good photo quote?

hello! we are in the process of finding a photographer for our wedding next july. we do not want to spend more than $2000-2500 total. we met with hilite in commack today, they were recommended by my brother-in-law who is a videographer. the following is the quote they gave me...

$1495 + tax for 1 post bound album w/30 8x10's, 40 foldover thank you cards, 1 11x14, all proofs (he said they shoot about 150-200, is that average?)...i asked about negs and he said the price for them would depend on what we order from them...extra 8x10's are $30 each and 5x7's are $20 each...

what do you think? the pics we looked at were nice (we weren't too sure what to look for), there weren't many black and white. we asked to look at a photojournalistic book (prob won't do it, but we wanted to see) and he told us its not worth the extra money unless its something we really want--we thought that was strange, but he said he told us that only because he knows/works with my BIL. we are also going to meet with timeXposures (a recommended vendor of atlantis).

is it important to get the negatives? i feel like we went so uninformed about the process! thanks~lacey

I would look around more, and they probably guided you away from the black and white and photojournalism because they don't do it. You really do get what you pay for with photos. Sometimes it's better to get a great photographer and worry less about the albums, and such...because you can always even make your own or order later when you have more money.

Try Christina Bohn, her package is (I think) $2650 but she's an awesome photojournalistic photographer for a great price.
she's a real artist and that's what you need to make your pictures stand out.

I bet if you check out her web site you'll tell the difference between the 'traditional' mediocre pictures and hers. www.christinabohn.com

We would have used her, but we loved Visual Concepts, but they are over the price range you mentioned.

Try Patken in Holbrook too because I think they have prices that suit all budgets. And, they are pretty decent photographers.

Remember photography is an art! don't hire ameteur's

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250 pics is not enough! Most photographers take at least 800, from what I have seen...

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thats what i thought! yeah, we won't be booking them, just not for us. i look forward to meeting with timeXposures next. i've heard good things about them. thanks to all who replied! ~lacey