jennie farnsworth

<p>I'm finding this thread veering off into an absurd direction. Professional thread for professional conversation. Being sane and intelligent, I would find it a far reaching assumption that my amateur thoughts on legitimate pricing for, let's say, professional plumbing, would be wise to post on a professional plumbers forum given that I know nothing of the business, its costs, overhead, etc. Alas, our amateur contributors own a point & shoot digital camera so, as I've heard from many people in such a position, they are now "photographers" too. .... right....</p>

<p>With that being said, I encourage the same amateur contributors to put themselves in our position, since they are all the wiser and we are such scandalous thieves. (I had no idea that making a living and paying one's bills was so frowned upon!) Please... by all means, purchase the same quality albums, professionally printed pictures (we're not talking Wal-Mart prints here), and put the same time, energy and labor into creating the same professional album that many of us do. Oh... and by the way.... you have to factor in all of your business expenses as well, such as assistants, health insurance, electricity, roof over your head, storefront expenses, etc. Then when you're all done, guarantee it for life and stamp your name on it. Let's see how you do. Given the pricing structure you are encouraging in previous posts, you will be on the streets with no home, no food and an amateur album that isn't up to snuff. Congrats!</p>

<p>It's a free world, my friend. If you can't afford professional pricing, then do it yourself; no one is stopping you. But don't spit sour grapes at me and my fellow professionals.</p>

I don't believe anyone has posted that they agree with this woman's actions. Many of us have stated that, legally, you have unfortunately gotten the short end of the stick and, legally, she has every right to present your work on her website. However, this does not in any way mean we agree with her actions. Ethically, it's frowned upon and most photographers will not do such things (i.e., we do not "think that this is okay").

 

I agree with the other posters: Request that, since you no longer have a working relationship with her, she remove your work from her website.

Unfortunately, David and Stephen are incorrect. To quote Cornell Law School: "Works Made for Hire ? In the case of a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author for purposes of this title, and, unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them, owns all of the rights comprised in the copyright."

 

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000201----000-.html

We bought a HP DVD640 external last year and, like most of the people who purchased that version, it conked out after ten disks. It was still under warranty but HP refused to replace it; kept sending us firmware to update, which didn't do anything. Bought the thing for $250; after ten burns, we sold it as junk on Ebay for $17. (No, I'm not bitter...)

 

We then purchased an LG external Lightscribe DVD burner that has worked like a dream (I don't recall the model # off the top of my head). No problems whatsoever.

 

One tip I would advise is when you're creating the image for the disc, use bold type. Also, most lightscribe burners will allow you to bump up the contrast on the burned image to really make it pop. The factory default usually presents rather bland results, but once you bump that contrast up it looks awesome.

I don't know if this helps with the music blips, but it's worth a shot. We've found that it helps to disconnect the computer from the Internet and turn off ALL antivirus and Internet security software before using the program and burning. This has helped with a number of issues with ProShow Gold.

B&H seems to have every size imaginable of this type of envelope.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=breadCrumb&A=search&Q=&ci=933

If she's being difficult, it sounds like you've got your out now. Refund her money and be glad you're receiving just a slap on the wrist for your mistake. Plus, you can now using your Thanksgiving weekend for friends and family. It's a win-win.

"To date, I have nto received my final wedding photos. We reeeceived the proofs on-line a month after the wedding and the proof book shortly after."

 

Were you to receive all of the wedding photos with the package you purchased? Many photographers give either a proof book or copies of the final photos, but I've never heard of a wedding photographer doing both. What was included in the package you purchased and what does your contract say?

 

"put a select number of photos on CD to send to the videographer"

 

Did you have an agreement ahead of time for the photographer to provide the images to the videographer? Have you purchased full-rights to the images or the selected images?

 

"I have given him a date to have all of this done and if it is not done by this date, I do not want to talk to him anymore. I want to have my legal rep have all futre dicussions with him."

 

Sounds like you already know what to do.

About 15 years ago, I shot four weddings while I was in college for a photography degree. I was young, cocky and I knew it all.

 

First one was for a friend's wedding. During the entire reception, I was using flash and my shutter was set higher than 1/250. Only half of the frame turned out. Not much of a wedding present for my friend.

 

Second wedding, the family rushed me so much during the formals, that I forgot to take pictures of bride and groom (yup, pretty stupid). I made it up to them by doing an hour-long photo session two weeks later with just the two of them.

 

The third and fourth weddings went well, although my posing was nothing to write home about.

 

Almost immediately after that, I started apprenticing with pro photographers and ten years passed before I shot another wedding on my own. Knowing what I know now, I can't believe I took on those four weddings with so little education, practice and skill.

First off, I personally don't really agree with the statement that most people who use the Internet to research or locate wedding photographers are looking for a cheap price. I believe it depends on the Internet resource; for instance, CraigsList is going to render a different type of clientele than The Knot. Not a criticism, just my two cents, of course.

 

Anyway, to answer your questions...

 

I wouldn't say we've had "luck," per se, with free sites, but they certainly have their uses. We try to get our company name on as many websites as possible. Even if a site isn't generating a lot of traffic, having your company name and information on these free sites could potentially help your ranking in the search engines (depending, of course, on how Google wants to rank sites this week, since they insist on changing their ranking strategies so frequently).

 

Secondly, we used The Knot in our marketing strategy about two or three years ago. It was a good advertising strategy for us at the time, but is not very worthwhile for us now, due to how expensive it is to advertise there now and the number of other Atlanta photographers advertising on their site. If you're willing to throw out an extraordinary amount of money, then The Knot is certainly a good place to do it.

 

Finally, it's hard to take what works well in, say Atlanta, and try to use those same avenues in your market. Every market is different and has different options available. For the best online advertising opportunities in your market, open up Google and do some searches, like "Atlanta wedding photographer," "Atlanta wedding photography," "Atlanta wedding," etc. (obviously, switching "Atlanta" with whatever city/cities you are in or located near.) Whatever pops up in the top three are probably your best bet to research and possibly advertise with. This isn't always foolproof, but it's definitely a great start.

 

Other marketing that works?: word of mouth, networking with other wedding vendors, distributing business cards everywhere, a great website that offers good info and portfolio, etc.

 

What has been a waste of time and money?: Personally (and everybody is going to probably disagree with me on this), bridal shows, The Wedding Channel online, and print advertising.

 

So that I don't have to contend with any hateful P-net posters, let me close by saying this is merely my opinion and there are a million "right" answers to your questions.

 

Good luck,

Jen

Shows you're creative and have ingenuity. Great job!

The Nikon 70-200 2.8 is a beast of a lens. I would suggest renting one before buying; try it out and see if the end result is worth the extra bulk, weight and price tag for you.

 

I'm not a "lens freak," so I don't keep up with all the testing data and all that, but I think there might be some happy medium choices out there, like the Nikon 85 1.8, Nikon 105 2.8 or Sigma 50-150 2.8, which cost a touch less, are much smaller in size, and weigh a whole lot less.

 

We use a Nikon 85 1.8 on one of our cameras during the ceremony and it's been a great perfomer in low-light conditions.

I would recommend Kodak Portra 400NC. If you want to print some as B&W, you have that option.

 

Be sure to touch base with the pro on the day of and make sure you work out the details on how both of you are going to be photographing the same event together. If the pro has any requests, try to follow them as best as you are able.

We've used Vista Print several times and received a good product and service every time.

We had a similar circumstance with a couple this year. It helped to direct the light source more toward him, feathering the light toward her slightly.

Karl - In a perfect world, the post office never loses anything and great assistants never make a single mistake. Last I checked, we don't live in a perfect world.

I certainly see where you're coming from on this, but I wouldn't say you're technically comparing digital vs. medium format, but rather digital vs. your lab's scan. Personally, we've have had a VERY difficult time getting our lab to correctly scan in medium format film any more. Perfect medium format images are turned to pixelated, grainy, out of focus mush with distortions throughout -- much like what you are showing here. (Do you happen to use Miller's by the way?)

 

If you are pleased with your digital file and you feel that you can do a 20x24 print from it without compromise, then by all means; however, IMO, I would think that a print of that size would look far better printed from medium format. Any possibility you can make the print directly from the medium format negative rather than the digital scan they provided you?

 

BTW, great job on rounding up all the youngsters for the picture.

 

Jen

There are some good suggestions on this post. Follow them and you should be OK.

 

This type of stress isn't really a new thing, though. With film, we had far more sinister foes lurking in the shadows; everything from light leaks, heat and moisture, to the assistant letting that 220 film you just shot unroll across the ground, exposing the whole thing. Heck, with film, most of us trusted the mail office with delivering our precious rolls of wedding film back and forth between the pro labs. Talk about worries!

 

Personally, I've worried a lot less since switching from film to digital. (Of course, since that statement is begging for Murphy's Law to play out, I better add a *knock on wood*.)

 

Jen

I have an F4S that I have used an SB-24 with, as well as a Sunpack 622 (I only used the Sunpack 622 when I needed a little more fire power or shooting infrared because it's a beast of a flash). The SB-24 is an all-around good flash. It works well with the F4S and your father shouldn't really want for much in using it with that camera.

 

Jen

Stephen, also see a recent post that discusses a similar topic:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00IPSQ&tag=

 

I would like us to start using Adobe Lightroom for the initial prepping of the images, and can certainly see that it might help us speed up our typical workflow (currently about 20-30 hours). Just curious: What type of learning curve did you have when you switched to Lightroom and how long did it take for you to feel "up to speed" with it?

 

Likewise, I would also love to hear other ideas for time saving tips that don't compromise quality.

 

Jen

The MH-18 charger can be used to charge either type of battery.

Our order form was created in Quark, but you could easily re-create something similar in Word using tables. Here's a PDF example that you could tailor your own from...

http://www.raejenphotography.com/wedding/order.pdf

 

Jen

I agree with what Jeff said. I've never checked my equipment.

 

Last year, I heard a Sports Illustrated photographer speak about the subject (sorry, the name escapes me right now). In all of the travel that he did, he always checked his equipment and only had a problem once. It would be nice if I had the guts to do the same during my travels... of course, I don't have Sports Illustrated at my beck and call to same-day FedEx a replacement camera body or lens should any of mine go missing. ;)

 

Carry the equipment on and stow it under the seat in front of you by your feet. If you have any film, regardless of speed, have it hand-checked by the TSA personnel.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Jen

This isn't a contest. Packages, weddings and personal styles vary, therefore the amount of time each photographer spends will vary as well.

 

The reason it may take us a little longer than some in prepping images is we cut the number of images once or twice; re-order them a little (for instance, we take pictures of the cake when we first arrive at the reception, but move them "order-wise" to appear right before the cake cutting); complete color correction and cropping; remove any distracting objects that we hadn't seen or were unable to move during our photography; Photoshop blemishes, stray hairs and other things from the formal pictures; etc., etc.

 

With that being said, I realize we go above and beyond what many photographers do. I'm not stating this is "THE" way to do it. If you can do it in a quicker fashion and get the professional results that you require, more power to you. This is how we do it and we (as well as our clients) are very pleased with the results.

 

Jen

Without an album, about 40-50 hours total on average.<P>

<UL>

<LI>Meeting with bride and groom - 1-2 hours</LI>

<LI>Misc. correspondence/phone calls - 2 hours</LI>

<LI>Creating agenda - 1 hour</LI>

<LI>Getting directions, equipment ready, etc. - 1 hour</LI>

<LI>Wedding day (travel, getting there early, shooting, etc.) - 8-16 hours</LI>

<LI>Image prepping - 20-30 hours</LI>

<LI>Ordering proof portfolio - 1 hour</LI>

<LI>Prepping and uploading online images - 1 hour</LI>

<LI>Meeting with bride and groom to deliver images - 1-2 hours</LI></UL><P>

 

If they have an album, add another 15-20 hours.<P>

 

Jen