Hey everyone, so the 24 year old daughter of a family I've known for a while now, is getting married in May of 2017. They asked me to photograph the wedding. As I am mostly a sports and portraits shooter I was hesitant to say yes but I told them I can. They said expecations are not real high for the wedding and they aren't really looking for any mind blowing shots,just some average wedding photos but I want to deliver and give them some great images. I've always studied wedding photos a little when I pass them by on he Internet so I have a bit of knowledge on what I should be doing but I have a few questions I was hoping someone would be able to help me with;
-How do I choose a price for the wedding shoot?
-Do I need a second camera body? (currently shooting 7d mk ii)
-How many images do I edit and deliver to them? Prints or just digital or a mix of both?
Thanks for any help!
I think if you've never done it you shouldn't charge more than 1k. My first wedding was $250. You definitely need a second camera. I would suggest a second shooter with a second camera.
If I were you I would stay away from all prints and only deliver digital. I would also attempt to over deliver in terms of quantity. You don't want them coming back to you asking for shots.
Thanks for the reply Lee, thats what I was thinking about was over delivering. I'll most likely have a second body by then so that should be covered and I'll look into having a second shooter as well! Thanks!
My first few weddings were also around $1000-$1250 paydays. I did one wedding by myself with one camera...it's possible, but not ideal...and I ran my butt off that day. A second shooter (even an average one) will really help out. Now I'm around $2000 and up and keeping it all digital (I'm not doing this full time). As far as the number of images to deliver, I'll shoot between 2000-3000 photos during the day and usually deliver between say 350-600 final photos. I think anywhere in that range and you're going to give them more than enough.
And not to drop a plug here (but I will), check out the How To Be A Professional Wedding Photographer series here on Fstoppers. Might be a good investment to get the flow of a wedding down in your mind. You won't have the physical experience before this wedding so you can achieve a lot through education. I bought the series a while back and it's really good. Lots of good bits of info on using off camera flash, posing, etc. Definitely tips to keep you efficient on the wedding day and some things you can apply as practice before the wedding day. Good luck!
https://fstoppers.com/how-become-professional-wedding-photographer