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Wants more wedding pics
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I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what advice you can give me….
I’ve just finished a wedding shoot (my first one which was also free) and the clients have looked at the images and are happy with them but they want more. I have gave them 115 photos that I was more than happy with with the quality of them but they want photos that are not up to scratch, either out of focus, grooms eyes shut etc…
I could give them to them but I would be worried that future clients would see these and presume that this is the standard of my images.
Is the client always right? Should I give all the images to them or should I stand my ground and just give them the ones I have processed already?
What do you guys do normally?Grant
Grant wrote:
Is the client always right?
Yes… but only if they are paying you for this and / or they have paid you for this, as agreed.
To me, a ‘client’ is someone who pays you a fee – for the use of the images you provide and / or have created.
If they are not paying you anything or nothing has been agreed beforehand, then they really aren’t a client as such.
So it’s 100% your call here, as to whether you give them your images or not.We recommend all clients read the information at: copyright4clients.
And I would also highly recommend you provide all your ‘clients’ with a Licence to use, every time you hand over your files – to avoid any misunderstanding down the road, as to what exactly they are paying for / getting, in terms of usage agreed.Assumption is the mother of all f***-ups … so avoid assuming, if at all possible, by putting it in writing.
You can download the Association of Photographers’ Legal Business Forms from here.
this seems like a silly situation from all angles.
You choose to shoot a wedding for free…then wonder if the bad shots are going to harm your reputation? I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s more than likely your “clients” will be recommending you based on the fact that your free rather than the quality of the work you produce.
Ashley,
Thanks for a thorough and helpful reply as always…Eas,
I was rather hoping for advice and helpful replies rather than a sarcastic remark like yours.
It was my first ever wedding and I felt it was fair to do it for free as many do I’m sure. I don’t see any advice or help within your answer and don’t see why you posted a response other than to be smart?
If I’m wrong please let me know but otherwise keep your worthless opinions to yourself.Grant,
I’m afraid you misinterpreted my post. It may be short and to the point but it’s not intended to be smart or sarcastic.
For advice, I’d say give your friends the photographs. If there’s no agreement as to how many photographs you’d be giving them and there’s no €€€ changing hands the probability of getting into a sticky situation with your friends (and not helping your agenda) is higher than having a few out of focus photos harming your reputation.
I can imagine that this is one of the major downsides of doing something for nothing… “give an inch, take a mile”.
Ashley wrote:
Assumption is the mother of all f***-ups … so avoid assuming, if at all possible, by putting it in writing.
Would agree with this 100% for all types of business
Yes they are getting the shots for free but I would have made it clear in writing at the start what they were getting…
I would give them the pictures, if you don’t you might not be able to use them as a reference as they might say negative things about you possibly… When handing them over I would make it clear that they are not great shots and that you would prefer if they are showing pictures to other couples that they only show the pictures you selected
M
Grant,
Give them more if you like, but remember, you don’t have to give them all. They don’t know how many you took. If you feel that there is some that you simply can’t have seen, leave them out. Give them the best of the remaining bad bunch.
Jody
Hi Grant,
There is a lot to be said there. As Ashley mentioned, put everything in writing is the key. Although you did the job for free, it doesn’t mean a contract has not to be written. In my contract I always show the quantity of photographs I will deliver.
Another aspect of the contract is the rights. You have the copyright of the photograph but people has the right on their image. So it is important to write you can use the pictures if you want to avoid legal fees in the future. it is important to limit what people can do with your pictures also.
Because it is never to late to do things well (well some can argue that sometimes it is) you can negotiate your friends the delivery of the new batch on the condition of a contract restricting the use of them.Regarding out of focus pictures, allow me to remind you that a photograph has not to be alway focus. I personally out focus some wedding pictures to give an effect, to tell a story on a specific topic.
And don’t forget your friends are happy with the job you have done. You can take the best wedding pictures in the world, if the bride and groom don’t like, well it is not the best wedding picture in the world eventually.The last point is free doesn’t necessarily mean totally free. Some companies cover a wedding for free. How do they make money then ? Thanks to the copyright, clients, family and acquaintance have to go through them to have a print and because they have no choice…
Hope it helps.
I think the most important lesson from this is ‘don’t show them everything you shoot’ Every photographer takes the odd duff pics and although I’m not a wedding photographer in the commercial end of the market editing was almost as important as the shoot.
Personally I wouldn’t let the crap shots out if at all possible. Good Luck
Thanks everyone for your help and advice. Some good stuff here!
I suppose its all a learning curve and I have sure learnt a lot during this experience. They are very happy with the ones I did give them originally but they just wanted the bad ones too!
Thanks again all
Grant
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