I agree stongly with David.

Therefore, I wont repeat what he said. I am getting into wedding photography. I have noticed, now that I'm in the thick of it, that there are many, many people willing to do entire wedding for almost nothing. I can't figure it out. How can they do it so cheaply. Then, it dawned on me...they have different living situations than I do. For instance, I ran into one guy who boasts about how wedding photographers charge way too much for photography services. He says that we are not all great photographers, and therefore cannot command outrageous prices. However, when I pushed him, he does it part-time. He is retired with a very nice retirement package from the job he used to have. So, he doesn't need the money. He does it for fun. His motivation is different than mine, in that, I have to support a family.

This lesson taught me that even though we are all photographers, we are not all on the same page. And the price charged vary's by circumstance.

That is not to say that either of us is right about the amount to charge. But, if I tried to compete with him, directly, I would lose based on price. However, not on quality, IMO. His pic's were kind of lame. He had a ho-hum approach to the whole thing. Really cheesy work.

But, I am finding that many people first want to know price, and only after they know that, are willing to discuss further. I don't mind. I am smarter than most and I can play that silly game. The problem is you really need to understand what the client wants and expects before you can lay down a price. If someone walks up and says, I want to know how much you charge for 4 hours at my wedding, I have about 100 questions before I can give an answer. Of course, depending on how they ask, will depend on how many quesitons I ask. If I sense that they are just looking for the lowest possible price, I probably will just say something like $400/hour, take it or leave it. However, if they are more interested in seeing my work, if they ask how I approach wedding photography, if they ask about my equipment, the film I use, what style I prefer, my years of experience. Then, I feel I am speaking to someone who cares about the photography and is not just fishing for the lowest priced photographer in America.

I took the very long way around to say that you cannot base your prices on what other people do. You just have to charge based on what you feel you can deliver to your client, and their willingness to pay that price. We are in the relationship business.

Photography is not a commodity.

Toes