What's The Damage? - Wedding Photographers
The Sunday Age
Sunday January 17, 1999
Depends really on how much you can bear to part with - but if you're trying to stick to a budget there are a few pitfalls to watch. The first is what you actually get: they all give you an album of proofs to choose your prints from, but not all of them let you keep it. And some of them give you proofs so small you can't see your eyes are half-shut, so you inadvertently order a poster-sized print of yourself looking like a moron.
Some photographers sound cheap because they quote you on their time, then charge you for all expenses, including film. So watch that. And all "special effects" like hand colouring or starburst highlights are going to cost you money, even though they're naff. But worst of all, everybody quotes in a different way, which makes it difficult to compare like with like. But what you should never, ever, do is say, "Hang it all, let's give Uncle Barry $50 and a roll of film, he's pretty handy with the Instamatic" because it'll be a complete disaster.
"Price is the first question that comes out of a client's mouth," says Jason Phillips, who runs A Touch of Class photography. He's reluctant to pin down exactly what the big day will cost but says it starts at $500 to get the photographer to the church on time; film and prints are extra. On the other hand $3000-$4000 will get you "Everything, comprehensive, complete". That means hundreds of prints, a special cover on the album, and more flashy effects than a Star Wars movie.
* At Altitude photography, they get straight down to business: $950 gets you a shooter for four and a half hours, 160 5x7 prints, three 8x10 prints and the box they come in (albums are extra). They call this deal the "Little Gem". Or you could splurge on the $4000 "Megamix" deal, which comes with a 12-hour video (happily, it's edited down to three hours), all-day photography and a $400 album for the snaps.
* At Alan Khan Photography, $2800 will snare you not one but two photographers with no time limit, plus they'll do a pre-wedding session from which the couple can choose an enlargement to pin up at the reception. The deal includes a 24-sided album which the couple can fill however they like, whether that's 30 thumbnail snaps to a spread or one huge print. Once you hit 24 sides, each extra side costs $100, so a 50-sided album comes in at around $5000.
* At A Budget Promotion they'll do you three hours of photography and 80-odd proof prints of "happy, natural expressions" in an album for $300. For between $700 and $1000 you get the photographer for a bit longer, and a proper wedding album with prints in a range of sizes. For $1500-$2500 the "pamper package" includes a "glamour" portrait or a family portrait in the studio, lots of special effects and a photographer who'll shoot the lucky couple at six locations.
* Honey Moon Photography and Design starts at $1450, which gets you a photographer (possibly a pair of them) from the bride's house in the morning to the cut of the cake, special effects and 200-300 4x6 proof prints in a "designer album". For another $400 they'll do you a second personalised album with 25 enlargements and a poster.
© 1999 The Sunday Age
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