A home-studio wedding photographer located in Jacksonville, FL 1124 Riviera St. Jacksonville, FL 32207 (904) 398-7668
Wedding Photography Insider Information Revealed!
This report is written for those who have wedding photography high on their priority list and want to get it done right! You wouldn't use the cheapest or newest hairdresser you can find, don't do the same with your wedding photographer. Some people prefer not to discuss the 'negative' possibilities, I say let's discuss reality and look at every possibility to avoid future problems. We want you to be prepared, forewarned and educated so you can make a smart decision. We can't shoot everyone's wedding but our experience can help you prepare for yours.
Every industry is plagued with "bottom feeders" ~ learn to recognize them so they don't devour you!
This Free Wedding Photography Information is dedicated to the thousands of brides who "after-the-fact" wish they had read this information beforehand and is provided as an educational public service by:
Anyone can look great on the web. A good web designer can edit, retouch, enhance and improve images and design a slick "corporate" style website for anyone that is willing to pay for it. It's a shame when the fabricated image presented on the web is not even remotely similar to the poor quality and lack of service you will ultimately experience! Great Wedding Photographers advertising/ website/ presentation/ display is easily copied by mediocre photographers so upon initial look many photographers appear similar. The difference is in the details! This Free Photography Information has been written to help you recognize those differences and take the right steps to insure your success in choosing the right wedding photographer for you.
Price Shopping for Wedding Photography?
The economy may be down but that isn't a good reason to forget logic and 'go cheap' and ultimately waste good money on bad products or services. We will show you how to get the best quality, service and more value for your money and make it work within your budget!
Here's some GREAT prices:
...PICK ONE!
Don't you wish it was that simple? Many brides tell me that the more they shop, the more confusing it gets! They are bombarded by so many conflicting claims and not enough 'reality' from which to make an informed decision. Most haven't had much experience purchasing professional wedding photography so they don't really know what to look for. Because wedding photography is such a unique and customized, personalized service you can't shop for it in the same way you may be accustomed to. In your quest for the right wedding photographer the real question is: Who can you trust your wedding memories to, who will give you the best quality and lasting value for your money?
Searching for the right wedding photographer is not very easy, you only get one chance to get it right and there are a lot of options out there and without a little research you really don't know what you will end up with. Some brides create a 'laundry list' of what they want then search the world over trying to find someone who can meet their demands at or below their budget, (this is backwards) even if they can find someone to meet their criteria, there's little chance that photographer will have the image style, quality and personality that matches their tastes, so although they can checkoff all the items on their list, in the end they have wasted good money on poor-quality pictures they don't like from a person they can't stand. Too often brides shop for wedding photography the same way they would for any standard manufactured item. (Go with a name brand at the best price and use a coupon.) With a name-brand product it's easy to compare specific features and model numbers and then shop for the lowest price and with the standardized factory warrantee if something goes wrong, you can always get a replacement or a refund.
Here's the problem: wedding photography is a totally customized artistic service that is subject to each individual photographers ability, quality, artistic interpretation and skill level. Nothing is standardized and no two photographers are alike. There are no 'manufacturers' warrantees to fall back on. There are always new and un-established photography businesses popping up in the wedding industry. I am amazed at the number of inexperienced, inexpensive photographers that pretend to be 'professionals' and the number of naive brides that risk everything by hiring them. You shouldn't pay good money for an amature to 'practice' or experiment at your event... the smart money will go with a well-recognized, experienced and established professional --the tried and true name brand!Yes, the sure thing may cost a little more but it will pay in the long run. 85% of all photographers go out of business in the first 5 years and 50% of the ones who survive go out-of-business in the next 5 years. Look at any bridal magazine from a year or two ago and see who is no longer in business. Do some research to insure your photographer will still be around when it's time to order your album.
Your wedding will be one of the most romantic, beautiful and emotional days of your life, you only have one chance to get it right and if it goes wrong, you're pretty much out-of-luck. A 100% money-back guarantee or promise of being 'thrilled' may make you initially feel 'warm & fuzzy' but won't replace your wedding-day photographs. Weddings are very challenging. A photographer who specializes in commercial magazine features, 'baby pictures', architectural, 'fine-art' photography or pet photography may not be capable of capturing the unique essence of your wedding day, those distinguishing once-in-a-lifetime moments, in the artistic style and professional manner you deserve.
Shopping for Wedding Photography
It is harder today to find a quality photographer (who delivers what is promised) than any other time in history because 'everyone' claims to be a wedding photographer. The marketplace has become overcrowded and overly competitive. Too many photographers have resorted to 'shady' or underhanded tactics to book new business. Many photographers have paid advertisers to 'fabricate' a massive 'PR' campaign (including impressive websites, packaging, brochures, ad campaigns, press releases, faked albums, etc.) and have gone to extensive seminars to learn salesman tactics and 'smoke & mirror' tricks to lure in unsuspecting clients. Today there are photography classes, coaches and mentors who (for a small fee) will come to the photographers studio and tell them what colors to paint the walls, what candles to burn at appointments, how to layout, decorate and create the perfect atmosphere to put an unsuspecting client into the 'buying' mood. Some photographers have gutted and re-built their whole house to be the 'perfect' sales room. The sad part is too many unsuspecting brides are persuaded by the deceitful, superficial gloss coating these photographers put on everything. (or as a straight-forward and honest person may be heard mumbling, so as not to offend the sensitive: "the polishing of a turd")
Please don't be deceived. It's easy to 'judge a book by it's cover' but sometimes it will pay you to not be distracted by the 'rock-star' glitz, glamour and BS that some people are peddling and look beyond the distractions and directly into the reality of what it is you are purchasing. Too often the small amounts of carefully fabricated images (or one sample album) you are allowed to see don't correctly represent what you will actually get. The extremely nice and friendly couple that were quick to impress and quick to take your money before the wedding are now difficult to contact and hard to find afterwards. Artsy pictures that are very fuzzy (blurry?, out-of-focus?), often dark or mysterious and have no recognizable people in them may look cool in magazines, ads or wall displays but if all your pictures from your wedding were like that, would you be happy? If your photographer's motivation is his or her own ego, they may not be open to your ideas and you may not ultimately be happy with what you paid good money for.
Too often brides shop for wedding photography the same way they shop for consumer electronics or party favors. They look at advertisements, talk to friends, review websites and compile a list of the vendors that interest them. (if you get a 'preferred vendor' list from your venue be sure to ask which vendors are on the list as legitimate referrals and which ones pay to be listed, honest disclosures regarding 'kick-backs' will help you determine if a vendor is legit) Sometimes a bride will go on a price-gathering expedition. After collecting the limited amount of price information a photographer is willing to give them the 'mislead' bride will attempt to compare the apples to oranges of the photographers package prices, reprint costs, hours included, etc. They then choose their photographer based on estimated prices, to often they are looking for the 'most for their money' or the 'biggest bang for their buck'.
The problem with this approach is it doesn't take into consideration the quality of the photographs, the longevity (archival qualities) of the included products, the reputation/ experience of the photographer or the philosophy/ personality equation. A full-time professional photographer with the knowledge, experience, equipment, intelligence and expertise to take the best images will most likely be at the higher end of the price scale, getting 'a lot for the money' is seldom really achieved and only valuable if what you get is of the best archival quality from a reputable/ reliable source. New or inexperienced photographers usually don't charge enough to cover their real costs and don't offer complete services, there is a risk involved with the low price. Some unethical vendors will lie about the pricing up front to get you to book them and then take advantage of you later.
I recently talked to a bride who used the 'low-priced' method for picking her photographer. She picked the photographer who offered 'unlimited hours' had the biggest album and the cheapest reprints and cut her a quick deal to get her to book with him. After the wedding she expressed to me her disappointment when after going through the 755 online proofs from her wedding for the 5th time she was still unable to find 25 good ones that she wanted to put in her album, now she's trying to get her money back. Her next comment was, "I would have been smarter to pay more for a better photographer, the albums and reprints and cheap price doesn't really matter anymore since I don't have any pictures I want reprinted!"
Common Photography Problems
I have recently heard from a multitude of brides who booked their 'inexpensive' (under $2,000) photographer 8 months before their wedding date only to learn 2 months before their wedding that he sold their date to another bride who agreed to pay more. The photographer 'accidentally' forgot to tell the bride but now is offering to send a 'substitute' photographer (as approved in the fine print of their contract) and the bride is left in a lurch because all the photographers whose style she really liked are already booked.
We've also seen similar 'bait & switch' ploys used time and time again. Nothing worse than the studio's less proficient assistant photographer showing up unexpectedly at your wedding announcing herself as your only photographer for the day, talk about added stress on your wedding day!
Top quality professional reprints (4x5, 5x5 or 4x6) printed on archival Kodak Endura professional paper (guaranteed to not fade for 200 years) by a professional lab on average cost the photographer $1.50 each. Some unethical photographers are initially offering 'top-quality' prints in their packages and then delivering inferior 'proofs' -- the 16 cent Sams Wholesale/ Wal-Mart discount prints (not professionally processed or guaranteed) over time these inferior-quality proofs will develop chemical spots, fade, yellow and deteriorate.
I've talked to brides who never got their wedding photos. One bride placed her final order and returned all her proofs, having paid for everything, only later to find out the business closed and skipped town with her money and pictures! She is still trying to find them. Too often the 'new' photographer in town is offering 'a lot for the money' but doesn't realize their true costs, after a few years of being 'swamped with business' their expenses catch up to them and their business folds. (You can sell a lot of dollars for 80 cents!)
I talked to a bride who had her photos delivered in the bag from Walgreens Drug Store! I've talked to lots of married couples who say their photographer was good, but "she must have had an off-day on our wedding because none of the pictures she took at our wedding were as good as the ones she showed us."
One couple was unexpectedly charged an extra $200 for travel time ($3 a mile!) When they complained they were told to read the fine print on the price list and threatened that if they didn't pay the extra fee they wouldn't get their pictures. One bride was charged a $500 penalty fee for returning her proof book 3-days late. Another couple was told they could no longer order the album they had already paid for in their package and would get no refund because they were past the 60-day ordering deadline!
Nothing worse than learning that the 'preferred vendor' list from a reputable facility is full of poor-quality vendors that pay a kickback to the venue (up to 15%) or worse yet, illegally under the table to the facility planner. No wonder the bridal consultant was pushing the bride to book the inexperienced, poor-quality photographer. A paid ad should be listed as a paid ad instead of trying to be disguised as a legitimate referral. Too often this type of policy insures the venues/ planners greed stands in the way of the bride getting a quality vendor. Often the excuse of 'insurance regulations' or 'maintenance requirements' is used to disguise this unethical practice. This type of practice often ends when the facility and their sales representative becomes part of a lawsuit against the inferior vendor that the bride was blackmailed into using.
Now don't misunderstand me - there are many wonderful, legitimate and ethical wedding planners who charge a percentage of the total dollars spent by the brides family for their complete wedding planning services to include the booking of the vendors the bride chooses. These planners are upfront about their fees and charges and don't have shady deals being made on the side. An established, well-known wedding planner can actually help insure you have no problems with any of your vendors since they can not only be a second set of eyes and ears to help verify and clarify the brides expectations but will often have lots of clout with the vendors since they represent additional future business.
Many brides have been disappointed by a wedding vendor who goes out to party the Friday night before the wedding, gets wasted and forgets to show up for the wedding and then is unable to be contacted. Most local working vendors that have been in the industry for any length of time will be happy to let you know who is known for this problem.
One bride was devastated and near tears on her wedding day when her 'It's my way or the highway' Dr. Jekyll /Mr. Hyde photographer became the self-appointed 'dictator of events' and began yelling and bossing people around and was very rude with her family and friends! Had she only taken a few minutes to talk to other vendors about this photographer she would have learned about his mean side.
One well-meaning, experienced (but foolish) photographer had just purchased the 'newest and latest' digital camera and decided to leave her film camera at home and use '100% digital' capture at her next wedding. Without realizing it, she shot the whole wedding with the camera set on 'preview only' mode. The camera appeared to be working normally. Each picture would display on the little screen on the back of the camera after each shot and she thought she was getting some good pictures. The problem was the photos were ONLY being displayed but NOT recorded to the memory card. The bride was very upset when she learned (after the wedding) that she only had 3 professional photographs from the whole wedding day.
(We circumvent unforeseen equipment problems by using two to three photographers with up to 5 different cameras, if by chance one didn't work we would only lose a small portion of the photos taken.)
The last thing these brides expected was to be terribly disappointed. "His pictures looked good and his price was great! I never dreamed I wouldn't get any professional pictures from my wedding!"
Don't let this happen to you! We want you to make the right choice, ~ even if it's not us. We're not the photographer for everyone because our goal is to cover 30 of the best weddings each year. The best photographers and the best dates book-up (often 6-14 months in advance).
Nice weddings are expensive and too often the desire to save money takes over ones better judgement and disaster follows. If a photographer is working 6-8 hours at your event and then another 30-50 hours in post-production: editing, cropping, retouching and preparing your photos and they include top-quality reprints, albums and other products how can they charge less for the whole package than the quality reprints alone would cost?... do you really think the photographer is putting in 40-50 hours for free? Maybe they just don't pay their empolyees? Do you think they are really losing hundreds of dollars on each wedding they do? or are they just lying?... I wonder what else they are lying about? If it sounds too good to be true... ultimately you will get what you pay for.
We have compiled some suggestions to help insure you get the Great Wedding Photography you deserve:
Reputable Business
To minimize any unforeseen problems, I have listed the Top 10 criteria you should use to narrow down your photographer. Make sure they:
Have been in business for more than 5 years (see the date of their local business license -most cities post these on the internet)
Only sell archival guaranteed products and are flexible, easy to work with, personality compatible and will get you what you want.
Accept American Express and other major credit cards directly. (not through a 3rd party)
1- 85% of all new photographers go out-of-business within 5 years (learn more why), you need an experienced professional who will be able to overcome any unforeseen problem and still deliver the goods, you don't want an amateur or a non-wedding photographer to use you as their guinea pig.
2- Different photographers have different styles, be sure to hire the one that specializes in the style you like.
3- "Those with nothing to hide, hide nothing." If they are not upfront about sharing their pricing, contract details and policies with you they may have other surprises for you later too.
4- References will tell you the complete story, be sure to ask them how their photographer behaved on their wedding day and did they live up to their expectations or were there areas they fell short on. Find out what they wish they would have done differently. Your local wedding vendors attend more weddings than you will ever have time for and can give you the 'inside scoop' on what they hear and see out there.
5- An insured photographer protects you, your suppliers and your guests. If the photographer creates damages to the property you rented you could be held liable for those damages. If a guest trips over the photographer's equipment the photographer's liability insurance will protect you from a lawsuit.
6- If their 'free time' after work is dedicated to their photography and their real commitment is to a full-time job their loyalty, availability, schedule and efforts will be with their full-time boss, not with you.
7- Professional organizations help both the photographer and the customer by providing continual training, education and have certain ethics requirements for eligibility and often provide backup equipment, services and personnel in case of emergency.
8- Renters are more mobile and typically the ones who skip town. Some dishonest people make it a habit of moving every few years to get away from the problems they have created.
9- Archival products will last for generations -- anything less is a waste of good money. There is nothing worse than an obnoxious, bossy and demanding vendor who in the end you wish you had never invited to your event (I can hear them cackling loudly in the background by the bar!).
10- American Express will be the first credit card company to drop a merchant if there is any unresolved problems and will insure that their customers are treated properly. 3rd party processing decreases protections (i.e. paypal, photolab, business name other than the contracted vendor)
Some photographers 'hate weddings' but only 'do them for the money'. I would make sure that my potential photographer specializes in wedding photography and has a long-term commitment to the industry as evidenced by good standing in multiple professional organizations such as: The Better Business Bureau, their local Jacksonville Photographer's association, and Professional Photographers of America, etc. as these organizations can be very helpful both to the customer and the photographer in case of unexpected emergencies or problems. (Membership dues are usually the first thing that doesn't get paid when a business is having financial problems.)
You only have to read what problems and advice other brides have written regarding wedding photography to be able to see the writing on the wall. But still even after educating themselves many brides 'take their chances' and let their 'budget' get the best of them and ultimately end up complaining later that they got exactly what they paid for! Life's just too short!
You've heard it from your friends and you'll hear it over and over again... don't hire a cheap photographer! So you are now asking yourself how much is a 'cheap' photographer?
How much does quality wedding photography cost? (here comes the sticker shock, it's typically double what you thought - better be sitting down) The average wedding costs $30,000. A quality photographer costs 10-15% of the total wedding costs. If a photographer was covering the majority of your event 5-6 hours you will have difficulty finding a quality professional charging less than $2,500 (and that price doesn't include any albums, reprints or extras. I average $500/hr. just for the initial coverage.) So a 'cheap' photographer is less than that!
Lot's of people try to argue this point with me (because it's not what they wanted to hear) but hear me out, after an exhaustive two-year study of the financial workings of all types of photographers nationwide PPA (Professional Photographers of America) learned that in the MOST profitable and well-run photography businesses, when all was said and done, the owners paycheck averaged 20-25% of the gross sale. (in the average photography business it was less)
So in a well-run photography business a $2,500 sale would ultimately pay $500 and you are saying that's pretty good pay for a Saturday and I'm saying yes it would be if one photographer just worked that one day for you. (but you just met with 5 different photographers at close to an hour each and got lots of free advice and won't pay anything to the four of them you don't hire!) AND a QUALITY PROFESSIONAL will spend a minimum of 30-40 hours time on your wedding! So really that $500 profit has just turned into $12.50/hr. How many well-educated, talented and trained proffessionals only pay themselves $12.50/hr.?
So now you are saying, but Dan, there are a lot of photographers out there charging less than $2,500 and often throwing in free albums, reprints, etc. and the majority of them are NOT the best run businesses - what gives? My point exactly! The majority of them are not QUALITY PROFESSIONALS but are cheating the system, it's just a matter of time! Some are skimping on the process, not delivering quality, not delivering what was promised, substituting inferior products, not paying sales tax, insurance, bills or wages, not understanding their real costs, robbing from Peter to pay Paul, etc.
Many new photographers sell below cost to 'establish' themselves and get their name out there and 80% of those will not be around in 5 years. From the inital booking appointment to the final album delivery the average photographer will work with a bride for 18 months to two years (and sometimes even longer), a 3-year-old floundering business may not be around to deliver the final album. --CONTINUE BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW:
We treat you right and give you the best, top-of-the-line quality at a competitive price.
Our Price Guarantee: You won't find better quality at a lower price!
