weddings and post processing

[ScottS]

ok. so a tog spends a day say 12 hours doing a wedding.

then he spends 6 days say 10 hours a day doing the pp


then charges 5000 for a wedding or 3000

thats a nice wage for a weeks work!!!!!!!

It is nice, but you have to think, wedding are stressful, and being a wedding photographer is not an easy job!

Oh yea and then there is all the time youo spend with all the bussiness related stuff just to keep your business running Dont forget about that.

 

[JDS]

That isn't all wages - a lot of it goes into keeping the business itself afloat. If a photographer just used it for whatever he/she pleased (nice 60" plasma TV, that new yacht, etc), he/she wouldn't be in business for very long because the money wasn't properly allocated back to the business to take care of the business expenses.

Not trying to be mean here, but what I think you fail to see is the difference between doing wedding photography on the side as a supplemental income (that isn't necessarily needed, but is nice to have), and doing it for an actual living. The bills do have to be paid, equipment has to be maintained, etc.

 

[Peanuts]

Also note it isn't just the labour/wedding but the small reimbursement for actually learning the skills whether it is through school or reading etc.

I would be willing to pay an accountant more if s/he had gone to school for 6 years earning degrees and the likes as opposed to a friend down the street who recently picked up "Accounting for Dummies" book and offered to do mine for a fee.

I think you are kind of missing the business aspect of this.

 

[monkeykoder]

You are forgetting about meeting with the people ahead of time finding out the style of photograph they want. Finding out the type of person they are. All the meetings with other potential clients that didn't go well and therefore no money coming from there. Truthfully any service oriented business like that works in a similar manner. If I wanted to start up a business tutoring math (virtually no startup cost only real costs to me would be gas) I could still reasonably expect to make $30-$50 per hour not to cover my costs but to cover the massive amount of time I'm not with the student but still working. I'm guessing a $3000 dollar photographer would probably spend upwards of 60+ hours doing everything from preparation to PP now if the photographer isn't doing this work then they aren't worth the money and the original post was completely correct. Anybody who is truly skilled at something SHOULD be getting $50 an hour or more.

 

[Alpha]

This all points to a simple logical fallacy. The fact that you're a "pro" does not in and of itself mean that you know what you're talking about.

Read: The fact that you "do weddings"

 

[monkeykoder]

Heck I forgot to mention in my post the time that is spent doing accounting and other business related work. Much less time spent keeping the skills up when it ISN'T wedding season. Time spent becoming a better photographer is another expense that isn't mentioned because it is really hard to calculate too. The number 1 way to fail in business is to not realize how much your time is worth.

 

[Big Mike]

then charges 5000 for a wedding or 3000

thats a nice wage for a weeks work!!!!!!!

It's not a wage...it's the gross income. The net profit, after all considerations, will be much less.

 

[jols]

It's not a wage...it's the gross income. The net profit, after all considerations, will be much less.

i would nt mind earning 5000 a week and then take 2000 out for tax expenses ect.

thats a lot of money.

anyway i think this thread is done.

 

[ScottS]

No, you just cannon grasp the fact that running a business cost lots of money...

And its really not a lot of money... But go ahead, screw yourself out of the money you deserve.... By all means...

 

[monkeykoder]

i would nt mind earning 5000 a week and then take 2000 out for tax expenses ect.

thats a lot of money.

anyway i think this thread is done.

First remember weddings usually only happen from spring to fall and not evenly during that time so say you DO get 3000 a week for a while (say from april to october probably longer than the real wedding season as I'm not a wedding photographer) that balances out to 1500 a week over the year that is basically a living wage in a the areas of the US where you could possibly get that kind of money. Reasonably I wouldn't expect to get NEAR 5000 for a wedding and at that I wouldn't expect one every week either in most of the US.

 

[jols]

i do it because i love taking photos and thats it really.

just the love of taking photos

if you have you earn a certain amount of money a year the fun must certainly be taken out of it to some extent

i dont think anybody can argue with that.

 

[monkeykoder]

i do it because i love taking photos and thats it really.

just the love of taking photos

if you have you earn a certain amount of money a year the fun must certainly be taken out of it to some extent

i dont think anybody can argue with that.

You're right the fun is taken out of it. But people DO have to support families if what you're good at is photography weddings probably could help do that but even at the figures you're listing 1/week and 5000 per shot you're living on lean times.

 

[ScottS]

i do it because i love taking photos and thats it really.

just the love of taking photos

if you have you earn a certain amount of money a year the fun must certainly be taken out of it to some extent

i dont think anybody can argue with that.

Thats good that you shoot, and do what you love, I thinks thats awesome! :thumbup:
But please dont go arround telling other PROFESSIONALS what it takes to run their business, because you dont know.

 

[jols]

im not .


is 5000 pounds a week thats 10000 dollars a week not a lot of money in the usa

 

[monkeykoder]

im not .


is 5000 pounds a week thats 10000 dollars a week not a lot of money in the usa

At those rates you're not talking about your typical wedding photographer you're talking about someone doing REALLY high end work that is getting the rewards of working yourself into the right circles if you get up there you DO deserve to get paid more.