p.2 #1 · Taking away the soul of wedding photography???
This is an interesting thread. Deebo has nothing to worry about - we're not fearful of open discourse about the pros and cons of photographers working with Bella.
Just as our service offering is not the best fit for all brides, our opportunity isn't ideal for all photographers. We don't try to be all things to all people. Instead, we're just positioning ourselves as an alternative to the way that wedding photography has traditionally been provided.
The marketplace will ultimately decide whether or not our model has a future. But so far, I can tell you that our growth rate has exceeded our expectations, and our client satisfaction scores outperform the overall industry average.
But with that said, wedding photography in the U.S. is a $4 Billion market. Even if Bella ever gets really, really big - and we have a long way to go before that happens - virtually 100% of weddings will still be photographed by independent photographers.
We think our opportunity is great for photographers seeking to gain experience, or who are too busy with other work, and who either can't or don't want to run a full-blown wedding business of their own. We call it "the power of and" - you can work with Bella and still pursue your own business or other work. It's not an all-or-nothing proposition.
Apparently, many photographers agree - more than 200 have gone through our paid certification program, and they shoot an average of 12 weddings per year for us. Our pay scale runs from $300 to $1200 per wedding, depending on a photographer's experience level and track record of performance.
p.2 #2 · Taking away the soul of wedding photography???
Depends on what you want, like anything else in life. Life is too short to be unhappy.
I know photogs that hate the selling and marketing -they like to shoot and a set up like this is perfect for them.
On the other hand based on my current booking averages, I clear $1700 ish a wedding for about 25 hours of work. More per hour than Bella or Big Day is paying for shoot and burn.
Also, I can't live on 50 $300 weddings a year, can you? Can anyone? No. It's purely part time, and there are lots of business models out there that depend on the soccer mom photographer, er, part time personnel (lifetouch comes to mind).
You could book one or two more weddings of your own and make as much money as doing 4 or 5 bella ones - so why do it?
BTW, I totally and 110% agree that the quality of the images are better when you have a relationship (however brief) with the couple before the wedding day.
