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AAARRGGGH! (At least you asked advice!) The following is the sort of thinking that absolutely kills photo markets. I am having to deal with this now in my area, and IT IS DIFFICULT!
>I'm an amateur photographer seeking advice on Wedding photography
>business. I've taking numerous wedding sessions from the Chapel to the
>reception for friends for free. I've read and learned about the
>required/minimum poses and have taken them. Each of the weddings I've
>done, I was the only sole photgrapher. Obviously, the budgets for the
>bride and groom were too small to hire a pro.
This is fine, if true. But working for free or low pay as a photo assistant is also a good way to gain experience, and is a better way to learn about business practice.
>I'm not a master or a pro, but I do take above average shots. Am aware
>of lightings, flashes, special effects (romantic shots). The only >thing is I used 35mm cameras, no medium formats.
>Recently, my wife and I took the wedding pictures for our friend as a
>gift (they had very low budget). We discovered that we work together
>real well. (...)
>I own Nikon FA, FG-20, and an old reliable FM. Obviously, they're
>outdated compared to today's technology, but they work.
Your equipment is fine for some approaches to wedding work, and you appear to feel that you are ready to do it for money, so
BE PROFESSIONAL! Learn good business practice. The photographers in your area would be happy, I'm sure, to help you rather than have you do what you are proposing! Go approach a few and ask questions. In the long run, both you and they will be glad you did.
>We're going into a part time business as a team to take wedding
>pictures. I'm noticing that there is a market out there for those Low
>Budget Weddings who can't afford $500 - $3000 photographers. These are
>the group I'm aiming for. (...)
If the client is unwilling to spend $500 plus for the photography for their wedding, fine. But if you jump into the market with under-priced service and you are tolerably good, you will be swamped with work, will
make very little money, and may drive the more sensible photographers out of business! And you will find it nearly impossible to raise fees
back up to a living wage because of the damage you have done to the market. Remember what comes out of a photographer's fees (besides a
little money for a couple of hours of [sometimes] pleasant work: not just pay for the hours worked, but for the down time spent in sales, bookkeeping, travel, etc, etc; all your overhead (insurance [including
medical], office, advertising, equipment [and repairs], car, clothes
for work, etc, etc; normal living expenses [housing, food, etc]; etc.
>To make it as simple and as hassle free as possible, I'm thinking of
>using the same approach I used with my friends. They buy the film >(5-25 films), give them to me, we take the shots, I give them back the >films when done, they develop them themselves and they keep the >negatives. They can make their own 8x10s. I'm thinking of just >charging for our time, +/- batteries for the flashes.
I pity the poor photographers in your area - this is what it has come to for some of us in my area because of a couple of people doing what you propose. You are throwing away your business in advance!
>In the future, we'll do what most pro do, but for now just to gain more
>hands on at an affordable price for the bride/groom.
Good Luck! Who is going to pay you a reasonable fee for your work after
you have been doing it for practically nothing for a while?
>My questions are.......
>1. Is there anyone out there doing this or similar to.
>2. How should I charge them? By hour? By Day? By film?
>3. How much and what rate? You pros know how much you're worth, the
> way I described my service (I take above average shots), to follow
> the bride from home, chapel to reception, how much is it worth.
> I was thinking maybe around $100 flat.
$400-500 would be more reasonable as an absolute minimum, since you are basically signing away your rights to your work, and even that is very low for doing that.
> Is this too much or too little?
>
>Please help!
Hope this helps (and sinks in!)
>Thank you!
>
>