jessica_dixon

<p>hmmm... another good point. thanks</p>

<p>Thats a good point, I was wondering what he charges to help me decide. I actually pay my assistant/2nd shooter $20 per hour. I was leaning towards $50 an hr but not so sure, Ill ask and see what he offers.</p>

<p>Hello everyone. I was asked by another photographer if I would be willing to shoot a few weddings for him. I

guess he had several double bookings. I will basically be doing all the foot work, shooting the days event. But in the

end, all i have to do is turn in my shots and he will take care of all the post wedding work. He asked me to let

him know my price, but Im kinda not sure what to charge him... I normally charge $150 per hr to clients, and thats

without prints, albums, etc.<br>

Its not like ill be assisting or be a 2nd shooter, so i need opinions by other photogs. Thanks!!</p>

<p>I hear of other photogs giving negatives on DVD, others on CD. Whats the difference? Is one better than the other?</p>

<p>Oh, Thanks! didn't see that one. :)</p>

<p>Hey everyone,<br>

Does anyone have a good example of a release form in which states that I own the images but the client may make their own reproductions for their personal use?<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Shaun R: Yea, $2000 is the starting point in my area for unlimited time. But I get alot of budget brides these days, so I don't think I'll get enough business if I start at $2500. But it makes sense, I get what your saying. Maybe once I get more established and more business then I might be able to go down that route.<br>

thanks!</p>

<p>You all have given me a lot to think about :D Thanks for all the advice and help. I've only been shooting weddings for almost 3 years and I still feel like I just started!<br>

I'm really leaning towards keeping the time consecutive. I once tried offering all packages with unlimited time to deal with this issue and kept getting brides who say "well I only need you for like 5 hours" and right away they would want a discount. Or, there were also the brides who wanted me for like 12-14 hrs. So I quickly ended that. Well, I guess I just might have to toughen up and say "consecutive only" lol, thanks everyone!<br>

P.S. If you do only unlimited time, how do you go about deciding the prices? Do you start the pricing based on like 12 hours or by whats included in the package? I think my prices would be too high if I offered only unlimited, like starting at around $2500.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>I usually just go back home if its nearby, or just go eat something. I don't like splitting the time but it seems thats all brides are looking for.</p>

<p>I offer a certain number of hours in each of my packages, ranging for 2 to 12 hrs. Should I allow clients to split the time or only offer consecutive hours?<br>

Keep in mind that in my area, weddings are like all day events that start between noon and 3, and last until around midnight. I've had a few people who think its pricey to go with a package that has more hours and they ask if they can split the time. And I have done it before, allowed the time being split, but I didn't like that it turned into an all-day event when all they paid for was like 5 hours.</p>

<p>WW<br>

Its funny, my package list in my studio does say "up to..." but I need to add that on my website. Thanks!</p>

<p>Yes I list my prices on the website, I've had several clients compliment that. They say they search online to get details, prices, etc., they don't want to be calling everyone for prices too.<br>

For a small period, I didn't list the prices just to see how many people would contact me and be interested, turns out alot of people wanted to spend much less or they just seemed to be less interested when i would explain the packages. I think its much easier for them to read it and really compare each package online and for them to decide if its in their budget. Plus, all the phone calls asking for prices got annoying.</p>

<p>I agree with most of you, i usually end up staying past the contracted time...but there are a few weddings when people just leave early, thats when i wish i could leave :) I think what I'll do is just start letting future clients know that the end time is an estimate (meaning I'll leave when all the important shots have been taken at the end of the reception) or maybe I'll just have them use an hour for prep shots instead of at the reception.<br>

Thanks Everyone!!!!!</p>

<p>Hello! My question is, is it OK to ask the bride if you can leave the reception before your time is up?<br />Here's what happend... It was almost 11p.m. and almost all the guests had left already. I was contracted to stay until midnight. So only a handful of people were left and absolutely nothing was going on, they were just sitting and talking while others were picking up. So my assistant and I were just sitting there feeling useless, doing nothing! Neither the bride or groom were telling us anything nore did they say we can just leave. So we waited until 11:30 and I finally got up to ask the bride if there was anything else she needed, she said no, so I asked if we could call it a night and I explained why. She was fine with it and thanked us for everything.<br />But should I do this if it happens again or just sit there till time is up?</p>

<p>Hello, I need help on choosing a Nikon lens to purchase. I normaly shoot newborns and babies in studio with strobes, but I also want to try shooting with natural lighting. I mainly have been using my Nikon D40 with the lens it came with, 18-55mm, and sometimes use my D80 with 18-135mm. I want to invest in a better lens to get the best quality images I can get. I'm considering getting a nikon 50mm. Any suggestions?<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Hi William W,<br />I do have several clients who choose my packages 1 and 2 (which are only a couple of hours) and I do reserve the whole day (i personaly dont like to double-book and i just wont do it), but I have never had a morning wedding. Here in my city, hardly anyone does that, the norm is having a wedding between 1-3 p.m. So if i book a wedding with package 1, and another clients asks for the same date with a smaller or bigger package, it will most likely be at the same time. It always happens like that for me. I'm from El Paso, which is mostly a latin/hispanic community and a lot of the weddings here are about the huge reception/dance. So thats my reason for not offering refunds. I know it sounds bad to not offer a refund, but then I'd lose money and business in my case.</p>

<p>I ask for 25% deposit along with signing of the contract. The remaining balance can be made in payments or however the B&G choose, as long as its all paid 2 weeks before the wedding date. I don't offer refunds under any circumstances, of the deposit and payments made, and thats because i reserved an entire day and do turn away other business.</p>

<p>I offer the digital negatives on CDs to my wedding clients, which are all unedited. But of course I delete the ones I think are no good, and my clients know this. And the reason i give them unedited is so that they can see the difference from those and the actual edited prints they get. That way they will want to order more prints. Plus, I don't really have the time to edit about 1000 images per wedding.</p>

<p>Ballet flats, rubber soles. I HATE the tapping that heels make during a ceremony, and the pain kinda sucks too. Plus, ballet flats go with anything; suits, slacks, pants...</p>

<p>Thanks everyone. I was just a little unsure about the differences between the two. I guess I'm okay with using umbrellas because that's all I've used, but if I would get better results with a softbox, then I would switch. But sometimes I do end up with harsh lighting and then I have to move the lights further away. Honestly, I havn't mastered my lighting skills, I just learned to work with what I have.</p>

<p>I only retouch scratches or those white spots they have on their noses for close ups, but hardly ever. and I don't ask the parents since it's just minor things.</p>

<p>I'm using strobes with white umbrellas and shoot-through.</p>

<p>Hello, I've been using umbrellas for a couple of years now and I am considering trying softboxes. Is there much of a difference between the two, is one better than the other?<br>

Thanks.</p>

<p>Yeah, I have heard of those scams, but the grooms mother is meeting me next week so I know it's not a scam.<br>

Good point Jeffrey, thanks again.</p>