I started covering weddings reluctantly just over 2 years ago. I've been into photography for many years and sold my film prop business a couple of years back. I started shooting my son playing cricket with a Canon 50D and when they got to the County Finals I was appointed "Official Photogapher" (unpaid) so brought a very nice Nikon D700 and a Sigma 150-500mm lens to capture the action. I also got a Nikon 50mm f1.4, a Nikon 12-24mm wide angle and a Nikon 24-70mm. Plus a few Speedlights. So I was set for any type of photography.

The photos were excellent and everyone was very happy, they were used on the County Magazine and made the local press. I was shooting property during the week as the local agents always made a mess of it when I was selling a house, so that was fun and a chance to nosey around beautiful houses. I even made a 30 foot aerial mast and became proficient with using off camera flash to light rooms.

Then we got into Event photography after buying a Mitsubishi Click system with dyesub printer, there are articles about that on Ezine.

But I avoided Weddings like the plague! Why? I was too worried about something going wrong and ruining someones day. I've read the horror stories about memory cards getting corrupted and weddings having to be reshot at a later date with all the guests flown back in, all at the expense of the photographer. In fact the photographer at my own wedding stepped back into his own tripod and smashed his camera open, losing half the shots he'd taken!

So when Kevin rang me and needed a photographer for the next day, I only agreed as he was stuck and the wedding was the next day. I turned up an hour early on a beautiful sunny day and checked out the gardens for shots afterwards. I took some test shots and saved my settings. Then I went inside and met the registrar. I was totally honest and explained the situation. She was lovely and showed me the room where the service was and let me take test shots again using a bounce flash to balance the strong sunlight coming from one side. She explained the order of the service, when I could shoot and when not, they even had a dummy registry book as you can't shoot the real one due to the Data protection Act.

The wedding shoot was actually easy, they were very relaxed and I got all the key moments, the procession, rings, vows, signing the registry etc. I got down to the back of the room before they left and managed to get a sequence of them dancing out of the room. Then we shot a variety of group shots, and some special shots of them together in the grounds.

I knew my cameras well, and I shot RAW in case I had to edit white balance, let the Nikon choose the ISO and bounced the flash inside manually using aperture priority and just changing the depth of field for special shots like closeups of the rings. Outside I left my flash on in ttl-bl mode to fill in the shadows caused by the bright sun. I used the 24-70mm throughout, didn't want to mess with changing lenses.

I actually really enjoyed being a part of the day and had sensibly removed my first memory card after the service and used a second one for the formal shots. Kevin had a quick look through the shots on the back of my camera and was really pleased.

So I got home and straight away backed up both cards to an external drive, onto dvd and them opened up all the photos in Lightroom. I cropped a few, deleted a few blinkies, and auto toned them for consistency. I also made some black and white versions, and ran a few choice ones through Portrait Pro.

They looked great and I was really pleased that I'd got all the emotions and the story of the day.

I made a DVD of all the photos, and a spare copy, then uploaded my favorites and made a video set to a song Kevin had suggested. I uploaded all the photos onto an album page on my website.

I couldn't really understand how others charged so much. People were telling me of outrageous quotes as high as £5000 for the wedding shoot and the albums. I looked at some of the websites of these top pros and the images are stunning, the albums are works of art and there's obviously been a lot of time and effort spent. But a lot of the shots were posed by models, or taken at a later date and obviously staged, or just surreal photos of brides floating in lakes! And how many photos of the wedding shoes sat on a cushion with the the background blurred do you really need?

What I also noticed was a huge gap between the really top guys and girls who obviously devote their lives to this and are worth the high prices (and always fully booked!), and the next level down who are charging £1000-2000 for the same thing. My shots are as good as if not better than theirs, and the feedback I'm getting is that they can be scruffy, bossy or rude and arrogant. They want more money for printing the photos, even more for designing the albums, and as for getting all your photos on a DVD to own, forget it! It's their copyright, they own all your photos. So why do they charge so much? Because they can, because people pay and because they have to survive!

With my low prices some people thought I wouldn't be any good. You get what you pay for right? People wanted to meet me first to see if they liked me as I would be an integral part of their special day. So that takes arranging and half a day. In fact it's a whole day as you can't book anything else! Then they wanted me to visit the location with them to check the lighting, find the best places for scenic shots, and check what we could and couldn't do. That's another half a day and a full day where you can't work. A full wedding shoot starts early with the bride getting ready and ends really late if you are staying to the end of the reception. You may even need to stay overnight the day before and after the reception if its further away.

After the shoot there are backups to make, hundreds of photographs to edit, special shots to retouch and get perfect for the album, further meetings to choose the shots for the albums, days of design work to get the album exactly right, DVD's to burn and label, and images to upload to websites, facebook albums and the wedding album site.

Some wanted all the images on DVD edited ready to print, some wanted all the photos printed at various sizes, some wanted videos set to music, some wanted custom bespoke wedding albums designed and printed. I needed Public Liability Insurance, CRB checking as children are often present, and I also needed a second backup camera exactly the same as my main camera in case it exploded, spare lenses in case they malfunctioned, backup batteries, flash guns etc. Then you need to insure all that kit!

To keep the enquiries coming in you need to market yourself, attend wedding fairs, buy example albums, run a very expensive Google campaign, try and push your website up the natural rankings, send out mailshots, advertise on Facebook, Bing, Yahoo and the local newspapers and websites.

Then there's the question of the value of experience. I've been a keen photographer all my life, although only a full time pro for two years now. I've always owned good cameras and lenses and with a background in IT and design I can handle all the technical aspects. I know my kit inside out and I've done dozens of weddings now in a variety of locations and all sorts of weather. I always get the key shots and know where to be at what time to capture the special moments.

I watch the guests and and especially the children as well as the bride and groom and capture everything that catches my eye. I'm confident in my abilities and get on well with people so I can be unobtrusive and blend in, but can also step up and take control for the group shots. I get the bride and groom alone after the service at pre defined locations and take signature shots for the album. What is that worth? How much does that add to the value of what I provide?

The single most important thing I've learned is that yes it is easy to get business if you undercut everyone else, but it really doesn't pay. There are only 52 weekends in a year! Most wedding are in a short period from June to September. That gives you 16 Saturdays to earn a living from. If you book those up with short £250 packages, that will earn you £4000. So that's one Camera and a Lens paid for:) Every time you book a £250 wedding you rule out future bookings on that day so if someone rings up and wants the whole day, you cant do it!

As I said before, I'm financially ok. But I got that way by sheer hard work and not being stupid. I am fair though and don't believe in ripping people off. I recently attended a great course in Wedding Photography held by the Royal Photographic Society over a weekend. There were all sorts of people there, hobbyists, portrait specialists, and some full time pros. I was the only one who had shot weddings professionally and I was amazed when they were told not to go out for less than £1000! But later in the course they were advised to gain the sort of experience I already have and they were advised to practice on friends and family. We shot with models and I have noticed some using these shots in their portfolios, so do ask to see example of complete weddings a photographer has shot, mine are all online, even the average ones!

So the upshot of all this is yes I'm charging more. Not to that level, I'll cover a full day with all the images on DVD for £599, and a half day for £399. If it's during the week or in a quiet month I may come down a little if it's an interesting location. I will design a custom album for £199 as I know it will take me many hours, but then the couple only pay the cost price of the albums and I show them the pricing. I offer a photo package at £99 which gets them all the photos at 6x4 inches, 20 at 9x6 inches and 10 at 12x8 inches so they can make their own album, or a photobook.

I now add a video option where I cover the service, speeches and dancing with a HD camera and do a video set to music of all the shots as a gift as I enjoy doing that.

I won't get as many bookings, but that's fine, I am busy with Corporate events anyway. The people who do book me will still be saving money and getting a lot more of my time as I can afford to spend it with them. I don't need to visit a location beforehand as I get there an hour early and check it out, I've been to most of the best locations now anyway:) I have special software that shows me where the sun will be at anytime of the day, I check the weather forecasts as well!

If people want to meet they come to my house, that saves me hours of travel and also keeps the costs down. Album design is done online so the happy couple can see what I'm doing and change things around, add shots etc. That saves time and money. I get my albums made in the USA by Kiss Wedding Albums, that saves money whilst keeping the highest quality.

I use the Nikon D3S cameras now so can shoot in the gloomiest church on the greyest day without flash or noisy shutter sounds. I carry portable wireless lighting so can add sunshine to the outside shots and everyone who has used me has enjoyed the experience, loved the photos, and become a friend.

If you think a Wedding photographer is expensive bear in mind their experience, their responsibility, their kit, the costs of insurance, marketing and insurance. Remember that all you have left after the day are the memories, and the photographs! Realise they can only work mainly at weekends in the summer, and allow for their time and travel. Appreciate the many hours they will spend working on your images, and remember that even if they do 20 weddings in a year at £1000 a time after costs and expenses, tax and insurance, advertising and replacing equipment they will be earning less than the minimum wage!

But don't feel sorry for us, I love photography and to be able to earn from something you enjoy doing is the best way to live. I get to travel all over the country and spend time with lovely people having the best day of their lives. I also get to buy all the latest equipment and play with it, can spend time with my kids, and the Golf course is always empty.

That's what it's all really about, I'm not the cheapest anymore, I'm certainly not the most expensive, but I enjoy it the most!

Here's what I would do if I was booking a wedding photographer for my wedding:

1. Search for Local Wedding Photographer to find all those nearby.

2. Rule out those with only a few posed shots online or lousy websites

3. Email them all with the date and location of the wedding and ask for a quote.

4. Rule out those who won't do this and insist on meeting you...sales ploy!

5. Ask those who are left if you can have all the full res editted photos on disc

6. Get rid of those who won't, old fashioned and usually going to charge extra for every photo

7. Ask about albums, what do they charge and how much markup is there

8. Rule out those who won't say, they're going to catch you on the albums!

9. Meet the ones you like and look at his/her work, check the contract.

10. Book me if I'm available :)

Do not under any circumstances ask a family member or friend to be your photographer! If they mess up, and they will, you lose a friend and all your photographs! If you have a student or keen amateur in the family, I will let them assist me, that's the safest way :)