Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.
How much does it cost for a photographer for a wedding?
Finding the right wedding photographer can make a big difference for your ceremony. Nationally, the average wedding photographer’s price ranges from $800 to $1,000, but costs can be much higher in areas like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles where some couples spend $2,000 to $5,000 or more for the photographer they want.
Factors that can affect your wedding photographer prices include the photographer’s reputation and experience. Heavy hitters can command top rates, especially during wedding-season weekends. Day of the week also affects your cost. You may get a $200 discount on wedding photographer prices if you get married on a Friday in November rather than a Saturday in June.
Time onsite is also an important cost factor. Hiring a photographer to snap photos from the moment you wake up until after last call at the reception is going to cost more than five hours of pictures during the day. Multiple photographers, special lighting, and videography will also increase your costs. Ultimately you want to find someone who has a style you love and can provide the number of edited shots you want for a price you can handle. Learn more about hiring a wedding photographer.
How many photos should you get from a wedding photographer?
A professional wedding photographer will usually supply their clients with several hundred photos (200, 300, 400 or 800 and more). Some might even provide more than 1,000 photos. It ultimately depends on the photographer.
Wedding photographers will usually take several thousand photos but cut them down to the keepers. They also have to edit these photos. Typically, they will provide them to the clients on a digital hard drive, as an online download or even in a photo album with beautiful decorations.
How long do wedding photographers stay?
A wedding photographer usually expects to work a full day. This gives them time to photograph the venue, cake, rings, shoes, centerpieces, invitations and other aspects of the wedding before the guests arrive. It also allows them time to get photos of the bride and groom alone, as well as the hair and makeup process and fun personality pictures. Then, they will work through all the parts of the wedding.
What pictures should be taken at a wedding?
On your wedding day, your photographer should take pictures of the couple getting ready for the wedding, as well as a fun personality picture before activities begin. They should also photograph showstoppers like the bouquet, invitations, shoes, reception space, cake, centerpieces, rings and the veil. A generational photo with parents or grandparents is also special. There should also be photos of the bride and groom alone, the ceremony, the confetti-filled exit, and hair and makeup.
When should you take wedding photos?
Couples can take wedding photos before their actual ceremony, during cocktail hour (before the reception), during the wedding reception or even after their wedding. The least stressful time to do it is often before the ceremony when hair and makeup generally look their best, temperatures are usually lower because it’s earlier in the day and the couple won’t have to think or worry about it for the rest of the day.
Reviews for South Lake Tahoe wedding photographers
Heather C.
Candace is awesome I’m very glad I hired her as my weddingphotographer I wouldn’t have chose anybody else.
She is super professional but yet down to earth and very helpful. I would definitely recommend Candace to anybody who is looking to get a weddingphotographer
Fortheloveofphotos. Photography By Candace
Annie C.
Shadrack was amazing!! He was prompt and thorough with our interactions before the wedding, arrived early and made sure to capture every important moment on our special day. He was detail-oriented and clear when shooting our styled/posed couple photos after the ceremony. The quality of his work is stunning!! We have so many beautiful photos that we’ll have for a lifetime thanks to Shadrack. If you’re looking for a photographer you can rely on who will give you the perfect photos - hire Shadrack Fine Note!
Shadrack Fine Note
Vanessa T.
We took some wedding pictures and our photographer TJ was so wonderful! Really nice person and delivered exactly what i had hoped for. Although it was soooo windy he still managed to capture some beautiful pictures. I am so thankful!
TJ Ness Photography
Claire V.
Armando was excellent to work with. He is incredibly responsive, professional, and his quality of work is phenomenal! My husband and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in South Lake Tahoe this past weekend and chose Armando to capture our time there. We were not familiar with the area, but Armando chose a gorgeous spot for our shoot, was very prompt in meeting with us, and delivered the beautifully edited photos within a couple of days. It really was such a pleasure working with him and now we have gorgeous photos to mark our 1 year anniversary. Highly recommend Armando as a professional photographer!
AJ Photography
Brooke P.
Christian shot our wedding this past weekend and we are SO happy we chose him to be our photographer! He went above and beyond, from detailed planning on our phone calls over the past few months, to showing up super early to our venue and working with everyone all night. Christian was very professional and made it super easy and fun to gather all of the family and wedding party for our photos. He was very attentive and was always right there with us capturing all the best moments. He sent me a sneak preview of a few shots while we wait for the rest and we're blown away at how amazing they look! I would highly recommend him!!!!
Fausto Studio
Kristina N.
We couldn’t be more delighted with Shelby as our weddingphotographer! From start to finish, her professionalism and expertise were evident. She effortlessly took charge, ensuring that every special moment was beautifully captured.
The shots she took were nothing short of incredible. Shelby has a true talent for capturing the essence of the moment, and each photo perfectly reflects the joy and emotion of our special day. Her keen eye for detail and creative angles resulted in stunning images that we will cherish forever.
The edits she provided were equally amazing. The final photos were beautifully enhanced, highlighting every detail and making each picture look like a work of art. Her editing skills added a magical touch to an already perfect set of photos.
Throughout the day, Shelby was professional, calm, and organized. She made us feel at ease and managed to capture every important moment without being intrusive. Her ability to direct and organize group shots efficiently ensured that we got all the photos we wanted without taking up too much time.
We are so grateful to Shelby for her incredible work. Her dedication, talent, and professionalism made our wedding day unforgettable. We highly recommend Shelby to anyone in need of a top-notch photographer. She truly went above and beyond to make our day perfect!
Thank you, Shelby, for your amazing work!
Shelby A. Photography
Thumbtack Customer
We had a couple's photoshoot at Hope valley, Lake Tahoe with a backdrop of fall aspen colors to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Tess was very accommodating in moving our initial date due to our desire for fall colors. She was regularly in touch before the photoshoot and checked on the fall color conditions. Tess was very flexible in the choice of location and also made us feel very comfortable during the photoshoot. She was very patient and had a great attention to detail while capturing the perfect lighting for every photo. The edited photos were not very satisfying however she was very quick to send unedited versions of the photos. Overall, a very satisfying experience and we would love to work with her again. We recommend her as you will get your money's worth!
Tess Hunt Pics
Lea D.
We hired Payton for our intimate wedding in South Lake Tahoe and she was BEYOND amazing!!! She was responsive, punctual and most of all a professional photographer with quality work!! She knew what moments to capture and translated it into such beautiful photos! To top it all off, she was so nice and sweet, she even gave some of my family a ride when we had to change locations. I couldn’t be happier I stumbled upon her work. If you choose to work with her, I promise you won’t regret it!! I can’t say this enough but she and her work is amazing!! 😍
Sahleen Studios
Cristina C.
WE ALMOST SUED THIS PHOTOGRAPHER – PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW!!
We hired Jasmine in June 2023 for our elopement ceremony in South Lake Tahoe, CA, and almost sued her for misrepresentation, as the 85 edited photos we had received did not meet our expectations for a weddingphotographer or look like what was being advertised on her web page and digital portfolio.
We paid in total $495 for her services, which included 1.5 hours of on site photography, basic editing, an online gallery of more than 45-60 edited photos, a travel fee ($75), and a hard copy photo album that would contain 40 photos from the edited online gallery ($95). What led us to seek a lawyer was the fact that Jasmine explicitly states on her Thumbtack profile the type of editing she does (airy and warm) and that her digital portfolio displays work with warmer tones that include color. She decided to edit our photos as light and airy, which did not work with the people or landscape. For example, 4/6 people at the event are people of color and our skin tone was removed; 2/6 people at the event are white and appeared ghostly; and all of the color such as the purple mountains, blue lake, green grass, my pink bouquet, and my husband’s gold ombre, hand stitched/embroidered barong, were very washed out with little color. Please see the attached pictures of the raw images versus her edited, final product.
Jasmine was offended when we requested for her to re-edit the photos. We asked her to add more color and warmth, explaining the importance of enhancing the color and landscape, as this impacted the ability to recognize South Lake Tahoe and clearly see individuals. She initially agreed but 24 hours later, took offense to this request and refused to edit the photos. Once this occurred, we immediately sought out a lawyer. We took photos of and printed out all text documentation, contracts, Jasmine’s photography website, her digital portfolio, and her Thumbtack profile. After reviewing the evidence, our lawyer reported that we had a very strong case for small claims court, and that we could sue Jasmine for 1) misrepresentation, as the photos look irrefutably different from the photos advertised on her web page and digital portfolio; she is also fully capable of editing the photos in the style we were requesting but was refusing to, and 2) Jasmine neglected to meet the expectations of a weddingphotographer. For example, in addition to the poor editing, she did not include many key moments in our online gallery such as me walking down a staircase to my dad, my dad kissing me on the cheek before walking me down the aisle, my dad walking me down the aisle, me reading my vows to my husband, and my husband and I exchanging our rings (she only included 1 photo of my husband reading his vow book and 1 photo of my husband putting my ring on my finger; there were none of me).
Since our lawyer reported that we had a very strong case for small claims court, they recommended for our demand to be for Jasmine to pay for another photographer to edit our raw images. The only reason we did not proceed forward with suing Jasmine was because the new photographer we hired to edit our raw images quoted us at a low price (~$200), which is a small monetary gain from her 1.5 hours of service, when considering the cost to file and the time and effort to collect data, evidence, and appear in court. However, if this were a longer event such as an 8-hour day, we would have definitely pursued suing her, as the loss would have been much larger such as thousands of dollars.
Overall, this experience was incredibly negative, and if we had not purchased the raw images, we would have had no pictures of our wedding. All of our family members and friends were disappointed in the work Jasmine did and were furious that she lacked the professionalism and customer service skills to follow through with her vision statement to respect our marriage as one of our greatest gifts to ourselves, family, and friends, to be able to capture this life moment, and to be able to share this moment through the means of photos. Please do not hire this person.
Besides the potential lawsuit, here are other negatives we experienced while working with Jasmine:
- On the day of the event, Jasmine arrived 6 minutes late, and I documented her tardiness by texting my Aunt when she had arrived. I had expected her to make up this time, but as witnessed by the 6 people at the event, she did not fulfill the 1.5 hours of contracted time. Everyone was willing to write an affidavit regarding this.
- When we received the raw images from the event, halfway through the file, Jasmine had uploaded another couple’s wedding instead of ours. She claimed she switched the SD cards, and it took 4 days to receive our images with occasional follow up reminders.
- When we received our edited online gallery, Jasmine again uploaded an image from another wedding. This was now the second time she did this.
-When reviewing the online gallery, we identified a picture of my husband with his eyes closed. We requested for her to replace this picture with one where my husband’s eyes were open (this seemed reasonable since she had already made a mistake by adding someone else’s photo into our gallery), but she denied this request, claiming she gave us more than 40-65 photos (which is the amount promised in the contract). However, you would expect a professional to make up for their mistakes.
-She accused me of being rude and threatening in my requests. When I had the lawyer review our text correspondence, they disagreed with her claims, stating I was clear, professional, and in my right as a customer to comment on her work and request for re-editing in the format that she is fully capable of doing. She also accused me of not paying her a travel fee, in which I had to break down the components of our contract and Venmo transactions (not her) to review this. Lastly, she agreed to come and work this event, and in our text correspondence, complained about having to travel for it and how she got an ear infection coming to the event. Her comments had no relevance to the issues at hand, especially since she is the one who accepted the job and dictates her own rules for traveling.
-We were refunded the $95 for the photo album, since we did not want it or the pictures she was providing us. We started researching how to create our own photo album on Shutterfly. While looking on the Shutterfly webpage, we noticed the cover photo samples she provided us were identical to the cover photo samples being advertised on Shutterfly. I would assume this means she does not use a specialized program or platform to create photo albums and only uses Shutterfly. I brought this evidence to the lawyer, as well, who reported that since she did not explicitly claim the work as her own or advertise it on her web page, it was not fraud. However, she should have identified that the work she was showing me was not hers.
🎉 Jasmine Photography 🎉
Debbie J.
Candace was wonderful! She got to us even a little earlier than the time we asked. We booked her for 2 hours. Just for the pre getting ready for the wedding,ceremony and a few after pictures. She was great getting those candid shots with the beautiful Lake Tahoe background. I asked her to stay 1 more hour and we would pay her of course and she immediately said yes. She got some great pictures at the reception and pictures with all our family and friends! She did a great job! The best part was she sent a few glimpse pictures the night of the wedding and we had all the shots to look through by the next day! Highly recommend Candace and will definitely call her again next time I heed a photographer!
Fortheloveofphotos. Photography By Candace
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