mark_t5

<p>@christopher cerubin: i guess it's fine if you simply shoot and burn and then give the couple their cd with all the images unedited. but i rather sit in my hands 1 afternoon rather than shoot a $500 wedding and have a week worth of postprocessing to go through. I might have nothing better to do for 1 afternoon but I'm sure I'll have something better to do the rest of the week.</p>

<p>@shawn: ok..since you asked...here it comes..and all this is just my opinion..others might agree/disagree..oh.. and just as a warning, i'm pretty direct in my comments.</p>

<p>your images pretty much reflects the work of a "typical lower end CL shooter" to me. the photos are blurred and out of focus ( i seen point and shoot cameras producing sharper images than those in your port ).<br>

I'm not sure if it is caused by the resolution resize or what, but you might want to see if the originals are sharper and redo them so they look better cuz as of now they are kind of terrible.<br>

And put more than 5 images.. I'm sure out of the other 95 images you have some that rival the quality of the 5 you have on right now ( at least I hope so. 5% hit rate ain't that good ). Even CL shoppers won't hire you if you only show them 5 images.. Those goes to the CL shooters that shoot for free..not $500.</p>

<p>Watermarks.....i hate watermarks... and your images are full of them... let's face it, your images ain't that good, I don't see thieves stealing your images anytime soon. there are far better photographers that put their work online without any watermaks..if thieves are going to steal images, they will go for those. i don't think you have anything to worry about when it comes to image thieves as of now. get rid of the watermarks.</p>

<p>package names.... you are not going to break into the high end market with ghetto names like those. It is never too early to create an image of yourself so you don't have to re-brand later. same goes to your studio name... da bull? what's that? are we shopping at a hardware store or what? What's wrong with Shawn Brandow Photography?</p>

<p>the schedule on your website... unless you are booked pretty solid throughout the year, i don't see a point of having an empty calendar on your website showing clients how little to no job you have booked so far.</p>

<p>i think that ends my rant.</p>

<p>Well, after seeing Shawn's limited work ( since he only has 5 images ) all I can say is that I've seen "pros" with worse work charge more than he does... so yet another proof that price does not equal quality</p>

<p>as for the quality of Shawn's work...I wont comment unless he wants me to :)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>i think yervant sells one</p>

<p>I think if you have to lie to the clients with the "hey there is another couple looking at the same date so you better book with me now" line then it probably means you are charging too much for the quality that you are producing.</p>

<p>but that is just my opinion.</p>

<p>I dunno bout diys... i mean the same reason you tell your brides to hire a pro vs an amateur.. the last thing you need is to give your clients a weird looking diy cd box. spend 40-50 bux in a professional looking box...</p>

<p>presentation is everything.</p>

<p>That is more of a personal choice of what you will and will not allow the 2nd shooter to do with the images.<br /> I have a fairly restrictive contract that my 2nd shooters have to sign before they work at a wedding with me. If they don't like the terms, then they don't have to work with me.</p>

<p>Anything after the event have taken place, you are pretty much screwed to enforce anything at that point.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"Hey, I got a great deal on Craigslist. You don't need to pay a pro thousands of dollars when you can get someone just as good for a lot less". And so this results in a preponderence of brides-to-be scouring the Web looking for five-hundred-dollar wedding photographers. And THAT leads to people evaluating photographers based on their price more so than their work. The end result? We lose work.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>For each of those stories you can also find one that goes something like this: </p>

<p>"OMG..I found this super cheap photographer in CL for like $500, but when we got our photos they were all horrible. What do I do now?"</p>

<p>my target demographics do not include the bargain hunting brides, so they can go hit CL photographers all they want.</p>

<p>bargain hunting brides are a bit too demanding and their expectation is a bit out of touch with reality.</p>

<p>I show my brides what I can offer them. If they can find someone that can deliver the same type of results at a cheaper price then by all means I tell them to go book that person.</p>

<p>I think Top Gun said it best..</p>

<p>"Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."</p>

<p>What is wrong with telling the truth?</p>

<p>You only have 1 reference cuz you have ONLY shot 1 wedding by your own. Tell them the others you are the secondary shooter..or are you trying to misrepresent your experience?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I don't bother with a contract. I could care less if a vendor "sells" my picture. I doubt I'm missing much revenue from that market</p>

<p>I rather just give them the image ( websized should limit the amount of use they can get out of other than put them on their website, which is usually what they want ) and call it a day. Forcing them to sign a contract makes me look like I am trying to make their life miserable and that I don't trust them. Let's face it, most of us ain't that big shot of a photographer that needs to go to such great length.</p>

<p>I rather just give em a good impression that they can count on me for anything with no strings attached. Only one referral from them would probably offset any amount that I would have made from them selling my images.</p>

<p>You said "gesture of goodwill and relationship building".. but if you offered me an image that you shot and then tell me I need to sign this long piece of paper that tells me what I can and I can not do, unless there are UFO's or ghosts in that image of yours, I would probably just say thanks but no thanks.</p>

<p>but thats just me. Oh..and if you want to draft a contract, contacting a lawyer is probably better than asking an online forums for "samples".....</p>

<p>hmm..they look fine to me</p>

<p>i would be most interested to look through the sample portfolio that he showed you richard. since you can't name the photographer in the forum you can just send me an email ( in my profile ).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>hiring a good photoshop guy is probably a good idea..although i'm not sure how much better can one make out of those pictures.... maybe a really good photoshop guy can save some images</p>

<p>You know, I never understood the concept of asking photographers for references and then calling them ( same thing applies to like asking a job applicant for references and then calling those ).</p>

<p>Of course they going to give you someone that like their work. It is kind of pointless if you ask me. For all you know they simply gave you names of his drinking buddies.</p>

<p>yikes...i stopped after 3 images..</p>

<p>well.that sucked...<br>

I have to ask...</p>

<p>did you just look at the sample portfolio? or a complete wedding work?</p>

<p>whats in the contract regarding quality of work and refunds?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I know some photographers only accept cash cuz that way it is easy to skip on taxes ( yes, no one wants to admit it but many does it ).</p>

<p>I accept everything. my CC is via paypal, there is a fee for the transaction, but the more flexibility you offer your client the easier it is to book them. I've had one client that booked me because they couldn't find one photographer that was willing to accept credit cards....kind of odd..</p>

<p>the wonders of the search function.</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00HQ2n</p>

<p>oh..they going through one of those houses like Bella eh... well..in that case good luck..those things i heard are pretty much hit or miss.</p>

<p>Let the pro do his job. You wouldn't like some stranger come to your workplace and tell you how to do things would you?</p>

<p>You could tell your brother and have em suggest to the pro, but if the pro is capable enough, he would have scouted the place beforehand and figured out where he wants to do his shoots at. But just because you think a spot is good might not mean the pro will like it.. everyone has their own styles...</p>

<p>sucks about your wedding though.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I think the braket has fallen by the wayside in recent years more out of laziness to pack it and lug it around than anything else (just like the tripod).</p>

</blockquote>

<p>that and the fact that there are cameras at higher isos making flash use less necessary in most places..</p>

<p>but it is not laziness, its the fact the thing is so darn heavy and i already lug too many lenses around :)</p>

<p>ask a professional tax accountant.</p>

<p>just as you tell your clients to hire a professional photographer instead of a amateur, you should go consult a tax professional instead of photographers when it comes to tax issues</p>

<p>last thing you need is the irs coming to audit you and shut you down for skipping on taxes.</p>

<p>u tried finao?</p>

<p>what..no one uses the p mode? I thought P stands for "Professional" haha</p>