a lot of time learning how to take the best possible pictures as well as a lot of money on their expensive camera gear.
4- Post Production Takes Time and Skill
A lot of times, people forget that taking pictures is one thing but a lot of the magic happens once the pictures are done. You see when a wedding photographer is done shooting your wedding, they don’t just go back, dump the files in a USB and hand them over to you. Of all the photos that are taken during the day, the photographer carefully goes through each and every one of them, filtering out the ones that cannot be used.
Once that is done, the selected photos are then edited to ensure that they not only retain their natural look, but also look better than they did once they were out of the camera.
5- A Lot of Business Expenses
Another reason why professional photographers, including business photographers, are expensive is that there are a lot of business expenses involved that end up increasing the overall price. You see, if you are paying a certain amount to your wedding photographer, not all of that amount is going to go into their pockets. They might have salaries to pay, utilities, rent, transportation cost, and other similar costs.
These things add up and end up in a huge bill for them, and considering how they are doing this for their clients, the pricing is based on such factors. However, as I have mentioned before, the biggest determinant of why a professional wedding photographer is charging so much as opposed to amateur photographers is the expertise that they have been indulging in for years, even decades.
Conclusion
There you have it, folks. If you are ever in a position where you find yourself confused about why a wedding photographer is charging you a hefty amount. The answer might be a lot simpler than you think. However, you must know one thing, a wedding photographer is never “overcharging” you because there is no way that you can put a price on someone’s quality of work.
Hiring a good wedding photographer is always important because you do not want your pictures to look bad as your wedding is one of the most memorable events of your life, and having bad pictures just ruins the mood.
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