Published by Brisbane Wedding Photographer Ben Clark

So, you’re getting married and have discovered that finding a wedding photographer can be a bit harder than you thought !

Well I’ve put together a few tips that might just make things a little bit easier.

A handful of questions that I get asked on a regular basis.

I’ll try answer a few wedding photography questions I’m often asked

Why the heck does wedding photography cost so much ?



Well hey I’m glad you asked.

There’s an awful lot of wedding photographers out there charging a variety of different prices, some include all day coverage and some charge out at an hourly rate.

Either way you can rest assured that however long your photographer spends with you on your wedding day he or she will spend 3 times longer in post processing, basically taking a great image and making it freaking awesome !

Making it the best it can be, and lets be honest, it’s your wedding day, you want to look your best right ?

If you’re looking at albums then you can most likely add an extra couple of days to the post processing time as there is the design and layout of your gorgeous album.

We also have things like new cameras & lenses, software , back up systems, all of these things are expenses that we carry every year. This is just the cost of running a business and it‘s not cheap but you can rest easy knowing that your precious images are well taken care of and you won’t see me on your TV Sunday night getting chased by a camera crew and a bunch of angry brides demanding their images.

My albums are all Australian made (handcrafted) and I make sure that they are the best quality available, if you’d like a Chinese made inferior product that will most likely fall apart after 2 years I’m probably not your guy.

Ok so what happens if you’re sick ?



This one I hear a lot, and it really is a great question, my answer is very simple.

What if, on your wedding day you woke up feeling a bit average ?

You’d probably still turn up yeah ? Well unless I’ve broken my leg or come down with Malaria I’ll be there too ! Now it would be irresponsible of me not to mention that I also have a very large network of wedding photographers that I can call on if for some reason I am ill, in the 15 years (800 weddings) that I’ve been photographing weddings this has never happened.

Do we need two photographers ?



The simple answer is nope.

I shoot 98% of all my weddings solo, on the odd occasion I will use a second photographer.

Usually if you’re having more than 200 guests or if you specifically WANT a second photographer then in those cases sure you can have one.

But otherwise it’s not necessary and don’t let anyone tell you that you NEED two photographers because it’s just not true.

I only have budgeted $750.00 for photography, will I find someone ?



Sure you will, there are photographers for all budgets but you will have to compromise somewhere.

It will most likely mean that he or she won’t belong to a professional body or that maybe they’re just starting on their journey as a wedding photographer.

It all comes back to doing your research and meeting face to face with your potential photographer.

Price is always going to be a deciding factor but if your photographer yells at your family & leaves an hour early then you’ll be left with that ‘I think we booked the wrong person’ feeling.

So research, ask questions, if you can’t meet face to face then ask for a Face-time meeting.

I get monthly emails from unhappy Brides wanting to re-shoot their day as their photographer made a mess of it, by then it’s too late.

If you’re having trouble choosing your photographer take a look here.

Do we need to feed you ?



During the day us photographers will generally look after ourselves, I would usually try and grab a bite to eat after I leave the girls and on the way to the ceremony.

Having said that it’s not always possible.

Imagine you’re getting ready and getting married with reception all at the same venue, there is zero opportunity to be able to grab something to eat on the way to the ceremony as it’s generally a 5 minute walk to the location.

Then once the ceremony is over it’s straight into hugsNkisses and then straight into bridal party shenanigans.

After we’ve spent about an hour and a half with the bridal party out on location we’re heading back to the reception, we must get our room shots / tables shots BEFORE your guests are let into the room, this leaves us with a window of normally around 10-15 minutes if we’re lucky. Sometimes we arrive back to find that the guests are already in, not the end of the world but not ideal to get those nice room shots.

So after we’ve done our room shots and the guests are being seated it’s game on for the reception, so again zero down time. It’s go go go without a break, the last break we had was just before meeting the boys at the ceremony, and that wasn’t really a break, more of a slow down.

So the wedding reception has started and you’re feeling excited for what the evening will bring, I’ll be there capturing all of those moments, this is why we ask for a meal, the reception timeline just doesn’t allow us to leave and have dinner.

Ideally if asked by your venue coordinator when your photographer would like their meal the perfect time is when you are having yours, then we can down tools without worrying that the speeches are about to start.

Although the reality is that most venues will serve up meals to the bridal party and then all the guests and only after everyone has been sorted will they look after your service providers, photographer, band, Dj, etc ..

The problem here is that sometimes, by the time we get to sit the speeches are about to kick off again and our dinner becomes a ‘lets see how much food I can stuff into my mouth before the MC gets to introducing the next speech maker’ type deal.

Should I have an unplugged wedding ?

We live in a modern world, one that allows us to have a mobile device on us almost 24/7.

The downside of this at weddings is when you’re walking down the aisle and in front of you is a sea of mobile phones. Now I know that if I were you I’d probably be wanting to see smiling faces rather than phones.

Seriously though, what the heck is Uncle Harry going to do with those 20 shots of you walking down the aisle? I’m sure you don’t really want images up on Facebook before you even reach the end of the aisle?

I’m all for an unplugged wedding, but don’t do it for me, do it for you. Your guests can happily snap away before and after your ceremony but give them permission to enjoy it with phones off.

I’m thinking of hiring a Videographer what do you think ?



I have worked with both awesome & less than average videographers, again it comes back to doing your research and a face to face meeting.

I have written up a whole post dedicated to this one subject.

But in short I have a list of terrific videographers that I recommend and am happy to share with those that love what I do.

Would you like to see some of my latest weddings ?

Get in contact with Ben

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