So, you have probably asked yourself, why does it cost so much for a wedding photographer or videographer?

What you see:

A photographer or videographer turns up on your day, takes photos or video for about 8 hours and then a few weeks later you receive your images or film. So why is it so expensive to hire them?

If you're asking yourself this question then keep reading as before I became a professional I would have asked the same thing!

What you don’t see:

In order to become a professional photographer or videographer there are a lot of expenses, some of which are ongoing costs and some setup costs. These have been taken into account when pricing for your wedding.

These are some of my costs to get started but other professionals may have paid different prices.

The first and most obvious expense is equipment. Each professional digital camera body costs between £1500 and £4000. You then need to buy lenses which are between £500 and £2800. Additionally to this you then need batteries (lots of them), flashes, lights, microphones, memory cards, chargers, modifiers and more. As an indication my equipment consists of:

Cameras
Different lenses
Flashes
Memory cards
Spare batteries
Different video lights

Estimates Total - £30,000