Wedding Photography: why is it so expensive?

Most brides and grooms would like to hire a professional wedding photographer (and possibly also a videographer) to capture the memories from their wedding day.

Some brides and grooms are put off by the seeming high cost of wedding photography. After all, nearly a month’s salary seems a lot to spend on some wedding photographs! Doesn't it? Or does it?

For a wedding photographer to make a living wage from wedding photography, these elements have to be factored into any wedding photography package:

• A wedding photographer’s work is seasonal (usually limited to the spring/summer months) and there are only a limited numbers of commissions that a single wedding photographer can undertake. For instance, of a maximum 52 weekends of the year, a solo wedding photographer may take on only 20-35 weddings a year.
• A wedding photographer also has to pay taxes, insurance and equipment i.e. computers/camera/lenses. (A professional camera body can cost anything from £1,800 upwards and professional lenses from £900 to £1,200 each. Also editing software and computers are also not cheap). Professional albums are also an added cost.
• The time that the wedding photographer spends with you on your wedding day is not the only time spent on your commission. Behind the scenes, the photographer spends time editing the photographs from the engagement shoot/wedding, uploading onto the online gallery and designing wedding albums afterwards.
• Wedding photographers may also visit your wedding venue in advance to scope out the best places for photography.
• However it is not just about equipment, a wedding photographer also will continually invest in his/her own development and training so that they increase their skill set to give you the best possible wedding photographs.

The wedding photographs will be the only thing that you will have after the wedding - a heirloom you can show your kids and grandchildren. You may not look at your album everyday, but they are there everytime when you are ready to take a trip down memory lane.


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Urban Bridesmaid Photography... is a new concept in contemporary wedding photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London, UK and beyond.

www.urbanbridesmaid.com

For any enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London and the UK, contact Louisa on louisa@urbanbridesmaid.com

New Facebook Home Page

I have been thinking it would be good if the Urban Bridesmaid Photography Fanpage - now a Likepage (!?!) looked more like a homepage of a website instead of just a wall of posts.


And funnily enough, other people have been thinking the same too. FB Adz have come up with a video and tutorial of how to make a new custom welcome page for your facebook fan page - over on their website. It is easy to do and you don't need in depth knowledge of FMBL.




Here is my new facebook fan page in action - what do you think?  Check the new UrbanBridesmaid Facebook fanpage and become a fan/like it!




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Urban Bridesmaid Photography is a new concept in contemporary wedding and portrait photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London and beyond.
For enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London, UK and beyond contact Urban Bridesmaid Photography.To be the first to see all the latest work, become a fan on Facebook or follow on Twitter!
London wedding photographer //Wedding photography London

Getting Ready Wedding Photographs

When considering wedding photography for your big day, one of the questions bride and grooms ask themselves is whether they should include coverage of the bridal preparations and possibly the groom getting ready also.

Some feel that photographing during the bridal preparations may be intrusive, but this is really not the case. The wedding photographer will photograph the completion of the hair and make up and will step away to allow the bride to put on her dress and continue shooting to the final lacing of the back of the dress.

Photographing the groom's preparation - if in a different location e.g.- will require a second shooter. Capturing the groom's preparations adds to the full reportage of the day especially when it comes to telling the complete story of the wedding day in an album.

Photographing the bridal preparations  is a chance for some fantastic portraits with personality! Especially capturing all the little details that the bride has spent much time planning, such as the bridal jewellery, perfume, shoes, tiara and wedding bouquet, not to mention the makeup!

Here is a selection of some of my favourite getting ready photographs. Enjoy!













































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Urban Bridesmaid Photography is a new concept in contemporary wedding and portrait photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London and beyond.



For enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London, UK and beyond contact Urban Bridesmaid Photography.
To be the first to see all the latest work, become a fan on Facebook or follow on Twitter!


London wedding photographer //Wedding photography London

5 Photography Tips from a Spider

[WARNING - photograph of a spider follows.... close your eyes and scroll down if you don't like spiders.]

 


[You are all right now. The photo of the spider is gone.]

What a spider taught me about photography.

It is not often I wax lyrical on the blog…

Down the back of the garden, I saw this – a spider’s web spun from a 6 foot tree and anchored to a weed maybe a foot off the ground. What impressed me more than anything was how the spider conceived to abseil out of the tree and latch onto the weed waving in the wind.

So here are the tips from a spider:

*Push the envelope – step out and be creative

*Be ready to take the opportunity – the weed will not be there for ever

*Hit the target – be focused on what you want to achieve

*See beyond – use what is there to make something that is impressive. A chef can use the same food ingredients we do, but in the hands of a chef it becomes extraordinary.

So how does this story end? Well, after I cut down the weed (I did hesitate in cutting down the weed for about 20 minutes), the spider’s web was rebuilt within 24 hours, this time to the back of the fence.

*Have a back up plan!

Formal Wedding Photographs

 
Although the brides/grooms that pick Urban Bridesmaid Photography as their wedding photographer for their big day, are after wedding photographs that capture bride and groom and guests looking natural and at ease, they do opt for a short formal family session after the wedding ceremony to capture the more traditional formal shots.

Outside of this time, photographs are captured as the day unfolds.

How much time should be allowed for formal photos?

Formal wedding photographs does not have to take hours - every guests' nightmare! Formal shots can be taken in 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the wedding party and the number of family and friends the bride and groom wish to include.

Here are some tips to help this time go with a swing.

To speed up the process of formal photographs, make a list of all groups needed and delegate responsibility to a relative to round up the troops and ensure the required relatives are available, especially if your wedding ceremony site and wedding reception site are separate, as you may lose relatives along the way due to transport.

All your guests

Bride and groom with bride’s extended family (grandparents, sisters and brothers, other special family members)
Bride and groom with groom’s extended family (grandparents, sisters and brothers, other special family members)
Bride and groom with bride’s parents

Bride and groom with groom’s parents
Bride and groom with both sets of parents
Bride and groom with entire wedding party (bridesmaids, groomsmen etc)
Bride with chief bridesmaid/flower girl
Bride with bridesmaids
Groom with best man
Groom with groomsmen

Then it's the bride and groom alone shots!


Related posts:
How many hours needed for wedding photography?

Photographing a wedding ceremony.

Wedding Photography Licences for Parks

Copyright CD

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Urban Bridesmaid Photography is a new concept in contemporary wedding and portrait photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London and beyond.


For enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London, UK and beyond contact Urban Bridesmaid Photography.

To be the first to see all the latest work, become a fan on Facebook!

Wedding photography: hours needed?

One of the questions you may have when planning your wedding is how many hours should I commission a wedding photographer for?

Urban Bridesmaid Photography can offer some advice below on thinking about how many hours you may need.

The most popular choice for full wedding day photography coverage is usually around 6-8 hours.
However, the hours needed for wedding photography on the day will vary depending on type of wedding ceremony and number of locations, whether the speeches are immediately before dinner and whether photographing of the bridal preparations is required.

Pre – wedding ceremony
Bridal Preparations – 1 hr
Groom Preparations – 30 mins

Wedding Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony – can range from 30mins (civil ceremony) to 2 hours (Catholic ceremony with full mass/Pentecostal church)

After ceremony
Formal family portraits/Bride and Groom portraits - 30 mins

Wedding Reception
Reception – mock cutting of cake/speeches before dinner (1-2 hrs)
Full reception with first dance– 3-4 hrs+


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Urban Bridesmaid Photography... is a new concept in contemporary wedding photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London, UK and beyond.

www.urbanbridesmaid.com

Photographing Wedding Ceremony

When deciding on the wedding venue where you will be getting married, also consider the venue’s policy on wedding photography.

For instance, some places of worship do not allow wedding photography during parts of the wedding ceremony or not all. Register offices do not allow the actual photographing of the register but will allow you to mock up the wedding photographs afterwards on a blank page.

This reasoning behind this is not to distract the bride and groom from concentrating on their wedding vows, which is also a legally binding contract. Some places may be sacred and wedding photography is not permitted.

And nobody wants a blast of direct flash right in their eyes every five minutes.

Client negotiation with the officials for moderation of wedding photography guidelines may result in individual concessions, providing the wedding photographer can be placed somewhere discretely, not move around much or use flash. So it is always worth discussing this with the venue in advance.

However, if the venue will not relax their wedding photography policy, the wedding photographer is limited by the guidelines of ceremony official or reception site management. The bride and groom agrees to accept the technical results of the wedding venue imposition on the wedding photographer and the resulting wedding photographs.






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Urban Bridesmaid Photography... is a new concept in contemporary wedding photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London, UK and beyond.

www.urbanbridesmaid.com

Wedding Photography Licences for Parks

If your wedding venue is not located in the midst of beautiful landscaped grounds, many brides and grooms have chosen to have their formal wedding shots in a local park.

Some London parks require a licence to be purchased by the wedding photographer on behalf of the bride & groom to take wedding photography. The licence fee can range in cost from £50+VAT. The fee usually goes towards the upkeep of the grounds.


Here are a list of parks that require a licence.

The Royal Parks including:

1. Bushy Park (with the Longford River)
2. The Green Park
3. Greenwich Park
4. Hyde Park
5. Kensington Gardens
6. The Regent's Park (with Primrose Hill)
7. Richmond Park
8. St James's Park

Other Venues

1. Horniman Museum
2. Queen's House, Greenwich

Photography has been banned in the Museum since 1996. The ban includes photography and video cameras in the National Maritime Museum (NMM), Queen's House and Royal Observatory Greenwich (ROG). Members of the public are permitted to take non-commercial photography (i.e. snap shots) within the Museum grounds, and from March 2007, within the Neptune Court and Streets area of the main Museum. Photography is permitted strictly without the use of a tripod.

1. London Underground

Permits for photography in a London Underground Station (ideal for a trash the dress session!) range from £300 up to £1000 + VAT. Flash photography is not permitted.

Will keep this list updated as and when.

If you know a park/place that requires a licence please feel free to add to the comments box.

London wedding photographer

www.urbanbridesmaid.com http://urbanbridesmaid.blogspot.com

Urban Bridesmaid Photography is a new concept in contemporary social photography, with a mission to provide wedding and portrait photographs with personality, in London and beyond.

Become a fan of Urban Bridesmaid Photography on Facebook!
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What is the best camera?

Some times I am asked what is the best camera to get?

Well, there are two major considerations that will shape your choice - what is your budget and what do you aim to use the camera for?

Once you have your eye on a few models - you can google reviews on the internet to find out what other people's experiences are. Once you have made your choice, don't forget things like memory cards & batteries.

A couple of good sites to check out are Warehouse Express, 7 Day Shop and Ebuyer.

London wedding photographer

The History of Wedding Photography

Wedding photography has changed from over the years. From the formal portraits of the 1800s to the capturing of the moment by wedding photojournalism.

The history of the first photograph can be found here.

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Urban Bridesmaid Photography... is a new concept in contemporary wedding photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London, UK and beyond.

http://www.urbanbridesmaid.com/

For any enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London and the UK, contact Louisa on louisa@urbanbridesmaid.com

Getting the photograph right in camera without flash

I was having a conversation about photography which led on to me saying when I reach a venue I always talk to the officant to see where they would like me to stand throughout the wedding ceremony and whether I can use flash or not. I described a wedding where I couldn't use flash for parts of the ceremony.

Me: I shot the whole wedding ceremony without flash.
Them: How did that go? Did the wedding photographs come out?
Me: Yes.
Them: I guess you could lighten them in the computer.
Me: I guess I could, but I got the exposure right in camera.

Professional wedding photographers carry cameras and lenses to allow them to work at low light levels without flash, should it not be permitted during your wedding ceremony.

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Urban Bridesmaid Photography... is a new concept in contemporary wedding photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London, UK and beyond.

www.urbanbridesmaid.com

For any enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London and the UK, contact Louisa on louisa@urbanbridesmaid.com

Ask a Photographer: Copyright CD

If you have ever wondered what all this wedding speak means... then wonder no further. Today we look at what a copyright CD and a disc with printing rights means.

A bride and a groom may have a disc of images included in the wedding photography package they purchased. This disc is sometimes wrongly referred to as a copyright CD.

Technically the photographer will retain copyright of the photos as s/he created them and will offer the couple a disc with printing rights to enable the bride and groom to reproduce the photos for personal use.


If you have a question you would like to ask just pop in the comments box and I will see if I can answer it in a future ask a photographer post!
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Urban Bridesmaid Photography... is a new concept in contemporary wedding photography, with a mission to provide photographs with personality, in London, UK and beyond.

www.urbanbridesmaid.com

For any enquiries for wedding and portrait photography coverage in London and the UK, contact Louisa on louisa@urbanbridesmaid.com

Signing the Marriage Register

I have been reading articles from the Daily Mail and British Journal of Photography about Home Office plans about not allowing wedding photographers to photograph the signing of the register, as it could invade privacy of other brides and be a source of identity theft.

Now it has always been the case that some registrars when you are on a wedding photography commission ask you not to photograph the actual signing of the register and flip the book over to a blank page and the couple pose with a dummy pen, and that's ok. Sometimes you can photograph the actual signing and that is ok too.

However, a few points...

Most of this information in the register can be found online
Who ever uses their signature much these days, with chip and pin cards?
Who is going to see your wedding photographs outside of family and friends mostly?
What identity theft thief is going to send time and energy to train to become a wedding photographer so they can steal your details?
What about videographers videoing?

So if you are getting married soon, please be aware of these new restrictions (which are not really new at all really).