Check out this link

This lady is making money by selling a book called How to Fire your Wedding

Planner. Her advice is really pretty simple in all matters. Go to the pro, pick

their mind for everything you need to know, then go to the amatuer that will do

it for less.

 

Here's what she has to say about wedding photographers.

 

http://www.fireyourweddingplanner.com/PhotographyScam

 

So what do you think?

here is what I think:

 

caveat emptor ( see http://m-w.com/dictionary/Caveat%20emptor if you are not really sure what it means.)

Two things:

1. She has a good point about the "small package-big package scam." If anyone tries to pull that, it's just dirty. I don't like the idea of that at all - unless she is construing it differently and it is really a legitimate business idea (I've never heard of it until now - your thoughts?)

 

2. As for the subsequent comments, this lady doesn't know the first thing about being a wedding photographer. Comments like the following:

 

"In the mean time, the key thing you need to know

is that typical wedding photographers earn most of their profits "after the wedding" by holding your negatives hostage, and gouging you on the cost of reprints (up to 500% markups!)."

and

"Read all the "fine print" on the contract

(For example, don't let them sneak in a "model

release" which entitles them to make even more

moola using your photos for ads, magazines etc.)"

 

 

These are standards. Many pro photographers (myself included) "hold the negatives hostage" and charge over cost for prints. Why? Because we're not in this business to get screwed! We have to get paid for our time, equipment expenses and all the other things that go into the business. If this lady had done a little bit of her homework, she would realize that we charge this much because it's necessary.

That's why the average price for a decent wedding photograper is higher than the cheap craigslist/etc photographers who charge $400 and give you the negatives - decent wedding photogs are DECENT! We don't hold the negatives "hostage" we offer you prints (at an inflated cost) because that's how most of us make money. We don't make money off of our initial charge - that pays for time/equip/insurance/etc.

As for the model release - that's so we can advertise with our own dang pictures. She comes out sounding like all wedding photographers are out to take your picture, then take all your money and run. Those magazine ads that we "make money on?" Baloney. For a 1/4 page ad in our local bride mag, it's $1500. Doesn't sound like I'm making money there - sounds like I'm PAYING because I run a BUSINESS. Maybe she should factor that in to her pathetic little book designed to take jabs at those who actually work for a living.

I don't think there is anything wrong lol, many photographers are using the same trick out there.

 

http://www.weddingphotographersforum.com/

I don't know that I would call the small package/big package a scam. Look at the threads here dealing with how many pics to shoot at a wedding. The bride and groom payed for a set size album - that's standard practice, there were shown all the proofs - again that is standard practice. The fact that they want to buy more than they pre purchased isn't a scam. As well, how many photographers out there include the proofs for free, if an order exceeds a certain value. Lots.

 

Personally I no longer release the negatives (film or digital). When the bride asks for them I just straight out tell them that I want final control on the quality of the images that they receive. If they get the negs and pop on down to the local WalMart the wage slaves there don't care if the prints are perfect, they only care if they are acceptably close. When somebody looks at their prints, and it happens to have been printed 30 points too green, they don't ask who printed the photos, they ask who took them, so it directly impacts my credibility as a photographer.

 

I also point out that I am in a better position to ensure that the negatives (again digital or film) are properly stored so that they are available 50 years down the road. Film was hard enough to store - but you never had to worry about being able to print it on new equipment. Digital on the other hand, big problem, technology is changing so fast that while the media may be fine, there is no longer any way to read the disk. So you are continually updating your storage system so that files are still accessible.

I don't see this as a scam either. For $500 you can't get what you will get every where else for $2000. I mean you have to take some personal responsibility for not being that bright. Places are not going to include everything in the price for that so they have to make money on the back end. As a consumer it is your responsibility to understand this when trying to buy a good deal. "There are no free lunchs" doesn't mean anything anymore? You get what you pay for. Now if they are saying she will get all this stuff and has it in the contract and then doesn't deliver that would be a scam.

She's been around for forever.

It would be fun if she got sued for some really stupid advice!

the irony of it all is that she's making money off of brides and grooms as well by selling her

book and/or cd, not to mention a "free trial" (which requires you to give your CC #)for your

friends. Interestingly enough you can probably find all these budget savers on several bridal

magazines and websites for less than she is charging. I think there are good vendors and bad

vendors out there and you've just got to do your homework before signing on the dotted line.

that's just my 2 cents.

Um, yeah, how exactly is that a scam? The bride purchases the package with X number of prints. The photographer shows her proofs of all of the photos taken. The bride picks out her X number of prints. Duh!

quote <i>"It would be fun if she got sued for some really stupid advice!"</i><p>

If that were the case, they could sue more than half of the people who post on photo.net :-)

<p>

Bad advice is in adundance all over the internet.

she's really annoying, and has been around for a while. no worries. our clients know quality, and our clients know that we don't scam them :-)

 

that's why there is a contract...

Oh, my GOD. There's a photographer who sells a system to book EIGHT out of ten brides!!! Why isn't he in jail?!?!

She's just trying to make a few bucks selling a book. If she titled it, "How to be a Wise Wedding Shopper" she wouldn't sell many of them. And if she simply advised that brides "shop around for the best deal on the package they want," she would sell even less of them. If a book like this isn't sensational, and doesn't show ways to save more money than God made last month, no one's going to buy it.

 

She's just a high hussle salesman, and they *always* do this. They rip apart what the other guy offers, and show you why their product is the best deal going. "Don't get ripped off by that cheatin' scum across town. Buy my product." Only in this case, her *product* is the book.

Godly! what is she thinking? Money fall from tree and photographer's time is for free? Does she even know how much hours we put in after each wedding and producing prints?

 

Each packages are different and it not a scam! It's just like buying a car. It has basic, sport, and limited edition. You choose the package that you can afford. Don't expect to get a basic package and expect others thing like DVD Player, Navigation, etc. from limited edition package to throw in for free.

 

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

 

To be honest! She is the scam artist that trying to sell false information.

What some people will do for a buck!?