How much do wedding photographers make a year?

[Blender7]

Hi guys,
It is in my interest to do this as a career in around 5 years or so. I would like to have my own company and have myself and wife shooting weddings. Just so I can ballpark it. Realistically once you are established how much are you looking at per year?

Thanks guys,

[Chris]

I think it will totally depend on your skill and your business skills.

[Karl Johnston]

Why 5 years? What's stopping you from doing it in one? Lot of hobby shooters and weekend warriors have no training or anything at all and they still make a side income.

I think the best advice would be to look for a photog in your area you'd like to learn from and see if they'd be interested in teaching you some ropes.

[Blender7]

Hey guys,
Thanks Karl that is what I am trying to do, but it is hard finding photographers in my area.
I mean I know theres handfuls of them but I don't know how to go about getting in contact with them and what do I really say? Do you have any tips?

[sapearl]

Hi Blender - that's really a tough question anymore. The entire business model for the past couple of years seems to have been skewed by (1) the economy tanking and (2) everybody with a dSLR thinking they can be a wedding photographer.

Don't get me wrong - a lot of the new young blood coming into the marketplace is very talented with great creative vision. Problem is many also are not, and even more are charging rock bottom prices. This drives it down for many of the established pros, and sets pricing expectations low for much of the buying public (not all, but a lot).

The only way I've survived as a wedding and event photographer is by having a regular full time job. I have friends who have quit their full time work only to flop at FT photography - not because they were necessarily bad, but either the market could not support them, or their business plans/skills were not up to snuff.

In my area the average wedding package was $4-5K about 6 years ago. Now it is about $2K.... if that. A photographer used to be able to make an ok living - perhaps $40 -50,000/yr. I highly doubt it's near that for the average guy now. - Stu

[Blender7]

Thanks sapearl, now is that STRICTLY wedding photography? What happens if I am also doing other types of photography such as couples and sports, yada yada.

I wouldn't mind working a pt job and doing photography if I had to but ideally I would want to be making enough of a salary that would stop me from having to do that.

[sapearl]

You would certainly increase your survivability by doing a variety of things, and that would be a wiser more diverse approach. A number of wedding folks also do anniversaries, (studio) portraits, bar-mitzvah's, family/corporate parties..... that sort of thing.

Sports is another creature and one I know little about. That's a whole different genre with it's own challenges. Check the forum for posts on that subject and you'll see what I mean.

Problem is, if you want to support a wife, mortgage and children and a reasonable life style, anymore I think it's really tough to make it on photography alone. I do know some guys in my area like that, but they actually have spouses with well paying jobs ;).

Thanks sapearl, now is that STRICTLY wedding photography? What happens if I am also doing other types of photography such as couples and sports, yada yada.

I wouldn't mind working a pt job and doing photography if I had to but ideally I would want to be making enough of a salary that would stop me from having to do that.

[Zansho]

This will be dependent on you, and your business model. Things to take into consideration when you make your business plan:

Insurance (for both liability and protecting your equipment)
Material Costs (albums, prints, etc)
Company structure (LLC, S-Corp, Sole Proprietorship)
Overhead costs (electricity, internet, phone, gas, rental of studio space)
Initial investment in equipment (bodies, lenses, lighting, computers, hard drives, etc)
Software and any upgrades
Start up capital
Current assets in place
Who you want to target and what your expectations of the business will be.

And that's just a start:

You'll also need to think about marketing, who's your target audience for your marketing push, time expended per wedding (most weddings are generally 30 hours from start to finish), hiring any extra help, post production help (if any), outsourcing or renting equipment if needed. Business cards, logo design, website, website upkeep, outsourcing your printing needs, the list really goes on and on. There are probably tons of other things I've got in my head, but can't really think of at present.

What is really difficult in wedding photography is marketing yourself to the RIGHT clients. You want customers who will appreciate quality over quantity, and you don't want to point yourself towards the bottom of the barrel, because it's hard to get out of that segment once you're there. My suggestion is to find out where are the big clients living (meaning rich), and get a mailing list for that particular zip code and just send out some mailers with samples of your work, and have a promotion going on with that sample to advertise your business. Network - make friends with caterers, florists, wedding planners, people like that.

It's not an easy field by any means, but once you get there, it's really rewarding.

[airfrogusmc]

A good friend of mine is a very high end wedding photographer here in the Chicago area and he starts at $12,000 and does between 30 & 40 per year.

[Karl Johnston]

A good friend of mine is a very high end wedding photographer here in the Chicago area and he starts at $12,000 and does between 30 & 40 per year.
I had to use a calculator to add those figures together..:D

[harroz]

mine's broke, what'd you get Karl?

;)


to the OP, sorry, I can't really add any more here that hasn't already been said:)

[cdifoto]

I'm thinking about creating a buzz around myself to headline seminars. It certainly pays better.

[sapearl]

Isn't that what DJ has done in additional to marketting his s/w? I don't believe he shoots anymore.

I'm thinking about creating a buzz around myself to headline seminars. It certainly pays better.

[sapearl]

Blender, check out this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=782579

You may find the discussion right up your alley ;).

[cdifoto]

Isn't that what DJ has done in additional to marketting his s/w? I don't believe he shoots anymore.
I think so.

[sapearl]

Yeah, I believe he shot the high end before the bubble burst and then shifted his business plan; shrewd move.

I think so.

[cdifoto]

Yeah. He definitely didn't take a pay cut. :D

[mattantonino]

Wedding photographers can make almost any amount. Most people are familiar with those who charge the high end prices (Mike Colon, Dennis Reggie) and also the volume studios (Jim Kennedy Photographers). We are in upstate NY and we are up to 7 photographers in 4 teams and we do about 2-3x the typical number of weddings. We have the *capacity* to shoot 7 a day but we never do. So what you make depends on your biz structure.