$5,000 for a Wedding Photographer!?

I love being a professional wedding photographer, I love having a career that allows me to be creative, I love the fast pace of work, the anxiety, the emotion, and sometimes the chaos. But most of all I enjoy being able to faithfully and beautifully document people’s fondest memories through the art of still images. But what is photography actually worth?

A quick internet search places the national average cost of a wedding photographer in the ballpark of $2700. In the San Francisco Bay Area, couples can expect to pay between $2500 - $5000 but it is certainly not unheard of for wedding photographers with name recognition and decades of experience to command pricing upwards of 10k per wedding.

Couples place different values on photography and that value ranges from “we just want a few nice pictures” to “every photo needs to be hung in a museum!”. Convincing the couples who are just looking for “a few nice pictures” that photography is worth $5,000 would naturally be a tough sell. Much like a bottle of fine Bordeaux that may fetch thousands is only valuable to those educated as to what a fine Bordeaux represents - not the casual wine drinker. The answer in both these instances is scarcity.

So you’ve only got one shot for gorgeous wedding photos - do you want the guy priced at $3500, or your uncle that will do it because he has a “real camera?”. The question comes down to the question of supply & demand — how many seasoned professionals are out there and are available for your specific day? And let’s say you find one whose work you love, but your personalities just don’t jive? Couples may not realize that the photographer can really set the tone of the day, you want a professional who will stay upbeat and positive when things don’t go as planned, stay encouraging and keep a smile in 100 degree heat or pouring rain. I often tell bride’s that I will be spending more time by their side than the groom, so it is imperative that you feel completely comfortable with me.

When you are investing in a photographer you are essentially placing your trust on their years of experience, the trials & errors, the countless mistakes made, and the hard but valuable lessons learned every time things went off the rails - you are essentially purchasing assurance that beautiful photographs will be delivered 100% of the time; finding an individual who will be able to deliver that 100% assurance is rare, and thus it comes at a cost.

The wedding industry from a photographer’s perspective

Something to consider when browsing photography pricing is that the average working wedding photographer is mostly restricted to making their yearly income on weekends only. Even then, shooting one or two weddings each weekend during the year is not at all practical and the massive editing workload that would present is not in the least bit realistic for an individual. This amplifies the need for a photographer to pay the bills with fewer weddings rather than an assembly line of work during wedding season.

Here is a list of my minimum expenses per year to run my business:

Camera gear + (maintenance and replacement). A must have. My current gear bag holds about $20,000 worth of camera & lighting equipment to photograph a typical wedding. This gear sees very heavy use during the wedding season and will eventually need repair or full replacement within two years time or less. Upgrades are often necessary to stay competitive in a very crowded sea of photographers. I currently work with 2 camera bodies during the day and one back up camera in case one decides to quit on me. The cost of those 3 camera bodies alone is about $5000 and that doesn’t include the lenses.

Travel. In 2019 I travelled a total of 8500 miles, criss crossing Northern Califonia for weddings, events & portrait shoots. Travel costs include fuel, bridge tolls, all day parking and maintenance. My average cost of travel per San Francisco wedding is $40 for all day parking, Bridge tolls $14, Fuel $20+ = $74.00

Second photographers & Assistants. I pay second shooters based on experience between $30-$50/hr. So for a typical 8 hour day this equates to approx. $400 per wedding. If I need an assistant that is an extra $250 per wedding

Small Business & Liability Insurance

Client Data Storage & Backup - $60/yr

Website Hosting - $216/yr

Domain - $20/yr

Client photo gallery hosting - $288/yr

Client management software subscription - $203/yr

Photo editing software subscription - Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop $120/yr

Health Insurance, Year end bonuses, Stock options, Raises, Paid time off - Unfortunately, wedding photographers in the United States don’t have these perks so health insurance is a significant out of pocket expense.

For those couples on the hunt for wedding photographer, I hope this article can shed some light on why choosing a professional should be viewed as an investment, and by far the most important vendor on your checklist. The flowers will wilt, the cake will be eaten, the music will end and the decorations will be taken down — but the photographs will last longer than a lifetime.