How Much to Shoot?

[codyj1286]

Hello Everyone,

 

I just recently booked another wedding, and have a few questions about

some general wedding shooting, especially film usage. I've shot a

couple weddings before, for hire, so this isn't extremely new to me.

The other weddings were for friends, so I wasn't too stickler on

prices that I would charge, or concerned about how much I would make

in pure profit. Photography is more of a hobby for me, so getting the

most out of my "investements" through weddings is not practical.

 

So, my last wedding I used 8 rolls of 36 exposures, and I know that

there were quite a bit of misses, but many, many great shots. This

recent wedding is booked for a friend of a friend, and I want to get

them great pictures, but I do want to make a fair profit off of the

endeavor. I'm charging what I feel is extremely fair (very cheap

compared to local pro's, but thats obvious). I do an arrangement

where I figure out how much coverage they want, give them the price,

and then they are "buying" the negatives/digital files. They get a 3x

or 4x proof print of every shot, their choice, and then after editing

and such of digital files, and developing the color prints, I hand

them over. I don't have the capacity or need to charge people on

reprints (I'd rather them keep their treasured moments than I, college

scene's aren't too "archival")

 

Anyway, I'm thinking I can do this wedding easily with a max of 5

rolls of 36exp, I will bring more film but the 5 is just a goal. I

also bring my Rebel XT for some nice filler casual shots, and can

easily fill that up as well. I don't want to shortchange these

people, but I'm giving them a great price for what they are getting.

Shooting more film, and getting extra shots should cost more

considering how I charge for weddings, and considering the price I

already gave I don't want to blow all of my profit by "overshooting"

their wedding.

 

Refining pictures and using compositional talent by restraining and

taking great pictures is better than *exaggeration* just firing off at

4fps. If anyone could give some real life examples or just

professional insight/suggestions I would be greatly appreciated.

While weddings may not be my photographic specialty, I really do

admire photographers that excell in this field, its a ton of work, and

enormous pressure!

 

Thanks All!

[michaelmowery]

I don't know if you are gaing good experence by limiting your shots. The last thing you

want to be doing is counting shots. I would in your case, charge by the roll. It would only

benifit both you and the client even more. Through my experience of 13 years of shooting

weddings no two weddings are alike and you never know what will happen. I can never

guess how much film i will shoot. For the professional and i mean those of us who make

our living by shooting weddings, we charge enough and beyond to cover X amount of film

and then some plus a mark up on that as well. That is one reason we charge more than

you. So getting back to my suggestion for your type of gig. I would redo my pricing to

incorporate a per roll basis. Otherwise charge for 20 rolls and incorporate it in your price

and be done with it.

 

Michael

[pmj]

I would agree with Michael.

 

Base your price on the number of rolls you actually shoot.

 

I am not a professional (wedding) photographer, but occasionally I am asked to take

pictures at some event. I charge the amount it costs me to shoot the event and leave

it up to my client to add, well, a tip, if they want. They get the prints, negatives

and, optionally, a CD with scans. This CD is made by the photo lab, not by me spending

hours at my computer scanning negatives. I collect the receipts and hand them over.

If they want more advanced services, such as editing, better scans, album making,

web design etc., I will always suggest they hire a professional.

 

I do try to get a feeling for the number of rolls they expect. I would not want to

show up with 3 rolls of pictures when they expect only 1. This has never been a

problem, though once I've been asked if I could shoot less then on a previous occasion.

 

Please note that I only shoot a couple of events per year and that the above approach is probably not the best way to start one's own business. My day job is writing software and I do not intend to make a switch :-)

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Each wedding will be a little different, if you are covering the getting ready shots, pre-ceremony, ceremony, formals, & reception I think you can easily use 14-18 rolls of film. Also, keep in mind a short roll or two.......if it's just a few minutes before the processional, toast, cake cutting sequence and you're in frame #24 or more, you'll need to reload or grab your backup camera. When I was using just film, I would routinely take 25 rolls of film so that I had plenty to spare. I recently shot just a reception for a couple that were married in St Lucia but had their reception later here in Chicagoland and took more shots there than I did for another full day wedding which included having an assistant shooting at the reception.

[conraderb]

I'm a bit confused - you shoot Canon DSLR. Do you shoot Canon film SLR? If so, have you thought of using your Rebel XT exclusively? Great high iso performance after all. 'cheaper' for the couple - if you can keep the post processing time down...

 

if you don't shoot canon film SLR, what are you shooting with for film?

 

CE

[codyj1286]

Great ideas, I will definately be trying to incorporate a cost per roll situation. Here is some

more background information about the general shoot, and then I'll add/ask about the

Digital question brought up. This is a whole event coverage, they want me there for

rehersal (I'll be shooting some candids there, as well as getting set up for the actual

wedding) formals, actual event, and reception. The most recent wedding I did all of that

coverage in nine rolls, which is why the roll question was important to me. Charging by

roll fixes the issues of costs being too great for actual profit earned from event. I'll be

using Porta for film, and developing it "professionally" at the local dev store, which adding

total costs it is around $20 per roll (film, dev, 4x of all pics).

 

So with that info, I'd like to ask a couple extra questions about the situation and what you

would do. I default to shooting in film, just because its more "traditional" but it is more

expensive to develop due to the scemantics of using the medium. I do have a Canon

350D (Rebel XT) which for all intent and purpose to me, is equal in photograph quality to

the professional model 20D (Rebel just having more computerized menu options where as

the 20D has more buttons). Shooting the wedding in digital is something I would be

interested in, and I have enough experience using my digital to know how to use it in the

moment. Quality questions rise up between digital and film, and it all depends on exactly

what the customer wants, but it would be loads cheaper in cost if I shot 90% of the event

in digital. Using portrait films for formals only might to of an advantage.

 

Thanks Again!

[khaisy]

I agree with Micheal, do not limit yourself of how many shoots, I charge $ 40 for each extra roll

[david_schilling___chicago_]

One way to save a few bucks is to shoot film and have the film processed and scanned rather than having paper prints.......make up some contact sheets with photoshop and have the local biz supply store do a spiral binding as a proofbook.