katrin_d.

<p>Bride and groom get to see the photos first. I will also not supply files to anybody else. If faced with a request like you have been, I offer to take an order for a album as a gift to the couple that I design & supply so the profit is mine.</p>

<p>You don't specify the style of album you're looking for nor the price range so any suggestions may or may not fit your clients.<br> <br />I personally use Graphi and Couture because it fits my brand best.</p> <p> </p>

<p>What does your contract say? Mine stipulates that the first round of changes is free and that any further change will incur a design fee - however, all clients are shown sample albums and we agree on the style which is in line with my style of shooting in the first place.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Numbers are irrelevant unless major parts of the day/important people are missing. I took a seminar with Jerry Ghionis yesterday and he delivers around 600 for the whole day. So there's that.</p> <p>I would politely explain that you a) don't hand out raw files b) don't discuss terms of your contract with anybody but the bride/groom and c) find out WHY he wants the files so you can address whatever concerns he might have. I've never given anybody raw files nor any file ever taken. </p>

<p>I'd love to see a photo but I consider the reversed cup of margarine mounted to a flash as "overkill" ;-) Sorry, I hate the Fong Sphere with a passion - I carry two bodies & two lenses on me (85 mm and my trusted 24-70 zoom) and find it works well for the weddings I photograph but that's what works for me. If yours works for you, then great. However, I'm also trying to blend in because I've seen way too many videographers would would fit in right with a SWAT team based on the vests and gear strapped to their bodies. But hey ... as long as your clients are happy, what does it really matter what anybody else does.</p>

<p>Well, things aren't usually as easy as they appear to the layman. Just because you or I think something "should be easy", it might not be. Was your design made to the album manufacturer's specifications considering fold, margin guide & trim guide?<br> Why not schedule an in-person appointment, pay for the photographer's time, go over everything in person and then go from there? It's not that the guy isn't trying and if I were to play Devil's Advocate, his side of the story would probably be that you're the client who simply can't be satisfied. ;-)</p>

<p>"non specific answers should be a warning to you ie "I use professional DSLRs, and some professional zoom lenses, a couple of primes and some flashes" and might mean, literally, anything.)" - there's no black and white/right or wrong answer. I usually don't go into equipment specifics because I can just see clients' eye glazing over. ;-)</p> <p>Here's my take: find somebody whose style you love. LOVE. Don't ask a photojournalist to take a bunch of traditionally posed formal photos. Steer clear of anybody who "specializes" in weddings, family photos, maternity, seniors, dog and nature photography. <br> See if your venue recommends a photographer (and ask if they've paid to be on their vendor list - if it's "Pay to Play, you can pretty much forget their recommendation ... not to say it doesn't happen but usually, I value recommendations from people who stand not to benefit from it by means of kickbacks). Read reviews on google - see if there's a common theme. Follow the photographer's blog - see if they are booked consistently or if they just do a wedding here or there. See if they post entire weddings on their website or if they just cherry pick.<br> Ask for liability insurance. Get a contract. If it's not in writing, you have nothing. If you can't meet in person, do a Skype session. See if you can actually stand the person who'll be photographing your wedding. </p>

<p>Use family members & friends to practice in the meantime. Everything will also depend on the location of the sun - you will most likely want to shoot with two cameras for the ceremony: 1) one metered for the grooms reaction and one for everybody walking down the aisle because if the groom has the sun behind him, you don't have enough time to whip around, change your settings and capture the bride walking down the aisle if you only have one camera given the "high noon" scenario. Practice, practice, practice.</p>

<p>It looks like YOU needed to initiate every single conversation with them - they never kept you in the loop without having been prodded to do so. Words ... just empty words. And I really don't believe a single one.<br> <br />What does your contract state in case no photos are delivered? Before you pursue legal action (which I would at this point), can you ask all your friends & family, basically everybody who attended the wedding, to send you whatever they have? It might not be professional quality but the "pro" here really dropped the ball. There's no excuse for putting all eggs (files) into one basket. </p> <p>I would ask who the companies were that were contacted and how it's possible that an entire drive had such as highly unlikely selective failure. Only backing them up to one device and such a piddly refund?</p>

<p>Send them to mylavalu.com and have them edit them - it'll cost you 26 cents per raw file and they'll do an amazing job. If you want, they'll cull them down for you as well.</p>

<p>Nikon D4 and recently added a D4S. Love the low light capabilities as my D300 and D700 weren't cutting it any more. Dual card slots are great & I'm playing around with fusion now so that's a definite advantage. Like Marcus, I shoot with both cameras (one has the Nikkor 24-70 zoom and one with Nikkor 85 mm lens 1.8). It's a set-up that works great for me although I'm not too thrilled carrying around that kind of weight but then again, I'm a lightweight myself.</p>

<p>I suggest you touch base with clients BEFORE sending an invoice. I usually email them at least 6 weeks prior to their wedding to schedule a Skype session (I mostly do destination weddings) so we can go over their timeline and list of formal photos etc. That's when we finalize the details such as start & end time before I send the final invoice so there are never any surprises. I also let them know that they can always add hours even on the day of and then bill accordingly. Never had a problem, always get paid and most couples upgrade. I don't "eat hours", like my attorney, I bill for them. ;-)</p> <p>Then again, you seem to have priced yourself as a cheaper, high volume photographer so things might be different in that price bracket? Not sure if you're in the position to charge more, if your branding and quality of work support higher rates so that's something only you can answer. </p> <p> </p>

<p>I use Pixieset to deliver my photos - the gallery also gives clients the option to mark photos as favorites so that's what I do. They get to select their 20 absolute must have photos, I design the album, upload the album design to a private website for them and, upon approval, order the album.<br> Hope this helps.</p>

<p>I'd inquire what changed.</p> <p>When it comes to blogging, you can't blog some and not others because that tells the "non blogged" couples that their wedding wasn't good enough to make it onto your blog. Now that may or not be the case but that's how they'll see it and feel about it. Just something to consider, regardless how busy you are. </p>

<p>Why not download the trial version of One on One Software's Perfect Resize 9 to enlarge the files? If that does the trick, you can move on.<br> <br />However, I feel that most people who say "let them sue, I'm ready" usually just say so knowing fully well that the other party is never going to bring a suit. Personally, I'd have my attorney draw up a demand letter and send that to her certified mail. In addition, I'd also review her on Wedding Wire, The Knot and google - it's not libel as long as you're sticking to the fact and simply tell your side of the story. </p>

<p>Looking back in a couple of months, you won't want to showcase your first wedding ... most likely, you're going to look back and cringe.<br> <br />You may not have a written contract but if you had an oral agreement, that is technically a contract. One that courts love because it involves "but he said". That being said, I doubt your "friend" is going to sue you. You're still the copyright holder so you own the rights ... and could be an ass and say "fine, since you're changing our oral agreement in which you allowed me to use the photos, I'm changing it as well and charge you for the photos". See where this is going??</p> <p>Chalk it up to experience and don't work without a contract. A written one. And ditch these "friends". They used you.</p>

<p>Now why would any bride [much less a photographer] agree to your proposal? Getting a wedding featured is only a bit of a deal if it's by a well known & respected publication, something that's bragworthy.<br> And even then, with a bit of effort, everybody gets their stuff published. And there's quite some resentment among photographers [if you haven't figured it out already] towards blogs/other publications trying to cash in on our work. Yes, we get paid a good sum of money for our efforts but guess what? It's our money and we earned it. I'm quite frankly sick and tired of hearing the "me featuring your images is good for you". Give me a flipping break. You want my images and draw readers to your blog by using them ... you better be ready to pay for it. Not charge the bride for the questionable "privilege" of being featured. That's a bunch of bs. </p>

<p>Then don't do it. I get plenty of offers to do my couples' family sessions, maternity sessions etc. because they loved me as their wedding photographer. However, knowing that I don't want to do anything but weddings, I politely decline and refer them to another photographer. It really is that simple if you want it to be that simple. Life is easy that way. Mean what you say and that' it.<br> Which also answer this questions "How do I price myself for a job I know I am not experienced enough for?" - you don't.<br> Unless you're looking for a cheering squad that's going to say "you go girl, you can do this".</p>

<p>A couple of comments:<br> <br />Image 1: too much room at the bottom. Could have greatly benefited from different framing/cropping. Personally, I find the lantern & the shadows of the rafters distracting and you lost details in the shadows. Maybe bring it up half a stop.</p> <p>Image 2: Too much headroom and the hanging flower basket behind the bride's head is massively distracting. As is the person standing behind them. It's a cute candid moment but I'd remove the elements mentioned previously in post production.</p> <p>Image 3: The lilies compete for attention with the bride's bouquet. I'm also not a huge fan of the direction of the light.</p> <p>Image 4: The groom looks disinterested. They look like the first dance just ended and are waiting for further instructions.</p> <p>Overall a really neat job for a 2nd wedding!</p>

<p>Why not refer this out to a fellow photographer who specializes in this? I personally only photograph very specific weddings & will gladly refer out any request that doesn't fit the type of wedding I enjoy photographing.</p>

<p>You can also grab the latest issue of PPA magazine which compares a bunch of b&w conversion programs. PS is too time consuming in my personal opinion - thus far, I've been very happy with Silver Effects Pro which lets you batch convert.</p>

<p>Let me suggest you second shoot for an experienced wedding photographer WITH YOUR CURRENT GEAR before buying new stuff. I use my 70-200mm about 5% of the time, it's not a must have. Other people use it 95% of the time. But buying one just because you heard other people use them without knowing if it matches your style of shooting is putting the cart in front of the horse if you ask me.</p>

<p>I see some temperature/color balance issues in the ceremony photos and it looks like you focused on the couple behind the bride & groom for their exit out of the church.</p> <p>As far as posing goes, you definitely played it safe but it looks a bit old fashioned - I hope you don't mind me saying this. I suggest you get people to "do" something, direct them as opposed to having them pose. Also keep an eye on the background, in one of the photos of the couple, I see the wedding party mingling in the background [the b&w one] which also has their feet cut off.</p> <p>Entrance into the reception: you want to always frame it so you don't see the venue's coordinator in the background, some of the better ones know better but you can't rely on that. Their job is to cue in the couple but maybe talk to them beforehand so you know where they will be standing, they know where you will be standing so they're not in the photo. Also not entirely sure about the cropping of that particular photo, there seems to be an awful lot of headroom.<br> I would have also loved to see more of the twilight photos in color as well as more photos that aren't as "close up" on the couple and include more of the location.</p>

<p>"But, my image files are named in a way that provides a counter to anybody who's even a little bit smart. And I have in fact had a client ask where files P87035 through P87044 went." - you simply re-name your files upon exporting them from Lightroom or Aperture or whatever program you use for editing/file management. For consistency, since I usually combine files from up to 4 different cameras, everything the client sees is "client name - file name in consecutive numbers". Anything else really just opens a can of worms i.e. clients asking where the 5 missing photos are. Well, those 5 photos might be me testing my exposure, somebody blinking, me selecting my favorite of the 6 bouquet shots I took ... it doesn't necessarily mean they're bad photos, just means they weren't the best of the bunch and simply didn't make the cut.</p> <p>Like a band releasing the final mix of their album, not every single take it took to record each individual song. </p>

<p>Your name is associate with the photos so you obviously don't want to supply clients with outtakes, bad exposures, closed eyes. I would explain that she already has all images that were useable and that the rest "hit the floor of the editing room".<br> I disagree with those who stated "give her the files so you can be done". You won't be done if you do that. Because you already TOLD her that you deleted them - if the files now magically reappear, she knows you lied and will now continue to wonder and ask you if there are more. With good reason. So stick to your guns and leave it at that.</p> <p>The lesson is: only work with a contract, re-name your files when exporting so there is no gap in sequence, and only ever submit your best work. Also, the client doesn't care if you have other commitments, are tired, gave them a good price or that you're not feeling it. Neither should they care. They paid for a product and expect that product [minus what I outlined above]. If the reason for not giving her more files is "not wanting to go through the photos again", then that's lazy. If, however, you gave her your best, then that's a different story. </p>