jane_jones1

<p>WOW!!<br>

What’s with all the attacking? I rarely ever post on here but read a lot. I should have known better b/c I have seen a lot of other people get attacked or taken out of context on this site constantly. And ironically it is usually by men…hmmm. I thought the woman on the babycenter boards were bad.<br>

I am not even going to try and defend myself or answer any more questions b/c there will be no end to this.<br>

Thanks for the few shards of real advice I got.</p>

<p>Hi Guys,</p>

<p> Thanks for the advice, I never said I was not willing to work w/ my clients. I am sorry you got that impression. I understand them maybe not wanting to use there names at all, Most of my clients are super excited to share there pictures w/ the world but I can see others being scared with it being the digital age and all. I also never said I would post pictures of them drinking or whatever other unsavory thing you said. Honestly your answers make me look like a monster or something. I was not worried about a client viewing this until some of your replies made me look bad. I just wanted to know the legal answer to my question, next time I will leave out the back story. And I should have added that the client booked over a month ago and is just now starting to tell me all this other stuff w/ her event very close at hand, that is a bit of a pain.</p>

 

<p>So I am just starting out in commercial photography. I have very reasonable prices b/c of this and I post abt. 30 pictures from each wedding on my site and use some in my ads. I am very laid back at this point b/c I am starting out. My clients get a disc included, and I don't lock the pictures posted on my site. I get all of the wedding party to sign a simple release to post their pictures on my site. And I give a copy right release w/ the disc that says they make as many copies as they want but if they use them on the internet they have to "photo by Summerford Photography" etc.</p>

<p> Now I have a bride who’s wedding is coming up telling me she doesn't want her first or last name used at all and she wants to choose the pictures I post from her wedding, (like none involving alcohol). My question to you all is who owns her pictures. Can she tell me I can't use them on my site or I can only use certain ones. I have met a few photographers that don't even get releases. From what I see most other photographers say they own the images so they can do what they want not the other way around.... So can someone tell me how this works. I have never had a problem until now. I don't want to be rude to my client but she is being a bit of a pain. I am definitely adding a clause on my site under prices that says if they do not allow me to use their pictures any way I want on my site then it will cost them extra.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p> I do not have a lot of equipment at this time. But I do not know quite what to do w/ the extra equipment at a wedding event. As of now I have one large canon bag that fits both my cameras, my flash, lenses and all the other things (batteries, cleaning items etc.) I usually wear one camera and have a small side purse that I store my zoom, batteries and my flash in, right there on me. So it's really just my extra camera in the bag. I can't afford a pelican case this week and I have several weddings coming up over the next few weeks. Is it ok to lock it in my car in the afternoon, or could the mild heat damage my camera? I am really not comfortable stashing it under a table and not all my weddings have djs or hotel desks, many are at peoples homes and at restaurants, but I do have a few in my down town area booked were my car will likely be in a parking a garage a few blocks from the event so the car idea will not work there.<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>thanks for the info mark, i have only done 6 weddings even though I have 11 more booked as of today. I Just don't feel I deserve the same amount as someone who has been doing this for 10 years. Plus its still better money than I would make if I worked away from home 3+ days a week 8 hours a day and had to pay for child care. Plus I learn more at a low budget wedding where my creativity has to play in than on the perfectly coordinated and decorated ones.</p>

<p>yeah, As a painter I sign MY paintings. But for my clients wedding pictures I don't do it. Its their memories after all and they have my card, my email, phone number, website printed on the disc and I use modern social networking by posting their pictures on facebook, which they dag for all their friends to see and then instantly they all visit my site, instead of trying to read some small print on a picture and track me down. Photography is an art but it is their memories. I Actually advertise that I do not put any logos or water marks on their pictures and buisness is pretty good so it must be working.</p>

<p>Hi Kirst,<br>

I am new to commercial photography. I have also moved twice in the last year!<br>

I lived in a small city w/ few surroundings cities, a small mountain town and now I am back in my home city New Orleans, LA which is quite large.<br>

the smaller the town the fewer the clients even though there was little competition.<br>

Now that I am back in the city the competition is crazy... and new people popping up everyday. So I have to think competitively which means better price and better service. (Also I find being a woman helps, I always spend time on the phone or meet w/ my bride in a casual situation and this really warms them up.)<br>

Since returning home I have been booking 1-3 weddings a week. First off b/c I am new I charge "affordable prices" I am a perfectionist and do not feel like I deserve $800 a wedding yet! In the world of competition/buisness there are no rules! This is the digital/computer age, and I hear a lot of my clients say if they hadn't found me they would have used there amateur free cousin who has a "good" camera b/c they just can't afford other good photographers... I am more than happy to take there money...haha. I also charge by the hour, all of my couples have 2-5 hour weddings they don't need some 8 hour package or even 2 shooters. (I have a 3 hour minimum) I also list all my prices and information right there on my site. I think it appears sneaky to couples when there are no prices just a contact number on a website.<br>

I do advertise on CL, despite the bad rap and I get all my destination brides (about 50%) from here. I have a free ad on every wedding site I could find and on Google, yahoo and Bing local. this helps a lot. I have also just recently got a face book page. Social media is huge nowadays and I won't pass up free advertising. That's about it.... I just looked at all the other guys and said besides great pictures what else can I do to out do them... hopefully over time I will work my way up to that $1000 a wedding mark...haha.. I don't even consider higher priced photographers competition, our couples are in completely different price brackets.<br>

I have tried networking w/ other vendors and for the most part it ends up being a waste of time, the ones that have buisness are not interested in helping me out in any way they are busy and the ones that are willing to work with me never send me any buisness. haha... oh and every planner i have met has been a night mare either unprofessional or unorganized, (not to dis them all)<br>

I hope this helps in some small way.</p>

 

<p>Thanks Guys, I am looking into them all...</p>

<p>I have been doing commercial photography for over a year now mostly weddings, and I have so far just given out a disc. I want to start selling prints etc ala cart. who is a good online printer..I am overwhelmed w/ internet searches.<br>

Printroom popped up but they want money for a membership???? I was told a while back that there are printers who will give you online galleries and 50% of what you sell...???? So what are my options???</p>

<p>it looks like the bride is looking out the side of her eye at the camera and it makes her look cock eyed or something...</p>

<p>I love blk & whites especially for receptions.. I do a lot of budget weddings w/ little to no decorations and i find the blk & whites can really make an ugly reception look classy...also the bride getting ready, the last wedding i did had a messy hotel room w/ bright clothes and stuff strone about and another one i did the bride got ready in a daycare room of a church..blk & whiting these images gave them so much class... i always give a color and a blk & white of everything and like bob said the focal blck & white are very popular people ask me if I will do it to there pictures... i think after a while it can get a little tacky but they love it...</p>

<p>So I have been at it for a year now and have been using mostly free advertising, I have a website and have free ads on all the wedding websites I could find that offer free ads (facebook, myspace, wedplan, onewed, eventective, decidio, etc) and here in New Orleans craigslist is popular. So now I am wondering where to dump my money. The knot has been calling and they claim 8-10 brides are online w/ them, the yellowpages wanted me to upgrade and I got a call from a SEO company claiming they could put me on the 1st page of a google/bing search for new orleans wedding photographer... (not photographers or phtography just photographer..seems like a scam) I already do word of mouth and try networking w/ other vendors but the vendor market is flooded just like photographers..everyone is baking cakes and doing hair etc... A friend of mine who lives in the next major city over wants to share a booth w/ me at a wedding fair expo thing?? are those worth it...<br>

So what is a smart investment???</p>

<p>So please tell me what you think of these. My bride hated them, even though she had seen my other work and Knew I was inexperienced. She thought the lighting was all wrong. My friends and family think they are very good, what do my fellow photographers think?</p>

<p>I am just starting out and do not do prints. I give them the disc. I am charging 65$ for 30 minutes or $100 for an hour of shooting. this is for posed shots of family, engagement wedding ect.. I take abt 200- 400 pics in an hour but obviously only 100 are good (no eyes closed no blur ect) but maybe only 30-40 are really good? so how many frame wothy pics should clients expect. (Obviously number of frame worth shots depends on the ppl, some ppl I have found are very photgenic others are not.?</p>