I really salute you for being able to prosper in this horrible economy.
It takes a mixture of talent, personality, business and photography skill
to be able to bring in those clients on a continuous basis.
RichardLavigne wrote:
My question is... What do you consider higher end?
Someone who's actually good at what they do and provides consistent results. In financial terms, it means someone who is capable of justifying charging a lot more than I can.
i think the term "high end" in terms of a dollar amount is largely based on your geographic location. as i am sure the average wedding photographer price here where i am is higher then many averages across the USA. so does that make all the "average end" photographers now high end?
For ME, higher end consists of $5,000.00 and up. Didn't mean to make this a finger pointing thread. I just know how tough it is to work in this profession and after doing this for over 20 years and have seen the changes, I salute those who have the talent, skills and abilities to work in the higher end. Whether it be because they are skilled, great ass kissers or whatever. Doesn't matter.
For ME, when I book a package of say $2700.00 im ecstatic. That's where I'm coming from.
Marti.g3, maybe you should raise your pricing to $5000? I've personally been moving into this price range by both choice and the fact that the middle range of photography doesn't really exist anymore in our market and going up is better than going down. This has taken an absolute ton of work over the last 6 years of my career to achieve. It is about politics, hard work, talent. In that order. Above that it is absolutely who you know. Are there people in the high end that aren't that good? Absolutely, but most can actually shoot rather well. There's a guy I know that is a horrific photographer and has a stinky personality. He's old and bitter but there's a coordinator who has a soft spot for him so he shoots big jobs.
But sustaining a career in the high end of wedding photography in a city like LA has so many aspects of what makes you successful it would take a very long post to cover them all. Just show up at a million dollar wedding and try to command a day like that. It's a ton of pressure. Sometimes immense pressure. Make a mistake? The coordinator will come down on you like Thor's hammer (and rightfully so). It takes chops to show up and command situations like that and to come through with awesome photography. It is almost impossible to get in with high end coordinators or hotels in larger markets unless you already have worked with them. However I've never been a butt kisser and most high enders of influence see through those people who partake in this and dislike them. Most of these coordinators have hundreds to thousands of photographers from around the world trying to get in with them. When people are surrounded by noise, they tend to dial the noise out so they can function. That said, $2700 is kind of an odd place to be in today's CA market (for those who are behind the times, California's economy is in horrific shape). If you don't mind, what does that include?
cineski wrote:
Marti.g3, maybe you should raise your pricing to $5000? I've personally been moving into this price range by both choice and the fact that the middle range of photography doesn't really exist anymore in our market and going up is better than going down. This has taken an absolute ton of work over the last 6 years of my career to achieve. It is about politics, hard work, talent. In that order. Above that it is absolutely who you know. Are there people in the high end that aren't that good? Absolutely, but most can actually shoot rather well. There's a guy I know that is a horrific photographer and has a stinky personality. He's old and bitter but there's a coordinator who has a soft spot for him so he shoots big jobs.
But sustaining a career in the high end of wedding photography in a city like LA has so many aspects of what makes you successful it would take a very long post to cover them all. Just show up at a million dollar wedding and try to command a day like that. It's a ton of pressure. Sometimes immense pressure. Make a mistake? The coordinator will come down on you like Thor's hammer (and rightfully so). It takes chops to show up and command situations like that and to come through with awesome photography. It is almost impossible to get in with high end coordinators or hotels in larger markets unless you already have worked with them. However I've never been a butt kisser and most high enders of influence see through those people who partake in this and dislike them. Most of these coordinators have hundreds to thousands of photographers from around the world trying to get in with them. When people are surrounded by noise, they tend to dial the noise out so they can function. That said, $2700 is kind of an odd place to be in today's CA market (for those who are behind the times, California's economy is in horrific shape). If you don't mind, what does that include?...Show more →
I can't command higher pricing. My top package is 3900.00. My work is good, not great, but more than that, I don't have the branding or connections with cooridnators or higher end venues. I'm just an old school wedding guy slowly fading away as younger brides gravitate towards younger, hipper photographers who may not do better work, but have the rapport with the younger client that makes them want to book. A very telling sign was recently when a bride stated "Oh, from your work, I thought you would be much younger".........
It is what it is. I can't turn back the clock. I've done my time in this industry and it's not getting any easier. The money is just not there to sustain what I built up all of my life.
I had another career before going full time. That gave me the lifestyle that I wanted. But
that ended abruptly and I was forced into pursuing photography. Things were actually great until the recession, then it all started to unravel. Over saturation of photographers,
people out of work, bookings started to go down, it's was all a complete perfect storm.
I know that there are many more like me out there that we'll never know about.
camerausername wrote:
I would guess those charging the most have been hurt less because those who pay the most have prospered while the middle class has been driven down.
I agree. Years ago, the entire industry was much different. Makes me sad to see
the changes in terms of what we can charge due to many variables in the industry. Not
to beat a dead horse, but a major one was influx of the cheap photographer who drove prices and the reputation of the wedding photographer down. It wasn't like that back in the medium format film days.
