Venting/Frustration
 

Twice this week I've been contacted by brides who are paying their photographer over $4500 and ask me for a price break on our way under priced $1800 package.

I've had it with this, I'm frustrated beyond belief with the state of wedding videography. It's a struggle to get our prices up to where the need to be and have anyone book at those prices, yet they're willing to drop twice as much on photography. The amount of hours I put into a project is double that of what the photographers are putting into theirs and yet I can't get paid nearly as much. I'm almost to the point of giving up and writing off high quality wedding video as a viable business model.

I think that wedding photos are seen as mandatory -- virtually an instutution in themselves -- and video is usually perceived as a luxury, a nice to have extra. To the bride/customer, what matters is the value to them, not the workload or profit margin for you. Just the way it is.

I'm not either a pro photog or videographer, but if I lost my day job in my chosen profession and decided to go for it in wedding/event, I'd set up my company to do both as a one-stop shop. An integrated package. I just don't see the dynamics changing in favor of the videographer over "The Wedding Album" so I'd have packages that covered both.

Hi Ethan,

Crumbs, sounds like your having a bad time at the moment. Don't give up! hang in there.
Yes it can be frustrating, but we are also probably in one of the worst economic climates to date...well as far as I can remember....

Take a step back, a deep breath....and carry on. Now I may sound like an optimist, but things can only get better!

Yes we still have a long way to go in educating the public that a wedding film has moved on from those old vhs days...and that they are approaching production values far in excess of what we are charging. The problem is those vhs style weddings are still floating around and cemented in their heads, portrayed poorly when any tv documentary is about weddings etc etc...

Back to what I first said...hang in there...

Cheers.

I guess this has to do with the market. When I started my business in Canada, I was suprised that video is an after thought after photography. Coming from the Philippines which is a different market, it is embarassing on the part of the groom to not include videography ( Parents of the Bride are willing to pay for videography to spite the groom sometimes) price wise they are even and given equal importance.

Well then, that explains why there's such good video work coming out of the Philippines.

Hi Ethan,

I've seen your work before reading this thread. (I love watching other people's work) :P

And I can honestly say, no offence whatsoever, that you will be a fool to give up your job.

You've got talent and it is obvious that you love what you're doing or at least passionate.

What I learned, in a short time (I'm no oldtimer) that whatever good things that we do, whatever effort to make the best that we can with our work, some people realize that. We may not know about it now, but some people see it and there will be fruit coming after some time from those good seeds you put in with hard work.

Hope that helps.

Santo

Hi Ethan,


Good point. But don't give up hope. The easiest solution would seem to be to adapt a different strategy with less expensive services that don't demand so much post production, but that can be a trap. Keep doing the work you want to get paid for, don't do the work you're getting paid for (if that makes sense). Keep working and improving and create the demand for your work.

"Show 'em what you can do, and don't worry about what you're gonna get. Say you'll work for free and make yourself invaluable." ~ Clinton Eastwood Sr. to his son early in his career.

Ethan,

This is going to sound crazy, but.....

Raise your prices. I think a lot of your problems will be solved. I know it sounds crazy, your price needs to be what you feel you are worth. Don't sell yourself short.

I remember the days of charging what everyone else in my market charged. Those days where very frustrating and I know exactly what you are going through. One day, it clicked, I stepped up my game big time, set myself apart, charged what I feel I'm worth, and haven't look back since. Yeah, a lot of it is attitude, but a lot of it is perception as well.

Charging more will get you a different type of client. TRUST ME on this, people who aren't spending much usually expect more for less. Wine taste on a beer budget. While people who are spending more tend to ask fewer questions and have more of the attitude of, it's more expensive it must be better. When we raised our prices things got easier not harder.

Most importantly, you need to be worth it! CHARGE WHAT YOU ARE WORTH!

They probably asked the photographer for a price break too. Maybe they got it, maybe they didn't.

Andrew is right, if you don't ask for $4500, you can't complain when you don't get it.

I don't know what your experience is, but I do know there are a lot of photographers around here that can claim 30 years experience as a wedding photographer. No videographer around here can claim more than 10 years. To you and me, that doesn't say much (in fact, more often than not "30 years" means you're doing things the old fashioned way...) But to a bride, and especially her parents if they're writing the check, that means a lot.

Let me share a brief personal philosophy on that.

I contemplated on that, the reason for lower pay for video compared to photo lays in the nature of our product.


Photography is more authentic, more original, reproduce essential qualities of "a wedding" truer, in a deeper sense "being actually and exactly what it is claimed"

Photography does not depend on a music, soundtrack, the song that is popular one day, but a couple of years passed, does not mean a thing. I am convinced that deep inside our clients mind is that thought.

In other words, generally, video is and can be more counterfeited, imitated, or adulterated. That is true, thinking of us using same musical composition, similar editing techniques, and more importantly representing what we do in very limited form of video cut to a music that end in a 3, 4 minute clip to a song.

How many similar clips of various weddings are on the internet? A lot.
Does short clip show our work in a complete way? No way.
Does it serve to self promotion over the internet? Yes.
What is our main product, in essence ? A wedding film.

It leads me think of a crisis in videography, that is secondary to photography, if our work
is presented in a limeted and "formal" way, by formal I mean form over a substance.

Do not get me wrong, we have some great leaders in the industry, each unique in their approach. Some of us make great money, but overall we are much weaker as an industry, compared to photography.
Developing a strong product that can sell well, better than photos is possible Imo, how?
it has to be authentic, no photograph can replace a good documentary film.
I am sure that is the future of our industry.

Cheers!
Everything said IMHO :)

hey Ethan,

i was trying to think up a really good, supportive reply for you. and thankfully, John, Susanto and Andrew all said exactly what i was aiming for!

forget the tog's prices for a minute.

raise your prices. i did that, and i get a completely different client list, and i can get away with less weddings now (each with more passion/dedication) and more time to seek out additional paid corporate work. i would just love to see you do that too, rather than give it all up.

ok, back to the tog. you're forgetting that the $4500 could very well include one of those fancy $2000 italian photo books. and the togs get charged that, i.e. little space for profit.

hang in there. A LOT of people are saying that if you can make it through this year then you'll reap the rewards in the next.

p.s. listen to the 'raise the prices' advice, and be confident in what you do :)

Ethan I have the same frustration as yours, in the market I am in there is a Studio who charges $ 950 for the whole wedding (Photography/Video). I have to pull out my AD in the local papers as we are both in it. I don't know how many weddings I have lost because of that. Try as I may, I can never educate my market about what makes me different it is all about the money. Hey look I mic the groom, doesn't it sound better? I tap from the DJ's board, see the difference it makes? Our albums are laminated, mounted, they have inserts. It's all about the money.

Okay I am done venting.

Noel + Ethan,

have you thought about advertising further afield?

also, IMO, ads in the local paper attract the low-budget hunters anyway.... online (e.g. google adwords) IS the best way, and will attract the widest audience (high and low-budget hunters)

Ethan:

Over on DPReview.com there is a thread titled: "Who actually "cares" about quality wedding photos". Basically, some photographers have come to the conclusion that the B&Gs have so little clue about the product they deliver, it almost does not matter what product they deliver, the B&G will be thrilled in the age of camera phone users.

I forget where I was heading with this, but the digital age has totally and will further change the face of both photography & video.

As for the here and now, a lot of photographers took Andrews advice a long time ago to raise prices and act the part. Somehow a market niche developed, accepted it and it's viable. I don't think a market niche has ever opened for the $4,500 wedding video. Probably because as someone mentioned, the video is considered a 2nd documentation and it's percieved value is lower. Sure there are some selling in this price range, but they are few, and only in the most affluent areas.

Stick to your prices, they are getting a great deal, and if they don't like it after a nice explanation from you, let them go.

PS: $4,500 for any high-range (but not elaborate) wedding photo shoot is crazy, but you have to admit the photographer has good marketing. I could throw in two hours of helicoptor rotor time for aerial shots and still do the photos for less than that.

You have to work on booking some recurring annual event video. It pays more than weddings and you can usually depend on doing it the next year. Think poker runs (motorcycles-boats-etc.), marathons/half-marathons, annual fundraising events, festivals, etc. You have to get involved in year one because they tend to use the same people every year.

Price versus quality is always somewhat subjective, but as my wife is a photographer I thought I'd add my 2 cents here.

In my opinion $4500 for a photographer is not crazy. Sometimes we as videographers compare ourselves directly to photographers, and it's not a fair comparison. Sure, we spend more time editing than photographers typically do. However, photographers also have the hard cost of included prints and an album generally, and oftentimes a printed guestbook. You also have to factor in the time of the engagement session and ordering sessions. On top of that, there is typically some redesign that happens with albums.

My point is that it's always easy to look at another profession and make snap judgments, but unless you have actual experience in that field your judgment might be off. I've come to learn that although my wife typically commands higher fees, she also has much higher hard costs, spends more time with the client, and generally has to deal with more issues as people tend to be much more picky with things in photography.

I'm just sayin' ... d;-)

we do photographer too, so i feel it would be fair for us to comment. i know where travis is coming from but i would say for us it would be the complete opposite. photo can take less time, less overhead, and less issues with couples and she can make more. most photographers in a mid to higher end price range do not include albums, some include prints, but those after sales more than pay for the overhead associated with them.

i think our industry has evolved considerably in the past years and if we keep pushing the quality and raising our rates associated with that, i think we will step back one day soon and see just how far we have come.

P.

P.

that's interesting to read thoughts from travis and patrick - i've definitely met togs who fit into each described category.


i'm slowly but surely learning the photography side of things with the 5dmk2. i may or may not get into it as i know my true passion will always be videography.... but it's exciting to think i could potentially look down both avenues, if i excelled in the field.

maybe think of doing the same thing ethan - that way you could get the best of both worlds, and pick the industry you prefer!

Travis, I have to agree 100% on that statement. My wife was a photographer and I have lotsa photographer friends also. People are much more picky with things in photography, rather than in videography.

BUT I dont want to ruin your party by adding another 'pessimistic' thought, with the flood of 'great quality and user friendly' cameras such as 5D MII, dont you think it would become another new threat for videographers?

Photographers starting to offer videography for value added services or there'll be a new wave of 'wannabe videographers' stating that they shoot 'cinematic wedding movies', just because they can shoot DOF now? Just my 2 cents, guys :D

Travis:

To clarify, IMO price and quality are not really related in the photography and video business if you throw out some of those performing on the high and low extremes. Sometimes you get an excellent product for a low cost and sometimes vice/versa.

I have shot photography only for a few weddings and did both the video and photography a few times.

Granted, Im not an expert wedding photographer, but my photography hard costs were not very high. I deliver a press printed coffee table book and a small/compact highlights album from these guys Photobooks with custom laminated covers by DigiLabs and the costs and book editing time spent are low for the great looking product you get.

I also never spent any more time with photo clients than with video, and any engagement session is totally separate just like video.

IMO photography is priced correctly and video is just plain priced too low because of the market. Anyway, I don't mean to argue, just saying where Im coming from.

Ethan,
I just had a bride ask for a discount on my $800 documentary package. Now, did I get mad? No, I just realized that she's not my client. There's no problem with that. You have to match your market. I have found that the upper middle clients that we serve with photo/video are extremely gracious and very cool people. When we book photo/video with the $800 package, I have 4 hrs editing wrapped in it. (just finished one I started at noon) and we have $2500-$3k in photography. Dont' sweat people that don't wanna buy what you're selling, just go find the ones that do.
Bill

Patrick -
I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't trying to imply that photography was less profitable than videography. Certainly not! I'd be the first one to say otherwise.

I'm simply wanted to point out that you can't just look at a photographer's fee and assume it's all profit, because it's generally not. I've seen brides make comments on The Knot about how $2k for a video is crazy, and it's because they are ignorant to the trade. I just would hate to see the same attitude going on here towards other professionals in the wedding industry.


Ian -
The '5D revolution' is still unraveling, but I'm not concerned really. As I just stated in my response to Patrick, photography by itself still generally has a higher profit margin than videography .. so financially it just doesn't really make sense for a photographer to try and incorporate video at this time .. especially since most of them would be learning from scratch. If anything, I think the 5D has aided videographers more than photographers.


I also agree with Patrick that video has come quite a ways in just the past 5 years. I know 5 years ago it was totally unheard of to charge $3-4k for a video in my market. But I'm doing that now. The industry as a whole is gaining more popularity and legitimacy.

I think partly this is due to the surge of quality and content improvements that many of us are bringing to the industry ... but I also think it has a lot to do with how the average person is responding to technology these days. Text and pictures are quickly becoming old school. Dynamic content is gaining popularity over static content. I think in another 5-10 years wedding video will have a much stronger position in the bride's budget.

Photo+Video=Good Times :D
 

We are a photo/video studio also.. so I can relate on this in many different ways.. In fact we jumped into photography even after having great success in our videography so that we could capture that market that says "photos first" and blow their budget with the photographer before they ever get to us.

in the end though the only thing that matters is your work and your attitude. Your work has to show up being worthy to demand a good price, and your attitude needs to affirm your work; let's look at Mike Colon for a sec.. definitely not the best in the world, although his attitude affirms his price. At 25K the bride gets excellent service, charisma and a nice album or two.. generally he includes a La Vie album, which will run him about $1000 each (I know because we also use La Vie in our studio).

For us our prices are in the 3-6 range and don't differentiate video pricing from photo pricing.. they are the same.. however no prints or albums come with our photography so all that is extra for the bride.. therefore I would say we generally earn the same, but more work and time is needed (IMO) on the video side of things.

Since we have incorporated Photo+Video our bookings more than have doubled.. photo+video packages are the most popular with a few single medium packages booked (usually video only). Its been a crazy process in which I feel our videos had to suffer a bit more than I had intended.. considering I needed to find competent help.. and unlike patrick I don't have Konrad and Borat.

By the way I need to thank Patrick for helping us make the decision to include photography.. I'm sure had we not had that conversation a few years ago we would be kicking ourselves right about now (at least from a financial standpoint).

Ethan - I feel your pain. The state of the wedding videography industry, while still in the best condition it's been for years, is still a constant source of frustration for me.

Historically our industry has produced poor-quality, low-budget wedding videos. As a result, this has educated the general public, and brides in particular, that a wedding video is something not to be valued. Why expect brides to pay more for something they do not value in the first place? We need to infuse our work with value, and increase our prices, if we are to get the industry to the place we'd all like to see it go.

I feel the answer for our industry is a combination of lower volume/higher price - plus continually improving the quality of work as we raise our prices. Over time this approach will change the perception that brides and the general public have towards our industry.

If your business is higher volume, I would suggest implementing some sort of 3 year plan to lower your volume and raise your prices in a sustainable way than ensures you stay in business. Doubling your prices, if you are solely dependent on video as your main income, is a big risk. Raising your prices over time, along with natural improvements to the quality of your work, could be a viable strategy.

I'm also part of a photo+video studio and I would say it's not about photography vs videography. I feel we should be educating brides that getting both photo+video tells the full story of their wedding day. The photo vs video mindset only holds us back, especially the animosity between photographers and videographers. Photographers can be our best friends (i.e. highest referrers) or worst enemies depending on how we treat them.

We aren't only competing against photographers for a piece of a bride's budget, we are competing with every other wedding vendor. We need to be as high on their 'shopping list' as possible and establishing positive relationships with photographers would be one way to achieve that.

When it comes to pricing it can be very frustrating. Katie and I can book a $5,500 photography package that is 1/4 of the work of an equivalently priced video package. Even with the hard costs of albums, prints etc ... we still come out way ahead. At the moment I'm charging $5,500 for a very short-form wedding film. In Australia, that is unheard of, and at the moment I'm not getting any takers. But, I can't bring myself to either lower my prices or compromise on quality and style. Even at $5,500 it's a bargain for the amount of time it takes and the quality of the end product. Why should I put myself through the blood, sweat and tears of producing a quality wedding film when I can do photography with Katie at a wedding, have a bunch of fun and generate a more substantial profit.

Hope that helps,

Matthew.

Hi Matthew,

Greetings from Sydney! :)

I agree completely about how photography earn more than videography.

Because eventhough they have all the hard cost and stuff, the amount of time to edit photos are very little compared to video.. not to mention rendering time.

But I guess we could whine and whine forever about how photographers are much luckier than we are and it will do us no good. I agree with what matthew said that the only way to get through this thing is to educate the bride by feeding them great stuff.. and I mean great stuff.

Matthew may I ask whether you're charging AU$5.5 k and give the B&G short form only?

Because if you do, I think you're pushing it a bit too hard. They like to see that they are getting a lot with what they are paying. Ever since I introduced long edit and short form edit, my bookings has doubled. I don't charge AU$5.5 k but my price is not that cheap either..

but then again, you may have been doing this as well. just curious.

my 2 millions.

Santo

Hey Santo! Greetings from Queensland! I'll shoot you an e-mail or PM to continue this discussion on Aussie pricing. That way Ethan's thread won't get off track.

Cheers,

Matthew.

No worriez matt,

One more thing guys, if we keep on feeding our kids with play station 3, wii, nintendo ds.

do you think the kids on the neighbourhood who plays with them would still care about their old sega or super nintendo ?

:P

Santo

Ethan,

I feel your pain... It will change, but it will be slow. There has been a negative stigma surrounding wedding video versus an "aura of mystique" surrounding wedding photography. As more clients become educated on good vs bad wedding films, they will realize the value. There are alot of 'hacks with a handycam' out there. I've seen some demos that I would be embarrassed to give away for free, let alone charge money for.

I recently embraced wedding videography as a branch of my business after years of avoiding it like the plague. It is because of the work that I have have seen by you and other leaders on here that inspired me to "embrace" weddings (that combined with the crash of my core business - real estate).

I have over $30,000 worth of video gear. You know how much photo gear I could buy for that. I think some North American markets would support full time hi-end wedding work - not mine. It is just a segment of what I do. Seriously I would starve.

Hang in there - but don't drop your prices. You're way to good for that.

Thanks for the responses guys, some interesting discussion going on here. Allow me to make a few points and clarify a couple positions.

1) My main frustration with the situation I pointed out in my original post was the gap in perceived value between the two mediums for comparable quality provided in the end product. I was never complaining about how much photographers make, rather how little we make in comparison on an hourly basis. If a photographer can pull down thousands per gig then more power to em, I just want to be able to do the same for quality work.

2) Part of our trouble is that we're well established in the middle class market due to our pricing up to this point in time. Our current middle class brides are telling all their middle class friends about us, but how do we get our name circulating in the higher rung who can afford to pay for where we're trying to go with our pricing?

3) Every time I consider adding photo to our list of services I immediately think about all the extra stuff they have to deal with on the wedding day. Through observation it seems to me that life is tougher for them in the dealing with people department. I've seen several treated poorly and put up with attitudes that would have me handing people their money back and walking away from the job. For whatever reason it just seems like people are harder on photographers than videographers. Anyone else notice this?

4) I've never for one second considered dropping my prices to lure a bride. My price is my price, take it or leave it. You don't walk into a store and ask them to drop their price cause you spent too much at another store. It's absurd and insulting.
Speaking of which, have you seen this? http://www.youtube.com/v/R2a8TRSgzZY

5) For me I think the answer is to jack the prices up to match the quality and work on pulling in other types of video projects. If I can sell weddings for what they're worth then great, I'll do them, if not then oh well, I'll move on to other things. Of course if I can no longer pay my bills with this new strategy then I may reconsider.

Love the Youtube video from#4. It is soooo true.

Hi Ethan,

That is a completely different scenario from what I meant. Lowering your prices for the same product is one thing, and adding a product that costs less because less post-production time is involved is another. The best situation is that you find a way to differentiate yourself enough with a product that doesn't demand 40 hours of post-production yet it has the same perceived value as a product that does. That's essentially the lure of the Super 8mm film fad.

As for that youtube video - if potential clients don't see the value in what we offer its not their fault. Its ours.

Joel, I agree with the first part of what you said. Don't EVER drop your prices .. just include less. It's hard enough to slowly raise your prices, so you don't want to go backwards.

But as for clients not getting the value, it's not always OUR fault. Some people just have a 'barter mentality'. Sometimes it's part of their culture. They might value what you do, but they're just wired to try and score a deal. I get what you're saying, but it's not always true.

That old perception of Value thing again. I'm there with you, I had a couple choose not to proceed as they were paying $6,000 for photos which blew their budget. I'm sorry but how can it possibly be worth 6 Grand?

We (Videographers) as a collective need to ensure when we give the product to the B & G that they are in absolute awe over it and were very glad they wanted a Video.

Over time as technology improves and our delivery methods improve our services will be seen as more of a priority. We can deliver via DVD, iPod, iPhone, Internet VHS the list goes on.

A Video is an emotional experience, something a photo can't compare with. Don't get me wrong I love great photography but on the whole its like comparing chalk & cheese in my book.

Stay true to your art, constanty stive to improve your work and oneday we will be considered a necessity & not an otpion.

David Edwards
Drumroll Productions Sydney.

You hit the nail on the head when you say photography and video are like chalk and cheese. This is what we need to be educating couples about, photography and video are different, both of them together tell the full story of their wedding day. The photo vs video mindset doesn't get us anywhere.

But, even though we can deliver our work to every piece of technology around ... that still doesn't rival a photograph. A viewer needs to actively choose to watch a video, by inserting a DVD, opening the file on a computer etc ... A photograph (i.e. on a wall) can be passively enjoyed.

As for photography not being worth $6,000 ... I'll pretend you didn't say that ;)

Matthew.

That's like saying videography will never worth $6000...

but I believe it could and should be if the work is phenomenal.

if you think about it

1 day shoot: 12 hrs @$100/hr = 1200
40 hours editing: 40 hrs @$50/hr = 2000
DVD and cover: $300
Project Management (Service charge you may say) = 20%

$3500 + 20% = $4200

Throw another camera operator and you'll be near $6000 already

This might sound silly for a lot of people but this is what people sort of charge in the corporate world.. not to mention how commercial people charge..

What I'm saying is, $6000 is not a silly number at all..

my 2 millions

Santo

That's simple, it's worth it cause someone is willing to pay it. That's true of anything.

I can't say I agree with this at all. Both can be emotional experiences all their own neither out weighing the other.

For me, if I only had a set amount to spend on photo or video and had to chose one over the other I'd go with photo every time, but that's just me. Why on earth would I say this? To me photo allows you to assign meaning to it over the years whereas video has it's meaning more or less burned in.

Look at it this way, 30 years later you see a picture of your favorite (now passed) uncle Charlie dancing at your wedding with a big grin on his face and you can remember that moment in any context you'd like, you are allowed to remember or forget at will, you can see the grin and attach any feeling you want with it. With video that same moment is captured but you have all the context surrounding it and you are wacked over the head with the reality that that happy uncle Charlie was sloppy drunk and making an ass of himself. For memories, I'll take photos any day if I had to chose only one.

Yes, yes and yes.

Ethan, I know the economy is not doing to great, but the brides still want a professional wedding videographer. Here in NJ my starting price is $1800.00 for one camera and my average for a two camera crew is $2900.00. After I raised my prices 3 years ago I thought I will never get book again, but It has being better for me because I am making the same income and less weddings. Once you raise your price you will have a different category of brides, specially you do a great job.
Start your standard package at $2000.00 and you will see the results.
Good Luck
Jose Dominguez
SuperVision Productions
NJ Weddings - Videography - Video: SuperVision Productions, SVPvideo

I'm sorry .. but saying photography and videography are like chalk and cheese is just as ignorant as saying no wedding video is worth $2,000 (as a bride on The Knot recently said).

Value is .. and always will be .. in the eye of the beholder. As Ethan pointed out, some people are just more drawn to the art and mystique of photography. Others are more drawn to the art and dynamics of video. Neither is better than the other, and both should command a high price for an outstanding product.

As much as videographers need to elevate their work and raise their prices, we really need to stop spending so much time worrying about how much photographers charge and how much time they spend on a project. It doesn't matter. What matters is how WE are going to elevate the status of OUR product within the wedding industry. Time and energy spent worrying about what photographers are doing is simply time and energy wasted.

In business the old saying is that "if you spend one dollar on something but it doesn't do the job or your not satisfied with the product then you overpaid" so each one of us and every single other videographer in the country that does weddings and event has to emphatically has to do the very best possible job everytime and THEN we as a collective group can raise our prices....OH but wait. Houma La, Boise Id, Tulsa Ok, LA Ca, Miami Fl, Honalulu Hi, New York City Ny,.... Folks PLEASE use some common sense in making a broad statement that we should all charge the same price or one should raise their prices to a certain dollar amount no matter what. Each market dictated by the demographics what one can charge and unless one has the ability of charging in a small market what one can charge in a large market and still get work then more power to you but I haven't seen it happen too often, so what I'm saying is price yourself according to the market you are in do your best work and let the other guy/gal in a different market do the same. I can't say for an absolute certainty but I'd bet the average market pricing in my area is a lot different than it is in Houma LA. I haven't a clue what the average price is there but I do know what it is in my market and that's the only market that I care about.

There are, and always will be the videographers willing to film somones wedding for bottom dollar. We started out like that, some still operate and get a lot of business. But the saying "You get what you pay for" though still applies.

There will be brides which want that, who dont want something arty, or stylish or worth watching. They just want a wedding video because someone said they should.

We've had clients who wanted the cheapest package and then negotiated on price but after they get the final product say its worth 10 times what they paid and treasure it deeply. Ain't hind sight a bitch!