mbyrne

<p>I replied saying that I found it a bit odd that a couple would ask for this, that it was only something generally asked for, she said<br>

"I am entitled to write off the payment to you as an expense, which is why I need the W-9."<br>

and then she pretty much said that I would be audited if I didn't give it to her.</p>

<p>I just had a couple request a W9 from me for shooting their wedding. I've never had this asked for a wedding. I've done them for businesses, but never a couple.<br>

I feel a bit weird about giving them my SS#, they weren't the nicest people in the world.</p>

On Friday I told them they had until the end of the weekend or I was going to open it to another couple who was interested.

When I didn't hear back by Monday morning, I offered it and I figured that they weren't interested any longer.

This morning, I sent out an email to one of the other couples who asked about the date. We met over lunch and I now have

a signed contract with a deposit. The couple who were giving me the runaround emailed me asking for a couple for more

days. I sent an email saying sorry, but the date is no longer available. The bride's father (who is paying for everything) sent

me a rather nasty email afterwards. I'm really happy I went with the other couple now.

How long do you typically hold the date for a couple without a contract?

I met with a couple a bit over a month ago, they say they want to use me but keep on giving me the runaround when it come to the

contract/deposit. I already lost one other potential couple for the same date in this month and I don't want to lose any others.

Would you give them an ultimatum, like "commitment in X amount of days or I need to free the date up"?

How would you all approach this?

So far so good with the trial. I uploaded a couple of galleries, set prices. I haven't dived into customizing yet, but I'm sure I will.

One question though, is there any limit as to how many images I have up there?

I just signed up for the SmugMug Pro plan with the 14 day free trial. Have you all been staisfied with them? everything seems pretty slick

on the site, it looks real nice and pro. Have your clients been happy with their products? Who does their printing, is it in-house? How do the

payments work, does it have to get a certain amount, or can you withdraw money at any time?

Last night I received a call from a bride that I shot well over two years ago. She got a budget package for $999 that included 200 proofs as

well as my time. After the wedding, I only heard back from her after I posted the web gallery, the loved the pics, after that there was

nothing, she never ordered her proofs. Last night she says that she and her husband have divorced and asked for a partial refund of my fee

because they never ordered their prints. She wanted $500 back. I politely explained to her that the prints included in the package cant be

cashed in so to so and that my fee covers much more than just the prints, including my time at the wedding, my time after the wedding

while working on the edits, travel, wear and tear on equipment, ect.

Has anyone ever had to deal with something like this? What did you do?

Colin.... When I try that they seem to work, but them the same thing happens when I use the

flash normally. I dont think there is an issue with the camera itself. The last time I used the

550 and it started acting up I switched to my 430ex that I use as a backup and it is fine. This

weekend I went out and got a Sigma 500dg to get me by for my job this past weekend.

Has anyone sent a flash into canon for repair? I'd like to get it fixed, but if it's going to run

me close to what a new 580 is, it wont be worth it.

jason... I tried to reproduce it, but it only happens after at least 4 hours of shooting and

maybe 500-800 shots. oh, and I use it with a 20d.

Rainer, I think that is the exact issue. Thinking back to last weekend, I remember the longer

exposures properly exposing. What could be causing this?

In the past few weeks it seems that my 550ex has an issue. When I'm out shooting an event or whatever,

after about 4 or 5 hours it's almost like the 550 gets tired and doesnt output at full power. I know it's not

a battery issue because it does it with a fresh set. To the naked eye, it will look like it's firing, but when I

examine the image, it looks about 5 stops underexposed. It will only expose properly about 1 in 10 shots.

Could the actual flash bulb in it be going on me? Has anyone ever had this replaced? Has anyone ever had

this issue?

I was shooting a wedding this past Saturday at a church and about 10 minutes after the ceremony started I

notice a guy towards the back shooting with pro level equipment. He caught my eye because he was

sitting one row behind where my bags were, a friend of mine had his stuff ripped of during a reception

recently so now I'm paranoid about it. When I noticed him I told my assistant to stay near the bags, just in

case. I then walked back to the entrance and talked to the church coordinator to see if she knew if he was

with the couple as a guest and she said that she didn't think so. Right about then, he got in the middle of

the aisle and started firing away. The coordinator went up to him and asked if he was hired, he replied

with "it's ok, I'm a pro". She said thats not what I asked you and he said "no" he wasn't hired. So basically

this guy came in off the street and started shooting and nobody knew him.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them? I'm thinking he might have been doing it for his portfolio. The

whole thing seems really odd to me.

How big is the venue that you're shooting in? Stage size? When I'm in the photo pit in a mid

sized venue(2000 - 3000) I use my 24-70 2.8. You can get the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG

for under $400. I only pull out my 70-200 when I'm a bit further back from the stage. Usually

the musicians are closer to the front of the stage, so you should be able to get away with a

24-70. If you're shooting in an arena sized(10k seater) venue, then I would start worrying

about getting a 70-200.

I want to start offering online ordering to my clients. I was looking at Smugmug, does any one have an

opinion on them? Is there anyone similar to what they do? Is it worth the $149 per year and 15% of sales?

"Every soccer mom in the place had taken another local photogs series of classes and were

trying to break into portraits. Good news (for me) most didn't seem to have a clue as to

how to use their camera and don't think they ever will. Some were still shooting in

program mode. Bad news... a third already had laid down a chunk of change for a pair of

studio lights."

What is it with the soccer moms and portraits lately? Was there an article in Soccer Mom

Magazine or something? I just worked with an assistant for the first time that pretty much

the whole time, she drilled me for info on portrait shooting. She didn't really know how to

use her camera and after a few minutes I realized that all she wanted was info and had no

interest in shooting weddings.

Also, I'm not counting the walking down the aisle shots in the ceremony, just the actual

ceremony. If I counted those, it would be about 120 shots.

I delivered close to 600 shots total and she wants more.

I've had two weddings at this one venue where the ceremony takes place on a high deck that overlooks a

field. Both ceremonies have taken place at a time of day where the sun is slightly behind and above the

couple. There are really no angles because of the layout of the deck where I can go that the sun will not be

shining directly into my lens, in effect blinding me. It's so bad that everyone in attendance besides the

couple and the wedding party have to shade their eyes with their hands because they are being blinded by

it. I do get some good shots during it, but not as many as I would if the sun was in a different position.

The last wedding I did there I got about 75 good shots in a 15 minute ceremony that I delivered to the

couple. They want more and I had to tell them that was all I had. They're a bit disappointed with it.

How would you handle a situation like this? Normally I would deliver a lot more but with being blinded and

shooting into the sun, there wasn't much that I could do. The bride looked at a full wedding that I did

when I first met with them and she brought up that in the one she saw there was almost 200 of the

ceremony. That one was in a church with great conditions. Any advice?

Dan. The Images are not 23% larger, thats not how it works with mp's. The images size of the

XTI is 3888x2592 and the 30D is 3504x2336. The difference between the sizes of the two is

minuscule. I'm not a math whiz but that looks like less than a 10% difference in size to me.

This year I only advertised on craigslist and I'm doing about 30 weddings this season just

from that. The rest of my business is coming from word of mouth from past clients.

I dont drink any alcohol at all while working. I've had a lot of couples reallt try to push drinks

on me and I politely say no and say I dont like driving after any drinking.