michelle a.
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Posts posted by michelle a.
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Definitely the BW of the bride.. were I a bride in need of a photographer, it would capture my attention, beautiful image. I don't find the color image shown here to be very exciting or eye-catching, sort of standard fare wedding shot IMHO.
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Lots of useful advice given, and I appreciate it. Do agree with female photog totally that there is always learning to be done, that never ends, and it's a given for me, I've never claimed to know it all, but I do have confidence in my own skills. Aren't all of us, always and forever students of photography, whether we are attending an official school or learning on our own?
FWIW, I'm not a 20 year old kid, I'm 38, this is a career change for me, having been in the dental field for 15+ years. I'm motivated, and I want to succeed. As I mentioned in my initial post, I am in the process of becoming official, at least from a tax/business stand point, I have an appointment with the person who will be setting me up as a s-corporation and getting my tax id #....
When exactly does one have the privlidge of calling themself a professional photographer? At least one response to this thread suggests that I have no right in doing that yet. Ok so I've only shot one wedding, did it for basically nothing, and it ended up costing me 500+ dollars for the experience (travel and overnight stay was also involved in that venture as well). I am however making money photographing portraits..... If I were not in school finishing up my degree, would that somehow make me more legit? If the "student" label weren't attached to me, would I suddenly be a better photographer? Of course not! What about those people who go into the business with no formal training at all? *sigh* Ok whatever....
Were this a local wedding (meaning in the RI area) I wouldn't have a problem charging half of the quoted fee. The distance and the expenses involved and how to charge accordingly to recoup those expenses has been the biggest issue for me....
Probably a good idea to just pass on this one then, seems I may be letting myself into nothing but headaches otherwise.
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Thanks for the thoughts everyone!
Jaimie, Stacy, and others... this was my thought. I'm not an inexperienced shooter putting the camera in Auto Mode and hoping for the best, nor am I a Photo I student who doesn't know his aperture from his elbow. I know my cameras and I know them well.... and I'm coming with an artistically trained education. I just haven't finished with my degree yet.... *sigh* those general ed classes are taking forever..... Guess you could say I am not lacking in self confidence in my skills. As suggested by Jaimie and others, I don't wish to start my career as the "cheap" photographer and forever be known as such....
This client is willing to spend $5000 for the band at her wedding, and I know this because she told me ..... but $1500 is too expensive for photographs?
As a side note I am in the process of contacting local photographers in the hopes of assisting and gaining more experience in this area of photography. I loved shooting the one wedding I did do.
On the CD .....Is 300 dpi and sized for 4x6 considered hi-res? This is what I had planned on giving her. I realize she could print bigger than that from the files and still get acceptable prints, but quality at least by my standards would start to diminish.....
David Schilling..... while New Years Eve is an inconvenient time I never thought of charging extra for the holiday. $50-$75 is a reasonable charge per hour for my time. And let me ask this too..... if one doesn't charge for accommadations when shooting out of town, or under values what their time is worth.... how do you make money in the wedding business? Do you rely solely on reprints from the client?
Stacy is right, after going to just about every RI photographers website I could find.... I found that here in RI the going rate for a few hours of wedding photography starts at around $2500+......
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To make a long story short, I'm an advanced level student photographer
working towards my BFA (with a concentration in photography) at a
state university. I'm decades older than most of my fellow classmates,
and have many years experience as a serious amateur. I'm lucky in
that I have a husband that is able to support the household while I go
to school, and is able to help financially back the photography
business that I am in the process of putting together....
Now I'm not experienced in doing weddings...... I have one under my
belt. My focus is infants, children and maternity, and I've been
keeping myself busy doing portraits......
A prospective client for a wedding was referred to me through word of
mouth. She wanted to know my fee. I was upfront in letting her know
that I don't usually do weddings but she liked the images from the
wedding I had done previously.
She's getting married on New Years Eve, wants 8-10+ hours of coverage
from the preparations to the final hurrah..... this wedding is going
to be about 2 1/2 hours from where I live. She wants 4x6 proofs of
the images (where normally I provide contact sheets), an online
gallery which I normally provide anyway, a CD of all images, and an album.
My fee $1500 for the evening and all proofs (I'm estimating around 500
images), $150 additional for the CD. Album would be a separate
fee..... but at least somewhere in the $300 to $500 range.
Is this unreasonable a fee to ask, given my lack of wedding
experience? My technical skills are good, my artistic skills are
good, and I know that I can do a fabulous job on her wedding....
I do have to say she is a very nice woman, but our phone conversation
left me somewhat annoyed. I think she was expecting a quote of $500
to $800 dollars... she did say that she felt my fee was up there with
more experienced professionals. And that the reason she was willing
to take a chance on a less experienced photographer was price..... I
think she was hoping negotiate and talk down my price......
I was firm, but polite in explaining the reasons why my charge was
what it was, and that I really couldn't do it for less.......
After my conversation with her, I sat down and did the math again.....
my expenses for travel (gas), accommodations (room, because I am not
driving almost 3 hours at midnight to get home on NY Eve), sitter for
children (my husband is my assistant, and must come with me), and
proofs added up to at least $400. I figured in an hourly rate of
$50-75 for my time to be there and shoot....
At this point I'm already up to $900 and that's not including for my
work post-wedding processing..... If I shoot film, well expenses are
even higher.....
I guess I just need reassurance that my fee isn't totally
unreasonable, based on shooting experience..... if it is I'm sure you
all will give it to me straight...
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Hi Paul.....
I'm also studying photography, although at a lowly state university..... the only mandatory requirements were a basic SLR. Over the last two years, the curriculum has slowly shifted to digital, but even then the school provides digital cameras to those students who do not have their own...... in other words they are allowed to borrow them to meet an assignment, and must return them after a specified amount of days.
My question to you would be, how many years will you be in school? Your purchase of a D2X sounds wonderful, but in 4 years if that is how long your studies will take you, your camera will be obsolete, and you will then be longing for the latest and greatest......
There is a huge price difference between the D70 and the D2X.... and for myself, I am currently using/own a D70 and shooting with it professionally doing portraits of children, infants, and pregnancy. I will not go out and spend thousands of dollars on a camera until I begin making enough of a profit to justify the expense.....
But that is just my take on things..... something to think about?
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I think it's definitely a "had to be there shot" to understand what the image is about.... but I guess I'm one of the few who actually appreciates the postwork. I like the softness and the blueish tinge that you created. Suspect it's my *artsy fartsy* background that draws me to images such as these..... but to each his own......
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My solution to the battery issue was an MR-9 adaptor ......
Use the drop down boxes to pick your camera and model...... price is very reasonable, and no issues or worries about the meter....
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Converted to BW and duotoned..... no other postwork done.<div></div>
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Sorry, the extra l on the htm screwed up that link....
this is the correct one.
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A useful webpage on the Yashicamat124G if you haven't seen it already...
http://www.geocities.com/heidoscop/yashicamat.html
The manual if yours didn't come with one is available online.... I thought I had it bookmarked but cannot seem to locate it.... I do have it though on my harddrive. If you want a copy of the scanned manual I'll send it to you if you'd like.
I love my 124G..... it's a sweet camera.... have fun with your....
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The fabric store is where I've gotten most of my back drop material.... really should have thought of that one myself... Thank you Neal...
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Great ideas! Thanks to both of you for the help, I appreciate it.
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I recently did my first maternity shoot. I am wondering if anyone
knows of a place where one can find costumes, ie. (those long scarves
that wrap around the body). We did try a variety of outfits... jeans
and mans shirt, and some short scarves from the models closet (wrapped
around the breasts).....
Also tried using a white sheet, but felt it was to big and bulky, so I
would like to know if there is a place where one can find these *long*
wraps, or do I have to go to a general clothing store to try and find
something suitable?
Michelle<div>
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If you have a tripod or a sturdy surface to rest your camera on you can use the timer.
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Lurker here..... coming out of the closet for just a moment to say thank you Anne for the wonderfully inspiring story.
I've been hiding in the corners here for a few months now, and I too have found this forum to be invaluable to me. I've learned so much from everyone here.... especially about lighting w/ flash.... which not so long ago I felt was the bain of my existence. By reading these forum, and practice, practice, practice, I've grown confident and feel I know how to handle just about any lighting situation thrown at me..... :~) I've still got a long way to go though.... the learning never ends really.
I wish you continued success along your path Anne.... your post was very encouraging.
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I have a tendency to read very quickly and mistakenly thought/read semi-gloss.... not semi-matte. Sorry for my error. I'm not sure about semi-matte as I've never used it.
Examples of Portra NC for outdoor weddings?
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