1st time job as a 2nd assistant gone wrong

[tehsa_lleighnore]

i was hired 2 weeks ago to be a second shooter at a debutante ball and shooting the event went well. i have about

163 images i'm pleased with. my first mistakes were, not having a written contract, and taking the common sense

road and getting the phone number of her boss instead of her the main photog. she told me at the end of the night

to put them on disc and give them to her so she could edit them. i had no idea of how to get them to her since i

don't drive but didn't think too much into that either since i did have her phone number. i did some minor

editing including my copyright seal in photoshop and six days later had them ready. called her repeatedly but she

never picked up her cell phone and she had no voicemail inbox. now it's 12 days after the event and i got a call

from her boss who got my number through digging (apparently she knew someone who knows my mom) asking where her

photos were and when she could pick up prints. now, making prints would normally be no problem but i have been

unemployed for a day job for a month, and my job only does direct deposit so that means no money for another

month. and i never agreed to delivering prints in the first place. i told her i'd call her back but i'm unsure of

what to do. is it too late? what if i'm blackballed in my local filipino community and no one will hire me? i

had several job offers in the upcoming months from this party. completely flustered. and to make things worse, my

boss' boss said i could have been published a week ago had i delivered on time. i feel like i'm at fault in some

ways but not others:

 

-it was stupid of me to allow myself a job with no written contract as i got less for the hourly rate than i wanted.

 

-to trust that my head photog knows how to work a cell phone or email..some people still don't and it appears

she's one of them to trust that somehow it'd be okay.

 

should i deliver the photos to her anyway on disc? is there a chance i can still get paid? am i blackballed? help!

[savagesax]

If you haven't been paid do NOT give the disk out. Thats final! Tell them to either come over with the money agreed too, or send you a check. Then after the check clears you will mail them the CD or they can come by.

 

Many people may disagree with me, but often people simply write bad checks. This is the reason all fees MUST be paid when I leave the reception. If I don't get paid they don't get their proofs, an album, or a CD. I once had to wait 8 months for a couple to pay me. They asked if they could come by the studio and at least look at the images. The answer was a flat out NO. Finally they paid. It's simply common professional business practice, nothing more.

[john_h.1]

"should i deliver the photos to her anyway on disc? is there a chance i can still get paid? am i blackballed? help!"

 

How can we offer suggestions if you don't tell us what verbal arrangements you made with who and if it still can be met?

[timberwulf]

If they hired you to shoot the event, do you really retain copyright (see work for hire)?? Was that part of the

agreement?

 

That said, no ticky no washy. Nothing goes to them until you have been paid and the check clears. Your only

leverage right now is your work product - if you give that up, they have no pressing reason (short of a court

order resulting from an expensive lawsuit) to pay you. :)

[picturesque]

If it were me, I would prepare a disk and take it down to the boss' boss personally. Find out:

 

a. What the agreement was between your boss and the boss' boss.

 

b. How to get a hold of the boss (they must have a way)--regular phone and address.

 

Then decide what to do. I would hope that you can explain what your agreement was, and that if you got a check on the spot for your work, you will turn over the disk.

 

Whether the check will clear is a calculated risk. The longer you wait, the less chance you have of being paid, as the images will have less value as time passes. It sounds like your boss decided she had enough images of her own and needn't pay you for yours.

 

Or, hang on to the disk and somehow talk to the boss. Up to you. The blackball issue is separate in that it may happen even if you act honorably, just because of the tangled mess of communication.

[john_h.1]

"What the agreement was between your boss and the boss' boss."

 

Who hired you? Boss or Boss' boss? Who is paying who? What a mess. Nadine's idea's are good but may be complicated by these other unknowns. You can also talk to Boss' boss about boss' poor communication but your lack of preparation may get thrown back at you. Will blackballing ensue? Maybe. Tread lightly but communicate directly.

[annealmasy]

Just be honest and up-front with the boss's boss.

 

Explain your understanding of the job (that you would provide the photographer with a disc of the files) and what you were told you would be paid for that job.

 

It's likely that the boss's boss will be reasonable. If not, however, I would still deliver the disc and consider it "lesson learned". I would NOT feel obligated to pay for prints if that was not part of your original verbal agreement.

 

Hopefully you will get paid, and, again, if not: lesson learned.

 

In the future have the terms in writing (even if it's just an e-mail describing the job to you). And, if I were you, I would require at least half-payment at the time of the shoot, full if you can get it. It is unlikely that the company you worked for has not also already been paid, and it's risky for you to do the work without even a dime in your pocket yet.

 

Be nice, be professional, and be calm. Hopefully your boss's boss will understand your predicament and work with you to make sure everything is properly resolved.

[jo_dinning]

Some good advice above - different takes on the situation. I think I would have a chat with the boss' boss and explain what you understood to be the deal. In the event it doesn't look like you are going to get the deal, hold the images back. You can always tell the boss' boss that you will approach the bride directly and offer the images for free to her on a CD if you don't get your payment. I suspect that you will then receive your fee. And you keep your copyright BTW - you don't have a contract to the contrary.

 

At least you have images for your portfolio. But don't spend a penny more until you know you'll make it back.

[jo_dinning]

And one more thing... you are worried about not getting any future business if you do the wrong thing. The wrong

thing is always not standing your corner in business. If you don't look after yourself, you won't have a business worth

protecting in the future.

 

By all means take it softly to stay on good terms here - but not at any price. Hold your nerve, keep the moral

highground but be firm and accept nothing less than you deserve. Good luck and let us know what happens.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

I'm very skeptical about this whole arrangement,....."especially the hook about getting published". First off, if you still

have a card with the original digital files (that have not been edited or processed) make a copy of that to a couple of

DVDs to protect the original captures.

 

A frank conversation with the boss's boss is a good idea but do not give up your images until you've got some

satisfactory explanations for what is going on and some money to cover your efforts. My fear is that you've fallen

victim to a fly-by-night organization that publishes via special interest internet sites. If that's the case, the images are

likely dated and worthless at this point.....not that they were ever worth much to begin with. Did you find these guys

on Craiglist???

[david_schilling___chicago_]

BTW, just to clarify. It seems likely to me that the other photographer was likely "shooting on spec" which means

she was shooting images in hopes of selling some of them but with no guarentee that any more than a handful would

be used. Using your images might have given her a larger pool of potential sales but she may not have needed

anymore than what she shot on her own.....which leaves you "flappin in the breeze" and you're just left with a lap full

of first time experience. Older and now wiser.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

After you find out what the deal was....please post back here, I'm curious.

[scott_b.4]

DO NOT hand anything over with out getting paid first, especially with all the issues you are having.

 

I had that happened to be once and never AGAIN will I hand over anything without getting paid.

[tehsa_lleighnore]

yeah she was shooting on speculation. she sells her photographs to some filipino newspapers in the area, or in

this case, the one in charge throwing the party. she only gets paid after the photographs are presented to the

client. and she works by herself. she doesn't work for any studio. what happened exactly was she approached me at

a party cos she's a friend of a friend of my mom's and had heard i am a photographer. she called me a few days

later. all the agreements were done over the phone. it's all over now. i really don't want to talk about it

further. but don't worry, my friend's a lawyer and he's going to help me draft some contracts that include

payment first in the print when i do get hired again cos i did like the experience of shooting an event, but i've

definitely learned my lesson. i won't be working for her again though. since the woman who hired her is also a

friend of my mom's i hope i'm still okay..

 

thanks everyone for the feedback :)