Where wedding photography is going ?

[Papa Carlo]

I did a small, call it marketing research, and arrived at a conclusion that some of you might find interesting.
There are more wedding photographers in my town than weddings on any given day. Send a message to the craigslist for example and you'll get 50 ! immediate responses. Some offer you a complete photocoverage for $300 !!!
On the other side the digital cameras are getting very good and affordable. It is possible to shoot an entire outdoors wedding with a $200 p&s camera, moreover far not everyone needs or can afford pictures of high artistic value. Unlike photographers many 'mortals' prefer large depth of field where everything is in focus even though it is very intrusive, washed out highlights and lost shadows as the overall image look more contrast, pay little attention to the noise and so on.
Cheaper SLRs also prompt many hobbyists to offer their service very cheap or even for free.
Does this mean that the profession of a wedding photographer is slowly fading ?
On the bright side point and shoot cameras have been around for a long time but nevertheless wedding photographers are still here clinching to the business opportunities.

[OdiN1701]

Market to the high end - basically the more wealthy. If you're trying to grab up the $300 weddings, you're looking in the wrong spot.

[shaggymatt]

My first paid gig that I took on was a $200 craigslist find. NEVER again. If you have to market to this group, continue being a second shooter, make that kind of money, and leave all the work to the primary.

Break down the $200-$300 wedding into an hourly rate. Don't forget that most of the time is spent behind the computer, and count those hours. You'll find that isn't even minimum wage!

Granted those people probably give the bridal party the jpg's right off the camera...

[kaitanium]

those guys are probably shoot and burn people doing the $300 which is actually worth it if you are just starting off and want to get a feel for weddings since all youre doing is...well...shooting and then burning the pics onto cd thats it hahah

[yuriyo923]

I'm doing my first solo wedding on Dec. 20, for $200 :)(5hrs of coverage) I did their E-session, they liked it and said yes. My next few wedding I'm asking for $500, then around $1000. My brother charged around $1500-2500 and had over 50 weddings! It's mostly word of mought!

[form]

I'm the guy who does those $300 weddings. Without people who only have about $300 to spend on a photographer, I wouldn't have any business because the people with more money would just hire the more expensive guy who does a better job and provides more things, like albums, dvd slideshows, etc.

[tim]

There's more and more competition at the low end, for a professional wedding photographer to survive they'll have to be FANTASTIC. Great with composition, lighting, people, experienced, and great business skills.

[shaggymatt]

Like someone else said though, word of mouth... Getting those first few gigs are key, and all of my repeat business has been a result of those. If you think about it, when a younger couple marries, typically they'll have close friends in that same age range who will marry. They'll ask how much this cost, who did such and such, which is where it'll all come from.

[form]

Since I'm not great with composition or lighting, and am only okay at all the other attributes, the top photographers don't have anything to worry about from me for a while yet.