Why is wedding photography so expensive?

It's harder now to find the right wedding photographer than any time in the past.  The "digital revolution" has led to hundreds of new photographers.  Camera's are cheaper, there's no film or developing cost... it's never been easier to buy a camera and market yourself as a wedding photographer.

So, why do some photographers cost $500 and some cost $5000?

In this post, I'm going to let you in on some of the secrets behind modern wedding photography and how you can find the right photographer for your budget.

Let's start by looking at a broad number:  35%.  According to the Professional Photographers Association of America, that's the target profit margin for a wedding photographer.  The target.  Many make less.  So, for every $1000 that a photographer charges, figure he's probably taking home $200-$350 after expenses.  Of all the vendors you hire for your wedding, your photographer will have the greatest overhead.  I carry $10,000 worth of equipment to a wedding... equipment that gets broken and must be repaired or upgraded.  I have a website, marketing materials, studio management software, graphic design software, insurance, advertising, etc.  That's where 65%-75% of your money goes.

NEW! Gallery Blocks!

We have a brand new product at Booray Perry Photography and it is really something special!

Gallery Blocks are a new take on the classic gallery canvas look. Unlike a canvas wrap, where the canvas is stretched over a frame, your images are bonded to a solid-wood construction. This allows for lots of variety in design and a unique three-dimensional shape. It's also solid and heavy because it's solid wood!

The background image can be whatever you choose.  For the gallery block above I used a picture of the beach to compliment the beach portraits. 

Refraining from using the phrase "small world"

As you probably already know, my wife owns a beach wedding business called Perfect Florida Beach Wedding.  She stages small beach weddings in Tampa, Clearwater and St. Peterburg.

Today she got a call from a woman who is looking for some work.  She is a minister and wedding officiant.

"I'm thinking of moving to St. Petersburg," she said, "and I don't know that I want to start my business up all over again.  It might be better to just work for someone else for a while."

Bobbi chatted with her for a bit and as she was talking, she went to her website online.  The woman looked familiar.

"You live in St. Thomas" Bobbi asked?

"Yes"

"You marry people at Meghan's Bay?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, you won't have to audition if you work for us," Bobbi said.

"Why not," she asked?

"Because you married us" Bobbi answered.

Does this mean I can call myself "Award Winning"

I'm a member of the Tampa Area Professional Photographers Association.  I joined last year, mainly because I felt that I didn't know enough of my fellow photographers in Tampa.  It's been a great experience so far, everyone is very nice and welcoming.

One of the things that they take very seriously in The Professional Photographers of America is competition.  It's called a "Salon" and it's very cool to watch.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  There are three judges and your score is the average of their three scores.  The judges are free to challenge any score and argue with the other judges.  It was fascinating to watch the whole process.

I should point out that the biggest reason that I enjoyed it so much is that there seems to be great care taken to reach a fair decision.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am argumentative by nature.  If there's a contest, I'm the first person to point out any potential flaw in the judging, etc.  The PPA system of judging is very impressive.  (I won't go into it here, I'm sure it's online somewhere.)

Fastest Photo Booth in Tampa Bay?

So, I was all set for the Father/Daughter Dance at McKitrick Elementary.  I was going to set up a portrait station with professional lighting (just like last year), only this year we would be printing every picture on site so that everyone would have a keepsake to take home to Mom.

The week before the dance I get an email from the school.  The demand for tickets was a little more than expected (oops!) and they were expecting over 500 people for the two-and-a-half hour dance.

Well, I like to think that I can work fast but I can't work THAT fast!

So, we converted to The Vogue Booth.  There are several key differences between a portrait station and The Vogue Booth.  With a portrait station you bring posing stools and big lights.  With The Vogue Booth there are no chairs and I use a ring flash.  Vogue Booth prints look more like a photo booth print (but better because of the ring flash).  No posing stool means we can shoot faster.

It's "Mr. Mean" to you pal...

Today, Bobbi walked into the living room and said, "Someone is using one of our pictures on their website."

Bobbi is designing a new arbor for Perfect Florida Beach Wedding and was looking for inspiration.  She came across a website that rents arbors in another state and was quite surprised to discover a picture from http://www.perfectfloridabeachwedding.com/ .

It's a picture of a rose petal heart in the sand.  Bobbi built it, I photographed it.  It has her company logo stamped in the bottom right-hand corner.

The one that was on the other website was enlarged and had the logo photoshopped out.  They kept the nice custom black border and drop shadow that I created, however.

Needless to say, Bobbi was shocked.  "What should I do?" she asked.

Tampa Photo Booth

Our unique take on the  Tampa photo booth called "The Vogue Booth" continues to grow and evolve.  We have always offered professional lighting and photography with beautiful 4x6 prints delivered in less than 30 seconds but now we are offering something new.

Mr. Mustache.

What's Mr. Mustache?  Well, I'm glad you asked!

We took our normal photo booth setup and streamlined it even further.  With the addition of a fashion photographer's light we can now remove the bigger portrait lights and take up less room at the event.  The whole thing fits into a space abot 5x7 feet but still has much more room to pose than a traditional booth.  The fashion light gives us those cool, Vogue shots with no shadow.  We can use this setup for any of the Vogue Booth setups (Mardi Gras, Portrait, Mr. Mustache..) but we designed it with Mr. Mustache in mind.

It was Bobbi's idea and it's a great one.  Everyone who has a photobooth does boa's and sunglasses so we want to offer something different.  The mustaches make for great pictures!  (Of course, we have the boa's and sunglasses too..)

We recently had a beach wedding with a really fun couple so we brought along the mustaches for fun!

As is the case with all our photo booths, we can custom design a border for the prints that is perfect for your event.

Booray Perry is an award-winning wedding photographer in Tampa Florida.Getting married on the beach?  Here's how to have the perfect Florida beach wedding!
Nothing makes a party more fun than The Vogue Booth.  Tampa's Best Photobooth!
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