Wedding Photography Facts

I enjoy doing wedding photography--weddings are fun events and as the photographer I get to interact with everyone there, even though I probably don't know anyone. Weddings are fast-paced, demanding work with no margin for error, and I don't shoot one every weekend, but I expect to do between five and ten per year. I will bend over backwards to shoot your wedding the way you want and within your budget, but there's one thing I don't do, and that's put together wedding albums. My services are ideal for the couple whose budget is limited, and who want to put together their own albums. Unlike a lot of photographers, I will give you the negatives from your wedding immediately, rather than keeping them and selling you prints. I love doing the photography, but I don't have time or inclination to provide all of the services that traditional wedding studios do.

Costs: I work on a time-and-materials basis. Time is billed at $80 per hour with a $240 minimum, materials at cost plus 25% (see table below), and shipping at actual cost. I am obliged to charge Washington state sales tax on the total.

I don't charge package prices for two reasons: First, I don't know what you'll want, and second, I want you to know what you are paying for and how much it costs. If you're interested in wedding photography, tell me about your schedule for the day and how you want it covered. After our conversation, I'll estimate the cost (to within about ten percent) and email you a written proposal in Adobe Acrobat format. I calculate final bills based on actual time spent and materials used, but I have found that my estimates are very accurate. There are often changes that occur on the day of the wedding, and these can affect the photography cost. When there are cost overruns, it's inevitably because there were delays during the day, or I was asked to stay longer and shoot more.

Film: I'll shoot color, black & white, or both, at your request. It's a little tricky to determine film costs yourself, because it depends a lot on what you want done. For estimating purposes, you can figure on somewhere between $400 and $700 for film and processing for a complete day of ceremony, reception, and formals coverage. You could spend less but you just won't have enough shots, in my opinion. Again, we can discuss this and I'll tell you how much I shoot and what it will cost. Here's what I charge for film and processing, per roll:

	Film	Exposures		Proofs	Color	B & W
	35mm	36		36 4x6 Proofs	40.00	35.00
	120	12		12 5x5 Proofs	22.00	20.00

Color films are Kodak Portra 160, 400, and 800 VC/NC. Black & white films are Ilford Delta 100, 400, and 3200. These prices are local retail plus approximately 20%. Figures shown are effective as of February 2004 and are subject to change at any time to reflect changes in market prices. It is sometimes possible to economize by getting contact sheets instead of proof prints, but I don't recommend this unless you are very comfortable looking at contact sheets and have a magnifier for that purpose. A word about film handling and processing: because of my location and the lack of professional photo labs here, I use Federal Express to send film for processing. For safety reasons I break film into multiple batches and ship them separately.

Ordering prints is fairly straightforward. You decide which images you like, how much you want them enlarged (4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 etc.), and how you want them cropped. A lot of the shots I'll take will be square, not rectangular, and cropping is almost always done when those shots are printed. All of this information is compiled onto an order form, and it goes to the lab. Whether or not you get hand or machine printing depends on a couple of factors. Images shot in bright sunlight can benefit from hand-printing, as dark shadows can be reduced by the printer. Generally, machine prints work fine, and that's what you'll probably order for most shots.

Equipment: I like shooting weddings with a medium format camera as much as possible. Medium format film is more than twice the size of 35mm film, and the enlargements look a lot better. The lenses are better, and there's more room to crop the film creatively when printing. It also costs more, between two and three times as much, as you can see by the chart above. At a minimum, I want to shoot formal portraits in medium format, and probably some of the ceremony. I'll probably shoot all of the reception shots in 35mm, because there are a lot of them. If you want to keep the cost down, the entire day can be done in 35mm, but it's not as much fun for me because I have to leave the big cameras at home.

Good equipment is important at a wedding, because if it fails, you're in trouble. I use well-maintained, professional gear for everything, and I bring at least two of virtually every piece. I've never had an equipment failure yet, but if I do, I'll have a backup piece waiting. Be sure to ask any photographer you talk to about this. I very rarely use rented gear at a wedding, and I never use anything I haven't used before. Weddings move quickly, and the last thing you want is to be fussing with an unfamiliar item. Regarding Digital: I'm still debating adding digital equipment for the 2004 season. Wedding photography is all about quality printing and archival stability of both film and prints. With film and chemical printing there are basically no issues at all. There are still serious questions about the long-term archiving of digital files, both in terms of format lifetime (remember 8-track tapes and laser discs?) and the stability of CDs burned on desktop computers. I may be able to shoot some of your wedding digitally, but I'm going to use film for the majority of it and there are plenty of good ways to get files from film if you want them.

Other Stuff: I don't use an assistant for wedding photography, because I don't know anyone that I can both trust and afford. There's a lot at stake--film has to be handled and loaded very carefully, and equipment has to be set up properly. I'd rather do it myself, so I know that it's right. I have a lot of cameras and film magazines for them, and I can almost always find time to reload while no one is waiting for me. If we shoot a lot of formal portraits, I'll probably take one or two short breaks to reload film. If we shoot formals before the ceremony, I may need a period of several minutes to reload. Aside from film handling, the only other issue is equipment security, which is my problem and not yours. On rare occasions, I will bring a second photographer to shoot part of a wedding. If that's the case with yours, we'll talk about how it will work.

My usual work attire is a pair of slacks, a short-sleeved shirt, and possibly a photographer's vest, depending on the location. If it's very important to you that I wear a dark suit to your wedding, please say so in advance. I do own some really nice suits, and if you want me to wear one I will do so and cheerfully charge you for the discomfort of working up a sweat and for the dry cleaning. If I shoot for you, I would like to be able to use one or two of the resulting shots on this website (without your name attached) and I would like to be able to use you as a reference (to be contacted by email only). If either of these pose problems, please let me know.

What's next? You're probably coming to the island to check out wedding sites, and while you're here I'll be happy to meet with you, talk about your plans, and show you print samples of all kinds. Give me a call and let me know when you're coming.