If you would like to know more about my wedding packages or portrait sessions just give me a call and we can set up a meeting time.

It’s that time of the year when lovers get engaged.  If you’re reading this you are probably one of the lucky ones, so congratulations.  Now the fun begins.  You are going to be deciding a date, a location, a dress and yes there is more….you have to pick the florist, the rings, the invitations, the person who is going to marry you, the reception, the caterer, who is going to sit where, and oh yes, the photographer.

You certainly have a lot on your plate.  So I hope that I can help you with choosing the right photographer.  I HIGHLY recommend that you attend at least one bridal show.  I am currently getting prepared for the Charlotte Bridal Show and Expo this Sunday, February 19^th from 1-4pm at the Hilton Charlotte University Place.  If you go please stop by my booth and say Hi.

First and foremost, ask for recommendations from everyone.  Then take a look at the photographer’s website.  Do you like what you see?  You do..Great!  Now go talk to the photographers.  Do you like their personality and style?  Keep in mind that the photographer will be spending a lot of time with you especially on your wedding day.  He or she will become your BFF for the day.  If you like the photos, but not the personality, don’t hire them.  It’s your wedding, not just a photo shoot.

Secondly, the saying goes: “you get what you pay for” and that is true and there are no exceptions.  Here is the down and dirty.  All photographers are in it to make money.  I am included in this.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  We need to eat and pay our bills just like everyone else.  Photographers want to have a great personal relationship with you because it does reflect on the images we take, but this is still a business for us.

Let’s break this down.  Let’s say you hire a photographer for just the wedding.  You want them to come about 1.5 hours before to take family portraits, which isn’t a lot of time.  We all know that someone in the wedding party will get lost, run late, leave a tie or shoe or something back at the hotel and have to go back and get it.  You also want a second photographer so that one photographer is with you and the other is with your soon to be spouse.  The ceremony from the guests walking in to be seated to you walking out the door as married may take about 1.5 hrs.  Then you want some photos after the ceremony and you decide to set an hour aside for this.  Keep in mind there will always be someone not where they are suppose to be and you will have to go round them up.  I usually have an assistant help me with this.

Now, you have 2 photographers and 1 assistant working for you on capturing this most of sacred days.  We want to get paid.  Let’s say we want to make at least minimum wage.  I am not sure what that is now, so let’s just say $10 an hour.  So 3 people all wanting to get paid $10 per hour x 4 hours.  That’s $120 and that sounds great. 

Now your wondering well why then, am I paying them so much more?  Great question and I am so glad you brought that up.  Here is the skinny.  After I leave that 4 hour wedding I spend about 40 hours going through the images, getting rid of the duds and editing the good one so that they look fantastic for you to view.  So now let’s check the math…

40hrs x $10= $400

When the photos are ready I call you up and invite you to my studio to view the photos. (By the way, I am not adding the rent or utilities for my studio in this breakdown.  It would get too confusing.)  My studio is in my home.  I always like to entertain my guests by making an evening out of it.  You and your spouse and maybe your mother come to the first showing of the photos.  We open a bottle of wine ($20) maybe order a pizza ($20) and we begin to view a projected slide show.  (I am not even going to tell you what a projector runs, but when the light bulb breaks it can cost me $200.)  The slide show is professionally done and cost me about $100 to make.

You stay for about 2 hours and I am taking notes of any editing changes you may want me to make.  So then I can spend about 10 more hours adjusting the photos that you wanted to tweak.

So let’s check our math so far.

We want to make at least, for argument sake $10 an hour.

Wedding                              $120

Editing                                  $400

Wine                                     $ 20

Pizza                                      $ 20

Slide Show                          $100

Additional Editing             $100

Once this is all done I am sure you want them posted on the web so that everyone that you want to can view and order photos.  This runs me around $100.  From there you want to decide your wedding album.  Depending on what kind of album and additional ad no’s like your name and wedding date, maybe a window on the cover and so on, for this discussion, let’s just say it will cost me, the photographer $500 to make.  It will also require me to spend some time laying out the album, sending it to you for approval and then sending it to the printers.  That will take around 4 hours.  4hrs x$10=$40.

So let’s look at the total: $1400

Now I don’t know about you, but I work very hard perfecting my skills, keeping up my equipment and advertising for new customers.  I need to make more than $1400 per wedding to do all this.

If you are still reading this, you have to be asking “why I am telling you all of this?”  You need to be an informed consumer.  If you find a photographer who is going to shoot your wedding for a very cheap price you have to ask yourself what you are getting. 

You only get one day for your wedding, make sure you have a professional capture those memories for you.  I am all about finding bargains, but make sure it’s a bargain you can live with. 

Just because someone owns a fancy, expensive camera doesn’t mean they are a professional photographer.  So do a little research and see what you come up with.

I would pick 3 photographers: one in the upper range of your budget; one in the mid range, and then one in the lower range.  Figure out what you are getting with the most expensive photographer, what you are not getting from the lower range photographer.  Then see if the mid range photographer meets your needs, if not go for the upper range photographer. 

A year from now, when you are looking at your wedding album, are you going to remember what you paid for it?  Or will you be thinking “I made a big mistake and I just don’t like these photos”?

I hope this helps you in making your decision.  I know most people don’t want to get caught up in the nuts and bolts of the business end of this, and I am sure some photographers are not comfortable with me telling you all this.  But I believe that an informed customer is one who will appreciate where there hard earned money is going.  You will be much happier in the long run.

bella und guy

Madea’s Senior Pictures

The Address is 501 E. 36th, Charlotte.
See You there.

As promised I am changing the way Our Family Photo does business.  I wanted to offer products that merge my photography with art to create one of a kind pieces of art that can become family Heirlooms.  Each piece is hand made using light weight, blocks of wood.  There are so many designs to choose from and portions of the pieces are customizable.  You really have to see it in person to get the full effect.  I tried to show you in the photos the details that go into these pieces of art. 

For a limited time I am taking 30% off these pieces when you book your portrait session. 

Art Couture VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

As promised I am changing the way Our Family Photo does business. I wanted to offer products that merge my photography with art to create one of a kind pieces of art that can become family Heirlooms. Each piece is hand made using light weight, blocks of wood. There are so many designs to choose from and portions of the pieces are customizable. You really have to see it in person to get the full effect. I tried to show you in the photos the details that go into these pieces of art.

For a limited time I am taking 30% off these pieces when you book your portrait session.

New Born Hunter