Occasionally I get asked for discounts and in the current recession I can very much see why. I also see lots of new photographers springing up, some legitimate and some thinking that photography is an easy way to make a quick buck in the economic climate.

Along with this many TV shows or magazines advocate trying to ‘get a deal’ or ‘barter’ with your suppliers to get the very best price.

When it comes to your wedding day there are so many costs it can often seem like unless you get a ‘bargain’ you are overspending.

Perhaps this is the case for a marquee or chair hire company but when it comes to your photography I feel that the best ‘deal’ is not necessarily the way to find the photographer who will be capturing every detail of your beautiful day. Images for you to look back on long after the flowers have died and your dress has been put away.

In this respect I often find I am contacted by two different kinds of couples one who contact me telling me how much they love my work, see each image as a piece of art and can imagine all their beautiful wedding plans captured by my photography. The other will ask in that very first email what ‘deal’ or ‘offer’ I can do or what is my ‘best price’.

My company policy is that I don’t offer discounts, full stop.  This is not because I am being mean, inflexible, or difficult, there are many reasons I don’t offer discounts but the main reason and the one they all come back to is simply that I value myself and my work.

This is not because I am fully booked year on year (although I can say very gratefully that I am) it is simply because I strive to make my business its very best and offering discounts whether for a Lifestyle shoot client or a wedding client would compromise the core values of my business I have spent many years growing.

As well as the fact that my work is my art I feel it would be highly unfair to discount for one couple (simply because they ask) and charge another client full price simply because they didn’t ask. To me each and every client is very important, I will do my very best to create beautiful images for and there is quite simply a cost to that.

Every part of what I do is the best quality it can be from the cameras I use, the lenses I invest in, the computers and soft wear I have, the products I have spent years sourcing right down to going above and beyond as much as I possibly can for each client.

I highly value what I do and my clients value everything I do to create the very best images for their homes.

I think sometimes people think photographers show up for a few hours take a few photos, pop them on s disc and get paid lots of money… nothing could be further from the truth! Each wedding actually takes around two weeks to complete from the initial consultation right down to delivering the finished album and each Lifestyle Shoot takes around 3 days.

There are also so many costs to running a small business: Office costs, insurance, advertising, products, petrol, car costs, telephones, Internet, training, camera equipment, computer equipment, maintenance and service costs, accountancy, banking, website and blog, wages…. The list goes on! If you take in to account these running costs you would be likely to find that photographers work very long hours in a highly competitive and pressurised business for actually not a huge return!

All that aside I love it, I wouldn’t want to do anything else in the world and nothing gives me more pleasure than handing over your Lifestyle or wedding images and you loving each and every shot.

Your  Lifestyle photographs are memories,  your children playing on the beach; your engagement shoot, your last images before you become Mr & Mrs; or the biggest day of your life, your beautiful wedding… they are quite simply priceless.

So, not only do I value my work, my time and my art but I value your images above everything else. Your photographs are so important to me they are priceless and something I am absolutely not prepared to compromise on and certainly not to something to discount.

If you are looking for the best deal you can, image bundles or ‘special prices’ I don’t think I am the photographer for you. If you love my work, would love to have me capture the most beautiful and important images in your life, create memories you will pass down to your grandchildren or would like pieces of art for your walls then I most definitely am the photographer for you so please get in touch.