Libby has photographed over 200 weddings in 26 states since she shot her first wedding in 2009. Her work has been published many places, most notably the New York Times, and she is a photography and wedding industry educator, focusing on clear, authentic communication between vendors and clients. She is a self-taught photographer who went to college for Sociology, music, and political theory, and also spent over a decade working in hospitality as a bartender and restaurant manager–all things that come in handy with weddings. She is based in Houston, Denver, and Tulsa, and lives with her partner, Caleb, and her teenaged daughter, Alessi. The worst thing about being a wedding photographer is having to watch people get excited about “The Cupid Shuffle.”
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2 comments
I have been asked this so many times... does the wedding industry inflate prices when they hear it's a wedding?
Here is my honest answer (as a former wedding photographer)... NO. Did I charge more for a wedding than a 50th birthday party or a family portrait session? Yes, absolutely. I charged A LOT more for a wedding.
Was I taking advantage of the emotional sell? Absolutely not.
The main reasons I charged more for a wedding were: the unseen amount of work involved in the 12+ months leading up to the wedding, the skill level needed on the day, the INTENSE pressure to create perfect "portfolio level work" no matter what the reality of the situation- but mostly it is to compensate for the time AFTER the wedding in post production.
Little known fact about wedding photography - the real job is sitting at a computer editing photos. Photographers spend many hours behind the computer carefully selecting and editing photos. They make adjustments, crop, and adjust colors to ensure each image it's best. Don't forget the time it takes for batching, renaming, importing, exporting and uploading the photos and preparing them for delivery.
Do you think this justifies why photographers charge more for weddings than for other types of shoots?
Couldn’t agree more! And on the videography side its an absolute ton of data + editing discipline.
Its a double sided coin- weddings are extremely high pressure but also high reward when we nail it.
Our products (photo video) in particular are the only thing that genuinely will last forever . Having fun and ALSO nailing the product is worth the price of entry and frankly more.