Why is wedding photography so expensive?

This is a very common question that photographers receive. There are lots of factors that go into a wedding photographer's prices, but the main one is that you aren't just paying the photographer for the time you see them at your wedding... For every hour a photographer spends shooting a wedding, they can spend several hours editing and sorting images. On top of that, there are equipment, travel and insurance costs – and let's not forget 20% has to go to the tax man!

Found someone cheaper?

The average price for a full day wedding photography in the UK is £1560 and photography is definitely one of those areas where you get what you pay for – the difference in quality/experience from one photographer to another can be huge... Don't be fooled by the influx of photographers offering full day weddings for £600, most of these are using cheap cameras and have very little experience (or just aren't very good). As I'm sure you understand, I'm not really interested in trying to price match with photographers that are no where near as good as me.

How many pictures do we get?

Every wedding is different, so it all depends on what happens on your day – generally though, most people receive between 600 and 800 pictures for a full day.

Do we get EVERY picture you take?

During the day I will take literally thousands of pictures – weddings are very busy days and lots of images will be 'ruined' because people walk in front of the camera, blink or pull crazy faces. I spend a lot of time going through each picture, making sure you receive all of the best ones.

Do you edit every photograph?

Yes – every single photograph you receive is individually edited with my natural, signature style, to make sure that it's just right.

Do you take lots of posed or group photos?

To be able to get the most natural pictures, guests should not stop to pose for the camera... My approach is to take a few posed/group pictures of your VIP guests directly after the ceremony, and capture everyone enjoying your special day for the rest of the time... I'm happy to spend as little or as long taking bride/groom portraits as couples want.

Can you 'Photoshop' images?

I'm all about capturing things as naturally as possible, so 'photoshopping' people's appearances is not something that I do as standard.

How long do you stay?

Coverage for the full day is 3 hours before the ceremony until the first dance.

How long before we get the pictures?

Depending on how busy things are, it takes about 10 weeks to receive your pictures – to put this into context, the average lead time for wedding photographers in the UK is between 8 and 12 weeks. You can speed this up to just 2 weeks with the "Fast Delivery" addon.

Where are you based?

I'm based in Runcorn, Cheshire – but I shoot weddings across the whole of the UK.

Are there any travel costs?

Up to 50 Miles travel is included with all wedding packages. For travel outside this, reasonable travel costs may be required.

What equipment do you use?

I use cutting edge Sony A1 and A9 cameras and state of the art mobile lighting. Don't be deceived by the small size of my cameras though – they are pretty much the best cameras you can get right now... To make things even better, they are 100% silent – which is great for being unobtrusive during ceremonies.

Are you insured?

Absolutely. I have full liability insurance that will allow me to photograph at even the highest end venues.