Some wedding pictures

[imagemaker46]

Most of you know me as a sports photographer, but on the weekend my son got married and after talking to a few overpriced wedding photographers that could not justify to me how they can possibly charge what they wanted, I took on the fun, I was a little stressed thinking about it, but once I started shooting, it was just like shooting anything else. It was a very casual wedding, and I enjoyed shooting it. So here is a few of the ones that I like.













One from the rehearsal:

 

[pixmedic]

nicely done!
you should start doing weddings on the weekend!
for the record though...if you want to see how a photographer justifies a "high" price (high price being relative of course) just look through Robins wedding portfolio. friggen amazing.

i would LOVE to know what they are laughing at in 4, 5, and 7...
#1 is a GREAT shot, and i really like the posing of the ring shot.
overall a very nice wedding set. some great candid shots there too, especially the cake shot.

 

[Trever1t]

While these are nice candids they are in no way what I'd expect from an "over-priced" wedding photographer. As one who opted to allow friends to photograph my wedding I can honestly say it was a huge mistake. Sorry but I feel strongly that there's a very justifiable reason wedding photographers are high priced (well the qualified ones)

 

[ronlane]

Nicely done.

So after shooting the wedding, do you still feel the same way? If they were too high, what would you charge to do a wedding this weekend?

 

[imagemaker46]

Thanks, I've seen some of the high end wedding stuff and know how much work is involved in creating those amazing images. I had fun with this, and it was suggested that I consider shooting more weddings, but it's not my thing. If someone asks me I would consider it. I just enjoyed the day, the kids were laughing all the time, it is their nature, everyone was happy and it's easy to shoot that. Being outdoors was great as well, nice light to play with.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Nice.. now you did not get to enjoy the wedding and the only photo you have with you in it is probably the formal.

Perhaps you cant justify the price of those wedding photographers because you don't value yourself that high either. I remember having a discussion with you about how you priced your sport photography service as low as amateurs to weed out competitors.

 

[imagemaker46]

Nicely done.

So after shooting the wedding, do you still feel the same way? If they were too high, what would you charge to do a wedding this weekend?

That would be a tough call for me, as I really compared this to how much time I spend shooting a day of sports, and that rate is no where near the $2000 that was quoted to me. I got the whole sales pitch about the amount of time, getting the edited DVD, and all the post process time. Well I do all the same things when I shoot, and I'm not charging $2000 a day. All I know is that I spent the day, and a couple of hours the day before shooting, I have close to a 1000 images, all the usual setups, and poses, and then lots of candids. Is what I shot worth $2000-3000, no I don't believe it is. But I do know that there are lots of weekend professionals that believe what I shot would be worth that much, and they know they could justify it. I couldn't.

 

[tirediron]

Looks like a nice, casual event Scott - what's the significance of the mailbox cake?

 

[Trever1t]

Based on your images above only....I would agree.

 

[ronlane]

Nicely done.

So after shooting the wedding, do you still feel the same way? If they were too high, what would you charge to do a wedding this weekend?

That would be a tough call for me, as I really compared this to how much time I spend shooting a day of sports, and that rate is no where near the $2000 that was quoted to me. I got the whole sales pitch about the amount of time, getting the edited DVD, and all the post process time. Well I do all the same things when I shoot, and I'm not charging $2000 a day. All I know is that I spent the day, and a couple of hours the day before shooting, I have close to a 1000 images, all the usual setups, and poses, and then lots of candids. Is what I shot worth $2000-3000, no I don't believe it is. But I do know that there are lots of weekend professionals that believe what I shot would be worth that much, and they know they could justify it. I couldn't.

Interesting. I'm not trying to be on one side or the other of this one, just curious as to how you feel about it afterward.

I do have a question about the difference in the post for sports and for weddings. When you do your sports photography, are you doing much post processing of those images? Did you do much post on the wedding photos. Because the price difference could be in the time taken to do post on the images to soften skin, fix blemishes, clone out fly-away hair, brighten eyes, etc.

 

[imagemaker46]

Nice.. now you did not get to enjoy the wedding and the only photo you have with you in it is probably the formal.

Perhaps you cant justify the price of those wedding photographers because you don't value yourself that high either. I remember having a discussion with you about how you priced your sport photography service as low as amateurs to weed out competitors.

I enjoyed the wedding because I was giving my kids something they would not have received from another photographer, a wedding shot by Dad. There were lots of other people shooting so I know that I am in quite a few pictures. I can justify what I charge to shoots sports based on what the sports market will hold, I also know that people can charge a lot more for weddings because people are willing to pay it, huge difference between sports and weddings. If I asked $2000 to shoot a football game, I wouldn't be shooting it, perhaps sports is under-valued and weddings are the opposite. It's all about what the market will hold and what people have accepted as being a normal change for a wedding.

As far as weeding out the low end sports people, I'll do what I have to, but I am still at the high end for shooting sports with most of my clients that have the money to pay. Like I said, it's all about the market.

 

[imagemaker46]

Nicely done.

So after shooting the wedding, do you still feel the same way? If they were too high, what would you charge to do a wedding this weekend?

That would be a tough call for me, as I really compared this to how much time I spend shooting a day of sports, and that rate is no where near the $2000 that was quoted to me. I got the whole sales pitch about the amount of time, getting the edited DVD, and all the post process time. Well I do all the same things when I shoot, and I'm not charging $2000 a day. All I know is that I spent the day, and a couple of hours the day before shooting, I have close to a 1000 images, all the usual setups, and poses, and then lots of candids. Is what I shot worth $2000-3000, no I don't believe it is. But I do know that there are lots of weekend professionals that believe what I shot would be worth that much, and they know they could justify it. I couldn't.

Interesting. I'm not trying to be on one side or the other of this one, just curious as to how you feel about it afterward.

I do have a question about the difference in the post for sports and for weddings. When you do your sports photography, are you doing much post processing of those images? Did you do much post on the wedding photos. Because the price difference could be in the time taken to do post on the images to soften skin, fix blemishes, clone out fly-away hair, brighten eyes, etc.

I crop, colour correct, straighten up every sports image I shoot. I do spend a lot of time working on the sports images, so that they are print ready. When I do head shots, sometimes 100-200 people, I remove all the blemishes etc, and spend time. As I am not a big fan of turning people in plastic figures with skin software, I don't use it. I probably spend about the same amount of time in post as most wedding photographers would, working with the same number of images. It all comes down to what the client wants or needs. I'm also not trying to make someone look younger than they are, or removing wrinkles, that kind of thing.

On these pictures I posted, I lightened them up a bit, and some crops, that was it. Once I start to really go through everything, I will do a little more work, if it's needed.

 

[kathyt]

Ummmm. We have WB issues, and they all look underexposed on the subjects. I would work on removing some of the CA, and the color casts. You can tell this, because her dress looks like a different color in all of the images. You needed fill light desperately in all of these. You caught some fantastic moments though. I would have hired a wedding photographer so you could have stepped into the moment though.

 

[imagemaker46]

Ummmm. We have WB issues, and they all look underexposed on the subjects. I would work on removing some of the CA, and the color casts. You can tell this, because her dress looks like a different color in all of the images. You needed fill light desperately in all of these. You caught some fantastic moments though. I would have hired a wedding photographer so you could have stepped into the moment though.

As I mentioned I didn't do any work on these other than lighten them up a bit. Once they make their selections I will spend more time on the images. I found that by taking the pictures I was involved in the moment more than those that just sat and watched, it was the same feeling that I get when I shoot sports, it's becoming part of the game. They didn't want to hire a photographer, and as a young couple dropping $2000 for wedding pictures that will be buried away in a drawer, didn't appeal to them. As long as they are happy, that's all that matters to both as Dad and the photographer.

 

[kathyt]

Ummmm. We have WB issues, and they all look underexposed on the subjects. I would work on removing some of the CA, and the color casts. You can tell this, because her dress looks like a different color in all of the images. You needed fill light desperately in all of these. You caught some fantastic moments though. I would have hired a wedding photographer so you could have stepped into the moment though.

As I mentioned I didn't do any work on these other than lighten them up a bit. Once they make their selections I will spend more time on the images. I found that by taking the pictures I was involved in the moment more than those that just sat and watched, it was the same feeling that I get when I shoot sports, it's becoming part of the game. They didn't want to hire a photographer, and as a young couple dropping $2000 for wedding pictures that will be buried away in a drawer, didn't appeal to them. As long as they are happy, that's all that matters to both as Dad and the photographer.

I am shaking my head sadly at you imagemaker! A beautiful album that sits on their coffee table for the next 70 years is priceless, or gorgeous prints hanging on their walls. A cd of images will sit in a drawer.