My wife and I live in Austin, Texas. Not San Francisco, or Chicago, or Miami but those are all fun cities, too. We decided to come to Austin because we saw that housing prices and the cost of living in the Bay Area (where I used to live) were just crazy. So we came to a fantastic city,one full of culture, the arts, and amazing people, all at a price level in which we could afford. And we love it here. Austin is a fun, vibrant city, full of great people and amazing opportunities at every turn.
How does this help you with your wedding budget? Easy. I charge for my services based on your wedding size. This isn’t like every other photographer in the area. They charge based on time – 5, or 8 hours of coverage. I’ve been to enough weddings to know that that model doesn’t work. Not if you want a fun, relaxed wedding. Trying to capture all the important moments in a 7 hour timeframe causes you to rush around making sure everything is on schedule, and that makes for horrible photos.
So to make your wedding more relaxed, I do things differently. Every single bride and groom gets the best service before, during, and after the wedding. What does this mean, exactly? Let me tell you. You get:
- All day coverage (unlimited hours)
- A CD with the full size digital images (I’ve got my own wedding pictures, these are yours)
- a gallery on-line for 3-months to share your wedding photos with friends and family who couldn’t attend (and the ability for them to download copies for themselves)
- at least 1 additional experienced photographer (2nd shooter)
- an engagement session
- a bridal session
- prints to display at the wedding (at the sign-in table, or gift table, or whatever)
All for one reasonable cost based on your wedding size. You see, if you are having a small wedding (under 150 guests), I don’t have to work as hard as if you were having a large wedding. To me this just makes sense.
There is even a package for the something in-between weddings that includes all the same stuff.
And if you are having a very small wedding, with only a few guests, lasting only couple of hours, I offer hourly wedding photography in Austin. Just send me an email and I’ll tell you all about it.
I also travel for weddings. Quite a bit, actually. Since I live in Austin, and I don’t advertise, my rates are lower than a lot of big city professional wedding photographers. You can fly me in for the weekend, and still save money on your wedding photography. As long as I am in your city, I’ll be working for you, covering rehearsals, weddings, and post wedding brunches. The same thing goes for destination weddings, too.
So if you are looking for a local wedding photographer or a destination wedding photographer, just send me an email with your location and date, and I’ll send my rate card right over.
{ 6 comments }
I like your blog .It’s very interesting. Indeed Cost is an important factor for all brides.
“horrible photos” huh? Nice.
Hey Sarah-Q, It’s so cool to hear another Austin wedding photographer’s comments about my pricing, even if you don’t agree with them.
To clarify my post, I’ve found that most weddings take longer than 8 hours (from getting ready until the limo leaves at the end of the night). By providing complete all day coverage in all my packages I’ve found that couples don’t need rush around (to try to fit all the formals they want into 20 minutes to stay on schedule, for instance). This, to me, is true documentary wedding photography (wedding photojournalism) where I just let the day unfold naturally.
As much as we would like clients to only choose us based on our style, we both know that pricing is an issue. Even the most high-end clients have a budget, and everyone wants the best value in wedding photography they can get.
When there is no rushing, people are more relaxed, and you and I both know that the best clients are relaxed on their wedding day.
Sarah-Q,
I’d be VERY careful about posting sarcastic blog comments on well-read blogs. Austin is still a small community. Why don’t you offer an alternative opinion or insightful comment, instead? Then, people may gain more respect for you business!
Why post anonymously? That’s silly. If you have something to say, say it.
It’s ridiculous to say that photographers who offer packages with hourly time limits are doing any kind of disservice to brides or rushing them in any way. I have an hourly limit in my packages but have NEVER rushed any of my couples and none of my clients have ever complained of “horrible, rushed photos.” If clients need more time, they add more time and I stay as long as needed. Would you work at a place that required you to be there as long as they needed you for no extra charge? What if your boss said “Hey, we’re going to need you to work from 8am to Midnight tomorrow to be here for EVERYTHING that happens? Oh, and we aren’t paying you overtime. You should just do it because you love your job.” Ha! I doubt very many people would be down for a job like that. Don’t get me wrong – I really DO love my job! – but what I do is hard work and just like everybody else who works, I expect to be paid for my time away from my family and my expertise.
So, that’s my “alternative opinion.” Hope that clears it up for you, Anonymous
And in case you were wondering why the irritation and sarcasm … Austin has an INCREDIBLE network of photographers! Most photographers here in Austin are really great friends who all hang out and get together often to share ideas and talk photography. Eric comes to hang out with us sometimes, but then here on his blog, he’s chosen to trash other photographers and how they do business in order to make himself look better. Jump around to some other area photographer blogs and websites … you won’t see anyone else being negative or talking bad about other photographers. We’ve all chosen to take a higher road and show people what WE do best – not try to point out (supposed) flaws in others. Eric can continue being negative all he wants. It’s his blog, after all. But one day, hopefully, he’ll see that tearing others down is NEVER the right way to pull yourself up.
I decided to post the comment from Sarah-Q in it’s entirety. Apparently this post really pissed her off because she has gone off and begun to trash me via e-mail, twitter, and even photography message boards. I wish I could post some of the things she has written to me personally. This isn’t the first time either – several months ago she disagreed with some of my ideas and did the same thing.
I can understand her point. I really can. She is in business to both brides and photographers. She sells pricing guides on the internet to other wedding photographers. And I guess she believes hourly coverage is best. That’s cool.
I however believe that brides want it all on their wedding day. And if I can help provide that in some small way, I will.
Cheers,
E
PS: The Anonymous comment was from one of the top wedding designers in Austin. I had a long phone conversation with them today, and they totally agree with me. If they want to jump in, I’ll re-open comments for them.
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