Affordable creative wedding photographer wanted

[Steven W]

I'm on the hunt for a wedding photographer.

Our budget is pretty low (under £500), but we're looking for something different to the standard wedding albums that you see.

This is the sort of thing we're looking for (http://www.aniltohani.com/), where they look at the wedding from a different angle.(Although they are way above our budget).

If anyone has any ideas or recommendations of someone they know or have used that would be great.

I've got an appointment booked with a freelance photographer to have a look at his work, but we're keeping our options open.

[Bobster]

my wife and i shoot weddings £500 isn't our usual price - but seeing as your a Hexus member we'll give u a discount

few of my pics




























if your interested give me a PM/mail and i'll see if we're free for your wedding day etc

oh yeah if you need wedding stationary done, i can also do that

[Steven W]

I noticed you were in Dorset though. I'm in the Midlands so it might it be too much for you to travel up here.

If not, I'll be in touch early new year. The wedding is end of July.

[Fabula]

One additional option you may want is to get a few Polaroid JoyCams. They are cheap, and can get you instant images. You can task a few guests with coming up with specific images, like the youngest person at the wedding, 2 people dancing, 5 people in height order, two people wearing blue etc. Something creative.
So for about £50 you can come up with an instant set of wedding photos. If you are creative with the tasks then you will get some very interesting photos, that can be quickly mounted for guests to see while still at the wedding.

Of course, you will also want some proper photos from a proper photographer as well. But some variety can be good.

[Bobster]

Steven, we've travelled as far as Newcastle for a wedding - midlands is a doddle

end of July - talking the last weekend?

[chrestomanci]

Personally I would not recommend instant Polaroid cameras, as they are expensive and very low quality.

You can get wedding themed disposable cameras quite cheaply. Places like confetti will sell you a bulk pack of ten for £40. You can then put one on each table at the reception. It is worth reminding people that the flash will not have much reach, so if they take pictures indoors they should stay close to the subject.

It is worth trying to get copes of the pictures your guests take, as there will be some gems in there (as well as a lot of junk). I have heard of a weddings where the best man went round the reception with with a laptop & card reader to get coppies of photos. Most I have attended they asked for a second set of prints or a photo CD to be sent to them.

You will probably have a few good amateur photographers among your guests. You should probably encourage them to bring their equipment, and act as unofficial photographer. My wife and I are keen photographers and at one family wedding my wife and I attended we brought a laptop and photo printer with us, and assembled a photo album between the afternoon and evening receptions. The couple where very pleased to get photos so quickly. Also if you use photos taken by guests you will not have copyright restrictions to worry about like you would with professional pictures, so you can make as many and as large copies as you like. (I have seen charges as high as £300 for 20x30 inch print)

[Bobster]

if you can find a family member who is willing to spend the whole day behind the camera, go for it

[Steven W]

Personally I would not recommend instant Polaroid cameras, as they are expensive and very low quality.

You can get wedding themed disposable cameras quite cheaply. Places like confetti will sell you a bulk pack of ten for £40. You can then put one on each table at the reception. It is worth reminding people that the flash will not have much reach, so if they take pictures indoors they should stay close to the subject.

It is worth trying to get copes of the pictures your guests take, as there will be some gems in there (as well as a lot of junk). I have heard of a weddings where the best man went round the reception with with a laptop & card reader to get coppies of photos. Most I have attended they asked for a second set of prints or a photo CD to be sent to them.

You will probably have a few good amateur photographers among your guests. You should probably encourage them to bring their equipment, and act as unofficial photographer. My wife and I are keen photographers and at one family wedding my wife and I attended we brought a laptop and photo printer with us, and assembled a photo album between the afternoon and evening receptions. The couple where very pleased to get photos so quickly. Also if you use photos taken by guests you will not have copyright restrictions to worry about like you would with professional pictures, so you can make as many and as large copies as you like. (I have seen charges as high as £300 for 20x30 inch print)

There are a few amateur, but keen photographers in the family. If it was up to me I'd look at it as an option, but the wife to be wants everything to be perfect (which I can understand). I think we'll use other people's photos anyway for a separate album, but rely on someone professional so we don't have to worry about how they turn out (hopefully).

Bob - It's the 27th July.

[Moby-Dick]

give http://www.picturesbyrob.co.uk/ a try- really nice work but I dont know what his rates are like ( think he lives up north though )

( Let him know you where recommended by Sallys friend Chris and you might even get a discount )

[Bobster]

really nice work but I dont know what his rates are like

Size 1 (8") = 25 prints: £895

[Moby-Dick]

there you go ( He wouldn't talk money last time I saw him , as I think he was doing a F&F discount )

[chrestomanci]

There are a few amateur, but keen photographers in the family. If it was up to me I'd look at it as an option, but the wife to be wants everything to be perfect (which I can understand). I think we'll use other people's photos anyway for a separate album, but rely on someone professional so we don't have to worry about how they turn out (hopefully).

Bob - It's the 27th July.

I would not suggest relaying entirely on amateurs unless your budget is very low, but for £500 you will not get many photos, especially if you want some large prints. For that price you will probably only get pictures at the ceremony, not at the reception, or anywhere else.

What I was suggesting is that you use your photographer friends to fill in the gaps and give you additional choices. It is probably wise to leave the formal group shots to the professional, but for candid pictures at the reception, two or three friends with D-SLRs or the like should produce plenty of good pictures. The same would apply for pictures of the bride getting ready (assuming your fiancé will allow a camera near her without a face on).

The other point I was making is that ammeter shots allow you to side step the issue of copyright. When I got married, I found it quite grating that we where paying the photographer a lot of money to turn up and take pictures, but he would retain copyright on them, and could charge what he liked for additional prints. If your photographer friend stands close to the professional and takes similar pictures to him, you should get un-encumbered versions of the formal shots as well.

[Bobster]

When I got married, I found it quite grating that we where paying the photographer a lot of money to turn up and take pictures, but he would retain copyright on them, and could charge what he liked for additional prints. If your photographer friend stands close to the professional and takes similar pictures to him, you should get un-encumbered versions of the formal shots as well.

[RANT]
you're not just paying for someone to turn up and take pics - you have to factor in the preperation before the event (checking what the weather is going to be doing on the given day, making a backup if the weather turns bad, contacting the church/venue where you're getting married, contacting the reception - doing a recce of the area for good places to shoot, making a list of which formal shots to take, which shots to take with bride and goom, wear and tear on our equipment (not cheap)

its alot of hard work being a wedding photographer, pressure is on you the whole time to get 'that' shot to make sure you don't screw it up

you're placing the whole day's pictures in our hands, if we mess up thats your wedding record down the tubes, i know from experience that your now wife will burst into tears when she sees the abomination that are your wedding pictures because you paid below the odds or left it upto a 'friend' who just happens to have a D-SLR (owning a D-SLR doesn't automatically make you into David Bailey)

we're shooting RAW so you have to factor in the time it takes to process each shot take out any blemishes, spots etc, if shooting high ISO there might be noise in the pic, so that has to go through a process..

if the pic is to be converted to Black and White or Sepia then that has to be taken into consideration, it not just a case of choosing greyscale from the image - mode - menu..

you're auntie happend to blink in one of the pics your 'friend' took do they have the skill to give her open eyes?

after the photos have been processed, they then have to be a) uploaded to a website (costs money) b) printed as low res proofs (costs money)

after the photo choice has been made they then have to be printed (costs money) or put into a book - each page takes time to setup to get just right (costs money)

sure the price of photography is high, but if that person is a decent photographer don't they deserve to be able to make a decent living from it?

@ my wedding there were 3 other D-SLR's there. 1 of which belonged to a Chairman of a Photography Club.. some of his pics were ok, but weren't to what i'd call wedding standard (and he's always boasting about taking peoples wedding pics) the others i think 1 shot was a keeper in my eyes..

i've yet to have a bride turn round to me and say that she didn't love the pics and the ones that she picked, she had to spend hours choosing because she wanted them all!

also £500 /10 = £50 per hour - if your wedding is 6 hours that leaves 4 hours for processing, uploading, printing, travel time etc..

backing up the RAW files takes 20-40mins

going through 800-1000 photos takes approx 1 hr a little less maybe a little longer depending on the wedding to select keepers and chuckers

you then have 500-600 photos to convert to 16bit TIFF for further editing - time? again it depends on the wedding 8-10hrs

editing Photos adding special effects? another 8-10hrs

converting to low res for web use and proofing? 1-2hrs using a batch script

backing up final pics - 30-40 mins

uploading pics to web? 20 mins

making proof disk? 5 mins

taking proof disk to professional print place? 25 mins - distance 4 miles @ 45p per mile - parking £1 - printed proofs £30ish - travel back to pick up proofs - 25 mins - distance 4 miles @ 45p per mile - parking £1

traveling to Brides house? if local 20-40mins 10-30 miles @ 45p per mile

posting proofs if Bride is more than 30 miles? £10 time in post office 10mins

order arrives - making up wedding book 70-100 photos - 25pages? 4-5hrs

if wedding book isnt needed:

making disk of high res images 9x6-12x18" 1-2hrs

taking high res disk to professional print place? 25 mins - distance 4 miles @ 45p per mile - parking £1 - printed pictures? - travel back to pick up proofs - 25 mins - distance 4 miles @ 45p per mile - parking £1

traveling to Brides house? if local 20-40mins 10-30 miles @ 45p per mile

posting final pics to Bride if she is more than 30 miles? £20 time in post office 10mins

not forgetting electricity - insurance etc
[/RANT]
sorry just gets up my nose when ppl complain about price of professional photography and think all that we've done is come along and press a button..

[Moby-Dick]

I think most people tend to disagree with the "wedding tax" applied to a number if bridal services , not just the cost of photographers.

I'll have my counter rant ( and its no way levelled at yourself , I'd like to think you are an expection to the rule unless proven otherwise )

If there's one thing that gets on my nerves at a wedding its the photographer thinking he's Steven bloody Spielberg . Its *my* Friends wedding , I've known them a hell of a lot longer than the 2 afternoons you've met them. I'd like to remember the wedding as an experience , not as a series of static cliche's thats I've been bullied into by some tw@ in a loud waistcost.

I have quite a good memory and will remember the day of my own accord , not having to rush my drink every tiem I manage to locate one because der photofuhrer has to go through the umpteenth permutation of relatives / sposes / pets / imaginary friends.

Thankfully the last (and most recent memory ) wedding I was at , the photographer didn't feel like he had to direct the proceedings and got plenty of great natural shots of people enjoying the experience , which is the only reason I posted his link ( that and his brother is 6'11 and would pummel me if I was rude to him )

[Steven W]

Blimey, far tougher than I thought.

[JPreston]

...ppl complain about price of professional photography and think all that we've done is come along and press a button..

That was a really interesting rant

As it happens we are sort of half costing up our wedding, which consists mostly of me adopting a yorkshire accent and saying 'I'm not bloody paying for that'. After reading your timesheet and costings I can finally appreciate the level of work that goes into this, have to say though I think we'll still go with enthusiastic amateurs (good idea with the laptop and card reader ). At the end of the day we aren't so vain to want to star in a load of posed shots and would prefer to have happy memories and extra food and booze on the day, than an album in the loft. Each to their own though