<p>I photographed a wedding a few nights ago and I'm still unsure about this situation... i'm going to start from the beginning and try to just get to the point.... </p>
<p>booked wedding several months ago/engagement session done, couple loved images.
-10 days before wedding - received an email from the bride that included "i wanted to see about adding an additional hour or two for my wedding?"</p>
<p>- i replied with "not a problem! if you wanted to add one hour your balance would be.... and if you wanted to add 2 hours it would be ...." </p>
<p>-5 days later i get this message: "We have decided to go with the original plan of 4 hours for the wedding. The ceremony starts at 6:30 so I was thinking 6-10pm. Also, my best friend's family friend is starting out in photography and offered to shot some pictures for us so I wanted to let you know that there may be another person there taking some shots as well.</p>
<p>- now... my contract says: Exclusivity: ABC Photography will be the exclusive professional photographer hired by the clients for the purpose of photographing the wedding. Family and friends of the clients are welcome to photograph the wedding as long as they will not interfere with Allie B Photography's duties.</p>
<p>- i replied to her message with a gentle reminder that her balance was late (which my contract also states a $40 per day late fee.... and this: "and thanks for letting me know about the other photographer. i have a section in my contract about that - but as long as i'm able to photograph your wedding without interruption it shouldn't be an issue. (Silly me, trying to be "nice")</p>
<p>wedding night - i get there and there are two girls walking around with cameras, i figure this is the "family friend" ...their chatting it up with the videographer, say nothing to me. eventually i introduce myself they weren't especially friendly at all. no big deal. so i go about my night... we get to the group/family photos, im positioning/moving people, get the first couple done and in comes one of the girls and says can i get a couple real quick (to the bride, not me) so i step aside, watching, waiting, 10-15 minutes later i'm finally allowed to have the wedding party back, but need the girls - turn to find them and the other photographers are posing them... have to wait again... so eventually im done with the bridal party, go to another spot in the hotel to do family pictures and the wedding planner comes in and tells us we're late - the reception is about to start, we need to get in there.</p>
<p>eventually i went over to the girls and was nice and friendly and casually asked how long they've been doing weddings, assuming they were just starting out as i was told (they said 2 or 3 years!!).
several times throughout the night i had to either move around one of the "other photographers" or reposition myself because they were in the shot.</p>
<p>Now, I fully admit & am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I stalked their facebook pages the night after the wedding and saw posts saying "It's wedding time!! Such a beautiful day :)" that was posted at 2:00 the afternoon of the wedding. I found the page of the photographer, who has several albums of weddings that they have done.</p>
<p>What I <em>assume</em> is that after I told the bride the cost of adding additional time to her package she went and hired the "family friend" at a cheaper rate.</p>
<p>Today, an album of images was posted on the "family friend photographer"s facebook page, which the bride shared on her page. When you go to the brides facebook, you see my sneak peek, and then the other photographers album which, if i were a friend of the bride, i would assume that both albums would belong to the same photographer.</p>
<p>Again, I can only assume that the other photographer offers prints, possibly at a cheaper price than mine, which would obviously mean I'm losing sales.</p>
<p>Opinions would be helpful, even if they aren't what I want to hear. :)</p>
<p>And yes, I have already edited my contract to be more specific.</p>
<p><em><strong>Moderator Note</em></strong> - Original post formatted into paragraphs</p>
Need Opinions - clients hired another photographer...
in Wedding & Event
Posted
<p>I photographed a wedding a few nights ago and I'm still unsure about this situation... i'm going to start from the beginning and try to just get to the point.... </p>
<p>booked wedding several months ago/engagement session done, couple loved images.
-10 days before wedding - received an email from the bride that included "i wanted to see about adding an additional hour or two for my wedding?"</p>
<p>- i replied with "not a problem! if you wanted to add one hour your balance would be.... and if you wanted to add 2 hours it would be ...." </p>
<p>-5 days later i get this message: "We have decided to go with the original plan of 4 hours for the wedding. The ceremony starts at 6:30 so I was thinking 6-10pm. Also, my best friend's family friend is starting out in photography and offered to shot some pictures for us so I wanted to let you know that there may be another person there taking some shots as well.</p>
<p>- now... my contract says: Exclusivity: ABC Photography will be the exclusive professional photographer hired by the clients for the purpose of photographing the wedding. Family and friends of the clients are welcome to photograph the wedding as long as they will not interfere with Allie B Photography's duties.</p>
<p>- i replied to her message with a gentle reminder that her balance was late (which my contract also states a $40 per day late fee.... and this: "and thanks for letting me know about the other photographer. i have a section in my contract about that - but as long as i'm able to photograph your wedding without interruption it shouldn't be an issue. (Silly me, trying to be "nice")</p>
<p>wedding night - i get there and there are two girls walking around with cameras, i figure this is the "family friend" ...their chatting it up with the videographer, say nothing to me. eventually i introduce myself they weren't especially friendly at all. no big deal. so i go about my night... we get to the group/family photos, im positioning/moving people, get the first couple done and in comes one of the girls and says can i get a couple real quick (to the bride, not me) so i step aside, watching, waiting, 10-15 minutes later i'm finally allowed to have the wedding party back, but need the girls - turn to find them and the other photographers are posing them... have to wait again... so eventually im done with the bridal party, go to another spot in the hotel to do family pictures and the wedding planner comes in and tells us we're late - the reception is about to start, we need to get in there.</p>
<p>eventually i went over to the girls and was nice and friendly and casually asked how long they've been doing weddings, assuming they were just starting out as i was told (they said 2 or 3 years!!).
several times throughout the night i had to either move around one of the "other photographers" or reposition myself because they were in the shot.</p>
<p>Now, I fully admit & am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I stalked their facebook pages the night after the wedding and saw posts saying "It's wedding time!! Such a beautiful day :)" that was posted at 2:00 the afternoon of the wedding. I found the page of the photographer, who has several albums of weddings that they have done.</p>
<p>What I <em>assume</em> is that after I told the bride the cost of adding additional time to her package she went and hired the "family friend" at a cheaper rate.</p>
<p>Today, an album of images was posted on the "family friend photographer"s facebook page, which the bride shared on her page. When you go to the brides facebook, you see my sneak peek, and then the other photographers album which, if i were a friend of the bride, i would assume that both albums would belong to the same photographer.</p>
<p>Again, I can only assume that the other photographer offers prints, possibly at a cheaper price than mine, which would obviously mean I'm losing sales.</p>
<p>Opinions would be helpful, even if they aren't what I want to hear. :)</p>
<p>And yes, I have already edited my contract to be more specific.</p>
<p><em><strong>Moderator Note</em></strong> - Original post formatted into paragraphs</p>