'You get what you pay for?'

Do you need to spend $8,000-9,000 to get quality pics. Some won't even give you your negatives (north island, etc).

then you have duet, which also shows natural pics , photojournalism, etc.

Is there a discernable difference between the studios asking MUCH more (North Island, Sherwood, Imagine, Creative Compositions) than other studios (12th night, duet)? I liked a lot of the work with all them!

I of course would love to spend less and be just as happy. I would spend more or less depending...I just don't want to fall into that trap saying 'You got what you paid for'...


PHotography, in my opinion is The most IMPORTANT thing... i hope i don't make a mistake, i just want to decide to get it off the chest....

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

I booked Patken without looking around much based on their reputatioin and somewhat midrange price and also because I live in another state and didn't have time to look.

Now I didn't ever get a quote from Creative Compositions but I have seen their work and they did my husbands cousin's wedding and I truly believe that you do get what you pay for.

That said I think you can find a happy medium where you can be satisfied and not break the bank totally.

Shop around, ask other brides and most important go with your gut. You will know if it's right or not.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

I love Verdi photography but, their prices start at $ 4200. Now that may not be a lot to some people but, it is to me. Photography is important, but I think you can find someone who is good for a reasonable price.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

yeah i love the work by Verdi but they start you off at $4,500 for a 30 picture album , so that raises the same question again :(

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

I understand what you mean..but I am in the happy minority that paid less and got a deal I can totally live with lol.

We paid 1200.00 and got a beautiful 50 picture album. Granted we got under 300 pics but heck I expected that considering what we paid and I got all the way from house till the end of the night beleive it or not in those pictures. Not many duplicates either which is good. Sometimes I hear people complain that a $$$ photographer missed a certain shot. I didnt have that problem. Granted we dont have as much photojourn as most but our pics are bright and vivid and we get lots of compliments..now this is not for everybody to take whats cheaper..some actually do crappy work..we just got lucky to pick someone who was reasonable who's work didnt suffer.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

I believe that you do get what you pay for but you do not necessarily need to pay $9,000 to get quality photos. Of the photographers that you have listed I have only seen Imagine and Duet and I think that imagine's work is incomparable to many others that I have seen. We would have booked her on the spot if $ were no option. That being said, many brides on this board have used and loved both duet and 12th night. I think that it all comes down to a matter of opinion, what style of photography you are looking for, and more than anything else $$. I would try to find a nice balance between price and the photographers work that you like the best.

Good Luck!

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

My son and dil used Leli Photography. He was great, and his prices were also.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

We looked at 2 tiers of pricing - Duet and 12th Night vs. Silverfox and B rett M atthews. IMO, yes, there was a discernible difference. However, none of them were $8-9K. Knowing the quality of those two, I can't imagine what would be worth $2500-3500 more for essentially the same thing.

UPDATED: We used BM and would NOT recommend them.

FM for details.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

whatever you do book the PHOTOGRAPHER not just the studio. what i mean is, that studios time and time again pull the 'bait and switch' on their clients and substitute less qualified photographers last minute. i decided to steer clear from studios for this and other reasons (high cost of overhead).

analyze the individual photographer's work and make sure you have that photographer's name in your contract. if that is to change you should get compensated somehow...

i paid $2400 for over 600 proofs (99% photojournalistic) and will be taking care of producing my own albums. in the end i was happy with my decision and don't feel i got ripped off.

good luck! shop around!

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

I agree! You have to chekc out the photographer, and ask to see that photogrpaher's work specifically! and make sure it's in your contrct that you're getting that person.

I believe you do get what you pay for, so I'm budgeting a LOT for my photos. Looking a people's proofs you can tell the difference. Sometimes it's just the posing and composition of the photos, but sometimes there are really big technical flaws that you see in teh less expensive places that you really don't see at the high end ones. I've seen things from a little unwanted lens flare, all the way to the really inexpensive photogrpahers who didn't change rolls form inside to outside and used outdoor film indoors and vice versa, which will give the pics an orange or blue tint, whcih to me, is totally unacceptable.

The most noticeable thing to the casual observer is going to tbe the composiiton. Some places take the same 300 photos at every wedding and some are more creative and really capture moments and emotions much better. you really have to look around and see what suits you. I've seen girls on here with AMAZING proofs from a place like duet, that really isnt very expesnive. You have to look arounds to find your right balance of quality and price.

For me, I'm willing to pay a lot of $$ for photograpy because I am a serious amteur photographer, so I notice things other people don't, and I want my photos to have a more artistic bent

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

Marymoon I totally agree about most points except creatvity.. I have seen some expensive photographers take ho hum shots and I am like..Hey buddy each shot is like 5 bucks..thats it

I am an imagery specialist lol (USAF photographer) I mostly took accidents and intelligence photos but the premise is the same. When I look at a picture I want to see vivid pics, creativity is good but I am old school. I like traditional too for the album..I think you need some of that too since photojourn can be unpredicatble..u need a mix..I have seen many pics of people in unflattering poses in candids and I am not a great picture taker..need to be ready lol. But I love when they catch stuff like kids etc..cant beat it. My fave shot is of our daughter hugging the ring bearer..pure emotion..

OMG Marymoon..orange tint..that is totally unacceptable

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

Please do not fall into the 'You get what you pay for trap'!! I think brides often think this and wind up getting ripped off!!

Definitely, check out each photographer and when you do book, make sure you contract for a specific photographer. We chose Duet and were absolutely thrilled!! Their work was absolutely amazing!! We contracted for 2 photographers, yet 3 showed up and our hundreds of proofs are wonderful. (FYI...if you do book with them, ask for 'Woo'...IMO, he was the most talented.)

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

The photographer was the second most important thing to us for the wedding. - (The DJ being the first) We were willing to spend more $$ on the photographer and skimp somewhere else. - But it all depends on what you're looking for........We are using Perceptions (Anthony Vasquez) and booked him b/c his work looks like it should be hanging in a museum, we also clicked w/ HIM, which was important to us. We are paying a little under $8,000 for Photography and Video but that also includes his 'Soho' book for Our album which bumps the price up ......Choose your photographer on HIS WORK. The package and extras you get are irellevant if you have the negatives. - You can have pics made anywhere !!
Good Luck !!
And as far as you get what you pay for. - It may be true, but I have seen Imagine's work on 3 ocassions, once it was absolutely amazing, the other 2 times I was extremely disappointed. - So like another girl said, meet w/ the PHOTOGRAPHER and be sure you are seeing HIS or HER work !!

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

I used Krista Sildver - Photography by Krista. Her work is great. She does both traditional and photojournalistic work. I purchased her digital package for 2500 you get one set of prints and your 'negatives' on discs.

I'm very happy with my proofs, I just got them back last week. There are about 1200 pictures. The best part is that since the photos are digital, I can do my own album and TYs.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

Oh man.

Please don't fall into the 'you get what you pay for' trap! This is why wedding photography was rated one of the most overpriced businesses out there!

Go with your gut, get references, look at TONS of their work. When I was looking, I looked at people relatively new to the business, so they didn't charge as much. Now the people I looked at are much more expensive (including my photographer), but it's the same people.

I'm not saying it's not worth it to spend a good deal of money for photography - there are some photographers out there who deserve every penny, honestly. But don't KILL yourself over it! Set a budget and stay with it.

My photographer was Sam Rider of Rider Photography. I paid $1100 for all day photography with a assistant. I got over 900 photos, but no album and no negatives. It was a balance for DH and I - we LOVED their stuff, and although there were people in that price range (or a little more) who would give us negatives, we went with them. And our pics are AWESOME. And now Rider charges $2700 for the same package we got.

Here are some of my pics:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAs2zho1aMnEw

Anyway, get the book 'Bridal Bargains' - even if you spend a lot, it will show you exactly WHAT it is you're spending on.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

Yes the photography CAN be expensive but you have to decide if it is worth it to you! Also steadfast rule! EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE! You mentioned as one of your 'most expensive' photographers the one I am using...Well yes he WAS very expensive....now, post a 'little chat', he is actually one of the lesser we spoke with. And frankly myself as well as my father (who is an amatuer photograher himself) were just blown away with the quality of his work. He was worth the little extra TO ME. Everyone's different. You just need to see who's work really grabs you, then work from there...good luck!

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

i am using imagine studios because i fell in love with lia's style... i have yet to see pics that compare to hers, in my opinion, which i why i went with her! and i'm not paying anywhere close to $9000!

i think you should go with someone whose work you love and with whom you feel comfortable.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

Definitely look around and compare prices but also photographers, like everyone said. There are also studios that take more 'traditional' photos and ones that do photojournalism.

DH and I used 12th Night. We don't have our proofs back yet but I have a great feeling about them. We looked at multiple studios and at one of the pricier places we looked at the work of the photographer who was available that day. The work was nice but nothing special. The samples we saw at 12th Night were better, so we went back there, booked Dom and never regretted it.

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

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Posted by limmanuel

I just got married this May and I thought Creative Compositions is awful. Their photos are alright, but the service is awful and they never return your phone calls. Definitely overpriced!!

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Its a shame when a helpful, informative post gets hijacked by pinocchio!

Re: 'You get what you pay for?'

if money were no object, I would have used Imagine. Their pictures are in a class by themselves.

Julz33 Duet pics are amazing also and I've seen some Silverfox and 12th Night pics that are amazing as well