The cost of wedding photography

The other day I was reading another photographers blog about under pricing your work to get the job.   A few weeks ago I actually gave the lowest quote EVER on formal wedding portraits and was turned down.  They were thinking of spending less than the quote I gave them.  Now I do believe that I am a pretty darn good photographer and I have pretty decent equipment and I think (my own opinion of course) that my customers are going to get the best possible customer satisfaction. 

Personally I would like to believe that I go above and beyond.   You know why I do it though; because I LOVE it!  I honestly can't stop myself.  Taking photos is my 3rd love with my hubby and son taking 1st and 2nd.  So what does all this love of photography have to do with money?

Let me explain why I gave the cheapest wedding quote.  Twelve years ago when my husband and I got married, we could not afford to pay for a photographer.  The cheapest quote we got was $1200.00.  Our family provided many photos for us, but nonetheless they were not "professional".   When I decided to be "professional" I wanted to be affordable but I need to make a living too.  I do have limits and let me say this--- I am NOT the cheapest, but I do offer a couple cheaper wedding photography package.

Why?  Let me answer that for you.  Everyone.  Everyone should be able to afford professional portraits. What makes me different from the photographer who's cheapest price is $1200.00?  Nothing, I just want to make sure that everyone can afford to have a professional photographer at their wedding.  Even if it's only for a couple hours.

I am guessing at this point your (hopefully) wondering well what are the prices?  I am still working on that and I actually went over the new wedding prices with some customers and they felt that they were fair prices. 


 
What are the prices?  You need to call or email and set up an appointment so we can get together.  I will bring my portfolio for you to view and go over the prices and what is included with those prices, but know this, there is a price for every budget.

It's been decided...

For quite some time now I have been dabbling at the thought of changing the name of my business.  To what I had no idea, but not Amy Howe's Photography.  I had heard that you have better success not naming your company your name.  At this point though it's kind of late because those of you who have used my services or follow my work recognize me as Amy Howe's Photography.  Finally, after quite some time, I have decided on my logo: 

It probably won't always be the color but this is what I like right now and if you know me well enough you know that I am most likely bound to change it, the color not the logo! I really like this. It came to me in my new business card:

When I ordered these I thought I want to try something new, I usually get glossy because I like shiny stuff, but I thought; this time I would try the pearl stock. Excuse my language, but these new cards are "bad ass"! If you haven't got one you need to catch up with me and schedule a photo shoot. You know what I am going to do to see how many people are paying attention:

Go ahead and print that bad boy and call me up for your 10.00 photo shoot(just click it--it's a link). It must be printed for me to accept it,  but I want to share with those of you that haven't been able to make it out to the locations I have been set up at.   So tell your friends and family what I have going on!
This is crazy and there must be a catch!  No-I am not a telemarketer, I am just trying to gain new customers and cut people a break during these hard times, believe me, I understand. 

On that note, I finally gave in and joined Zenfolio.  If you would like to visit click here .  What is that?  It's where I can upload photos, and you (the customer) can purchase them at your own will and on your own time and as you wish.  There are a couple packages on there, people want packages but no one ever says what they would like in them so if you would like a package tell me what your photo sizes are and I will put it together.

You may have heard that back in April I went down south to do the photos for my little (much taller than me) brother (in law)  What a beautiful wedding.  It was so nice down south.  If you would like to see those photos click HERE!!  Here are a couple of my favorite shots:


Didn't I make them look they should be on a cover!!! I know I shouldn't have favorites, but I do, and these were not the only two, there was a whole bunch that were my favorites! Go over to Zenfolio and take a look for yourself!
That's all for tonight.   

The "Women of Abandonment" II

More recently I told everyone of my "Women of Abandonment" project. This last saturday I got my all time wish. As I progressed further into photography, and became more experienced with photoshop and forums, I started to learn about "trash the dress". This is where a bride goes out after the wedding and, well trashes the dress. Now, I truly believe you can "trash the dress" with out actually trashing it, and you do this right before you go to the cleaner. Anyway, I wanted to photograph a "trash the dress" session so badly. Unable to find a bride willing, I thought well what if it was just a trash any dress? This is how "Women of Abandonment" came along. Well last weekend, I got my wish. Kris said she wanted to be involved in my project and she said I want to wear my wedding dress! OH MY, I couldn't wait for Saturday, and I had the perfect place:








The weather wasn't very cooperative, it was a beautiful day, 70 degrees and as I got to closer to the place the rain started pouring down, the temperature dropped down to 55, and it continued this way until we were ready to leave.

The place is an abandoned dairy farm that I had already photographed, but I haven't been able to share the photos yet. There are many more photos from this adventure, but I have been so excited I had to share what I had completed.

Finally

So, I had to wait until the bride and groom seen their pictures before I could share them with the world wide web. Well that's my rule anyway. Personally I don't think it is fair for everyone else to see photos before the client themselves see them! Anyway......it did end up raining until about 3:00 p.m. which was what time the wedding was supposed to start at the park, where the bride and her maids would walk down a stone stairway onto the white runner and strut on down the isle. The rain pretty much put a damper on that! The wedding was moved to 4:00 p.m. and held at the hall that was reserved for the reception. Things were chaotic of course, well not until the girls started arriving, before that, it was actually pretty quite except for the thunder and lightning. When I left my house that afternoon the temperature gadget in my car said it was 69 degrees, by the time I left the hall that day, it had risen to a very muggy 85ish degrees. Personally I was glad that the wedding was moved into the hall with the air conditioning. Back to the hall being quiet, I arrived about two hours early to take photos of the grooms men and the groom. There was about an hour while I waited for the brides maids to arrive and luckily it worked out that I was able to get quite a few shots before the ceremony started, which is always nice!
These guys were cracking me up, especially the best man, he was full of it. It was nice to see them having a good time though, as they complained about the shoes and the no drinking rule. Even though they ignored it.

The girls like the groom as much as the guys, so they had to pick him up too:

Don't worry, they liked the bride too:

These two, were cracking everyone up, not just me!

In all seriousness, the real reason I do this
,
it's my job to capture her, and her party on the most special day of her life (until she has kids). This is the one day that a woman really gets to be a princess, and I love being the one who gets to freeze these special moments in time.

Oh yes, and being the ol' sap I am, why would I want to miss things like this:







Right now if you can't feel the love between these two, then I am doing something wrong!! This is why I like being caught up in the craziness of weddings!