jamie_thomas

I totally agree with David. Know one else works for free, so why should you, I’m sure she gets paid for her work.

You did everything you could do to contact her, there isn’t really much more you can do. So keep the money she

gave you, and enjoy the day off.

If she never gives it back, it might be best to just be done with it. I know that sucks, but next time make sure the check clears before giving them the product.

WOW! This is exactly why I want full payment two weeks before the wedding date. I did have a client one time that

wanted me to redo her album, after she had it 6 months, I did redo it but it wasn’t a flushmont, it was just a matted

style. I would tell her that you need the album back and full pay as well before you fix the album. Also, maybe next

time you show her the pdfs after every change you do, so there is no miscommunication. Sorry to here this happen

to you.

I want to know how to get Started in sport photography, or really any event

photography. Right now I mainly do wedding photography, and well it?s been 5

years and I really want to try something new. I thing it would be fun to do

dog shows,or horse shows, something along that line. But I have no idea on

where to start. Any help would be great.

 

Jamie

I think you do real nice work. As to the number of weddings you do that is up to how much work you can handle. My first year, I had 14 and the second year there was 27. This is my third year and I had 42, which was a bit much. I think next year I won?t take as many. I think 10 to 15 is a good number for your first year. You don?t want to take on to much because you will start to burn yourself out, so take your time and enjoy. Good luck and I hope I was of some help.

I gave up on AA's two years ago, and bought two Quantum batteries. Love them!

I use pro albums for my matted album, but for my proof albums I use pioneer. I need something to keep coulst down and something I could put as many images as I wanted in. I order from them directly, and they have lot to chosse form.

I started out in 2004 and well I was a cheap photographer, some might still say I am. I went to four years of collage and jumped in after I graduated. My 1st year came from friends in collage that were getting married. That summer I put up my website, and that how I booked my second year of weddings. My 1st year I did 14 weddings, second year I had 21 and now this is my 3rd year and I have 35 booked. I never did a show; I had a good website and paid of advertisement on other sites. I?m not shore about doing a show; so far the web is doing good for me. Hope I was of some help.

I'm not sure if there is a proper etiquette, it just looks good to me. Here is a picture of what I am talking about so you can see for yourself.<div></div>

Wow what a mess. I'm glad that I shoot digital. I also have all of the prints on line so that I never have to meet with them again after the wedding. They order what they want on line and check out with a credit card. Saves a lot of time.

I always put the bride and the mom in the middle, with the guys on each side of them. That way no one looks excluded and look almost equa, with the eception of the bride in a wedding dress. Hope I was of some help.

I have run into this problem a few times, but was always able to talk them into letting me shoot anyway. I always make the preacher think I?m on their side, that I totally understand how some photographers, are to distracting, and I insure them that I am not. I promise them I won?t use flash and will keep my distance. With that said, I disagree with the statement that they run the show. The B/G runs the show. Make them aware about how sometime the preacher, might have restrictions, and hopefully they can fix the problem before the wedding. I agree with you, it?s frustrating, you would think that it?s them getting married. I some times wonder if their photographer had restrictions at their wedding. I just wish I could tell them how to do there job for once. LOL!

This is also a big problem that I run into a lot of. When I meet with my bride for the first time before they book me, I always ask what the time line is for photos. B/G?s are not really aware of how much time it takes to do formals, so I offer advise to help them. Always ask these questions ate the meeting

 

How many is in the wedding party?

Are there kids in the wedding party?

How big do you want to go on the family shots?

Are there grandparents, if so how many?

 

This gives me an idea on how long I will need for pictures and them I let them know. I also always give them a check list of what images that normally taken at a wedding. This really helps give them the idea of the pressure that I?m under to get these images done. If you like I can e-mail you my check list if it will help.

 

Talk with your bride and together come up with a time line to take the photos. Late but not least its not up to you to decide when the photo?s are take and how much time is made to take the photo?s. That is her final decision, its her wedding day. Do what you can in the time you have, go with the flow of the wedding day and do stress out. I?m sure you will do fine.

I will tell you what works for me. I show all the albums and extras that I offer in my packages. I start off showing them a proof album of a complete wedding. Showing a wedding start to finish helps a lot. I then have a 12x12 20 page matted album of that wedding only. This helps them know what a finished wedding album looks like, and this shows them what to expect. I then show them a 40 page matted album of my favorite pictures form different weddings. I just recently added a flush mount album to my portfolio. I also show them a parent album and other little this they could get. Over time you will grow your portfolio, but most important think is to show only your work. You defiantly need a proof album of a wedding from start to finish. Then get a large matted album and just add samples of weddings you have done. I?m not sure if there is an over kill on showing your work. I find the longer you keep them looking the better the chance you have in getting the wedding. When I first started out I was only getting 6 out of 10 clients and now I am landing 8 out of 10. Hope I was of some help.

 

Jamie

Well it sounds like there is a good relationship between you and the other photographer. You really should ask him what he thinks. Sound to me that he?s already booking a lot of weddings and take them all, that why he has you. I think he would understand, and you both can come to an agreement. Finding jobs can be few a far between when starting out, I wouldn?t want to mess up a good thing with him if I were you.

I use Photostore by KTools. My clients love it, they say it loads fast and it not to flashy. I love it because its easy to work with and my print sale have more than doubled. You can find it at http://www.ktools.net/

I never close a date till I have my retainer and a contract. If some one calls for a date and make an appointments to meet that doesn't close the date. I have had this happen once were a client keep canceling the appointment, and some one else mailed in a contract and retainer, for the same date, so the date became hers. First come, first serve. With that said let her go. She stood you up; if this was a date would you try to contact her. You left a message and that is good enough, if you do any more it will only make you look desperate. A busy and good photographer doesn?t worry because there are more out there. Be happy that you didn't get her :)

Marc, I wouldn?t sweat it. I have had two of them, and I know it won?t be the last. I?m with you on the call thing. Why can?t they call us and let us know that they changed their mind, especially with gas prices today, it just plain rude. Be glad you didn?t het her, if she is like that.

If A Bride cancels her wedding with you, what do you need from her so that you

can rebook the date? My bride is canceling her 7-7-07 wedding with me, she

told me through an e-mail and her mom also confirmed that. So you think that

is enough for me to rebook or do I need it in writing? Any help will be

appreciated.

Try McKenna Pro. You can do custum sises, and their prints are really good.

Thanks everyone for your help. After doing research, I found that there are several people in my town feel the same way about her. I just moved here two years ago, but she grew up in this town, and her family has been here for years. I live in a small town, you know the kind you and blink your eye and you missed it. Well any way people down here don?t care about animals, they dump them off, let them multiply and never get them the shots they need. She does more farm call then any thing and I?m guessing from what I have heard people around here shoot their animals then putting them down. Anyway, what I want to do was raise money to not only help here but the animals as well, because she has helped me with getting strays off the street. So I am going to hold a benefit dinner and ask businesses in the larger town next to us if they would donate things that I can auction off to help raise money for a now animal hospital. Thing are already going great with the dinner. I have the hall donated and a DJ donating his time. I just hope it work out. And thanks again for all your help.

I know that this sounds weird but has any one ever done a charity raffle for

wedding photography? Here is what I want to do but don?t know how about doing

this. There is a local Veterinary that is the best I have ever been to. She

is a single mother who rents a spot but has been try to open her own animal

hospital for two years. She has the building up but ran out of funds to

finish it. As an animal lover I know how hard it is to find a vet that

lovers your animals as much as you, and doesn?t try to take you to the

cleaners. The thing that is so special about her is that she is in it for the

love of animals, and not the money. In the county that I live in we have no

animal control and if there is a stray in need, she is always willing to help

out. Last night I had to put my 13 year old cat to sleep, and my daughter

LOVED this cat. When I took him there and was crying with my daughter, I

asked how much I owe and she told me not to worry about it. What vet does

that? She?s got a good heart but at that rate she will never get into her

building. What I am trying to say is, I want to give her the kindness and

love she has giving me, and my family. I really what to try and raise money

to help her get into her building. So I thought, I could raffle of a wedding

photography package, and donate the money that I raise to help her. So what I

need is ideas on how to go about dong this. Any ideas you might have will be

greatly appreciated.

Jen,

 

I wouldn't stress it to much. It really could have alot to do with the move. I'm form St. Louis, but my husband decided that he wanted to move south, and I mean in the STICKS. Well now I live about one and a helf hours for St. Louis. I still get 95% of my weddings from there, but when we first moved, that fall I went from September to about the middle of November with no any calls, not one. I can't say what really happened, but things picked up. So hang in there, they'll pick up for you to, don't stress to much.

 

Jamie

Three day?s after Christmas this year, my husband?s uncle died in a tragic way. I have always done work for the lighter things in life, weddings, anniversaries, babies, ect. I didn?t know the man personally, but my husband grew up with him living next door to him. I hate giving flowers, so I offered to do a DVD slide show for the funeral. I worked two days straight with no sleep, to get it done before the wake. I didn?t do just a slide show with funeral music, or songs to sad. I did a story and time lined all the images for birth to death. I played country songs that fit his life. The first song was for his growing up years, the second song was about him and his wife, I played ?Remember When, by Allen Jackson.? Then, I had a song for his son and their images, and one for his daughter. I even made on for the granddaughters. I finished the show up with family and friends, all the images that were funny and crazy. I didn?t haft to shoot the funeral; I have hard of this but that just too crazy to me. Personally I would be mad it my family did that at mine, I would want them to remember me and my life, not the way I went. That?s why I made my DVD slide show the way I did, so that they don?t remember the tragic way he went. Anyway, everyone loved it, and now I have two people wanting me to make theirs before they go, witch I think is cool, because they get to tell the sorry. If I were you, I would stick to a story, if you mix it up, it won?t work that well. Hope I was of some help. Oh by the way, to those people who make slide shows for funerals, how much do you charge? I heard the going rate was around $600 - $1000. I figured it depends, if the have their images on disc it would be a lot cheaper. For the one I did, I had 14 hours of scanning.

Right now I only offer matted style albums. I am working on a flush mount

album, but man is it worth the work. I guess my question is how much do you

charge for a flush mount album? Also maybe I'm dong it wrong, right now I'm

doing most of the work in Photoshop. Is there any easier way? Right now I

might go with Zook Books. Is there another company that is easier or has

templates to use? I will take all the help I can get.