It’s wedding season again… So here are a few of my all-time favourite shots of some of the beautiful brides I’ve been lucky enough to photograph.
Tamea Burd is a Vancouver wedding photographer who specializes in small, intimate weddings. Her website: www.tameaburdphotography.com
You’ve no doubt been reading articles and speaking with people (including your photographer) about all of the things you need to or should do on the day of your wedding. But there are also some key things not to do…
1: Don’t rush though the important things. This includes your posed photos of course, but it also includes dinner. Weddings rarely run exactly as scheduled and you may find that you’re a bit behind. If you’re concerned about your photography going past the time you originally booked for, don’t try to speed through your posed photos or your dinner. (Keep in mind that your guests have all been waiting patiently to eat for several hours.)
Yes, you will have to pay your photographer for the additional time, but it most likely will only be another 30 to 60 minutes. If you’re stressing about it, ask yourself what’s worth more… Rushing your photos and rushing your guests through dinner? Or paying a little extra to ensure that your photos are perfect and that everyone attending your wedding gets to enjoy being there and to enjoy the meal you provided?
2: Stylists, Event and/or Wedding Coordinators should not be present during your posed photos. It’s essential to ensure that your photographer is able do their job as well as they can, without being impeded. For some perspective on this, imagine you’re at work and someone is looking over your shoulder the entire time, although it’s vital to your task that you be unsupervised. To make matters worse, they’re interrupting you, slowing you down, and offering their opinion of how you should do your job, even though they have very little idea of what it is that you do. Could you work like that – let alone do your best?
Onlookers who are not in the photos, are a serious impediment to your photographer being able work properly and as quickly as possible. For the people getting their pictures taken, having an audience makes it impossible to feel comfortable and not self-conscious. All of which will poorly affect the quality of your photos. Also, stylists and coordinators will often feel it’s their business to offer suggestions and advice to your photographer or to you, which is actually the opposite of helpful.
3: Don’t disagree or be ungracious when your photographer tells you it’s time for a quick break. Assuming your photographer is a professional, they will know when it’s appropriate to take a few minutes, for their sake and for yours. You should expect and encourage them to take ten minutes every two hours or so.
Remember, they’re carrying a heavy bag of equipment and a heavy camera in their hands constantly, while having to be energetic and friendly with every single person at your wedding, all day long. Unlike almost any other job, your photographer doesn’t get to take a half hour for lunch or a few moments to themselves, or even visit the washroom whenever they need to. They’re working intensely and pretty much non-stop from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave.
In order to do their job properly and well, your photographer really needs to rest and recharge every once in a while. Pushing them to the point of exhaustion is not going to result in good photos or good feelings for anybody. When they tell you a break is needed, it’s because it’s necessary. Be gracious and don’t argue about it.
One final thing to think about: After your wedding is over, your photographer still has literally weeks of work to do, editing and retouching your pictures. They have to look at and work on hundreds – often thousands – of images of your face, over and over again. If your photographer had a difficult or unpleasant experience at your wedding or with you, it could negatively affect the amount of effort, time and care they’ll put into working on your photos.
Paying attention to these important ‘Don’ts’ on your wedding day, makes all the difference to the quality of your wedding photos, not just on the day of, but afterwards as well.
Many people feel a genuine dread when the cameras come out, but having your picture taken is almost inevitable in life. Either at social functions, family get-togethers or business pictures at the office, eventually someone is going to take a photo of you.
A large percentage of my clients begin their photography session by saying “I hate having my photo taken”. They quickly follow with some disparaging remark about themselves. “I look awful in every picture.” “I’m not photogenic at all.” Not one of those statements is true…
The reason people (I’ve really loathed some bad shots taken of me too, believe me) think they look terrible in photographs, is because they think they look terrible in photographs. No, not a typo. Thinking you look unattractive, automatically affects your posture, your body language, your facial expression and the look in your eyes.
Of course there are times when your photo is taken at the exact wrong moment, when your mouth is half open, your eyes are in mid-blink and you’re doing something blurry and odd looking with your hands. But that has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with poor timing on the part of the photographer. They just snap a shot almost randomly and don’t think about what they’re doing. We all have friends and family members who take really bad photos of people. That’s about their lack of skill, not about how we actually look.
Getting past your photo-phobia:
The first step: Remember that taking a good picture of someone, is a two-person effort. If you’ve got someone in your life who takes many unflattering shots of you, you can quite easily ‘train’ them to do a better job. Either ask them to count to three first, or simply ask them to wait until you’re ready. If they don’t, then turn away from the camera. You’re not obligated to let them take a bad photo of you!
The second step: Re-think the way you physically react when you’re in front of a camera. If you hunch your body, tense your muscles and get a glazed, stiff look on your face, then of course you’re going to look awful. So make yourself relax. Breathe. Seriously, focus on taking deep, slow breaths. Your posture will instantly improve and your facial expression will be natural and calm.
The third step: Don’t think you have to smile, because you don’t. There is nothing worse than an obviously false, frozen smile. It makes most people look completely insincere at best and slightly insane at worst. That said, don’t hold a smile back either. Trust me, you have a beautiful smile. Everyone does. Everyone. Do you ever look at a photo of someone really smiling and think ‘They look hideous.’? Of course you don’t. And nobody will think that about you either.
The fourth step: If or when a professional photographer is taking your photo, trust them. We know what we’re doing. Help us. Help us to help you! Instead of feeling resentful and insecure, think about the fact that a huge part of our job, is to make you look good. We’re going to do our best to get the most flattering photos possible. When you trust us, we’re able to make you look wonderful.
The fifth, final, and most important step: Be in the moment, not in the photo. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it makes all the difference in the world. Stop thinking ‘my picture is being taken, my picture is being taken’, and instead think about where you are and who you’re with.
In all my years of being a photographer, not once have I taken a terrible photo of someone who is in the moment, relaxed, breathing and smiling naturally. We look good when we feel good. It’s a cliche because it’s true.
Since the invention of the camera, professional photographers have had to charge a certain base amount in order to run a business. This is to cover the expenses of our equipment, our experience, our time and our operating costs. Most importantly, it also covers the days and weeks of work involved in editing and processing the images we deliver to our clients. As with any specialized profession (particularly one that’s expensive to run and maintain) bargain-basement pricing is not an option.
Professional photography isn’t cheap. It never has been. But for what should be a commonly known fact, a surprising number of people arbitrarily place an unrealistically low value on it. “Well, I thought a two hour portrait session would be around $75.” Or, “I’m getting married and my photography budget is $300 for the whole day.”
You can often find information about a photographer’s rates on their website. If not on a page called ‘pricing’, it will be on a page called ‘rates’, ‘services’, or ‘investment’. Sometimes however, a photographer will prefer that you contact them directly, as quotes can vary depending on the services you require.
If you do contact a photographer and don’t get a straightforward listing of their rates, that can mean that there are hidden costs and ‘extra’ fees involved. However, most photographers who provide wedding, business or personal images, will give you a clear breakdown (either on their website or in a customized quote, or both) as to the prices you can expect.
In this world of short attention spans and information overload, most people just barely skim the details available to them. Which ironically, often results in wasting time, not saving it. It’s just logical that if you have no idea what something costs, you should take a few minutes to compare prices before contacting service providers.
To save yourself some effort, time and sticker-shock:
A conscientious photographer will always give a detailed response to an inquiry. Whether it’s on the phone or by email, the average inquiry takes at least fifteen minutes to reply to. The issue of price rarely comes up at the beginning, because there are several things we need to know before we can give you an accurate quote.
Maybe fifteen minutes doesn’t seem like much, but when we’re responding to several inquiries a day, or a week, it adds up. We aren’t paid for that time. So when photographers answer your questions, get your details and describe our services in detail, it’s very frustrating to be told ‘Oh, that’s a lot more than I expected’ when we tell you our rates. Especially so when our pricing is listed and easy to find on our websites.
What does it cost to hire a professional photographer?
As with most things, costs vary to some degree. One of the main factors in this, is geographic location. The cost-of-living in your particular area. But wherever you are, there are basically three tiers for photography prices. (Note: these prices are based on a decade of professional experience and extensive, continual research. Although this blog post remains as is, the prices do get updated once a year.)
Tier one – The ridiculously low prices of hobby or amateur photographers:
Anyone charging less than $200 to $300 per hour, or under $1000 for wedding photography, is not a full-time, professional photographer. No grey area here, it’s that black and white.
Hiring an amateur or hobbyist photographer is almost always a choice you’ll regret. They’ll have poor quality equipment, poor quality services and you’ll get poor quality images. And – this is crucial – they don’t understand how to take the types of photos you need. Just because someone knows how to use their camera, it doesn’t mean they have the knowledge and skill involved in how to frame shots, how to light them, how to pose people or interact with people professionally, etc.
When you hire the cheapest photographer you can find, you’re wasting your money instead of investing it. This is why, if you want something done right and well, a professional photographer is worth the cost.
Tier two – The average price of professional photographers in most major cities across North America:
For portraits, headshots and corporate photography, rates range between $300 and $400 per hour. If a corporate photographer charges per person, average rates are between $60 and $125 per. (Often on a sliding-scale based on the amount of individuals per job.)
For professional wedding photography, the average starting range is between $1500 and $2500 for a half-day or less. For an eight hour wedding day, rates are between $3000 and $5000. Keep in mind that you aren’t just paying for the day your photographer shoots your wedding. Depending on the length and size or your wedding, professional photographers spend between another 40 to 80 hours of work to sort, edit and retouch your images.
Tier three – The high end prices of status photographers:
These are the very well established professional photographers who are almost celebrities within their field or their local area. They can and do charge double and triple the price.
This is because there will always be people who want spend money on status symbols. Those people happily pay exorbitant prices to hire a status photographer. Starting prices for weddings are usually at least $8000. Portrait and headshot sessions are usually at least $800.
Something to consider:
When you’re looking to hire someone for your portraits, headshots or wedding and you find that all the good photographers are ‘too expensive’, there’s only one reason for that. You’re underestimating the value and worth of having your photos done properly and well. When it comes to professional photography, you can have cheap, or you can have good. That’s a choice you’ll have to make, because you can’t have both.
Photo credit: Farage Photography
On the day of your wedding, chances are you’ll have at least one unexpected little emergency… A rip in someone’s dress. A paper-cut, a headache, etc.
Although there are many, many things to remember when it comes to planning for your wedding day, bringing a small wedding emergency preparedness kit can eliminate the stress of unforeseen little disasters for you and your entire wedding party!
So, when you’re packing all of the things to bring to your wedding location, be sure to include a small bag (make-up or toiletry bags work well for this) filled with the following items:
Having these things on hand, just in case, can make a world of difference to how smoothly your wedding day will run!
Tamea Burd is a Vancouver wedding photographer, portrait, corporate and headshot photographer. Her website: www.tameaburdphotography.com
1 – Any price that seems too good to be true, is exactly that. With the accessibility of digital cameras on the market, these days there are literally hundreds of amateur photographers offering substandard service for bargain-basement prices. (Everyone has to start somewhere, but most professional photographers learned the trade by first assisting someone with more experience.) Amateur photographers are those who offer ridiculously low rates because they have no professional training and no professional equipment.
2 – Quality costs more because it’s worth more. If you’re considering hiring a hobbyist or amateur photographer because they’re cheaper, you should bear in mind that the quality of the work will also be cheap. As will the quality of service. If you choose someone because they have the lowest rates, you run a very likely risk of getting photos you aren’t happy with. When that happens, there’s no way to reproduce or replace those moments. Remember, you only have one chance for fantastic wedding photos.
3 – How can you tell the professional wedding photographers from the amateurs? Although it means a bit of research on your part, the good news is that the difference is fairly obvious. In addition the difference in the quality of work, you want to look for a well-developed website. A key thing to check for, is a testimonials page with at least a dozen testimonials. And when it comes to the portfolio of work, check for a minimum of 50 separate images with many different people featured. An amateur photographer may have several images, but a dead giveaway is if most of the photos are of the same few people.
4 – What are some standard professional wedding photography rates? If you’ve been checking out several photographers, you’ll have noticed that price ranges can really vary. But if you’ve done a bit of research, you’ll probably have noticed that standard pricing for obviously professional, experienced photographers – those with good reputations/testimonials, good portfolios and good equipment – starts around $2500 (and can go as high as $5000) for 6 to 8 hours. Anyone charging less, is absolutely not a professional wedding photographer.
5 – Why do professional wedding photographers charge these amounts? Professional photographers base their rates on several factors. The simple explanation is because they’ve invested in high-quality equipment and the best photo-editing software, and due to their years of experience, skill and knowledge, they give the very best results.
6 – Other than taking photos, what are we paying our wedding photographer for? Your wedding photographer’s work is not done once they’ve taken hundreds of photos at your wedding. You’re not just paying for their time on your wedding day; you also need to consider the days or weeks they’ll spend working on editing and finishing your images. Someone charging extremely low rates will not be devoting much time -if any – to putting the finishing touches on your pictures.
7 – Why can’t we just pay less for someone to give us unedited wedding photos? Although it’s a valid question, the simplest way to understand why not, is to ask yourself this… Would you ask a waiter at a restaurant if you could pay less for your food if it were just partially cooked? When you’re paying for something, you receive a finished product. A professional wedding photographer will only give you high quality photos that have been painstakingly edited and worked on in Photoshop and/or Lightroom before they’re ready.
8 -Is hiring a professional wedding photographer really worth the investment? Five years from now, you may not remember exactly how your cake tasted, or what color your flowers were, or the songs your dj or band played. Your wedding photos (and video if you have one) will be the one tangible connection to your memories of that day. Don’t you want those photos to be the best you can possibly have? If you do, then you’ll understand the value of paying a professional photographer what they’re worth, to do your wedding photography right and to do it well.
Tamea Burd is an eco-friendly, professional photographer from Vancouver, BC. She specializes in portrait photography, headshots and wedding photography. Her website: Tamea Burd Photography
On your wedding day, there are a lot (a LOT) of things to remember. So many people and details and moments… It can be really difficult to know what and who to prioritize. The simplest thing is to ask yourself, who is the one person who has to pay even more attention to all of the people and details, than you do? You guessed it, it’s your wedding photographer.
As busy and as full as your day is for you, times that by a hundred and then factor in carrying around at least 20 pounds of equipment the whole time. And, imagine, for the duration of your wedding, having to pay attention to every single person and every single thing going on all around you…
That’s some of what your photographer does on your wedding day.
Wedding photography is a fun job, it’s rewarding and creative and fulfilling. But it’s also incredibly hard, physically draining, painstaking work.
The best thing to do is to remember what it’s like for you when you’re at your job. You can’t do your best work when you’re tired, burnt out, hungry and thirsty. And you can’t work for up to ten or twelve hours without any breaks or food. Well, neither can your wedding photographer.
That’s why the one person (other than your bride or groom) you need to be prioritizing on your wedding day, is your photographer.
How do you do that? Here’s how:
1. Feed as needed.
Make sure your photographer gets something to eat and to drink at least once every four or five hours. If they’re meeting you early in the morning, be sure that you include them in your breakfast plans, or save them something to eat when they arrive.
If you take a break for lunch or snacks, make sure your photographer gets fed then too. And if you aren’t taking a lunch break, have something ready for your photographer to eat at midday, even if you aren’t.
Include them in your dinner and don’t ask or expect them to take photos while people are eating. Not only because nobody likes a photo of themselves eating, but because after a long day, your photographer is going to be in serious need of a chance to sit down and have a break before finishing off the rest of your evening for you.
2. Make time for break times.
Your photographer is carrying around heavy photo equipment all day long. They’re also peering through a lens for hours, all the while holding a heavy camera in their hands. And your photographer has to interact all day not only with you, but with everyone at your wedding. So don’t run them ragged.
Understand that even though you may be going non-stop on your wedding day, you at least get to sit down or take a moment for yourself whenever you want to. Every few hours, your photographer needs 10 or 15 minutes to stop and give themselves a chance to rest their eyes and hands.
3. A little thank you goes a long way.
If you have gifts for your wedding party, have a gift for your wedding photographer as well. The same goes for wedding favors and/or floral centerpieces that you’re giving to your guests. When you’re thinking about who to thank for their help with your wedding day, bear this in mind… Chances are, over the weeks or months since you booked them, your photographer has already put in a lot of time for you.
They’ve met you for a free consultation, they’ve emailed you, they’ve called you, and they’ve probably sent you suggestions and shot-lists and spent at least a few unpaid hours communicating with you about your wedding photography. And they’re not finished work when your wedding is over. They have many, many more hours or days of work ahead of them to edit and finish your photos.
So when you’re giving thank you gifts and giving your thank you speech at your reception, acknowledge your photographer for the big contribution they’ve made to your wedding. Yes, they are getting paid to be there, but there’s no extra pay for all the time they’ve given you before your wedding day.
The importance of all of this can’t be overstated. How your photographer is feeling and how they communicate with you and your entire wedding party, is going to set the tone for all of your photos. Some food, some breaks, and some acknowledgment of their hard work, is all it takes for you to ensure that your photographer is able to do their very best for you. If you’ve hired a good photographer, the better they feel, the better your wedding photos will be.
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