A wedding photographer in the USA (Nikki Wagner) has posted a very well written argument explaining why wedding photographers are “so” expensive. Her post was written in a response to a bride-to-be in the Seattle area complaining about photography charges.
The crux of her argument is that many people, perhaps the majority of people, fail to recognise that professional photographers either work for a company or are operating their own company. You may only appear to turn up at a shoot (or wedding) with “only a camera and some lenses”, but when you operate a business you have inevitable overheads. These have to be paid for, and as with any viable business it’s the clients/customers that pay.
Anyway, both complaint and response are recommended reads, whether you are a wedding or any other professional photographer:
- Complaint: http://files.petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2012/01/craigslist.html
- Nikki’s response: http://www.petapixel.com/2012/01/26/why-wedding-photographers-prices-are-wack/