Need critique and some input.

[AnnieNyle]

A while back, I was requested to photograph a huge wedding, after talking to the B & G, we set a price for a whole day of photography. The whole day lasted from 6am-10pm...Anyway, during the wedding the bride wanted to know how many pictures I shot, and I stated that by the time I would be it would probably run around 3500-4000. She said that was a lot. Anyway, I edited the pictures, converted them from raw to jpeg, and send out 320 pictures, that completly captured the whole wedding. The bride now is emailing me stating that she regrats ever paying me up front because she hasn't recieved all the pictures....and for the price of $850 she only got "poor 300 images". I am very upset with this since I thought that $850 would only cover my expense, since I am starting out (and yes, they've seen my portfolio and previous work) I figured its a great deal since, they could only affor that much. Can some one please view the next two links that I have attached and critique my work. After the whole ordeal, this is going to be last time I am shooting a wedding and sticking to photography as a hobby, at least my daughter doesn't complain. Thank you.

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/a...0and%20Sergey/
http://lilichka.smugmug.com/gallery/...34868586_kWpw3

the password for both links is photo

[oldwolf]

I only see 162 pictures between the two links you provided and not 320.

One thing I don't see is the prep of the bride and reception pictures. I also don't see too many of the bride and family/extended family or groom with family/extended family.

You didn't mention if you started shooting at 6am or if you started your work day at 6am. That shouldn't make a difference as far as how much you charge though because work is work but if you were shooting at 6am then there should be more pictures than 162.

Working for 16 hrs that day is a lot of hours. Let's take a look at the total amount of work you might have done. You stated that you took between 3500-4000 pictures. I'll make a guess and say you spent another 10 hours of work before and after the wedding. This could be from post processing, scouting out the location, running back and forth to consult with the B&G, delivering images, etc. Divide 26 into 850 and you were making about $32.69 per hour.

Did you give her digital images or 4x6 or some other print size? Was this included with the $850? If you gave her digital images then you got ripped off big time. If you gave her prints then you still got ripped off big time. That's just my personal opinion though.

As far as the bride's complaints about the lack of pictures is concerned. When she asked you how many pictures you had taken so far then sure you could have told her but then follow that up with not all the pictures will turn out and some of the pictures will be deleted due to a number of factors (i.e. lighting, camera shake, extra images for insurance in case someone blinked, etc, etc). This should have been explained to her before the wedding though.

Now for the bride's complaints about poor images. You said that you sat down with the B&G before the wedding. They saw your portfolio and previous work. Is that the style of pictures that they wanted during the wedding? Did they show you an example of the style of photography they wanted? Did you ask them what style of photography that they wanted?

Last but not least the price they paid you. If they could only afford $850 then they should have priced other photographers to see how much they would charge for 16 hours of work on the day of the wedding. I'm sure they would charge at least 3-4 times as much.

As to your body of work? I tend to like more of a photojournalistic style of wedding photography myself but that's just me. We usually try to shoot with more of a photojournalistic style as well as the required posed shots.

Don't let one bad wedding deter you from shooting more. I like wedding photography even though it's very hard work. Try another wedding if you think it's something you'd want to do but don't let this one bride ruin it for you.

[DennisBZ]

Her statement "poor 300 images" may mean to say "just 300 images" compared to around 4K of images she mistakenly expected when she asked you during the wedding.

That being said, charge it to learning as a wedding photographer. Looking at your images, I say that they are quite good.

Cheers!

[Wooglah]

Looking at her eyes in the pictures you can easy see "me me me" instead of "us, our day", so it is not strange for her to be rude in this manner. That's what happens when you go under the price - ppl think they payed you who knows what and expect the world, and you know you worked for change, and no one is happy...

Anyway... read kencelano's tutorial on wedding photography, contract, requested pictures, and all the small things that will make your life and work easier...

And I need to add this: HUGE wedding, and they planned to pay photog a dime? Forget that and go on... They had money for cake, didn't they?

[Swisstony10]

I like that - when you told her you'd probably shoot 3-4k images she said it was a lot, but when she only got 300 processed ones back she whined that it wasn't enough.

I've been involved with a fair few weddings - not as a photographer, but still as a part of the organisation of a wedding - and looking at the pictures you have there, I'd say that the quality of the end result is easily as good as results I've seen from photographers over here in the UK who charged plenty more than you.

Like Wooglah said - Ken's advice on shooting weddings is golden. I know that I'll certainly pay close attention to it if I ever do a wedding, and if I'm involved in organising another one, I'll probably still use it when we deal with the photographer, just to make sure everything's crystal clear and there are no misunderstandings.

One thing I've always made a point of - make sure the B&G have agreed on a list of "set" photos which they want to make sure are taken, and beyond that, go into detail. When the bride says "I want a picture of me with the bridal party, and one of the groom with the groom's party.." get a list of names. And then make the Best Man and/or ushers run around with a copy of the list, making sure every single person who's required in each photo is there, ready for each photo. I learned that with the first one I was involved in - the bride had asked the photog to do some fairly vague groups "I want one of me with my friends from work..", only to get the pictures back and say "Why wasn't Julie in the picture with my other work friends?"

You can never have too much attention to detail - remember the Six Ps - Proper Planning Prevents P***-Poor Performance.

Another thing which is helpful is to have a look on some of the wedding-based forums (like confetti.com, for example) and see what kind of moans people have about their photographers before, during and after the event - you can make a list of common complaints which as a photographer you might not be aware of, and make sure you don't do the same things.

Don't let one bridezilla put you off.

Russ.

[kelleyrie]

I think you came out with some nice stuff and I gotta say I am loving the southern belle thing with the floofy dress and parasol That said, she probably only has an issue because she assumed she was getting 4000 images. You can't please 'em all...chalk it up to experience and continue on. DOn't let one bride deter you, if this is something you really want to do.

[AnnieNyle]

Thanks to all your replys. The two links don't have all the images...they only have partial of what I shot. I used to post them online for people to critique them before I gave them the disk to the bride...but then it was begining to be too much work, so I stopped doing that... I do have images of bride getting ready, ceremony, reception, and everything else in between. Again, thank you for your reassurance!

[Jim Bryant]

When I shoot weddings I never tell the B & G just how much I shot. When they say, "Wow, you sure did shoot a lot of photos, just how many did you get?" I tell them after editing enough to fill their album.

Then they won't be expecting the whole shoot.

[rawHulk]

AnnieNyle.. I looked at both your albums.. and I am sure they are a lot better for what you got paid for..

If the bride wanted better/more pictures.. she should have been ready to shell out some money for it.. You should have told her that she doesn't get everything in a dime..

Don't spoil your career for some stupid person's comment.. You definitely have given them the money's worth.. Time for your next wedding..

[sarahgirl777]

I think your pictures turned out great. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I have my first wedding coming up this Sat. and I'm nervous. I do have to say though what you said makes me feel better about my wedding contract. I state in there that there will be many pictures taken but they will not see every photo taken, only the best shots of the bunch will be delivered as proofs and I added 200+ is not unusual. I even have a section in there explaining that quality in photos is subjective and that I'm not liable if they dont "like" them. Just want to C my A... if you know what I mean.