If you were getting married how many photos would you be happy for the photographer to give?

fmian · Aug 21, 2015

Hi there,

i know asking this question here might give a skewed result because we're all mostly into photography and cameras and have strong mindsets and opinions on things. But it's a good place to start.

'If you were getting married and hired a photographer how many photos would you be happy for them to deliver?'

Please note: this is a distinctly different question to how many photos would you expect to be delivered or how many photos would you deliver.

If you've already married and had a photographer, regardless of how many photos you actually got, try to tell me how many you would have been happy with anyway.

I'm trying to figure out what end clients for events would be happy with.

Parameters: 6-8 hour event. You're paying them between $1000-$2000. 200 Guests.

If I've missed anything you feel is important please feel free to mention it and how it affects your answer.

Thanks in advance

Celsus · Aug 21, 2015

I've shot many of those kinds of wedding. Now that I know how many photos I can take in such circumstances (including keeper rates, etc), I am convinced the wedding photog industry is a bigass ripoff. All these idiots doing dinosaurs-in-the-bush and jump-in-the-air shots are just making up for lack of true creativity with the frame (and gullible market).

For a wedding event shoot, I would be happy with 500+ photos for that kind of money. For a wedding portrait shoot (where creativity and compositional thought is much more required), about 100.

fmian · Aug 21, 2015

Celsus said:
For a wedding portrait shoot (where creativity and compositional thought is much more required), about 100.

How many hours would a portrait shoot like that go for?

Celsus · Aug 21, 2015

fmian said:
Celsus said:

For a wedding portrait shoot (where creativity and compositional thought is much more required), about 100.

Click to expand...

How many hours would a portrait shoot like that go for?

Depends on the B&G's stamina, whether they know how to pose (almost never), booking slot, etc. But there's big diminishing returns by the 3rd hour. Usually I'd want to keep it at 2 hours tops.

buybuybuy · Aug 21, 2015

If you're shooting for me or somebody I know, you had better hand over RAWs for all of the 1001+ images I expect you to shoot!

But don't worry: I'll have acquainted you with my demands at the outset. During your stern talking-to, if I sense that you can't rise to the occasion, you don't get my business! You get the door!

Photographers these days can be quite lazy, but nothing whips them into shape and straightens their backs better than a strongly worded contract.

donaldsc · Aug 21, 2015

Pitbullo · Aug 22, 2015

I never shoot weddings, actually, I dont shoot for money at all, but if I were, I would never ever give away the raws.

Mark Smith145430 · Aug 22, 2015

I'd give them 100-150 prints in a very high quality leather album, if they need lot of reportage type shots possibly a few more shots.

Its a fact that most couples look at the album a few times and pop it on the bookshelf-they might want a large print for the wall. Also $2000 sounds very reasonable for a well executed wedding, those leather albums and prints aren't cheap.

Pantyhose Bandit · Aug 22, 2015

I would not hire a photographer. I'd have a friend do posed shots at the alter and that's it. They could use their phone for the photos.
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Doug J · Aug 22, 2015

We married ~35 years ago. Today I would want about the same as back then, 75 +/- photos is enough. We hired a pro back then, as I would do today, I'd want JPGs on CD/DVD, but not necessarily the raw files as I'd hire an accomplished pro that can shoot well - technically & compositionally, and do a good job in PP.

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Moti · Aug 22, 2015

buybuybuy said:
If you're shooting for me or somebody I know, you had better hand over RAWs for all of the 1001+ images I expect you to shoot!

If I'm shooting you you can forget about it. I never hand over RAW files, especially not to arrogant amateurs who think they know better than the photographer.

buybuybuy said:
But don't worry: I'll have acquainted you with my demands at the outset. During your stern talking-to, if I sense that you can't rise to the occasion, you don't get my business! You get the door!

What makes you think that I'll agree to work with someone like you at the first place? Luckily in my country, I have the privilege to refuse working with smart ass troublemakers with that kind of stupid attitude.

buybuybuy said:
Photographers these days can be quite lazy, but nothing whips them into shape and straightens their backs better than a strongly worded contract.

They are not lazy. They are just BAD. Craig's list is full of people who call themselves wedding photographers just because they have bought a nice digital camera and have found the shutter release button. Strongly worded contract won't make it any better.

Moti

Moti · Aug 22, 2015

In my book, good wedding photography is judged by quality and not by quantity. By the number of times you enjoy to look at them and not by the number of the images,

So for me, the exact number is'nt that important as long as they tell the story of the day in a beautiful way, preferable in a form of a nice artistically designed wedding album.

Moti

Celsus · Aug 22, 2015

Moti said:
In my book, good wedding photography is judged by quality and not by quantity. By the number of times you enjoy to look at them and not by the number of the images,

So for me, the exact number is'nt that important as long as they tell the story of the day in a beautiful way, preferable in a form of a nice artistically designed wedding album.

I agree with this 100%. While I answered what I'd be happy to get, the amount I'd actually give in a commercial shoot is about half that.

Unless it's for friends. For friends' weddings I've shot, I've averaged giving them about 600-700 photos (out of about 1200-1500 shots). My own wedding was shot by a friend and he gave me just over 1,000 photos. That was actually too many and it took me ages to sort through (I was not a big Photoshop user at the time, though I was familiar with Adobe CS4 and underestimated how much work that would be). In fact for someone who doesn't have a post-processing workflow, 600-700 would probably be too many as well, and so I always subdivide it into folders with a "highlights", "detail", "kids", "group photos" etc so they know what to do with them.

stardotstar · Aug 22, 2015

That's a long event I would expect that, with digital, you could provide a lot of "good" pic from your many, many taken!

buybuybuy · Aug 22, 2015

Moti said:
buybuybuy said:

If you're shooting for me or somebody I know, you had better hand over RAWs for all of the 1001+ images I expect you to shoot!

Click to expand...

If I'm shooting you you can forget about it. I never hand over RAW files, especially not to arrogant amateurs who think they know better than the photographer.

Your kind loves to talk the talk online, but in person, I've bent many of your kind to my will. It's remarkable how quickly people will abandon their cherished beliefs when a little pocket-change is thrown at their feet.

Moti said:
Moti said:

But don't worry: I'll have acquainted you with my demands at the outset. During your stern talking-to, if I sense that you can't rise to the occasion, you don't get my business! You get the door!

Click to expand...

What makes you think that I'll agree to work with someone like you at the first place?

When you're on your hands and knees scrounging for every last greenback, you'll know the answer to your question.

bb69cba42c86426daf65515ef11b554a.jpg.gif

Moti said:
Luckily in my country, I have the privilege to refuse working with smart ass troublemakers with that kind of stupid attitude.

Moti said:

Photographers these days can be quite lazy, but nothing whips them into shape and straightens their backs better than a strongly worded contract.

Click to expand...

They are not lazy. They are just BAD. Craig's list is full of people who call themselves wedding photographers just because they have bought a nice digital camera and have found the shutter release button. Strongly worded contract won't make it any better.

In my experience, the worst ones--and you sound just like them--offer highly contrived, ritualistic photographs that merely reinforce social and cultural norms and offer a consummately shallow rendition of reality.

Indeed, as Goffman (1979; as cited in Charles, 1997) notes, wedding photography "hyper-ritualizes" and stereotypes gender roles in so-called "romantic" poses that often have the woman subtly (and sometimes, overtly) subservient to the man--poses that are ostensibly chivalric, but undeniably sexist and ultimately serve to perpetuate patriarchal ideology.

Refs:

Lewis, Charles. "Hegemony in the ideal: Wedding photography, consumerism, and patriarchy." Women's Studies in Communication 20.2 (1997): 167-188.

Mark B. · Aug 22, 2015

Pitbullo said:
I never shoot weddings, actually, I dont shoot for money at all, but if I were, I would never ever give away the raws.

Believe me, neither would any professional wedding photogs I know. They aren't hacks either, they're very good at what they do.

Marty4650 · Aug 22, 2015

The four who want "1000+" photos of their wedding.

There are really a limited number of photo opportunities you have at a wedding. Do they really need 40 photos of someone cutting a cake? Or 60 photos of the flower girl?

With a divorce rate over 50%, you really have to wonder how many billion dollars worth of wedding photos end up in landfills.....

(The odds are, your next wife won't appreciate you keeping your wedding photos from a previous marriage).

Vlad S · Aug 22, 2015

I think the best a photographer could do with a client like this, is to refer them to the photographer's worst enemy.

Vlad

buybuybuy said:
If you're shooting for me or somebody I know, you had better hand over RAWs for all of the 1001+ images I expect you to shoot!

But don't worry: I'll have acquainted you with my demands at the outset. During your stern talking-to, if I sense that you can't rise to the occasion, you don't get my business! You get the door!

Photographers these days can be quite lazy, but nothing whips them into shape and straightens their backs better than a strongly worded contract.

puttin · Aug 23, 2015

I have been asked a few times to shoot weddings and declined not wanting the problems. I have done it a couple times for very good friends but gave them the photos as a wedding gift. Mostly around 300-400 pics, They were always happy with that but maybe it was because it was free.

The Davinator · Aug 23, 2015

Marty4650 said:
The four who want "1000+" photos of their wedding.

There are really a limited number of photo opportunities you have at a wedding. Do they really need 40 photos of someone cutting a cake? Or 60 photos of the flower girl?

With a divorce rate over 50%, you really have to wonder how many billion dollars worth of wedding photos end up in landfills.....

(The odds are, your next wife won't appreciate you keeping your wedding photos from a previous marriage).

If you were getting married how many photos would you be happy for the photographer to give?

If you were getting married how many photos would you be happy for the photographer to give?

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