memecafe

Thanks for the thoughts Gerald, it s good to hear from someone with a legal background. I am still unsure about what I will do, I will sleep on it and try to decide tomorrow.

 

The WP called me today and is asking me to help her! She wants me to make up a fake invoice for her to hide the kickback she TOOK from my pay. So basically she wants me to lie and say I got paid more than I did to hide the fact that she took the liberty of deducting $1000 from my fee.

And she said she is waiting to get the images from me.

 

Oh and at the end of her message she said she has another event coming up...I am booked, so do any of you want it? HA HA HA HA

She is crazy.

ps. I hadn't thought of it....but the WP can't demand anything of me when she stil owes me a balance of $1000.

My wording on the "kick back" was very confusing. Let's get cleared up...

I wrote:

 

"...the WP had me add $1,000 secretly over my price to cover her "fee". She also got money from the bride's end by charging her separetely for her "WP" services..." I meant that she WANTED ME TO mark up $1,000 to cover her. I did NOT, and she deducted $1,000 from my $$ when she wrote the check to me. She owes me $1,000. I am honestly not concerned with it now, only because I am so stressed about this other issue. I do plan (I think) on pursuing this after I get the image issue settled.

 

I think it is a good idea to "give" the photos to the bride and the WP, and I will make SURE the WP get LOW res files because she has stated that she plans to use my photos on her website, which I can't let happen. I want nothing to do with her, obviously. There was an album included in the package, which I think I will let the bride hold onto until all of this gets sorted out ;)

 

 

I think I will still speak with a lawyer, just to be sure I am not missing anything again. The bride will not be happy that she needs to wait another day or two, but I need to clear my head of this mess and feel 100% that I did right.

 

Thanks guys for all the advice, it helped me out a lot!

 

Stacy

David! NO! "I told her I would give her 10% (which was a lot less than $1,000) but she took the $1,000 out of the amount she paid me anyway." I did not mark up my price, I tried to negotiate giving her 10% out of what I was planning to charge. SHE DEDUCTED THE $1000 ANYWAY. She stole. I am not even worried about it now, I am so much more worried about who gets the photos.

The following is in my contract:

 

The Bride and Groom will designate an individual to identify people of whom specific photographs are desired.

? YOUR STUDIO NAME is not responsible for missing shots of those on the VIP list if there is no one to assist in identifying these people, if you failed to produce a list, if the list was stolen, if they didn't show, if they are negative about being photographed, or they can't be located.

Thanks for the responses, but I think some of your were confused.

 

I did get paid, via check from the WP. Now the WP says she has yet to collect from the bride, and the WP is demanding that I give the images to the WP so she has leverage in getting her $$ from the bride. This is where I am confused where MY legal obligation lies. The bride? or the woman who paid me? Who gets the photos?

 

The bride says she can't show proof of payment because she got bank checks. There is no way of knowing they were cashed or not??

 

If I give both parties the images then I am insuring that the WP never gets the $ she is after. I don't think she deserves the $$, but I also don't want to be THE reason for her not getting it, make sense?

 

And as far as a "kickback" being illegal, I will look into this. I hope there is some way that piece of info helps the bride, since I believe the WP was really trying to take advantage.

 

I am not trying to get any money right now. I was paid for my services, but I just need to know who to deliver the photos to. I am basically caught in their fight, and my gut is to side with the bride.

Hello all! I am having a problem! This problem stems from working with a wedding

planner, and it has left such a bad taste in my mouth I doubt I will ever work with

one again. (even though I know most are beautiful wonderful people ;)

 

The Wedding Planner (WP) met with me after I contaced her (new to town, looking

to branch out and gain clients). She liked my work, and had a wedding coming up

that she thought I would be a good fit for. She seemed nice and professional, but I

soon found out that she was a complete maniac and impossible to reason with.

The WP is a shady, unethical and greedy lush. She is not a business woman, but

rather a con artist and needs to be stopped...HOWEVER, I think I may have a legal

problem because I did not have my gaurd up until it was too late.....

 

I wanted to deal directly with the client, but the WP refused to make this possible,

and demanded that everything (money, plans) go thru her. The WP convinced me

that they were close friends (a big lie) and that she didn't want to be bothered

dealing with ANY vendors because of the current stress due to the sale and

purchase of her new home. I was able to make sure the contract was given to

the bride, and I never actually got a signed contract back from her. I think the WP

got it and said she would deliver, but didn't (I have no proof of this). I have

NOTHING in writing with the WP at all, nothing describing our relationship or any

sort of contract. However, the payment was made to me from the WP via check,

and the bride was to reimburse her at the wedding. The WP had me add $1,000

secretly over my price to cover her "fee". She also got money from the bride's end

by charging her separetely for her "WP" services. She did this with all of the

vendors (according to the WP). I told her I would give her 10% (which was a lot

less than $1,000) but she took the $1,000 out of the amount she paid me anyway.

I wanted to take payment directly from the bride but this just wasn't going to

happen. Several other things were going on at this time, which I won't go into but

were BIG red flags to me and made me very wary of the WP's character and

ethics.

 

The WP was SMASHED drunk at the wedding, dissapeared for hours, stood in the

way of many important shots so she could be in the photo (vain) and was

generally RUDE and obnoxious to my assistant and the guests. The WP was SO

drunk that she LOST the folder with all the bank checks that the bride gave to her

just before the wedding. The manager of the hotel was present when she was

given the checks, and I saw them with my own eyes. She was paid, and I feel if

she lost the money then tough cookies for her, right???

 

I was told that the checks were recovered the next day. Good new, thought

everything was over with.

 

BUT......

 

Now the WP is claiming that she wasn't paid back for the money she put out for

me. Maybe she lost the check again, who knows.

 

The WP is demanding that I give HER the photography since she paid me, and thus

having leverage to get money from the bride. The bride insists she paid the WP in

bank checks (and I believe her 110%), and is demanding I give her the

photography. I feel in the middle, because I believe the bride and I want her to

have her photos ASAP, but I am concerned because I was paid by the WP, and I

might actually have an obligation to her. Does she actually have any rights to the

photos just because she signed the check? She is threatening legal action if I give

the bride the photos, and the bride is threatening the same. I feel positive that

whoever I upset will bad mouth me. And I think there may be a lawsuit either way

as well.

 

I want to give the bride her photos I hope the advice here agrees.

 

 

Thanks guys.

 

Stacy

For something that is supposed to speed the workflow, I am sitting and waiting

for basic adjustments, sometimes up to 10 minutes. And, a lot of times I can't

tell what an image looks like bcause it will look normal then all of a sudden

change to an extremely different exposure and w/b. I went and bought another

gig of memory thinking this would solve it. Nope. Any suggestions? Anyone

experiencing similar problems with lightroom?

Thanks

Stacy Librandi

WW_ I had another 5d as a BU, and it is now a very expensive paper weight ;) I would like to have a less expensive 2nd camera this time, hence the 30D because I think it will provide the quality I need.

 

My 2nd question you answered actually reffered to another thread I posted, about possible interference with a quantum and a canon. Sorry if I confused you!

 

Thanks for the tips.

WOW Thanks so much for the feedback on this, I got the answer to my questions and learned a few new things. I have decided the 30D is a great back up camera, and I am taking one home tomorrow. I have a solid month to play with it before my next wedding, so I will be putting all of your advice to the test ;) THANKS.

 

 

Now...how come no one has tackled my quantum interferance question? ;-)

thanks harry, and everyone who cleared up the crop factor.

I saw a guy shooting his canon with a quantum, and the quantum was turned so

that it was not lined up with the camera...he said it was because there is

interference when using a quantum with a canon and this is how you avoid such

interference. He said it did not happen with Nikon.

I shoot canon 5d and I want faster more consistant recycling flash times. Can

anyone tell me if they have had this experience with a quantum and a canon? I

used a quantum successfuly before with a Nikon. I want one now for my canon.

 

thanks guys

OK so don't use it with wide angle. I am a little confued by the crop factor though.

oops sorry I just read that I shouldn't put my website in the post...sorry.

I shoot weddings. I need another back up camera, and I am considering the 30D.

I have the larger format lenses for my 5D, and I was wondering if there will be

an undesirable result if I use these lenses on a 30D? I will mainly use the 30D

for my 70-200, and I heard this is good since the 30D has higher pixel density

if I need to crop zoom images.

Also, should I continue with the 580EX-II flash for the 30D back up or get one

a step or 2 down?

 

Thanks for your thoughts, and anyone selling 1 or more 30Ds welcome to contact

me.

 

--Stacy

Thanks guys...I am still unsure though. I extended my 30-day trial with them cause I wasn't seeing anything come up yet...they told me to wait longer. I will not pay for it if I don't see a big change by the end of my trail. I am getting tired of craigslist...it is good but there are over 500 wedding photogs per day posting in my area...and I'd rather avoid magazine ads and I get mixed opinions about having a booth at a show. I really just don't know how to get the best advertising! I am willing to pay of course, but I need it to be well worth it. My web site is http://www.EthanAlfredStudios.com Any suggestions will be great! Especially from those who have experience working in areas with an ocean of healthy competition ;)

I signed a 30-day free trial with Local-Pull. Nothing comes up in any search

with any search engine fo my site, I am about to cancel but I wanted a few

opinions first. I am a NYC wedding photographer, and I am in a sea of

competition. I really need to get my site seen, but my attempts have proved

futile ;)

 

Any advice would be great, I have no problem paying for good exposure....I just

can't afford to get ripped off!

 

---

Stacy

I am being patient...and I emailed them again at the support address, hopefully I am up and running soon.

 

I usually have more patience than my 2 year old son...but when i couldn't contact them and there was nothing in my mailbox when they said it would be, I got worried because I have heard some pretty crazy horror stories.

 

This reminds me of the famous triangle: FAST GOOD CHEAP pick two...but you can never have all three!!! In my case I am hoping I got the GOOD and CHEAP combo ;)

 

I will settle for the slow turn around, sice it was so incredibly cheap and I happen to LOVE their templates.

 

Thanks for all the responses.

fun shooting an x-mas party<div></div>

Yes, it is a $100 site...but after adding the proffing/shopping cart and hosting/domain it came to $410...which annoys me because I looked at their $800 sites and there is a 1/2 price special. ARRGH.

 

I hope I get the experience the both of you have had. I just hear a mixed review and the reviews are to etreemes..either people love it or they want to take them to court. Luckily more good reviews then bad!

 

I will take it easy for a couple days, but I don't like being told I will get a response in a certain time frame, then not being able to contact anyone.

 

Thanks

I posted a while back asking for opinions and experiences with Bludomain. I got

a mixed response and decided to give them a try.

 

I bought a site yesterday (the Madison for $410). I got an email from them

saying the site would be in my inbox by midnight MST. It is now 9:30 am the

next day, and no site. The site I bought doesn't require any faxing...just

click and buy the template with more info emailed to me later.

 

I can't find a phone number on the site or in any of the emails.

 

I am worried that I got screwed. Does anyone have a number where I can reach

them?? I have tried writing in for a response but got nothing. Maybe I should

give it more time, but allready they are not fullfilling their end of the

bargin.

 

Thanks

it never hurts to have the couple + location + everyone in attendance being beautiful and photogenic ;)

 

This is great wedding photography. Great work.

Chemistry and Light!! www.chemistryandlight.com call and talk to Peter in the am...about 7:30am vegas time. Best quality and fastest turn around (next day), good people. I would never go anywhere else, I moved to NY and I still use them.

OK OK one more I swear...Once a videographer asked me to "turn off the red X" because it was messing up his video.

 

And sometimes I get "photography is so easy now! you can see what you are taking and just delete it, and you have photoshop to change everything!" Arrgh

wait another flash one! "can she turn her darn flash off in here? it is like the 4th of july!"

 

I wasn't even shooting a lot at the time...and we were inside a very dark reception hall at night.