Bride requests to see more photos

I received a very nice thank you card in the mail today from a bride stating

that she couldn't be happier with the photos. However, at the end of card, she

requested to see "the rest" of the unedited photos. As a photographer, I

carefully selected the best photos and edited those to present to the couple.

I presented close to 400 photos that I believe fully captured the events of

their day. How do I articulate this to the bride? Any advice is much

appreciated.

Thanks!

Jennifer

Hello (bride's name),

<p>

I am so pleased to hear that you are happy with your wedding photos. It was truly my pleasure documenting your beautiful celebration with these images. As a professional, I carefully select the best photos from the day and present those that I believe fully capture the story and the spirit of your wedding in the best way. Again, I'm glad to hear that you are happy with the photos I have given you. It's what makes my job so wonderful!

<p>

Best Wishes!

Ni: have you considered a job with the State Department? Or perhaps doing hostage negotiations?

LOL :)

 

Good letter Ni!

That's a good response from Ni. I would also make it clear that you are not going to provide additional photos. Sometimes you need to be crystal clear to make sure you get your point across. She may read a letter like Ni's and assume you haven't answered the question.

 

Unless you said beforehand that you were giving her all the photos and had that in the agreement, I wouldn't do it for free. However, you may be able to make some money by selling her a CD with all the extra photos. Charge her $100.00 for the bonus CD and spend two minutes putting it together. Nice profit if you ask me!

I agree it is generally best to edit and provide a reasonable number of images but before just ignoring her request maybe there is a specific moment that she remembers and even if the image is not perfect it may have enough emotional quality for her to really enjoy.

 

When I get these requests I ask what she is concerned about and the look to see if I had edited out something that might answer the request.

 

If there is something that is meaningful fine it can be added to the proofs provided but if not that is it. I do not release unedited images just to have more.

 

Brooke

No no no no no to Jeffrey! Sorry Jeff, but I don't think $100 for a CD full of BAD photos gives

you a "nice profit." Those photos will only make you look bad. Not everyone understands that

even professionals take bad pics sometimes. Clients (and their family and friends) should

never get a chance to see (much less PRINT from a CD) the rejects!

 

Good luck Jenn :)

In addition to what I wrote above, your response should of course also include something like the following...<p>

"As we discussed during our initial consultation and conversations, I have very high standards for quality and always present all of my clients with only my best work that I feel proud to share with you and that you would be proud to share with your loved ones. Once I have edited your wedding photos, those that do not meet these high standards are deleted. From a practical standpoint, it would be too difficult for me to keep and archive all these extra images from every wedding I shoot. I honestly feel that the selection you have in your hands contains the best possible set of visual memories from your wedding day. Once again, I am so pleased that you are happy with the images I chose to present to you! "

I'd consider showing her the rejects on a laptop or something, but not giving her the files so they don't end up getting printed or given to someone else. You never know--she may be looking for a particular person or shot she thought you took. Either that or just explain your refusal the way you did in your post. I've never been asked for my rejects with digital, but have with film, and I never had a problem showing the images--they are usually just missed action, accidental releases, shots leading up to the best of a sequence, or closed eyes or someone not looking good. After seeing them, I've never had a client want them.

I've had only 1 couple ask the question & I told them I delete all the images that have not been presented to them & explained that it would take too much computer resources to archive everything. They accepted that explaination.

I agree with the postings in favor of the permanent edit. In many ways, photography is a subtractive art. As photographers, we decide what to exclude from every image we create [or try to create!].

 

The editing process is a logical extension of our work behind the camera. Professional and personal standards demand that we offer only our best work.

 

As an aside, your contract should reflect this standard [don't know if this was already mentioned...].

 

"EDITORIAL DISCRETION: Photographer may edit out images determined by Photographer to be substandard. Such determination is to be made by Photographer alone and is Photographer?s absolute discretion."

see this was a sore point for me during my own wedding last year. I told the photographers (friends of my wifes) that I wanted ALL the photos, regardless of exposure, blur, etc, etc. I know not all photos are winners and that most of them would never be printed, but... I also paid for all the photos, not just what they thought I'd like.

 

Anyway, as long as it's clear when they sign the contract, you should have nothing to worry about. But if you deleted the rest of them, I would just explain to them the rest of the photos were either blurry or unrecognizable.

 

Best of luck

It is of course clear in the contract that non of the 'dud' photos will be available at any time, however I'm asked a lot and I tell them that I didn't choose photos where people had their eyes closed or turned their head, etc as it would damage my reputation for bad photos I took to be seen by the public. Most people accept that straight away.

Part of what I'm being paid for is EDITING. If I don't do it, my client has to. Trust me, no one

wants a portrait where their eyes are half-closed, or a dark shot where the flash didn't fire, or

a blurry out-of-focus image. And if I don't get ride of those shots, my clients have to look at

them. Ick. People THINK they want "everything" because they're afraid that maybe you

edited out an image that they would like. You should be able to assure them that this is not

the case.

I didn't even think about my rep when I suggested profiting. Sarah, thank you, you are so right.

Thanks for all the feedback! I knew immediately that I wasn't going to hand over any more images, but I wanted to get some other folks opinions on the matter. Thanks so much for all of your input. Now, I definitely won't be second-guessing my decision.

Glad you didn't take my post in a bad way Jeffrey. I thought about it later and came back to

make sure you weren't offended. :)

Ni's letter, plus:

 

"...in an attempt to ensure that unflattering photographs of you and your guests can never be seen or published in the event of a theft from my studio, all of such images are deleted at the time of editing. I am delighted however to inform you that you are in possession of every available image."

Darren: I've spent some time in the software industry. We call that the "it's not a bug, it's a feature" clause.

I agree with Nadine , that what I do if they ask. there might be a photos or two that means a lot for the bride. I permantly delete the bad ones I honsetly do not think that couple photos that will do much damage to you as a pro.

Show her, Explain the reasons why you will not give them up and if she finds something that she really likes, well you decide how many you can give up and which ones.

Have to agree with most comments. However my nearly last wedding in 2006 I snapped a couple of kids playing around. It was a one off and not wuite right so I didn't include them. I did however accidentally include them in a montage of the day at no more than 2 x 1. I got an e-mail from their Mum who asked for copies. I explained about quality and provided her with 6 x 4s, so it can sometimes work.

I explain to my clients that any images that do not meet the high standards of my studio are destroyed.

Michelle

I did my first wedding last month and although I offered it for free, I ended up making a decent profit as she bought a cd of the images and tipped me which I did not expect. I made the mistake of mentioning how many were taken at one point in our conversations and big lesson learned. Never ever do that again. Of course, she wants them. I tried to explain that it sometimes takes many bad shots to get the really good ones. I gave her 160 good pictures but took over 400 most of which I would not have taken were it not for the nerves.