One of our beautiful brides, Julie, poses near her church in Normal, Illinois shortly after her wedding ceremony this July.

Ed and I have gone through many web pages that brides are on, and the most recent that I’ve read and really caught my attention was a woman complaining about photographers’ websites.

She had some legitimate complaints, one was some photographers just plain have bad websites. Very true. I know I’ve seen some. And I’ve shown Ed what I like and don’t like about fellow photographers sites, and I think we have made a good-looking web site.

The other gripe was, photographers not placing pricing on the web site. Well, I can see both sides of the argument, so here it goes.

I don’t want a bride, or a family, or a corporation to not call me just because the price point I have is $100 dollars higher or lower than my competition. I want them to call, or email me, because they have seen my work and would like to know more about what we do.

Every photographer is different, photography is an art and the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve seen some amazing photographs, and I’ve seen a lot of OK shots that had a great subject, which made the photograph seem so much better than what it is. I’ve also seen a lot of very bad photography.

I worry that a bride is going to choose a photographer just because they were a few hundred dollars less expensive than we are. Then the day she sees her photographs from her professional photographer, she is disappointed in the results. Sorry, price does matter!

I don’t want to be the lowest bidder, I want to be the one that is within the price range they have allotted, and they love my husband’s artistic ability. I love that my brides consistently tell me how much they loved how we captured their day, and thank us for all of the effort we put into making their day go as smoothly as it did.

I do understand that having a price range is important, because if you are planning on an allotment of $800 for a full day of photographs, in our area, you are either going to get a shoot and burn photographer, or someone that is still training to become a professional photographer.

Ed and I are professional photographers, we are affiliated with major photography associations, have taken hundreds and hundreds of hours of course work and seminars to be a better photographers. Spending at least 100 hours a year in training, as well as thousands of dollars on equipment, dues, and insurance (yes, we are a business, and we are required to have insurance).

Ed and I both enjoy continuing education, Ed has spent the past four years teaching seminars and college courses to help photographers improve themselves and at the same time we are keeping up with the technology around us.  I believe that real professional photographers do continuing education, with emphasis behind both the camera and the computer.

Ed has been behind a camera for more than 29 years, and I have been shooting since 1996 as a semi-pro, and moved into the professional range in the past two years.

By the way, our most popular package is includes nine hours of coverage, and it is $2500. It includes a number of things that would actually cost a lot more if they were all done a la carte.

Our prints are $22 for a standard 8×10, with canvas available starting at $145, and we do have on line viewing, and do allow our images to be placed on Facebook, we even put a few on ourselves! Our after the wedding prices are sometimes far cheaper, sometimes far more expensive, sometimes the same as our competition. But how can a bride learn that looking at just the package prices? She can’t.

I do wish brides had more time to contact more than 3 photographers, and choose the one that best suits their needs, not the lowest bidder for the day. Some brides will spends many, many hours choosing their dress. It makes a splash for just a few hours. The photography of you in your dress, timeless.

Krystal