What can you expect for wedding photography prices?  What is a reasonable wedding photography price?  These are questions that are asked every time someone plans a wedding, as the wedding photographer might end up being one of the more expensive parts of a wedding.  Depending on who you hire and what you are expecting, you may end up paying more than $5,000 to document the most important day.  However, with some photographers offering to shoot your wedding for as little as $500, including all the high-resolution digital negatives, which one should you choose?

When it comes to choosing your wedding photographer, price will matter.  Why?  Because price is generally a great indication of quality (with a few exceptions).    Wedding photography really is an art and a subset of photography in general, and this is important to remember.  Just because someone can take cute shots of babies and kids does not mean they will be able to cover your special day the way they want.

So, in looking at wedding photography prices and deciding which photographer to choose, consider the following points:

·         The photographer’s experience.  Photographing a wedding is not easy, requires a lot of very expensive equipment, and the ability to be versatile and quick.  Experience helps in all of these areas, and is generally also a good indicator of a person’s capabilities as a photographer—if no one liked their photos then they wouldn’t have been able to do so many weddings.  Of course, the term ‘experience’ can be misleading here.  Some wedding photographers could have shot 100 weddings and still not be as ‘experienced’ as someone who has shot 5.  How?  Well, experience is a combination of education and amount of time behind the camera equipment.  I would feel very comfortable going with a photographer who has a degree in photography or some other formal training even though they had only done a handful of weddings.  Also, remember that the more experience the photographer has the higher the wedding photography prices will be (in general). 

·         The photographer’s equipment.  Simply put, a good photographer will have good equipment.  They may prefer digital over film, but they should have good lenses, good editing software or darkroom, and good printing capabilities.  Ask them what kind of equipment they have and what they are capable of doing with that equipment.   Generally speaking, the better the equipment, the better the photos, and the higher the prices for the wedding photography. 

·         The photographer’s creative abilities.  This maybe the most important factor in determining if the wedding photography’s price is worth it.  And by worth it, I’m also referring to the $500 discount wedding photographer.  You may be able to find some who will be able to take amazing wedding pictures and document your day perfectly for $500.  They may not have the most experience or best equipment, but they are so creative and have such a good photographic ‘eye’ that it makes up for the other two factors.  In that case, you have found an amazing deal on your wedding photography.

On the other hand, you may find a $500 photographer who is creative, but doesn’t really know how to use his or her camera, lenses, and editing software properly, so your photos won’t look just the way you want them to.  Be careful with this type of photographer.  You will end up spending less now, but regretting it in the future every time you look back at your wedding album.  No picture will look great without processing it properly, especially if it is not taken properly in the first place.  One way to find out if your wedding photographer is creative AND understands the art of photography is to check the photographer’s ability to control depth of field.  Controlling depth of field allows a photographer to focus and draw attention to their main subject, enhancing it and making it stand out.  It is also difficult to learn and requires good lenses to be able to do.

One last bit of advice when it comes to a photographer’s creative abilities.  I have also seen many photographers with wedding prices in the $4,000 - $5,000 range who did not have a great creative sense, or at least who had a creative sense that clashed with mine.  Look at as many pictures as you can in deciding if the wedding photography prices are worth it.  If you can, look at all the final shots for a single wedding.  This will give you a much better feel for the photographer—much better than just looking at the 3 best pictures from each wedding the photographer has done.  They may be able to get 3 good pictures, but can they get 30?  If they are worth the price you are paying them, then they will be able to do so.

Overall, remember that this day is special and deserves a good photographer.  If you can’t afford the more expensive wedding photography prices then you will have to look harder, and probably consider taking a chance on a less experienced photographer.  However, because it is so much easier to learn photography these days (due to the advancements in digital photography) you will also have many more choices, and many of those choices will be the less expensive, less experienced, but highly creative photographer who will do a great job.

Let me know what you think, and please share your experiences with your wedding photographer.