Why are wedding photographers so "expensive"?

If you have ever wondered why the prices of wedding photography, or how much can you expect to pay (of course, talking about Slovenia), take a bit of time and read forward.

I have heard a lot of times exclamations of surprise about the prices of wedding photography. Almost the same number of times I have met couples that "show off" the fact of being able to find a photographer that made their wedding photos for 500 Euros. Then they show me the wedding album and that is where the awkward moment starts.

Yes, you can find a photographer willing to work for 500, even 300 euros. Is this a real price? No. Of course, all depends of what are you expecting to get, not just talking about the quantity but specially about the quality. Here is a visual example:

Cheap wedding photography:

photos by google

"Expensive" Wedding photography

photos by Aljoša Videtić

If you want a professional wedding photographer, you should expect to pay around 1000 to 3000 Euros. You may think that this price is exaggerated. I think I can talk about it because, as graphic designers, my husband and me find often the same problem: people thinking that we are trying to fool them and steal their money. But, did you ever saw your wedding photographer coming in a Mercedes? Here a bit of explanation that may clear your doubts. Let's see:

Most of the wedding photographers in Slovenia (at least the ones I know) are self-employed (what it's called s.p.). That means that they have to pay around 300 Euros per month just to be able to work and put out bills. Let's imagine that they work at home (at the parents' home), so they don't need to pay extra money for a rent or a credit, as most of you do. S.p. are having the highest taxes in Slovenia, so a great deal of the price goes directly to the state (around 30% if I am right, if not, please correct me, my husband is the one taking care of the finances). Having a s.p. also means that you don't have paid vacations, and if you get ill, you have to be ill more than 1,5 months to start getting some payment from the state. That means, one day you don't work (whatever the reason is), one day you won't get paid.
A photographer cannot work without a good camera. This are not the cameras that you can find in offer in Big Bang for 699 Euros. A good camera for professional work can cost around 1500 - 3000 Euros. Then add:
- objectives, 80 -2700 Euros
- tripods,  10-650 Euros
- filters, 10-300 Euros
- memory cards, 25- 100 Euros (depending on GB)
- batteries 70-150 Euros / battery
- bag 15-75 Euros
- and others (underwater covers, adapters, website, cables, flash...) 1000-2000 Euros.
I wrote two prices, but the cheaper is the one that average users could buy. A professional needs the best of the market if he wants to deliver the best.
Thank God that we are in the digital world and they don't need to add films to their expenses. But that is not all. Now a days everything is digital, which automatically means for you as a photographer that you need to have a computer to process the photos, and the right programs. This are very heavy photos (speaking of MB), so you need a good computer, probably you need it to be portable (laptop). Let's say 1500 euros (not the best, but a good one). Then let's add the licences of the programs that they need to polish your wedding photos. A licence of Adobe (Photoshop, Lightroom...) can be around 2000 Euros.
To photograph your wedding they must be able to move, so they will need to have a car + fuel. Let's imagine they got it on second hand for 4000 Euros.
So far, we found out that to be able to work, a good photographer needs to invest around 10 to 15.000 Euros in expendable material. To this, you will have to add the photo paper, fuel and album which will depend of every work.
Let's keep a  middle number: 12000 Euros of expenses. If we divide this by the number of months in one year, this gives us an equivalent of a 1000 Euros monthly salary, which is higher than the average of Slovenia.
We also must have in account that the wedding season is mainly from april to september. The rest of the year the number of weddings to photograph is much smaller, so a lot of photographers must have other jobs to survive (inside or outside photography world).

If your photographer charges 1000 euros for 8 hours of work, what does this include?
- 6-10 hours of in-situ work.
- photo paper & album
- the time preparing photos and CD. (If they retouch around 100 photos to make the album, it could take them around a week of work just to copy, select, retouch, print and save the photos)
- the percentage for the expenses of the tools (Camera, filters, and so on)
- Fuel & other expenses

I think I just have left the academic formation. Everyone has a brother, cousin or uncle that "knows how to take photos". What this actually means is that this relative likes photography and has a semi-professional camera, like the Canon D5000 or D7000 or so on. But that does not means that he is a professional. The photographers study photography. They train to see through the camera, they learn about how to use the light, and they understand the language of visuals. They pay for it, and you have the advantage of their knowledge. With them, you will never have to wonder if the photos will be good. They will be great.  I have heard so many brides complaining and regretting about their photographers...

I hope this gave you a more close view of the profession.
If you are going to marry and you are looking for a photographer, you can pay 500 Euros, or you can pay 1500. You will get what you pay. At least now you know what are you paying. But choose good, because there won't be a second chance. =)