You have to pay for quality.

Quite expensive to hire professional photographers though, I didn't know it was that expensive :(

In a free market economy, prices are determined by the market, supply and demand

Where is best to look for a wedding photographer!?

Is a wedding photographer for 15 euro/h a normal price?

Quite a ridiculous calculation, really. Why is the time spent in primary school not included? Or the parents' investment in encouraging the child's creativity? Everyday food, clothes, housing costs? Let us not become ridiculous. The author is operating with peculiar facts - working on weekends. Ahem. What is a weekend for one person is an ordinary workday for another. That is simply the nature of the job. No need to grumble that you have to sacrifice family time - choose a life partner with a similar work schedule and everything will be fine. You will not have to sacrifice anything.

I looked at my wedding photos right after the wedding and maybe once more by accident. That is all. They are just sitting there. Looking at them today, I can say that a lot has changed in 15 years. The photo quality could certainly be better with today's equipment. The "caught special moments" are the only thing that is valuable in these photographs. And those can be caught even with a point-and-shoot...

In today's age of pixel-stuffed devices, people forget that a professional photographer's services are exclusive and expensive. In the age of dilettantes, where anyone who wants to can call themselves a professional photographer, people offer service prices that are below cost. As a result, the whole photography market is ruined! The client always remembers only that someone offered a cheaper price, without even looking into how such a price difference arises. If a photographer also buys legal graphics software and pays taxes, then he is automatically outside any price competition. Any self-respecting master of the trade understands that in photography, the material investments and the amount of time invested in professional knowledge and practical skills are enormous! A big wish to Latvian photographers: compete not with service price but with your work, and educate your clients whenever possible!

Most client complaints are their own fault. Either they cannot communicate properly with the photographer and explain their wishes, or they cannot organize the wedding accordingly, or they themselves are not relaxed. And the biggest problem is that they do not give the photographer separate time.

We paid the requested amount to a professional photographer, but the pictures were very monotonous, without any sparkle. The wedding photos were ugly. He did a sloppy job.

Super article! Maybe after reading it some eternal complainer will finally understand something :))

The main thing you forgot to mention is that not everyone with a D3 in their hands is a photographer. A photographer is not just learning technical knowledge plus twisting pictures in Photoshop. A photographer has to have their own vision, and that cannot be taught or learned. It is to a large extent a creative profession; not everyone is given the ability to create! So many people in the world consume music, art, photography - many! How many create it - few! Of course, getting married beautifully is also an art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hpJ1iPD5RQ

I did not read all the comments..., but many commenters are worried that car depreciation is included in the total costs. I do not agree that anyone should worry about that. If someone wants to run a business, then the income has to cover all expenses. Car, food, utilities, further education, and even expenses for rest and recovery. Money will not fall from the sky; it will come from the client's wallet. The rest is supply and demand. It will be too expensive for some, while others could afford to pay even more. By the way, I definitely could not afford Andrejs's services myself, but I can appreciate that he has come this far and is able to earn. I work in website development; each project takes at least a month, yet some people think the fee should be under 300 Ls. Well, what more can I add? :) We are still far from Western European levels...

I accidentally stumbled upon this article because I looked at Andrej's gallery of Indian weddings, and then the thought occurred to me to see how much A.Z.'s work would cost! Among my relatives, and even among my friends, there are no photographers, and even I myself only sometimes manage to photograph something worth noticing.. :D, because I have no experience.. experience probably also creates a person's value in a certain field: the more you have lived through, the better you are, and your name comes along with it.. my picture would definitely be valued much higher if Andrejs signed it :D, but that is not the point. I myself am getting married, and at a wedding there are only 2 areas where I want to spend money.. :D, rings and the photographer, because that is what will remain when everything has been eaten and drunk.. :D, when the dress is thrown into the closet for an indefinite time. I do not agree with the bride, but that is not so important, because everyone has their own priorities.. for example, at weddings! Recently I got a magazine from England... on the wedding theme, and it said - photograph the wedding yourselves. At first it was funny.. :D.. I imagined myself and MY man photographing ourselves, with hands holding the camera sticking out from the edges of the picture.. :D. On the other hand, it seemed the idea was ironic, as if emphasizing how exaggerated people can be down to the tiniest details :D. In any case it was funny... besides, it would cost nothing, there would be no stress :D, and who knows, maybe some divine picture would come out.
Yes... A.Z. was kind of the very first on my wedding photographer list, but that was a year ago. During this time I realized how many photographers, personalities and cameras there actually are in LATVIA.. :) And no, I do not want to offend anyone... everyone has their own tricks gathered in personal experience, which raises the value of everything he or she does! Those who knew A.Z. while he was growing and developing are really lucky; not only did they get super pictures :D, but they will be able to tell their grandchildren that the world-famous photographer Andrejs photographed our wedding (hey, and why not - that could be any photographer who invests patience, knowledge, time and money into their hobby, work and value)!
Money matters a lot - to please the realists. But optimists know that money cannot measure a person, quality, warmth or love. Maybe Andrejs's pictures have even greater value... :D. I also like Janis Konons, ha, and while I keep dragging my feet until my own wedding, maybe he will already have reached his full bloom too, and suddenly I will no longer be able to afford him either.. :D
What did I want to say? Probably that it is nicer to grow together with a generation of photographers, because when they grow up they move on - and in my opinion they grow like children :D - to become even better, so they go and see the world and do everything for their own development, not go backwards. People are terribly afraid of big sums; they are full of stereotypes and low self-esteem. I read about Sokolovs on Apollo today...
Society is like a payment to everyone who tries to express thoughts about it. Who likes to be told to their face that their whole life has been fake.. :D..!? In short, about my dream photographer.. :D.. I do not care what he is wearing, what he photographs with, or what he arrived in. I want to know him, but at the wedding to know that he is there and only really see him during the photo session. I would definitely want to capture a moment together with the person doing the clicking too, and in the end I want those pictures to work, to have emotions, tears, joy, spontaneity... lightness. See? And that is not easy... and there are many more people like me :D..
From the moral side, I wish you useful collaborations that are easy in communication but difficult in execution!.. Good luck!

Reading the comments makes me start to feel sick. It is amazing how unable people are to understand another person. Every profession or job a person does is important. Even a salesperson - how would you be able to pay for food if there were no salespeople in the shop? Ok, I am not a salesperson, but my thinking is not limited to that; I am, for example, a biologist - what could be more important than that? All of us, and especially women, want to experience that beautiful moment of a wedding once in our lives, and we want everything to be beautiful, and even after several decades, when looking at the album, to have beautiful and pleasant memories. If you study to be a photographer and invest a lot of resources in it, that does not mean you have to take a cosmic amount of money from people just because you are a good photographer. If a person likes that work, then he will not be such a penny-squeezer. And I should not have to feel guilty because I cannot afford a normal photographer once in my life. I am not interested in pictures that will then be processed to look so artificial that I am sitting with, for example, a lion and even hugging it. Normal, quality pictures are needed. A photographer who, after photographing, hands me a disc where I then still have to develop the pictures myself with my own money, while I have paid him 300 Ls + fuel costs, is simply ABSURD. Money that comes easily goes easily. I do not think they will feel especially happy demanding the impossible from ordinary people and at the same time considering themselves the most important people at the wedding.
Do you think people get married only in Riga? As soon as it is necessary to drive outside Riga, these provincial people are asked for the impossible.
Why did I even stumble upon these comments? Now I do not think anything good about photographers anymore. I will feel much better if my friends and relatives photograph me. It is only our own people who will look at the pictures anyway.

It is a fight against windmills, in my opinion, and if we draw parallels with believers, then it is rather hopeless to convince a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness to think with their own head instead of blindly believing something and brainwashing everyone else :)

1) That Zavadskis is worth his money is visible on the photo blog and in the simplest comparison with other photographers' blogs (first of all, read them). And if I ever have a wedding, then there are no two questions about the fact that I would be willing to pay Andrejs 2000 for photographing it and would not even consider asking for a discount. Actually it is funny that the man has not already left for Russia or the West, where people would pay 2-3x more - we should be thankful for that, not put him down from head to toe.

2) A car for 7000 Ls is not a Lexus, and putting a car into the costs is normal, because in the end any entrepreneur puts TRANSPORT in estimates and invoices. Why is a photographer worse? And as for the actual car - for all I care it can even be a Mercedes 600, as long as the result is adequate, and what business is it of yours what the person drives? Just because you have an e-ticket and not a Hummer does not mean that the rest of the world has to drive around in Zhigulis too.

3) I used to think it was great when there were more clients and lower costs for them - BIG FUCKING MISTAKE. After a certain period comes the realization that (A) you yourself are pumped dry trying to get everything done and at the end of the day the pay is nothing, and (B) the clients remain unhappy because you cannot get everything done. Therefore the logical conclusion is that it is better to do less, ask the same amount, but do it much more qualitatively and productively. Not everyone will understand this, but those who have been through it will agree and understand what is being talked about.

4) To each according to their means. If you do not have money for a photographer, then give a point-and-shoot to relatives and be done with it; if you do have money, SEARCH (I emphasize search, not pick the first one) and find the photographer who suits you best and pay the asked amount. You would not go to Stendzenieks saying, "Come on, make me a brochure, it is only 15 minutes, that is not difficult, can you do it for 20 Ls, are you a Jew or what?" These are people who have improved themselves for many years and know what they are doing, and that road has been hard and sometimes terrible, with many fails and many wins - and that is exactly why their 1 working hour costs 10x more than the working hour of a 22-year-old University of Latvia graduate - EXPERIENCE. And that should be respected, and you should take into account that you will have to pay for it. There is no point trying to bargain with such people unless you can interest them with some other type of challenge that they will consider interesting enough to do for a lower amount. A photographer is not a Rimi cashier (shitstorm will begin immediately), and that is something that should be understood.

5) Equipment - whatever the commenters may say, you have to pay serious money for it. Yes, a monitor CAN cost 1000-2000-3000 Ls, yes, a good computer CAN cost 2000-3000-10'000 Ls (do not even start with your ELKOR 500 Ls kits). And it really does help - it helps because the work gets done in an adequate period of time instead of you spending half a week staring at a loading icon or reinstalling Windows for the fifth time.

6) Why are we even stopping at these gigantic bills? To pay the bills, eat Rolton noodles and sleep under the Stockmann underpass? Really? Are decent living conditions really possible only for so-called "oligarchs", "Jewish bankers" and Zatlers? Come on... I really do not understand why anyone should HAVE TO BE ASHAMED and JUSTIFY THEMSELVES for asking for their own salary. It is nonsense... It still seems like a leftover of the Soviet collective-farm spirit. If a person has talent, opportunities and demand - then let him buy that Bentley and live in Baltezers, but apparently in Latvia that is abnormal; apparently what is normal is when an electrician and drywall screwer drive around in an X5, right?

7) Andrej, consider this flattery or whatever, but do not stress about it. For the relevant people who can appreciate photography, you have already proven everything. You will have more than enough work for your whole life, and I think money will not be a problem either. It is absolutely not worth wasting time NOW trying to prove something to the average Latvian - it is hopeless. Even though we are in the EU, our thinking is still at the Soviet level. After all, from numerous acquaintances I have heard that Zavadskis is already top of the line in Latvia and people cannot afford him, which means everything is in order and it is simply not worth stressing yourself out chasing every coin just because society considers that correct. Better do it less often, but do it brilliantly and make it a joy to look at; otherwise you will wear yourself out and give brilliant pictures away for the price of a sandwich, which is even stupider than trying to please someone who does not have the slightest idea about your work.

That really turned into a long text, damn.

For cars, the cost is usually calculated per kilometer. At the moment on the market that is 30-50 santims per km. The author also forgot to mention software costs, which are comparable to computer costs. A valuable discussion, because a large part of people have no idea at all what makes up the service price.

De cette façon, peut être plié en diverses formes, graphique, idée nouvelle, très créatifs!

Question for Andrejam.

"From my own experience I can say that I would never take a photographer to my wedding who uses a crop-sensor type camera and a kit lens, no matter how cool the photographer might be."

Everything is clear about the kit lens, but if you were photographing with, let us say, a Canon 7D and good optics, would the client actually receive anything significantly worse?

Andrej, I think that explaining your costs will not affect those people's opinion about what is expensive and what is not. To those who earn 200-400 Ls per month, you will not prove that 300 Ls is a normal photographer's fee.
Every coin has two sides.
I do not know how much Zavadskis charges for one wedding, but if it is only 300 Ls, then in my opinion he is undervaluing himself. If we assume four weddings a month, that makes 1200 Ls per month. Excuse me, but any self-respecting professional, in any profession, will want to earn more in order to ensure at least a somewhat decent life. And the fact that in Latvia at the moment most people live in poverty and hopelessness does not mean that Zavadskis has to accept that and reduce his own ambitions.
The other side of the coin.
I also understand the bride who really has to save for her wedding for several years, and then on top of that 300 Ls for a photographer. Dear Bride, even if it sounds harsh, everyone has to hire a photographer of the level they can afford. On www.ss.lv photographer services are available even for 50Ls/day (I do not understand how they make ends meet). What you will get for 50 Ls I do not know, but if you want - experiment.
My advice is this: if there is no money, there is no point in organizing a wedding. Go on a wedding trip with your loved one and do not torture yourself.

Es veel piebilstu, ka reklaamas un maarketinga izdevumi uzsaakot sho individuaalo saimdiekoshanu arii sastaada diezgan pieklaajiigu ciparu.
Kaazas vairumam cilveeku ir vienreiz dziivee ir dzirdeeti gadiijumi,kad noliigst vienkaarshu entuziastu ar enry level tehniku domaajot ka shim podzinja vien jaaspiez un peectam ir attieciigs rezulttats..

Red
I see that you yourself are the classic Latvian whose main goal is to say something stupid about other Latvians! Have you really lived in that many places and know that only here are there penny-pinchers??? Pure bullshit. It is not a nationality or origin problem, but a quality of the individual person!

sunshine

Do you work in processing that you have such knowledge? And what do you say about photographers who do their processing with prepared templates? They make them once and then just keep firing away with the same settings every time.

labs darba monitors vien maksaa paari 1k Ls. Ja paskaita labu datoru bez nekadas krutas video kartes + veel vairaki cieti raidam1 tad ar sanaaks paari 1k tikai dators.

Those numbers really are pretty ridiculous. It comes out that the client has to pay for your possibly thoughtless choices. Today you have a car for 7000 Ls, maybe after that you buy some Ferrari or Lambo to make it even more expensive. And as for the PC, a high-end PC can currently be bought for about 600-800Ls, not 2000, no need. As for education - the comment about office workers or plumbers applies here too. And you definitely photograph not only 4 weddings a month and earn considerably more, so there is likely room to optimize these costs as well. Only a few people in Latvia are earning mountains of gold these days.

So true.
In Latvia in general people have the problem that first they look at the price of the product (pictures, equipment, food etc.), not at what this product actually is, what it will give you and what you will gain, and only then how much should be paid for it. Sad, but the average Latvian is and will remain a penny-f***er. It creates the feeling that people live only for money.

I completely agree!!! One hundred percent! Especially about the processing. Most people do not even have the slightest idea how painful it sometimes is and how many hours are spent at the computer with aching eyes. I understand completely! More articles like this, so people understand that it is not just "pressing a button".

It is clear that a professional photographer's equipment is very expensive. But adding the purchase of a car to the expenses is, in my opinion, too much. All of us have a car, but hardly anyone argues for their demanded salary to their employer by referring to what kind of car they drive! And after all, there is also such an option as a taxi!
But the reproaches about the requested price are out of place - if you cannot pay 300Ls to a proven professional, then hire some dilettante for 50 Ls, or at least a less experienced photographer with weaker equipment for 100-150 Ls! And there is no point looking at the highest shelf and whining that it is expensive; there are lower shelves too :-) Then all of us could cry about why Mercedes cars are so expensive, why a house in Jurmala is so expensive, and so on :-)

An ideal article, truly, nothing to add! I will suggest that my boyfriend read it - it will be interesting for him as a photographer. From myself I can say that exactly the same situation exists in several other professions, for example accounting; very few people understand that an accountant's work is something more valuable than just counting with a calculator or entering data into a computer. =)

Nice one :D 7000 - the car is being included in carrying out the duties. And!!! That makes up more than 25% of the invested money. So - if I lend you my car for that day, does the service become 25% cheaper? C'mon, I am also a little person who earns money with the work I do. You can add fuel and technical expenses, but sorry - not your Lexus.
I agree with everything else - I understand that there are invisible expenses, but it is still not classy to include a car that makes up 28% of the value of the service.

I apologize that the link posted at the beginning of the comments worked for a couple of days and now does not really work, because the page engine was changed and the website addresses changed. The new address is this:
http://latfoto.lv/foto-bizness/2549-vai-fotografs-var-nopelnit-un-vai-tas-bizness-jums-bus-pa-kabatai.html
Possibly Andrejam has additional expenses too, but overall it could look like this. Plus weddings involve greater responsibility, and that has to be counted additionally, rather like insurance.

Andrejs, tev taisniiba 1000%!!!!!!!!!!!!

alex: где можно посмотреть ваши фотоработы?

Thanks to Zavadskis for his patience. Even though I am not a professional, photography has an important place in my life. There are people for whom photos are only the capturing of moments, and therefore they do not really understand what is being talked about. I feel sorry for people who rack their brains over why they should have to pay 300 Ls for a wedding photographer. Well, if they do not understand, then why rack their brains at all? That only shows that QUALITY matters less to you, so then take a photographer who asks less, but accordingly the quality will also be lower. Even though my wedding is nowhere in sight yet, I already know that I will choose Zavadskis, regardless of anything else. That is why there are different offers, so clients can choose what suits them best. Personally, I am not thinking about what is more advantageous, but about the pictures, because each of Andreja's pictures carries its own story and each has its own "soul"... an artist remains an artist. All respect.
And really, the rest of you should not worry about what seems inadequate to you, but focus on what seems acceptable to you. Not for nothing are all people in the world different. To each their own.

"Wedding photography is not really the place to earn money; it is more like an extra payment alongside the existing job in order to partly pay back your hobby - photography." I honestly do not even know whether to laugh at comments like that or mock them... Maybe my hobby is accounting - I have Excel on the computer, so perhaps someone wants to order an annual report from me so that I can earn a little on my hobby? A photographer is a profession, just like any other, and it too has specialization - in this case weddings - and not just anyone can do that well, not even just any photographer. And it is a mega workload physically, emotionally and mentally... not just partying with the wedding guests... have a nice day everyone ;)

Alex, apparently you have never seen professional photographic equipment if you say knowledge is not needed. If they put even a Canon 550D in your hands, you still would not be able to photograph ideal pictures. When you say things like that, it starts to seem to me that you do not need knowledge for anything at all.

Nice article! It seems you put everything neatly on the shelf! :) Strange that even now someone still does not understand it. :)
Knowing the costs in Latvia and outside Latvia for these kinds of pleasures, I also want to mention that even 4 years ago wedding photographer prices in Cyprus (for 5 hours + image processing) started from 1500 EUR, and 2 years ago in Great Britain from 2000 GBP... Does 300 still seem too much?

andreart
I am willing to fully agree and reimburse you (not according to your criteria) for a couple of pictures. Just purely as improvisation. With an ordinary DSLR worth about 500Ls. And let us organize absolutely neutral voting on the internet. What do you say?

Jude, if you noticed my comment, then please pay attention to all the lines. But in the comments it is obvious that one hand washes the other... a kind of closed little world of photographers. I myself have photographed with pro equipment and I know that you do not really need knowledge there (unless you are an absolute idiot). These guys and girls have learned 42x7, saved up 1400Ls for a camera, and now they will blast away :D

Good article! :)
In my opinion, camera depreciation is actually set too low, because if the camera price is 7000 lats, which is completely normal, then depreciation should be counted as Ls1400 per year so that after five years you can buy a new one again (or we can simply call it money saved up for buying new equipment)! :)
Thank you :)

People seem to forget that the salary they receive is not the same as what they cost the employer. For the employer to pay those 500Ls, he spends 876.25 Ls ( http://www.cvmarket.lv/salary_enquiry.php?career_style=2&op=calculator ) + paid vacation (4 weeks) and all the other work-related costs covered by the employer. A photographer is an author, and cannot be compared to an office worker whose working conditions and tasks are practically unchanged.

Actually I reduced my own costs so the numbers would not be too astronomical. I did not mention many things at all, so people would not get shocked. I would like to put a camera in the hands of all the complainers and let them shoot even an average-level wedding. Their view and attitude would change immediately ;)

I really do not understand - is a photographer some kind of special profession?
Let us assume that looking at salaried workers is in a sense foolish, because they are paid by bosses of different levels, but we can look at farmers instead.
Let us take grain. I will not talk in exact numbers, but in approximate values. Think about it: before you can sow anything in the land, it has to be prepared. Depending on the previously grown crop, it may have to be plowed, disked, deep-loosened, cultivated and more. In order to do that, you need some sort of education too, do you not? How much do you think that costs? How many years are spent on it? And then, do you really think all your lenses and cameras stand next to a tractor (or several), a plow, a deep-loosener and a cultivator?
Let us continue - when the soil is ready, you then have to sow, which means seed is needed. And you have to pay for seed too. Then you can choose treated or untreated seed, and whether or not to add fertilizer or mineral fertilizer afterwards, all of which will affect the harvest. That costs something too, does it not? And on top of all that - it is a game of luck. What if your grain grows too tall, then rain comes and everything falls flat in the field?
Now think how much all of that costs in total.

Andrej, I agree 99%; the remaining 1% is that wedding photography, generating ideas and constantly being "on the line" are financially immeasurable aspects that you simply cannot measure. I myself am a photographer's assistant; we work as a pair, because it is much easier both physically and emotionally, and ideas are generated much more productively and beautifully too. That is why our price is double. But there is no point explaining anything to people who have no clarity at all about what photographs are and what professional photographs are. And the same goes for those who do not understand that one student's computer is not enough for photo processing and archiving. If I myself were getting married, I definitely would never save money on the wedding photographer. If there is no money, there is no point getting married! But Andrej, I wish you to keep going and see no limits, because your photographs are simply indescribable in words.

It is completely unbelievable how stupid comments can be! Normal costs. There are services I cannot afford either, but that is my problem, not the service provider's! Nobody is forcing anyone to hire that photographer!

Interesting to read the real costs behind a service that people do not often encounter... BUT (yes, there is always a but)... honestly speaking, such direct and indirect costs exist for absolutely every product and every service we use or buy. I do not understand what the pain is about - in every field there are people who complain and never understand all the costs. I assume Andrejs simply has this issue close to heart, so this cost breakdown started. For example, my sore point is that old ladies complain about having to pay 0.98 ls per month for garbage collection, even though the company has to pay off a garbage truck costing 90,000 ls. I am telling you - in absolutely every field there will be complaints about prices, no matter how cheaply the service is provided. There will always be insane costs and taxes (which, by the way, wedding photographers quite often avoid) that make your hair stand on end. So there is no point crying too much. If they do not want to buy the service - let them hire someone cheaper.

''And also - "computer and monitor - 2000ls". For that amount you can buy a computer made of gold. If you include such a sum, then you are misleading both yourself and others.'' Excuse me, but is your head on your shoulders or stuck to your backside? If you bought a computer even for 1000ls, including the monitor, then the photo processing would take even longer - I would say at least 20 more hours. To the "smart" commenters talking about cars: first, buy one. Second, take your point-and-shoot in your hands and go with a photographer to photograph a wedding. Third, calculate how much money went on fuel, depreciation and a few other things that in the end will not be small things anymore. Fourth, describe your feelings after 12 hours of photographing at an amateur level and whether the car you drove home in after the long day felt comfortable. And if it still seems that the car has a small role in all this, then drive behind the photographer every single time. Good luck to all photographers in their future careers! :)

Why does nobody whine that in a car service, changing seasonal tires costs 15.00 Ls for tire mounting? That is only 20-30 minutes of work! And it is nonsense that an entrepreneur should not count all expenses! Any salaried worker buys everything they have with their salary, so those too are costs that have to be covered by that person's income. Those who have taken study loans to get an education will also not agree that education should not be counted, because every month part of that loan has to be repaid.

I do not want to agree about education, because photographer is not the kind of profession where you need a paper in order to work, especially not to photograph weddings. There are many skilled photographers who learned photography through self-study - does that make their value lower? A photographer's formal education is a choice to take an easier path toward learning the skill, and that is why you pay for it.
There is also a small joke with high-end cameras: the image quality of wedding photos will not differ all that much whether the camera is middle class or top tier. The difference is that with a high-end camera the photographer can shoot the images more easily (can calmly shoot in darker conditions, does not have to be so afraid of rain, has more buttons for easier access, etc.). And the fact that the camera is full-frame still does not guarantee better images.
In the end I think a photographer should be paid good money so that he is motivated to make good pictures and not reluctantly rush through them with a sour face.
Listing everything possible under expenses is a little silly.

Well, actually nobody looking for wedding photographers should be complaining about anything. If you want memories for 100Ls, look for someone for 100Ls. If you want them for 1000Ls, then look for someone for 1000Ls. All of us know how to complain. Personally I have photographed only one wedding and I was very scared, but yes, because of poor equipment - Nikon D60 and D80 with kit lenses, and the D80 was borrowed :D - I lost many beautiful shots. I tried with all my heart and soul to make the client happy. But yes, I have seen how Andrejs works, I was the driver at one wedding - hats off. The work I see that he makes is good too. Of course, there are also people on the market who charge inadequately high sums and then the couple receives poor quality photos, so before searching, check every photographer. :)

Such lists can be made for any entrepreneur working in the service field. As a hairdresser my equipment also costs several thousand; scissors alone cost 450 lats - so I understand photographers and it would never occur to me to bargain over such questions. If I need it, I pay.

1. In any case the photographer has shown the minimum possible cost, although he could have counted losses at the maximum price, as would be appropriate!!
2. It is impossible to value art (if it is professional and recognized, not to mention a "neighbor photographer") with a lower number, because its counterweight is eternal, while units of money and their weight change..
3. The bride should worry about having a beautiful wedding, but the groom should worry about the 300, 500 or xx Ls for the photographer. If the bride is rational and employed, she has no time left for comments like these.
For such people one should also list make-up +/-200, hairdresser 150, editing each photo 10..
Good luck in your work!!!

I agree with every word under this article, and I believe that in Andreja's case those prices and costs are exactly like that. But as Andrejs himself wrote, prices and costs can differ for every photographer. So not everyone should be thrown into one pile either.. :) @k.p do you think that video ( http://vimeo.com/13910742 ) cost nothing? :) Maybe they did not have a wedding at all so they could afford that nice video! :) I also join the opinion expressed earlier that there will always be people who can appreciate the photographer's invested work, time, resources and talent if they can afford it. Latvia has enough good photographers for people to find, in time for their wedding, the one that best matches the thickness of their wallet and their sense of taste!

The main thing people in Latvia do not understand is that you have to BUY what you can afford based on your means, not whine about high prices. It is rather stupid to make a scandal at a shop selling Ferraris if you can only afford a Zhiguli. A bride is rather shortsighted if she orders a CAKE / CAR for 1000Ls and then starts moaning that 300Ls is too much for the PHOTO that would nicely capture all that "splendor" so she can brag to other geese. WEDDINGS in the Latvian style are a flashy presentation event for showing off; if there is nothing to show off, then the event makes little sense, in that case you might as well go to the registry office by tram and later eat cutlets at the nearest cafeteria. In the West there is a good BRIDE test for photographer costs: a photographer's price at a wedding should be NO LESS THAN "Cake + Car", otherwise the cake and car make no sense because there will be nothing to show and brag about :):) I have not photographed weddings in Latvia for a very long time, even though in my 25+ years of professional photo career I have photographed many, many hundreds of weddings. In modern Latvia many people want to get what they cannot afford in every area, and then they start looking for cheap and unprofessional everything. For example, wedding hosts who do not know what to do, do not understand how to allocate time for photos; often chaos reigns, and even with the greatest wish it is hard to photograph anything truly enjoyable. Unlike Europe, in Latvia the wedding crowd is often inadequate; they may aggressively express themselves toward one another, may refuse to come into the group photo and clown around in all sorts of ways, and even the photographer's equipment may suffer - which in Latvia is not insured. All this leads to a sad result. I hate chaos, disorder, lack of organization in important matters. MARRIAGE is one of the most important events in a person's life; it is better not to do something you cannot guarantee to do well and that you hate. Maybe it is better to take an example from the times when the public in Latvia was more adequate: if you cannot afford to pay what is asked for a whole wedding, order a session in a studio - wedding dress, dream prince and parents at your side - with that same great photographer you cannot afford for the whole event. One almost has to say, as in credit advertisements: "Choose responsibly, evaluate your ability to pay."

I would only disagree with Zavadskis about crop sensors. Come on - I have seen plenty of low-level wedding photos (and photography in general) shot on various full-frame cameras of different prices... Otherwise, cool article. Also because it stimulates discussion :)

Quite simply, people are fed up with the economy and all the consequences that come out of it, so they make noise. Before the crisis, there was no problem throwing down 25 Ls for a floor rag, and likewise no problem paying a professional photographer. As for education - it is foolish to shout: "How can education be counted among current expenses???" That is exactly where it should be counted, because you work with your education, and it makes you suitable for the job you do (I am not talking about clothing stores and the like). When you study, you study with the idea that afterwards you will be able to work at a well-paid job in accordance with the competence you have acquired; and if you took a loan to pay tuition, then for a certain time it becomes one of your current expenses. I can also see that many of the commenters do not really understand how salary is formed at all and what determines its size. Right now, yes, salaries are unfair and everyone is greedy, but think about it - do you not buy hair gel with the money you earn? Do you not buy shoes, including their depreciation, with what you earn? The internet is generally not the best place to explain something to someone, because mostly all the negativity gets dumped here, even when it does not concern the topic being discussed (that is for Zavadskis), but to the commenters I suggest first thinking logically, and if you are not a specialist in the specific field - I doubt your opinion will seem grounded or serious to anyone; rather, it is childlike chatter.

Oh, I remember that the same kind of discussions were already happening back in 2009, when I got married. When we named the amount we paid the photographer, other people's eyes popped out. Sometimes it feels like people can appreciate only work that requires a standard 40-hour week - everyone else is just a dilettante asking insane sums. I am glad I have the ability to appreciate other people's work and understand where such sums come from - whether they are paid to a photographer or a wedding musician. But there are some people who will never understand. NEVER!

Btw - in all this cacophony we should not forget elementary microeconomics: supply and demand. If Andrejs did not make beautiful pictures, no one would pay that kind of money for his services. And if they do pay, then they recognize the price as being good for the corresponding service. That is the whole story in short. You can always draw the price as a sum of costs, but I do not think clients are very interested in that. A client who has seen Zavadska's pictures is interested in one thing - how much does it cost to get this photographer? Question no. 2: does it fit into my budget?

Sorry.
I mixed it up a bit. :)

Heh. Here the author is really quite wrong: every person has the right to ask for whatever payment he considers appropriate for his work. And if you cannot afford a good photographer who will do everything well and whose pictures will be ideal, then save a few lats and take someone not so good. It may happen that in the end you regret those few dozen lats you wanted to save on the photographer. :D

And what is stopping you from getting married like this?! ----> http://vimeo.com/13910742

The main thing is not to throw out a pile of money and show everyone that you can afford it.
The main thing is that the two of you are happy. If you cannot do that without money and throwing away thousands, then something is not right.

This video made me think. :)

I liked the comment that the photographer could optimize expenses. That is the same as optimizing wedding pictures from quality to crap.
From my own experience (even though so far I have invested only 1000 Ls) I can say that without good equipment and education, nothing good will come out.
The best article on the topic and on the side of the photographer's life that nobody sees.

You should hire the photographers you can pay for, but dissecting where and how the photographer spends the money or why he asks that much is impolite. 300Ls for a wedding from well-known photographers is completely ok. Then do not turn to photo stars, but to the neighbor with a point-and-shoot! In the end the important thing is that both sides are satisfied, so I agree with the article 100%. I always hire good photographers because I know what result I want. It is not a cheap pleasure, but for some reason someone imagines it should be! Disappointment guaranteed, like for this lady.

Yes, the photographer has included absolutely everything possible in the costs, almost everything! :) If everyone calculated like that, then people in Latvia simply would not work for the salaries they have. Let us calculate a simple office worker whose job is very specific and responsible. How much should he receive? To be able to work, he must at minimum have a master's degree, which costs about 10,000-12,000 lats. He constantly has to improve himself in courses that cost at least 1000 lats a year. To be able to work he has to maintain energy and good work capacity, which costs at least 100 lats per month. To get to work by car, another 200 lats a month goes away. Of course, to work productively he has to eat lunch - about 60 lats a month. Of course, both equipment and software must be bought; over a 3-year cycle that costs about 1000 lats. So what salary should such a specialist have? The answer is simple: 400 to 500 lats per month, because in Latvia there are simply not many places that pay more. I only wanted to say that there is no need to go to extremes and that costs can be optimized in different ways. Of course, photographers who provide services globally and sell their pictures outside Latvia can earn more. Wedding photography is not the place to make money; it is more like an extra payment alongside the existing job to partly pay back your hobby - photography.

And also - "computer and monitor - 2000ls".
For that amount you can buy a computer made of gold.
If you include such a sum, then you are deceiving both yourself and others.

It really cracks me up how the guy tries to stick on as many little numbers as possible. For example, does the plumber not spend money on travel and clothing? Does the saleswoman not?

Nothing but excuses.

... I agree with Andrejam 100% + software (when you buy it legally!!!) + hard drives for maintaining the archive ... lately I have even heard, directly from photographers, the thesis "why keep in the archive material already delivered to the client?" In my opinion a photographer without their own archive is pathetic... but that is only my opinion :). For example, I still have the negatives from all the events I have photographed (!!! since primary school, so from 1980), and I also have a digital archive!!! Only when working with photo plates, keeping all the plates is technically impossible because they belong to the studio where I worked at the time! + !!! and maybe also - taxes!!! And as for the choice??? professional or friend (friend of a friend with a camera?) - that is the client's choice!!! (From experience, on average at five weddings a year we fix defects that arose in the photographing process ... both technical and visual ones, for example removing wires and poles growing out of the bride's head with Photoshop, etc.) In Valts Kleins's words: "As technology develops, amateurs will take over and quality will fall. There will be part of the population that does not know what visually and technically QUALITATIVE photography is." Gunars Binde's quote about "the generation of clickers" is also spot on!!! And from myself I will only add: I have scissors at home, but I have never thought that I could be a hairdresser. There will always be someone who chooses very high quality goods, someone who pays for the brand, someone who chooses discounts, and someone who chooses the cheapest ... and so on. (I recommend evaluating your priorities and aligning them with your wishes and possibilities ... :) )

Good article! Long ago I heard a story about Picasso. A woman sits in a cafe, Picasso is opposite her, and she cannot gather the courage, but in the end asks him to draw something for her. Picasso spends 15 minutes drawing her a painting and asks 10000 for the work. She is shocked - why so much for such a quick drawing? Picasso answers: for the investment of a lifetime!

Hm, strange...
Why is she whining? Let her hand a point-and-shoot to her mother-in-law and let her run around the meadow photographing the young couple. Total expenses: 0ls, and peace from the mother-in-law ;-D

Good article!
Long ago I heard a story about Picasso.
A woman sits in a cafe, Picasso is opposite her, and she cannot gather the courage, but in the end asks him to draw something for her.
Picasso spends 15 minutes drawing her a painting and asks 10000 for the work. She is shocked - why so much for such a quick drawing? Picasso answers: for the investment of a lifetime!

And will the organizers drive the photographer home from the guest house too? (important to add that they will definitely be under the influence of alcohol). Staying overnight is not an option, because hardly many of us sleep at our workplace. Thanks for the article, I hope at least for someone it will change their attitude toward photography as a profession.

If someone is still shocked that Zavadskis asks for a bit more money for preserving a wedding, then I assume the person has familiarized themselves with the photographer's art and knows how good the pictures always turn out. And that is why they choose a good photographer. Quality must be paid for, of course. If an amateur asked for 300 lats, then yes, you could ask - for what? I disagree only with education being included there. That is more for self-development and so that afterward you can ask more than those who do not have the education or the relevant gadgets. :) Good luck!

There are snapshots and there are photographs (photography as art). Accordingly, each costs differently. Art is art, and snapshots are snapshots.
Zavadskis has fantastic pictures! I looked and enjoyed them. Thank you.

Alex seems to be a man offended by life, because he himself cannot manage to "grab things in a Jewish way"... Which service or product prices are adjusted to the Latvian average salary? Real estate? Clothes? And exactly which economic theory says that it is better to have 10 clients for a low price than one for a high price? I completely agree with the author regarding costs. For me it is only a hobby, and even then over a year the expenses still pile up quite a lot. I would entrust my own wedding only to a professional like Zavadskis, no matter how much it cost - it is worth it! :)

Sorry Andrej, but this article is not the best answer to a bride for whom 300Ls seems too much; a bride like that will only get even angrier.
This article is more meant for new photographers, so they can understand how photo service prices are formed.

Better read this; it is all in dollars, but the explanation is much better: http://www.petapixel.com/2012/01/26/why-wedding-photographers-prices-are-wack/

By the way, with the help of Google Translate the bride's letter was taken from here.

I am shocked by most of the comments! :)) People in Latvia still have not understood that good work must be paid for accordingly! Sitting in an office with an MBA education does not require investing your own resources in order to work and earn! Wedding photographers have a very hard, unrealistically responsible and stressful job! I would not photograph weddings even for 300 lats! 3000! Yes, then it would be worth suffering! :)

Adequate prices really must be paid for the services of a high-class professional photographer. And the fact that the average Latvian cannot afford that as a spontaneous "purchase" is more than clear.

In Latvia, in my opinion, there are more photographers than necessary, so finding the most suitable option for yourself should not be a particular problem.

I always look at Andrejs's pictures with white envy and secretly await my own wedding, because I know that in pictures it will definitely look about 100 times better than it will under the influence of all the rushing around, stress and the rest of the festive atmosphere.

Well, the translation is so-so :)http://blog.nikkimaydayphotography.com/2012/01/26/why-wedding-photographers-prices-are-wack-erie-pa-wedding-photographer-response/

Counting the car in the costs is not idiotic; it is the same kind of work tool as any other equipment. And the fact that the organizers have agreed to provide transport does not always mean that the person driving at midnight will be sober, so being self-sufficient is a bonus. And when you drive around a lot, the car wears out anyway and you have to invest in it again.
The same with electricity during post-processing - that gets used too and should also be counted.

@parasts
Well, if all she needs is for someone to simply take pictures, then let her ask her brother, father or neighbor. Why ask professionals and then cry and moan afterward?
It is the same as with dentists: some ask 7ls per tooth, some around 400Ls, but in the countryside maybe someone will even pull a tooth for you without anesthesia just as a favor :)

Quite a mess. The only justifiable factor affecting the price would be the equipment. Education (especially expensive education) and a car are things a very large share of specialists also have, yet for some reason they receive 450ls per month.

Very correctly written. Let the people rage about the huge amount of money; let them blast away with their point-and-shoots and sit in their villages.

Creative professions are not some faking conveyor belt where you screw in one screw all the time; you need imagination, technical knowledge and so on. That is experience and quality... are you all really that dumb? And why should the car not count? Are you idiots? If the person has to drive all over Latvia, how can he manage without a car? Fly by flapping his hands?

And in principle everyone charges for their work as much as they themselves value it, and nobody has any right to put that down. The bigger the master, the greater the experience, the more it will cost - that has always been and always will be. Amen.

And some also pay taxes for photographing, that can be added too.
:)
My own photo processing also takes quite a lot of time; it really comes out to those 300 ls over two weeks, and it does not seem like anything mystically high.

The girl simply needs someone to take pictures and that is all. And she wants it to be someone whose pictures are not blurry and do not have half heads or red eyes. The fact that for 300 you can get something more does not interest her, because there is not enough money. And an explanation like this will not change anything for her.

The author has desperately tried to justify his greedy nature... at least in his own eyes. Grab, grab... such a price for the service would be normal only with salaries that are 3 times the Latvian average. And writing the car into justified expenses? C'mon! Maybe then also perfume, clothes, toothpaste and paying off your housing should be added to justified expenses? Then OK... such a price would be adequate. It was correctly said - a photographer is an entrepreneur. Then he should fight for clients, get, say, 10 clients a month, not put the price at 500ls and catch some richer naive person with whom to satisfy his artistic ambitions. Why not immediately ask for 1500ls? I guarantee that one such person will be found every few months. There will be more free time for easy money.

Something similar happened in the USA; there too one photographer explained why it costs 3000 dollars. I agree with him in everything except that the wedding couple has to support the photographer. It is not really fair to expect to earn enough for the whole year from 20-30 weddings. There are other ways to earn money with photography too.

No need to get too worked up. You have to talk with people about their possibilities. If they just want you to photograph everyone bunched together for 1 hour, it will be much less than 300ls :) and the main thing is to find out what the client even means by good pictures :) For some people it is enough that someone just clicked something :) Have a nice day everyone! :)

Sia: read this one instead:
http://latfoto.lv/foto-bizness/335-vai-fotografs-var-nopelnit-un-vai-tas-bizness-jums-bus-pa-kabatai.html
It explains more precisely how much goes to education every year. In the photographer's profession it is not like with an MBA, where almost nothing changes for centuries. Maslow still has his pyramid and Ford still has his theories, and there is not that much change in the basics. But in photography there is change every year, especially in this digital age.

Just a couple of days ago I read this: http://www.petapixel.com/2012/01/26/why-wedding-photographers-prices-are-wack/ If I may ask, how much does it actually cost to have Zavadskis photograph a wedding? 300Ls does not sound too terrible; I always thought it was something like 500+ though I do not really know.

How can you count education expenses into current costs??? Then for my MBA degree I too would have to calculate completely different salary numbers, and then there is also the equipment - who cares how many cameras you have? Some people shoot a whole wedding with one Canon 450D and the result is not bad, while others hang themselves with 5 cameras and a suitcase of lenses and act like mega photographers. I hired a photographer for a big anniversary; he ripped me off for 500Ls, and in the end I was disappointed because I really did not understand what that money had been paid for. Andrej, it seems to me that someone cheated you and that is why you poured out your pain here... the article is close to reality, but the justification of the costs is completely messed up.

The numbers here are given for hi-end equipment, but the explanation is basically correct and matches the real situation in life :)

Some people are upset that the author included the car in the cost price. :) But why are you not happy that the software was not included in the cost price? Software too, you know, does not cost pennies. :) And a car is the same kind of work instrument as a camera. The author has already described that clearly and understandably!

N.R., why do you say the bride has no demands? If your wife, sister or girlfriend does not demand a fur coat and diamonds from you - does that mean she has no demands? Everyone has their own priorities.
For example, I need a warm home and loving relationships...
not another diamond on the finger, around the neck or in the nose, while the husband runs around with mistresses...
That is what I mean, in case you do not understand the phrase "everyone has their own priorities" :D

Now they really have inflated the prices. Then for my own work I should receive 5-6 thousand a month :(
The calculation is very pretty, of course. The only question is - is there demand for the author every Saturday and Sunday? Does he manage to earn the planned profit? :)
I also would not hire a photographer. Let friends take the pictures :) For the formal part, yes. And that is all.
300 lats for a couple of hours... it makes me laugh. Not everyone can choose tablecloths according to the mood or get married in the Hilton hotel :D

I am surprised that so little goes toward archiving pictures when photography is a regular main occupation. But overall it looks more or less at the same price level as 4 years ago:
http://latfoto.lv/foto-bizness/335-vai-fotografs-var-nopelnit-un-vai-tas-bizness-jums-bus-pa-kabatai.html
You have simply forgotten a few positions that should also be included in expenses.

I am not a photographer but a graphic designer, and I understand the specifics of the work. I do not agree that car costs should not be included - if it were just driving around Riga, that would be one thing, but these are mostly long distances. Besides, when calculating costs, everything has to be included. For example, I calculate apartment rent, kindergarten costs and electricity, so that I understand what my hourly rate has to be in order for it not to be cheaper to sit at home with the child. And post-processing really is a huge job; people from the outside do not understand that. If the bride wants to stay within 150 lats, then let her invite some friend, an amateur. During all those hours the photographer has to be in excellent form with high concentration, has to catch close-ups, wide shots, every guest, facial expressions etc. My colleague, who is a camera operator, shakes her head whenever she is offered wedding filming, because it is beastly work..

I completely agree that unfortunately we photographers here in Latvia cannot really earn..
And those costs - most people do not even think about how much and what is needed for that quality to exist! It starts to feel as if everything simply falls from the sky for us, but it does not..
When I process pictures, my other half sometimes feels offended because I have immersed myself in picture processing, but it cannot be otherwise.. :)
That is why even 300ls is still little, because there are photographers who ask for much more.. :)

It is hard to believe that people can be so narrow-minded...
For my own wedding I did not even count on having a photographer, because I knew I could not afford it! If someone had told me it costs only 300Ls, I might have thought about it, but seeing what kind of gear my photographer friends carry in their hands and how hard they work, truly sacrificing their private life, it seemed to me that such an event starts from 500Ls in general!
In the end relatives and friends clicked away, and the pictures are dear of course, but... it is not the same, it just is not :)
I will only add that every time I somehow "run into" Zavadskis's pictures, I think that if someday there is again some unique and important event in life, I will find the means to have exactly this photographer preserve it, because it is worth it! Truly every picture is special.

I only want to remind you that I wrote about my own experience. If someone has different experience, please share it on your own blogs. And for every point I also wrote the justification - both about the car and about the cost of the equipment and its possibilities. Understanding what the equipment can do, I would never take to my own wedding a photographer with a cropped sensor and a kit lens! NEVER! No matter how cool the photographer might be...

Good article, only without much point. Because: those who understand that 300Ls for a photographer is normal will pay it anyway. Those who do not understand it will continue saying "yes, but 300Ls is still a lot of money" and so on even after reading all these numbers. I think there is no point getting worked up over those who complain about prices. There is always a choice - quality pictures with the corresponding payment, or point-and-shoot photos for the price of one bottle of vodka :)

I do not know anyone who has paid for photography at a wedding. It is possible that there are people who want high-class photographs with expensive equipment, but in reality (I have been to about 5-6 weddings) there has not been a single paid photographer. There is always some reasonably experienced acquaintance who takes the pictures, and the wedding couple is satisfied.

What I want to say is that REQUIREMENTS are different. Some want that and they pay. Others just want something to put in an album, and they will never pay.

"It is so elementary! Take a camera, run around for one day at a fun party with the guests and the newlyweds, and for a day's work receive a whole 300Ls, and on top of that you are fed for free. Ordinary mortals have to work a whole month, if not two, to earn 300Ls."

Yeah.

First of all, that is what the photographer said.

Second, if you do not like it, do not pay. Hand someone a point-and-shoot (an ordinary camera or even a mobile phone) and let them run around and take pictures for fun. Seriously, I want to see the bride's face while looking at those pictures. Oh wait, I want to see the simpleton who will want to "have fun" by investing serious work and energy for the benefit of strangers.

I have been in situations where I do something for the price of a sandwich, but it has never been for nothing - either these are people I know well and whose time and energy I want to give, or I am gaining experience. In any case, the result has been more or less half-assed.

In short - if you want it done well, pay.

Quite a good little article! And I do not agree with N.R.! Organizers should not have to deal with driving the photographer around, unless that is specifically agreed!

You could also have written in the cost of hair gel! For what kind of nonsense do you mention the car! :) Then should I now ask my employer for depreciation of the shoes I wear to work :D

Finally, someone has explained it. Because I think this needs to be talked about more. Very often there ends up being conflict between the photographer and the person seeking this service.

You do not understand that the bride has no demands. If she wants wedding photography for 150Ls, that will be more than enough if I come to her with a 3-year-old Nikon D90 + 50mm f1.8 lens (a combination that can be bought for those same 150ls) and make such pictures that the bride melts with happiness.

And counting car costs is idiotic. At weddings the photographers are driven around by the organizers