2nd.... you need to hang out for some time and learn the community.
...and your pricing is more or less in the craig list area.
that may sound harsh but you clearly do not understand your business.
I did not when i first started hanging out here on FM.
a figure that is quoted around here quite often, and for good reason because there is data to back it up ... for an all day wedding (8-12 hours - your definition) the average wedding should be a little over 5K. this will include an album and maybe and engagement shoot.
This is a figure that will allow you to make a living shooting weddings.
shoot-n-burn probably $3000 (including a 2nd shooter). this depends on your area/location and living expenses.
so the $2000-2500 will be a fair amount of shooter on FM 1/2 day starting rate. (give or take area of living and other factors)
Similar to the other recent thread... pretty useless trying to gauge prices via a worldwide internet forum... Which can only be the purpose of such a thread, as far I as can see.
I charge $200 for 4000 prints and a 14"x14" album. My friend charges $10K. Doesn't really mean anything.
I'm curious... are the prices which are referred to here (like 5k or more) about the average in the US? Or am I usualy only looking at "the top of the bill" photographers of the US when I visit this forum?
I'm asking this because I basically can't imagine asking 4,000.- Euros for an 8 or 10-hour shoot in the Netherlands I'd never be able to get a shoot again I'm afraid
I guess the typical Dutchman is living on the cheap, but If I would ask for half of that amount of money I would be concidered (very) expensive, even if it would be a full package deal (album, prints, canvas, whatever)... And to be honest I never heard of couples in the Netherlands who requested (nor willing to pay for) a second shooter. Maby I am just atrackting the wrong clients... I don't know..
Anyway, right now I am charging only 950.- Euros (which is less then 1200.- USD) for a full day shoot, delivering high quality JPG files (about 300 or 350 maximum) on a DVD or USB flash drive. (for some reason my clients usually want JPG's instead of an album of any kind) And I still have trouble finding new clients
Honestly, I'd say its because your looking at the top photographers here. Now I'm not saying that everyone here is amazing, but the top photographers do tend to hang out here and the talent displayed here is more than any other forum/place I've seen. We truly have a great collection of talent on this forum.
It would be much much different hanging out on DPR, etc. Anything you see here will be worlds above the thousands of Craigslist photographers charging the $500 special, so of course the members here tend to charge more.
Mark_EL wrote:
So I guess one could say the the clients of the most FM photographers are not the average US Joe either?
Im not really familiar with this Craigslist.... but I guess I would classify as a typical "craigslist photographer" then?
I would say that the FM crowd is generally more amateur or beginner than most. The private and paid forums are mostly made up of full-time pros. Last time there was a survey here, the majority were just starting or doing it part-time or supplemental to their day jobs. So I think that the average people charge here is low compared to most pro-specific forums.
wow is there a private, paid forum section here? I never knew
Anyway I'm also doing this kind of work supplemental to my day job (about 2 years now) although I would like that to change in future time. But at my current pricing and current amount of work I'll never make enough to quit my day job completely
I think there a number of things at play here that are confusing the issue....
Mark_El... the price of 5K is not average for the US. There was just a recent wedding survey released and it said the average cost was $2186.
I think that Tony is referring to the majority of FM users here hen he references the group... not the small vocal, minority that might actually be posting their rate.
keep in mind that a lot of people aren't going to give a straight answer here on a public forum when it comes to their rates... for fear that a client 5 years from now might find the rate.
I can understand why people find it difficult to talk about their rates and I respect that. Even more, I'm not that interested in anybody's specific rates. But then, I'm not the topic starter of this thread of course
Do you think the avarage amount of 2186.- includes an album/ prints? Because that amount would be a lot closer to the Dutch average prices I guess... (but still a fair bit higher I think?)
In general, I am pretty sure that in the US an average wedding costs more then in the Netherlands. And you people get engaged too (with expensive engagement rings and nice engagement shoots!!), something that does not happen a lot anymore in the Netherlands either... Unfortunately for me as a photographer....
Actually the number comes from the PPA (USA) what you need to be profitable.
A studio that does 150+ weddings a year in here in dallas averages $5200 a wedding.
also the leads that work under their own names charge in the same ball park.
The owner takes the high end weddings - maybe 10 a year thru here personally business.
paid forums are DWF and fearless that i know of with digging around.
personally i did not really care for DWF.... tried it for 6 months.
I'd never be able to get a shoot again I'm afraid 
