WEDDING SERVICES 2013/14
All photographic packages include your chosen combination of classic, relaxed, reportage, colour & black/white photography. The options within each package give you the flexibility to select the presentation, size and number of images you require.
Guideline prices: 4 hours from £800, 6 hours from £1,200, 8 hours from £1,600, 10 hours from £2,000, 12 hours from £2,400
TYPICAL PACKAGE OPTIONS FOR 6 HOURS ATTENDANCE
4 Hour Package: 200 pictures taken by Mark Sisley, plus a high res CD of all images, plus secure online viewing.
Option 1: 200 4"x5" unmounted prints +200 images on a high resolution CD @ £800
Option 2: 60 mixed sizes images in a digitally printed hardback A3 30 page book + 200 images on a high resolution CD @ £1,100 incl. album
Option 3: 60 photographic prints - including 8x10s/4x5s in a handmade A3 album + 200 images on a high resolution CD @ £1,400 incl. album
Option 4: 60 mixed size images digitally printed in a 30 page A4 glossy coffee table album + 200 images on a high resolution CD @ £1,400 incl. album
Option 5: 60 mixed size photographic prints, includes 8 sizes, in a handmade A3 album + 200 images on a high res CD @ £1,800 incl. album
A 10% discount applies on every booking for Friday & Sunday weddings, 15% for Mon-Thurs weddings.
Each package price includes 20 - 50 hours of my time, including meetings, actual photography time, processing of images, PhotoShop work and album production. Quality Guarantee - Apart from your deposit, the balance payment is only due once you've approved the pictures online after your honeymoon.
I have been a full time professional photographer for over 22 years: I've now attended over 1,200 weddings. Most of my bookings are via referral from the area's leading 4/5 star venues/hotels, or from previous satisfied customers.
These are guideline prices only. To receive my full price list and brochure, please telephone or email me with the date and location of your wedding. I look forward to hearing from you..... Mark Sisley
2 hours attendance for small Mon-Thurs weddings @ £500 - 100 images taken & supplied on a high res CD, also includes 100 4"x 5" prints & an online viewing gallery. Available for bookings anywhere in Bucks, Berks, Herts, Oxon, Middx or London.
.jpg "Sunset at Brill")
SELECTING A PHOTOGRAPHER
A large majority of wedding photographers found online are not professionals. Qualifications are not compulsary in the photographic industry; anyone can offer their services as a photographer, and many do! With the advent of very simple-to-use digital cameras, there has been an explosion of part-time hobbyists offering their services at ridiculously low prices over the past 5 years. They are buying very professional looking off-the-shelf websites and adding their images, then start trading straight away with only their basic amateur experience and equipment! Their amazingly low prices are rarely a bargain once you understand their inexperience with lighting and composition, and lack of organisational skills on the day! It is easy to spot the hobbyists if you know how:
The first alarm bell should ring if they don't list their address or a landline number.
Also make sure you visit your potential wedding photographer's business premises for your initial meeting, obviously the hobbyists will ask to visit your home!
Ask your photographer if they have all the necessary expensive indemnity and public liability insurances - Many venues refuse to allow photographers onsite on the day without this cover because of the potential risks associated with uninsured wedding suppliers - Hobbyists are very unlikely to have any insurances!
Photography at its best is a true art! When viewing a photographer's work ensure the images are well composed and lit. It amazes me how often I see a multitude of things growing out of peoples' heads in the official wedding pictures.
Also look under the hats of ladies in any lighting conditions, there should never be harsh shadows across their faces - it takes years of training and experience to achieve these precise professional lighting results consistently at every wedding, come rain or shine.
Professional photographers will usually spend 15-30 hours doing the editing and precise colour corrections on every single wedding (something most couples are unaware of). Few hobbyists are offering this service; most examples I been shown over recent years have clearly been auto-corrected on the computer with little care or consideration for the accurate colours, clarity, cropping or contrast adjustments usually associated with professional results.
Full time professionals will usually always write regular blogs on their website, a great way for you to see how busy a photographer really is! Hobbyists are rarely busy so it's unlikely they'll post blogs to highlight this fact!
Only ever consider photographers who are prepared to show you complete sets of wedding pictures displaying the consistency of their work. Amazingly many don't - You'll just see a selection of their favourite pictures!
Recommendations by your venue: The venue wedding coordinator will have the experience of knowing the professionals from the amateurs, and will be able to recommend a suitable one. I'm recommended by 8 leading local venues.
None of us would even consider chancing an amateur caterer to provide the meal for our wedding day; yet amazingly about 40% of couples unwittingly chance the biggest day of their lives to a bargain price amateur photographer with often shocking results!
Please do your research - you really do get what you pay for! There has never been a better time to book a professional photographer, with the huge hobbyist presence and the recession most of us have lowered our prices by 25-35%.
