FIRST wedding photo shoot-how much to charge

[Mocking-DX]

hi guys
I know a lot has been asked about first time wedding photo advise
But aside from expert opinions, i also need how much to charge for doing
a 4 hour wedding ceremony/reception. They only wanted the photo CDs and they will print the pictures themselves. I will be photoshopping some collages also

This is for my co worker who just asked me this week and she's getting married next saturday and this will be my first wedding photo shoot with about 30-40 people in
a cruise yacht at 10 in the morning

My gears:
20D and 300D backup with 3 batteries
24-70L 2.8
70-200L 2.8 IS
50mm 1.4
kit lens
couple tripods
2gb and couple of 520GBs
Laptop

i don't have an external flash right now but thinking of overmighting a 580EX
I'm hoping the money i will charge them is enough at least to pay for this flash

I would appreciate any advise you can chip in aside from TIM's latest lesson's learned from his last wedding shoot

Thanks

[robertwgross]

This can be a very awkward situation with a coworker.

Maybe they asked you because they figured they could get you for free. That way, they would save a thousand or two bucks.

A not-close acquaintance asked me to do her wedding recently. I tried to get her to understand what her photo budget was, and it turned out to be Zero. Then I told her I was busy that day.

---Bob Gross---

[Mocking-DX]

"Then I told her I was busy that day"
LOL, that was funny

Thanks Bob
She had a qoute for $400-600 dollars i think for the same service from a pro.
BUt since this is my first professional wedding i will probably give her a good discount
I was thinking of $300-400 since i will be doing some collage and heck of a PP bec i'd be shooting RAW to be safe

[robertwgross]

She had a qoute for $400-600 dollars i think for the same service from a pro.


I won't impune the honor of your coworker. However, I know some people will tell a person anything in order to get a cheaper deal like this.

Ask to see the quote for $400-600. You just want to read the terms.

I say this because a professional will not make a quote for $400-600.

It might be a quote for $2000, or $1000. But it won't be for a variable amount unless there are varying conditions to the shoot. Some pros will quote a flat rate for a certain number of hours. For instance, for a four-hour shoot, they will charge $1500, let's say. Keep in mind that there are several hours of computer time for every hour of shoot time. Now, you might have a cost advantage over the average wedding photographer in that your output is only a CD. Also keep in mind that the average wedding photographer probably knows how to shoot a wedding.

---Bob Gross---

[CyberPet]

Sounds very cheap with $400-600 USD... even for Sweden it's cheap. I'd like to know what's in that quote, is it the "shoot only" or does it contain all images on a CD/DVD (that they will have to print themselves) or is it an album and photo copies as well.

[Mocking-DX]

just photos on CD for a 4-hour wedding cruise with 30+ guests only
a few posed shots and most are candid shots

yes Petra it does sound cheap, my wife is gonna kill me if i will charge only this much
But take note that this is my first time doing wedding so we are both trying to
get good deals.
my only reason i want to take this job is that it's small enough for me to start with a wedding
and that she's willing enough to take the risk that this is my first wedding photo shoot and eventually add this to my portfolio
I will try and call her today see whats her real budget and shots she wants taken

thanks for all the replies guys

[Mocking-DX]

hi bloo dog
My wife can't go-has to watch our 1 yr old baby
Anyway, my respect for wedding photographers has jumped to gazillion levels
I don't know how you do it guys

Few of the many problems i had(aside from the major factor that i'm only amateur)
was the very dark skin tone of the groom and he's wearing white clothes
I could not get a good skin exposure without overexposing his clothes
the yacht gave me a lot of backlight for most of the guests' tables and a very limited space to move around. I literally had to go outside the "room" to get to the other side during the ceremony to get different angles
Oh it was a nightmare that will haunt me for a long time
The wedding was very very simple
About 40 seconds of flower girl, sponsors,etc marching towards the pastor
About 10mins overall for the ceremony,no dancing, no program ect--just ceremony and foods
Everything just went like a blur i did not have much time to check and change my settings
My regret was i should have just used P most of the time instead of AV and upped teh ISO to 400 instead of 200--did not have a chance to change during ceremony
RAW saved me some acceptable photos
I'd probably just give this away for the gas i spent goin there and give her quite a few
photoshopped pics with special effects
Good thing there was no contract. As i have already told her it was my first wedding picture
Overall i was not even barely satisfied

[Mocking-DX]

here's the yacht

[Mocking-DX]

another

[Mocking-DX]

the bride