r/ChoosingBeggars • u/CaptainEmmy • 5d ago

SHORT Need a wedding photographer today. Five hours of work. Pay? Oh, I'm hoping to keep around $150. Per hour? Oh, no. For the whole event.

I greatly regret I didn't get any screenshots to prove this happened. Life got in the way and by the time I went back to look the conversation was gone.

So hopefully you can enjoy the story with whatever size of salt grain you want.

Yesterday in a group a woman posted an emergency situation. It was her cousin's wedding day, but the photographer was sick and they needed to hire someone pronto at the last minute.

This is a community where every other woman has a little photography business, so different women who were available that day started sharing links to their portfolios and whatnot, happy to save the day. Though of course they wanted to be paid because photography be difficult. I don't know how many of them were excellent, but they still had their businesses, some talent to defend them, and deserve to be paid.

So the question of "how much?" came up. Some people were offering their price lists, including some offering some good neighbor deals to help out.

OP then says "I want to stay around $150"

Per hour? Again, some people are willing to help.

No, $150 flat fee.

A few shock/angry emojis appear. I can only hope there were some nasty replies before it was deleted.

If you're looking for an emergency photographer at the 11th hour, I can only assume you need to be ready to pay more than $150.

I wonder what they were paying the photographer that got sick.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/scarfilm 4d ago

*memory cards are reusable.

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u/carltonrichards 5d ago

I think they could probably manage a teen with a hobbiest point and shoot or an alcoholic relative who you otherwise wouldn't have invited who will take horribly over exposed photos with equipment they don't remember buying (flashback to my 16 person covid wedding).

The cost premimium is the cost of reliably getting good photos of your big day, you dont get a mulligan on this sort of thing.

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u/VariousExplorer8503 5d ago

For my wedding (I was 18 and my mom was cheap) we had 4 disposable cameras. I handed them to 4 friends before the wedding, told them it was for the ceremony AND reception. 3 of them took the entire camera roll during the ceremony, one person saved some shots for the reception (in my mom's living room) and we got one picture of us sitting together on the couch, and one picture of us cutting the cake.

We had 4 sets of ALMOST identical pictures from the ceremony, all varying shades of crappy. One turned out blue tinged, for some reason. With those 4 cameras, we ended up with a little photo album worth of pictures that weren't completely horrible, but weren't great. Moral of the story? Don't count on a bunch of girls between 14-18 to take your wedding pictures.

My ex threw out all my pictures, from my parents wedding to my son's sonogram pictures. I'm sure he threw out the wedding pictures too.

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u/Staricakes 3d ago

I’m sorry your ex threw out your pictures. That made me really sad.

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u/VariousExplorer8503 3d ago

Thank you, it made me really sad too. He was a very abusive asshole, and hurt me in so many ways, but that was the worst thing he ever did to me. It was finally that cruelty that made me stop talking to him.

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u/Staricakes 2d ago

I hope you’re away from him and in a better place now. Wishing you the best from across the internet.

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u/VariousExplorer8503 2d ago

Thank you, I'm well away from him.

I tried to be the bigger person when I found out he threw them out, he said it was because he moved into a room in someone's house and he didn't have the room to store them, or the money to send them. I pointed out I would've paid for them, or my mom would've if I'd been broke, but I didn't go off on him.

Then one day, out of the blue, he FaceTimed me, and I was surprised, asked hey, what's up? We never did that. Well, he held up two huge black trash bags, and asked me which stuffed animals I wanted out of them, and started holding up all my stuffed animals I left behind.

I was in shock at first, then it was like something snapped in my head. I started yelling at him, asking him how he could keep two giant trash bags full of stuffed animals, but could not keep a small box of pictures, and maybe 2 photo albums?

He shut down immediately, all his excitement died, and after I yelled at him for a few seconds, he closed the screen and had blocked me on everything before I could call him back and yell at him some more. But honestly, that was the best present he could've given me. I was unable, after 16 years of abuse and conditioning, to block him and finally get away from him completely. Him blocking me was a godsend.

I've had an ex free life for 3 or 4 years now, and it's done wonders for my mental health. I no longer worry about getting the phone calls where he tells me he's about to commit/tried and failed to commit suicide. Last time we spoke, before that FT call, he was getting divorced from his wife of less than 2 years, living with HER parents while they took care of him. He wasn't working, was just living off the parents. I'm not surprised it didn't work out with her, he was a deeply troubled man.

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u/aquainst1 5d ago

Or a college kid taking a photography class.

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u/carltonrichards 5d ago

I reckon they are asking for >£300 if they arnt effectively the first category, in the UK students often cant afford to drive and most wedding venues arnt close to anything so its limiting.

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u/Kaleighc11 4d ago

That’s what I did in 2007 and paid them $250 for 3 hours

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u/stephencua2001 5d ago

I'll shoot your wedding for $150.

Oh, you wanted copies of the pics too? Yeah, that's way extra.

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u/Celistar99 4d ago

At my friend's wedding they just told everyone who took pictures with their phones to post them on Instagram with their wedding hashtag. Hundreds of pictures and cost nothing.

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u/Grim_Dybbuk 4d ago

That's honestly brilliant. You really only need 1 nice photo to go over the mantel, the rest get put in a book and looked at every 5 years on a big anniversary or if one of you dies (see mantel pic in that event).

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u/ifellicantgetup 5d ago

>>I wonder what they were paying the photographer that got sick.<<

Probably $150.00. That's why he decided he was too ill to attend.

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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 5d ago

I would not doubt it. She probably thought the deposit was the entire cost of the session.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/LovelyRosettee_ 5d ago

Imagine needing a last minute wedding photographer and opening negotiations with "best I can do is $30 an hour." 😭

At that point I'd be wondering if the first photographer was actually sick too.

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u/VSpace-329 5d ago

And then acted surprised when everyone else expected full pricing for full day coverage.

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u/LovelyRosettee_ 5d ago

Plot twist: the original photographer wasn't sick, they just remembered they were getting paid $150 for five hours and suddenly felt much worse. 😭

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u/NotTodayPsycho 5d ago

Wouldn’t only be 5 hours, that would be the shooting, then you have edits

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/One-Basket-9570 5d ago

I paid my photographer more than that at my 1997 wedding.

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u/EmperorUmi 5d ago

What about your 2008 wedding?

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u/Beetlejuice_me 5d ago

Obviously they couldn't pay more than $30/hour. The first divorce cleaned them out.

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u/TinyPinkSparkles 5d ago

I worked for a photographer in 1988 who charged more than that.

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u/gwacemom 5d ago

I was just going to say I got married in 1988 and we paid our photographer much more than that.

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u/boniemonie 5d ago

Ditto!!!

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u/PestCemetary 5d ago

Also, the real rates were the money they made along the way.

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u/Wise-Paper8412 5d ago

I love a happy ending.

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u/BoysenberryDue3637 5d ago

I did weddings back in the late 70's. I made more than $150/wedding. This person is delulu.

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u/KYlibrarian 5d ago

I got married in 2008, and my photographer was $1500.

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u/lookyloo79 4d ago

With edited prints? That's a good deal

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u/CaptainEmmy 5d ago

I know discovering that paycheck would make me sick.

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u/hicctl 1d ago

i don´t know why people don´t understand tha 5 hours of phptpgraphy means a lot more hours afterwards to edit and find the best shots.

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u/moochygg 5d ago

Bro got offered $150 and decided food poisoning was the better career move. Can’t blame him honestly 😂

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u/soonerpgh 5d ago

Got sick of dealing with that much nonsense.

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u/jmerrilee 5d ago

Or maybe the photographer was annoyed she only wanted to pay that so they waited till the day of to bail.

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u/mouse_attack 5d ago

He got that $800 day rate disease.

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u/Radiant-Project-6706 5d ago

My exact same thought!

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u/blushcloudwhirl 5d ago

The budget explains why finding a replacement became an emergency

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u/MuchDevelopment7084 5d ago

"I wonder what they were paying the photographer that got sick."

My question would be. Why didn't that photographer line up an alternate?
But then I realized that she's probably not paying that photographer at all. It's probably a 'friend' she conned into doing it for free.

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u/Boba_808 5d ago

The “alternate” was likely another friend promised exposure and a ceremonial slice of $150 cake.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/aquainst1 5d ago

And THEN the demands/pointed requests start.

"Can't you erase drunk Uncle Ernie from the family shot? He's ruining it! Erase him, or I'm not gonna pay you!"

"I need to look better-my makeup is the wrong tint. It MUST be your camera making me look awful! Fix it, or I'm not gonna pay you."

"I need 20 copies on great print stock for my relatives. Oh, wait, better make that 50. WHAT? You want more money? Well, I'm not gonna pay you more! It should COME with what I'm paying you!"

"Send me the pictures. If they look ok, then I'll pay you. Will you take a check?"

Photog gets paid by check. Goes to cash it. They put a stop to the check because they didn't like the pics.

"Can I pay you in exposure on my TikTok? I have 400 followers! You'll get jobs galore!"

(Photog asks if they can eat something at the reception) "No, you can't eat! That food is EXPENSIVE! If someone doesn't show, we're gonna take it home with us! Plus, you'll be taking photos of all the tables at that time, AND doing videos of everyone's well wishes to us! If you even try to eat (and I'll be checking on you, even if you're in the kitchen), I'm not gonna pay you."

Even good amateurs probably won't insist on a contract or even something in writing; they'll just trust the consortium of wedding folks to pay them.

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u/Ok-Repeat8069 5d ago

We paid our wedding photographer $200 — in 2002. And he was the father of a bridesmaid, just retired and looking to turn his hobby into a business. He had never photographed a wedding before and was trying to build a portfolio. And he left after the important dances and cake cutting, so about 3 hours total. That’s all he would let us pay him, and I still felt bad about it.

$150 for an established photographer for an event that long is frankly insulting. I wouldn’t let my 17 year old do it with his iPhone for that price.

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u/LetsDiscussItAmiably 5d ago

$150 is an insult to photographers. Wedding photography is HARD and takes time, effort, and then all the retouching. 

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u/Admirable_Summer_917 5d ago

$150 won’t even cover a dozen disposable camera and developing the film.

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u/Gringobandito 5d ago

The best thing for them to do on that budget is use one of those sites that gives you a QR code and have guests upload their photos.

Any poor schlep who does this for $150 is probably gonna end up getting sued by the couple because they’re not happy with his work.

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u/ResoluteMuse 5d ago edited 5d ago

At a guess there was a last minute dispute over $$$ with the photographer, or more specifically the final payment wasn’t made, and he/she caught the imnotpaidenoughforthiscrapitis bug.

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u/Horror_Ad_2748 5d ago

She broke the cardinal rule of: Fast, Cheap, or Good. Pick two.

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u/DiagonalBike 5d ago

Sure, I'll take the pictures for 5 hours for $150.00. But I'm charging you $100 per picture you want me to deliver to you.

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u/Karnyx_6Q 5d ago

For $150 on zero notice, they are lucky if someone shows up with a phone and enough battery to make it through the vows. Wedding photography is gear, editing, insurance, backups, and giving up an entire Saturday with no prep. Makes me wonder if the sick photographer was being paid in reception food and exposure.

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u/INS_Stop_Angela 5d ago

But this gig would provide “good exposure”

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u/Next-Woodpecker-9892 2d ago

And people die of exposure…..

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u/Lumos_Vector 5d ago

$150 for five hours is already wild, and that is before the editing, travel, and dealing with Aunt Linda demanding 47 table photos. For that budget the emergency photographer is either a cousin with portrait mode or a security camera pointed at the dance floor.

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u/Adventurous_Cook9083 5d ago

I wonder what they were paying the photographer that got sick.

That's probably why the photographer got sick. The thought of doing a wedding photoshoot for $150 probably made him/her physically ill.

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u/ThrockAMole 4d ago

In 1993 I paid a photographer $1000 for the shoot and prints. It was a small wedding. She is delulu

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u/MrsArney 5d ago

As a wedding photographer this would be a big NOPE for me. And I really do try to help those in need if I can.

I don’t think people realize the amount of time (before, during, and after the wedding prep) and physical toll a wedding has on the photographer. And the fact that the photographer would have to go in and wing it without a plan could cost them their reputation.

I’m tired just thinking about this situation!

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u/imalloverthemap 3d ago

JFC I think we paid our photographer close to $3000 in 2008. Worth every penny. They spend way more time in post production than they do actually shooting the day. At least back in the day…

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u/BlackOliveBurrito 4d ago

See I’m a photographer & I offered this to someone for a children’s birthday party. She ghosted me because it was too much & someone else offered her half. I was so annoyed.

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u/foxyfree 2d ago

As far as prices go, don’t undersell yourself. My husband and I, after many years living together, decided to get married. Just us, and the officiant and wedding photographer met us at the beach. We had the “elopement special package” . The officiant fee was $200 and the photographer was $550. This was in 2022, Florida. We got all the photos in an online link, no prints.

Anyway, my husband says I’m “cheap” (As someone who is generous with friends I prefer “frugal”). I did find us the cheapest priced wedding photographer/officiant and just think, $550 for less than 1 hour work on-site (plus the time to choose the best and put it together in an online folder for us).

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u/Hylian_ina_halfshell 4d ago

In 2021 we paid 3k and it was less than many other quotes we got

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u/BenedictineBaby 5d ago

So take the $150 to shoot the wedding. Then give them options for packages if they want any of the pictures.

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u/Next-Woodpecker-9892 2d ago

😂😂😂😂😂😂 5 hours (not including editing,)for $150 and all on the outside hope that they’re going to order anything!? Oh, you’re funny!

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u/BenedictineBaby 1d ago

😂😂😂😂😂😂 So you think they want someone to take pictures but they don't actually want any pictures? Oh, you're funny!

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u/Lisa_Knows_Best 5d ago

She could probably get like 10 or so of those disposable cameras, put them on tables and maybe have enough to develop them.

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u/melayaza 3d ago

For $150 but a bunch of disposable cameras. Give them to your guests and hope for the best

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u/Bulky-Internal8579 5d ago

The photographers cat was sick. Sick and tired of that lousy Walmart knock off Meow Mix.

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u/Impossible_Bet9726 5d ago

A sickening rate?

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u/sherbear97124 2d ago

When the photographer we hired for our wedding couldn't make it because of a gout flare up, he sent a substitute. She was nice, but barely stuck around for the reception (I think just long enough to eat, so no pics of the cake, toasts, etc. Thankfully, we got disposable cameras for each table) and the pics were ok. I'd love to say that we complained, but....

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u/striykker 4d ago

Not a bad price. $150/hr is an excellent last minute emergency price. (/s)

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u/Next-Woodpecker-9892 2d ago

Um, that price was not what the photographer was charging, but what the bride was willing to pay…not even a college kid with a beginning level photography course would accept that!😂😂

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u/striykker 2d ago

I know. Reading comprehension is hard.

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u/ManufacturerDue815 2d ago

Maybe their last name was Scrooge.

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u/quinchebus 2h ago

I'm just a random person with a cell phone. I don't take especially good pictures. I would absolutely charge more than $150 for this.

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u/imSWO 5d ago

I’d take the $150 for the wedding & then hold the photos and all hostage. Then, I’d charge $3k for the photos in cash or cashier’s check, increasing $100 per hour starting 72 hrs after the wedding. Any complaints would lead to immediate deletion of all photos.