Picture Question??

[Caribou]

So I am currently looking for a photographer, I e-mailed a bunch of them on Monday and, so far, have made 3 appointments for this coming Tuesday. Today I got a response from one of them saying that he charges *said amount* and that includes 600-800 pictures that he will give us on a CD and written letter giving us permission to print off on our own, all day coverage, plus a 200 page pic album. To me this sounds great, but I wonder why on earth I would want 600-800 pictures of me and my FI, I will have to see him everyday of my life after.

Anywho....

Most of the other photographers have a 125-175 picture max, which seemed pretty reasonable to me. Not so much now, so my question is, how many pictures are you getting with you photographer package? What is the length of your package? We really only want our photographer there for precemermony, ceremony, and about 1 hour of the reception, so roughly 4-4.5 hours.

 

[laurel_aurelia]

i''m a professional photographer. so i see what you''re saying.

Especially with the trend of most photographers to move toward digital, the main reason you''re getting so many pictures is that they can TAKE so many pictures. doesn''t cost them a dime. so of your 600-800 pictures, you''re looking at like 15-20 just of you walking down the aisle, 4 of your kiss, etc. they can rapid shoot.

with film, you end up with less because photographers are more careful about what they take the first time around..

neither of these are bad options. i do both film and digital. you''ll end up with a zillion pictures (most of which will be repeats, or the same shot in both black and white/color, etc). but if you feel comfortable NOT getting that many, then i think you can sacrifice if it''ll be cheaper and you''ll be just as happy with the work the photographer will do. (especially since you only want your photographer for 2 hours -- ours is staying for six!)

hope this helps.

 

[Caribou]

Date: 4/21/2006 4:05:08 PM
Author: laurel_aurelia
i''m a professional photographer. so i see what you''re saying.

Especially with the trend of most photographers to move toward digital, the main reason you''re getting so many pictures is that they can TAKE so many pictures. doesn''t cost them a dime. so of your 600-800 pictures, you''re looking at like 15-20 just of you walking down the aisle, 4 of your kiss, etc. they can rapid shoot.

with film, you end up with less because photographers are more careful about what they take the first time around..

neither of these are bad options. i do both film and digital. you''ll end up with a zillion pictures (most of which will be repeats, or the same shot in both black and white/color, etc). but if you feel comfortable NOT getting that many, then i think you can sacrifice if it''ll be cheaper and you''ll be just as happy with the work the photographer will do. (especially since you only want your photographer for 2 hours -- ours is staying for six!)

hope this helps.

Thanks, this does help alot. And this the rapid shots is the case, I''d rather got with the 125-175 pictures.

 

[curlygirl]

Caribou, my photographer took literally about 1200 photos--maybe more! He and his wife who was his assistant went through 34 rolls of film and took HUNDREDS of digital photos. They had 3 cameras between them and they did not miss a thing! I am so thrilled to have so many to choose from. I also purchased all the negatives and the discs of the digital photos--they even scanned the negatives onto discs for me but gave me the actuals and made proofs too! I got really lucky because my photographer was a friend of a friend so I didn't pay that much (for NYC!). I will say that there is a lot of "duplicate" photos but as laurel stated, they are in rapid fire succession and I think they're pretty cool! I'm also making my own album so I'm really happy to have such a large selection!

ETA I didn't answer your question! My photographers were with me for 11 hours! They were there pre-ceremony while I got ready, then we did family shots before the ceremony (without the groom), they did the ceremony, formal portraits after the ceremony and the full cocktail hour and reception! It was a long day for them but they did a fantastic job and I got every photo I ever wanted.

 

[gingerBcookie]

if there is a significant price difference, maybe, but i guess i would rather be safe than sorry? what if they miss some all important shot because they were counting? i''d rather have too many and wade through afterwards, than miss out on not getting that shot i wanted, you know what i mean?

however, that being said, i don''t know the price difference bewteen the photographers you''re talking about and depending on your budget and you degree of photo-mania

(i am a complete photo buff and having tons of pics to choose from was important to me) this may be a good place for you to save some bucks. just be sure you are comfortable with whatever you go with. you can''t do-over the pics, y''know? then they''ll just be pics, not memories.

 

[curlygirl]

Ginger brings up a very good point. Make sure you are comfortable with the person you choose. It makes all the difference in the world. I met with many people who just didn''t give me a good vibe. I was fortunate to get a recommendation from a friend and I actually got to meet with him 3 or 4 times before the wedding just to touch base, look at photos he had taken, have coffee and talk about what I wanted. I know my situation is somewhat unusual but do be sure you are at ease with your photographer or else it won''t feel natural for you.

 

[selflove]

We are having our pro photographer for only 4 hours. I''ve got another friend (was supposed to be two friends but one can''t come) who is really talented but not a pro, who is going to supplement the pro with his shots. I asked him this as a wedding gift to us. I was really limited in the photographers b/c I needed someone who could work with the very short 2-hour window we have at our chapel. If I got someone who didn''t know the site the back of her hand, I''d end up wasting precious minutes (literally!) while she was scoping out the next spot. So I had like 10 recommended by the chapel, then narrowed it down by price, then met with the final contenders. I was surprised at how arrogant some of them were!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 4/21/2006 8:09:17 PM
Author: selflove
I was surprised at how arrogant some of them were!

I agree! I think it is common in creative fields (I can say from dealing with freelancers

) We looked at three photographers. The first was suggested by our venue and he had SUCH AN EGO, was overpriced, and just made me feel uncomfortable, the second was a very talented photographer with a more artsy approach. I really liked her but wanted 2 shooters. The third (one we chose) is a husband and wife team, were actually the cheapest (but our package is $700 more than when we signed a contract in Aug

), had great examples, and I felt very comfortable with them. I am looking forward to seeing my pictures!