bill_ashley2

<p>John H, thanks for your contributions to this forum thread, but I don't need any more input from you.</p>

<p>John H, since I'm not a lawyer I want to be as sure as possible that I'm on solid legal ground before i make a move to discard the negs. Even though the thousand or so wedding contracts I have in my possession have been fulfilled as to the wedding photography itself, there's nothing written in them speaking to the negatives and whatever obligation I might have for holding on to them. When delving into gray areas of the law as I'm doing here, I get a bit nervous. No, I'm not going to pay a lawyer hundreds of dollars to give me his opinion on this.</p>

<p>I have negatives dating back to the early '80s representing over 1,000 weddings. I have them stored in dozens of large boxes in an air conditioned storage facility. They take up considerable space and, frankly, I'm weary of continuing to pay money to store them.<br>

Here's my question: What's my legal obligation (if any) for holding on to these negatives, since I've already met the terms of the photographer (me) client (them) agreement? Is there any reason why I should continue to store them, or can I dump them?<br>

I know there are many of you who have faced my situation and I'm wondering how you resolved it.<br>

Thanks for your feedback.</p>

<p>I'm leading a photo safari in early April for a half-dozen members of our photo club. We're visiting several locations in southern Utah, including Lake Powell (Glen Canyon area), as well as Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks.<br />We're flying in to Flagstaff and renting Jeeps, driving first to Page, UT.<br />I have several questions for those of you who've been to these areas:<br /><br />1. Are there specific areas within these three locations we will want to visit? I know about Antelope Canyon, which is on our list, but are there other photogenic places we will definitely want to see?<br />2. Is there (still) a boat that takes visitors from Wahweap Marina to the Rainbow Bridge?<br />3. If we rent Jeeps, will we be able to do much off-roading into the wilderness areas?<br />4. When we're in the Page area, will we be near some spectacular places at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon....or are those not near where we'll be?<br />5. Should we expect motels to be full in the places we will visit in early April?<br /><br />Any other comments/suggestions will be greatly appreciated!<br />Thanks.</p>

<p>All great comments and insights. Much appreciated!<br>

Will be on land for 9 days, then board the ship and travel four days to Vancouver through the Inland Passage. Stops in Denali (two days), Ketchikan, Skagway, Dawson City, etc..<br>

We're taking several side excursions with the little free time we'll have. Perhaps even a heli tour or fixed wing in the Denali region.<br>

I'm not going just to immerse myself in nature photography. I'll be with my wife, so I'll have to put the cameras down occasionally and play tourist (and attentive hubby).<br>

But I do intend to come back with the best images I can get with the equipment I take and the shooting conditions I experience.<br>

If any of you wish to give me some specific recommendations about what to do, where to go, please feel free to do so. I'm a sponge right now, trying to read up on as much about Alaska as I can.......</p>

 

<p>Absolutely Big Bend and Davis Mountains. Those two offer so many possibilities for wildlife.</p>

<p>

<p >I'm going on an Alaskan cruise in late May and am seriously considering the purchase of a Canon 100-400L IS and Canon 1.4 teleconverter to be able to "get in" on wildlife.</p>

<p >My question: I have a Canon 70-200 2.8L IS that's tack sharp. If I leave it at home and just take the 100-400, will I be satisfied with the sharpness, especially when coupled to the teleconverter?</p>

<p >Please, no discussions as to the merits of max apertures, one over the other. I'd like to keep the discussion relevant to the sharpness, assuming I'm using my 5D at 400 iso most of the time and not shooting wide open.</p>

<p >I hope to photograph bears, orcas, bald eagles, whales, caribou, wolves......all the wildlife I can.</p>

<p >Most of my shooting will be on land from a variety of vehicles. I don't expect I'll do that much wildlife shooting from the ship.</p>

Your thoughts are much appreciated! </p>

I've responded to three. Been very selective as to which I accepted leads to. As yet, haven't received any responses. Wonder how

many in my area (Houston's a large area) the same offer was presented. Bet a lot......

So, I'm inclined to decline in the future.

I've averaged 25 weddings a year for the past 27 years, with a high of 38 and a low of 22. I'm price-positioned in the middle of the

pack for my area, which works for me b/c I have a full-time job and shoot weddings every other weekend and don't have the

overhead other photogs might. My most popular package is $1,000 with no album, just high-res images burned to a DVD.

Good shooting!

A week on a deluxe houseboat on Lake Powell in Utah/Arizona. I can't think of a more relaxing, yet absolutely magnificent location. If

you don't know about this massive lake, do a google search and take a look at a photographer's dream.

I've used Forbeyon for two albums so far. I've had them design the layouts using the photos I supplied, then had them print and bind

the albums.

The quality of their design-work and albums has been exceedingly good. I like the fact that I can send 100+ images to Forbeyon and

have their designers come up with a creative design, then get them to tweak the design until I'm satisfied. That frees up a ton of my

time.

The albums are beautiful. I like to see the faces of my clients as they open their album for the first time and browse through the

pages.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with what I've received from Forbeyon.

Shooting groups of guys, I'll sometimes say, "Hey, you look like a bunch of pallbearers at a funeral. It's a wedding, for Heaven's

sake!" Usually works, but not always.

I agree in principle with Russ and his comments. However, his "delivery" was certainly off-

base.

 

You asked an honest question.

You didn't ask to be pounced upon by someone who doesn't know you, will never know

you, and wasn't personally invited to reply to your request for info. The question was put

out for general consumption.

 

IMHO, there's simply too much of this "stuff" going on in this forum. Civility is not the tone

taken enough.

And that's a reflection on all of us......

Re: LE's response.

Correction: be as UNOBTRUSIVE as possible.

However, I've seen some photogs and videographers who've been very obtrusive, which is

not a good thing when it's supposed to be all about the b&g.

My suggestion is to observe the photographer, see what he/she's shooting, then shoot details

or from other angles with other lenses.

In other words, don't replicate what the photog is shooting, try to be creative and come up

images that complement, images that tell the same story from a different angle or focal length,

images that give the client more to choose from.

That's the primary role of a second shooter, insofar as shooting is concerned IMHO.

Lauren, I don't share Neil's opinion. Perhaps his is colored by his location, UK, and brides

there have different tastes.

But your designs look fine.....not exceptional, but good. They're more along the lines of what I

get from my album designer. Your designs reflect the tastes of my brides. That's the bottom

line after all, satisfying your clients.

I'd use you.

Absolutely, get a blower. That's your first cleaning option. Everything else you get for sensor

cleaning is a result of what the blower doesn't get......

 

Also, if you have the luxury, keep the same body/lens combo on and don't take the lens off

unless really necessary. I have four bodies, each with pretty-much a dedicated lens. I very

rarely have need to take a lens off. But when I do, I exercise extreme caution so as to not

introduce dust to the sensor. And I always use my rocket blower prior to putting back on a

lens.

As an aside, I've shot plenty of pregnant brides......some everyone knew her condition, but

more frequently, they didn't.

 

My motto on posing in these situations: do the best you can.

If I might intrude on the sidebar conversation between William M and Steve C, actually

you both are correct.

I did get a retainer with the balance to be paid at the start of the wedding day shoot.

That's the arrangement I have with my brides and it's worked well for me over the

years.

Regardless of whether or not I'd have received full payment prior to Saturday, I'd have

still refunded anything paid above and beyond the retainer.

I wouldn't feel comfortable keeping that money for services not rendered.

Steve C, I agree with your non-contractual policy and I've adopted a similar policy.

After 30+ years and over a thousand weddings shot, I thought I'd seen everything. But Saturday was a

first.

My wife and I got to the church to start with the bride. There was a lot of activity at the church, but

nothing having to do with a wedding.

 

Brides running late are nothing new, so that's what we figured. But I checked our paperwork to confirm

the date, time, and location. Then I called the bride's cellphone. No answer. Same for her house

phone. Figured she was on her way.....

 

Something told me to call the groom's cellphone. He answered, I told him we were at the church, were

they running late? A pause, then he said, "she didn't call you?" I said, "no, what's up?" He: "the

wedding's been cancelled." I said, "Would've been nice if someone had called us. How long has it been

cancelled?" "For awhile. She was supposed to call everyone...guess she didn't."

 

Sure, over the years we've had a dozen or so weddings cancelled. And as many or more postponed.

But never one cancelled without a call from the bride or her mom.

 

But coming on the heels of a big wedding the night before, where we got home at midnight, it was kinda

nice to have the day freed-up.

Two days b4 a destination wedding? Ostensibly to scope things out? And the b&g (or whomever's paying) is fine with that?

Seems a bit much to me. If I were the bride's dad and I was paying a photog to shoot her

destination wedding, I'd give him/her a DAY to recon the site, but not more. It's not his/her

vacation, after all. If the photog want to tack on days and make it such, they can do it on their

own ticket.

Just MHO.

Question: You want to show a slideshow to your clients or you want to burn slideshows to

DVDs using iDVD and give them to your clients?

 

If former, you can do it using iPhoto, which you probably have since you're using iDVD. If the

latter, sorry, I can't help......but I'll bet others can. Or you can always put the question to

Apple support.......

Since you were put in a tough situation, but b/c it's a family member who got you into it,

I'd propose you get him/her to buy you a SB-800. As you said, you'll probably find some

future use for the unit.

I don't know whether you're getting paid to shoot the wedding, but if not, purchasing or

giving you the money to purchase a flash is the least your family should do.

Get it quickly, though, so you'll have enough time to play around with it and learn the

basics of its operation.

Also, to amplify on what's been said, make sure everyone understands that you're not a

pro wedding shooter, that you're shooting it "for the family," and that you can't be held to

the high standard a "real" pro wedding photographer would be held to.

As the others have stated, you have no contractual (or moral, ethical) obligation to refund the

retainer. I wouldn't blink an eyelash in telling the bride that there's no way in h*** that I'd

give her any money back. As a matter of fact, we'll be disappointed if you choose to do so.

Retainers are given and taken for a reason. They're not a cursory item on a checklist of items. They're for mutual protection.

Sorry, but not having anything else to base this on but the photo you supplied and what you

say in your post, I'm of the opinion that you should issue a refund.

The quality of the sample photo, i.e., lighting, pose, location, is not very good. If this photo is

indicative of the rest of the images you took on that occasion, I'd not be impressed if i were

the client.

Please take this as constructive criticism, but realize that in order to be a professional

photographer, you must strive for and produce professional-quality results......not

"acceptable" results.