Anyone and everyone is a photographer as we’ve entered a democratized digital renaissance. The Digital SLR camera is affordable to everyone, and you don’t even need a DSLR to start shooting photography. There are websites that will help you get a ‘photographer website’ in flash out of the box or you can easily learn WordPress to start building your own blog at little to no cost. Are professional wedding photographers starting to scramble within this democratized artist emerging?
A simple search on Google for “London Ontario Wedding Photographer” (insert your own city and I’m sure the results will be the same), will give a result of 1.68 million results – I mentioned this in the competitive market of London Wedding Photography article. The population in London is about 355, 000 and the photography community is obviously growing. Traditionally, a wedding photographer gets business based on client referrals. It’s only recent for them to try and gain attention via search, and websites like Craigslist or Kijiji.
As engaged clients, you’re going to look online for a photographer. I don’t care if you’ve been given a photographers name over and over, you are going to atleast look at that wedding photographer online. When Marika and I got engaged, we asked around for referrals. We liked the album her sister got and asked the name of their wedding photographer. Once we went to the photographer’s website, we were instantly turned off. Instantly. And we knew the images produced by the wedding photographer were great! What was going on?
What happens if you’re turned off by the wedding photographers that were recommended to you? I’ve seen people mention they will not do business with someone that does not have a web presence. Why would you get turned off if the wedding photography was great? Let me bring up a few issues that come into play as you choose your wedding photographer:
- Price
- Prices displayed on Website
- Website Experience
- Photographer Availability
- Online Presence
- Website Maintenance
- Past Clients
- Branding
I’ll dive deeper into each of these bullet points because there are some interesting things to consider and may help you determine if you should or shouldn’t hire that Kijiji Wedding Photographer.
Price of Wedding Photographer
Hiring the wedding photographer on price alone is something that happens. Let’s not pretend it doesn’t. As everyone has a digital camera, anyone can be a ‘photographer’ and you have to seriously question the quality of a photographer advertising their services on sites like Kijiji. I know that the photographers advertising are new to the industry, like myself, but what does it say about their brand? They are competing based on the lowest price possible. I saw photographers advertising wedding coverage for $200 and $250. If some photographers could, they would offer you a 2 for 1 deal.
How important are your wedding photographs going to be? Every wedding vendor will tell you that their niche is the most important (to them), but it’s up to you to know what is the most important to the two of you. When the wedding day is done and you reflect back on the time, how important will those hard copy memories be to you? When people ask to see your wedding pictures, do you want to hide them or show them off in a beautiful album or awesome website?
Ask yourself this question:
If your home was on fire, what would you grab as you escaped to safety? (This is of course your pets are already safe). I would first make sure @reese_kitty was safe and grab digital hard drives. It’s also smart to have hard drives offsite incase of a fire.
If you’ve ever browsed images of devastated areas or natural disasters, you’ll find people clinging to photo albums. Ask people what they’re doing as they rummage through a home destroyed by a tornado, only to find they’re looking for photographs.
How much are your memories worth? How much faith do you give those memories in the hands of the Wedding Photographer that only cost $200? At the other end of the spectrum, what would you be getting if you went with a wedding photographer that cost $10,000? What is it about the photographer that says you’re willing to pay the high price tag too?
Price is a Difficult Decision but Not the Only One
Price is of huge importance in choosing your wedding photographer. You have to look at the experience the photographer is going to provide on a whole. What’s the difference between the photographer that costs $200 and the photographer that costs $10000? There will be massive differences. This is why I started with price in this series.
The price is the sum of all it’s parts. Does the photographer provide immense value for your wedding? Right now, I am a wedding photographer that offers immense value for the price. I want to charge 10x what I charge now, but I will provide the experience of 10x my price now.
The other parts that come into play when choosing a wedding photographer are very important and will help to evaluate price. This information is right from my own experience and asking my fiancee her thoughts too. The photographs are a massive part, but remember everyone is gaining the ability to get their hands on equipment that can take great pictures. Many of the wedding photography companies take the same photographs too. So many other elements came into play and we are prepared to offer value across a range of elements to bring the wedding to life on camera.
Right about that, everyone thinks because the barrier has been lowered, you can easily get a DSLR and call yourself a photographer…. Maybe the competition is good, because the cream will always rise to the top… Competing on price by the way is not the way to go.
I do believe the professional class should scramble a bit because one will not be able to simply be highly specialized in just the act of taking photos. I agree that the cream of the crop will rise and clients should be able to see the separation. It’s exciting.
I see everything from the perspective of inspiring your clients or customers instead of manipulating them. Competing on price is just a manipulation.
Just a warning on wedding photographers. Many of them will claim copyrights on the photos and refuse to grant you exclusive rights on them. By them claiming ownership that also means they can reproduce your pictures, sell them, or do whatever they want with them. Next thing you know, your wedding pictures could be put on a can of soup and there is nothing you can do about it. Not only can you stop them from doing it, you wouldn’t receive any money from it.
Now, it is true that the person taking the pictures owns the copyrights on the pictures. However, you can request they transfer ownership of the content to you. Make sure you request this before hand and don’t settle for promisses unless you have a written agreement with them. Without a written agreement, you are pretty much screwed.
Any ethical photographer would be happy to grant this request. Question and refuse work to those who won’t.
I think on these kind of occasion the budget should be taken into consideration. And as long as there is some documentation of this most memorable day of your life that would be just great and enough.
It really does always come down to budget. I think some visualization would help people to see how they might feel 40 years down the road. Perhaps you may discover that the photography is more important to you than something else and shuffle the money around. You may also find that the photography isn’t that important compared to something like the food. It’s personal preference. When the day is said and done, I just want people to have something they’ll be able to look at and trigger or anchor those feelings.
I totally agree that one of the most important decisions for any wedding day is to choose the right photographer and not just an over ambitious friend or relative who volunteers to take some snaps for you. I thought I was quite a bit of a photographer but I recently went on a wedding photography course and was surprised at how much I didn’t actually know
I’m entering my second yr in the professional photography industry and am learning new things constantly, such as this posting – thank you so much for this blog. Jennifer
Absolutely right about the price comparison. With your fire scenario, in one my packages i offer a “lifetime storage” to my clients. It’s one of the more expensive packages, but you’d be surprised just how many people choose it.
Too often, couples don’t realize how important their choice in wedding photographer really is until it’s too late (after the wedding day). Identifying the client base the has an appreciation for the “art” of photography is key. I find the masses don’t have a good eye for photography, and liken it to men not having a good eye for diamonds: we must be taught! Then, after being instructed, the prospect becomes more willing to pay more for what they now know is more valuable.