I charged 1,000 for entire wedding. Formal portraits, which were supossed to be semi informal and quick – photo j style, which turned into 70 groups day of wedding. Lasted 4 hours. How necessary is it that I take out the outlets on the floor and the pew in the corners of the pictures? I am giving them disc with copyright.
I assume you mean you are granting them usage rights to make their own prints rather than giving the copyright away. If you are a legitimate business you need to get a real contract to nail these ambiguities and avoid trouble in the future.
Four hours for formals??? What were y’all thinking?!?!! Anyway I would show them the proof images and offer to "fix" only the ones where they are ordering enlargements. The others are what they are, especially for that price.
Here in the rural South formals are common, even in PJ work. Often even when the bride says something like, "Oh, I don’t want any posed shots so we won’t plan to set aside any time for them," you can rest assured that MOB and Grandma *will* want them. So if you have a young bride, plan on making a few, even if she says it won’t happen it most likely will. They usually take less than 30 minutes if you are organized and have a wrangler, sometimes less, but sometimes more. The most formals I have ever done was at a wedding last spring, I counted 72 different configurations in the post ceremony formals, and about 50 more prior to the ceremony. It took well over an hour and IMO was a huge waste of time and resources. A few guests left before the B&G even got to the reception. We lost some great sunset light, but by-whacky she got every conceivable family configuration shot at the altar, down to step in-laws and third cousins!
December 19th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Informal photo journalism style says to me that you don’t have to take them out. 70 groups says a violation of what you agreed to do. So the question becomes – when the people show them to other potential customers are they going to see formal groupings that are flawed or casual shots that were too organized. The former could cost you customers, the latter they might understand.
References :
December 19th, 2009 at 11:54 am
It all depends on what your contract says, and what you are comfortable giving them as a finished product. For the price you are being very fair. Let them know that if they would like post editing that it is and additional fee and if they would like to look into it you would be happy to discuss the details.
References :
December 19th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
You gave away your copyrights? What possessed you?
My guess it that you NEVER worked as an assistant to a working professional wedding photographer
Since you shot using an editorial style, NO retouching should be included at the price you charged.
Can you really make a living shooting weddings for only $1000 a shoot? That is only about $4000 a month. After taxes it wouldn’t take but a few months before my business would fail, let alone all my personal expenses like supporting my family.
The profit is in selling the prints … the shooting fee just covers the cost of doing business.
I think your business plan needs some rethinking. Interview some other wedding photographers in your area and see how they bill and what rights they give the client … Usually the only rights granted to a client is permission to display the purchased prints … Period!
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digiPro
December 19th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I assume you mean you are granting them usage rights to make their own prints rather than giving the copyright away. If you are a legitimate business you need to get a real contract to nail these ambiguities and avoid trouble in the future.
Four hours for formals??? What were y’all thinking?!?!! Anyway I would show them the proof images and offer to "fix" only the ones where they are ordering enlargements. The others are what they are, especially for that price.
Here in the rural South formals are common, even in PJ work. Often even when the bride says something like, "Oh, I don’t want any posed shots so we won’t plan to set aside any time for them," you can rest assured that MOB and Grandma *will* want them. So if you have a young bride, plan on making a few, even if she says it won’t happen it most likely will. They usually take less than 30 minutes if you are organized and have a wrangler, sometimes less, but sometimes more. The most formals I have ever done was at a wedding last spring, I counted 72 different configurations in the post ceremony formals, and about 50 more prior to the ceremony. It took well over an hour and IMO was a huge waste of time and resources. A few guests left before the B&G even got to the reception. We lost some great sunset light, but by-whacky she got every conceivable family configuration shot at the altar, down to step in-laws and third cousins!
References :