A Wedding Story with a difference and guidance needed

Mystery57

Mystery57

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Andrew
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Ok where to start - I'm an enthusiastic amateur photographer of some 50 years, however due to PTSD issues I always refuse requests to do weddings, even though I have had numerous photos printed in papers, maagzines and books over the years. I am also an enthusiastic Photoshop user

Yesterday I was at a casual acquaintance friends wedding, and was planning to take some snap shots only with my R5 and 24-240 lens.

After the initial ceremony had taken place, the groom asked if I could save them as the photographer had not turned up - hours later it transpired they "thought" it was next week,and when asked they said could they refund monies paid over2 instalments. Apparently this was a recommended source and all booking was done by Facebook Messenger and literally consisted of taking photos etc for X amount of money. No plans, no written agreements. I will be detailing my plans and intentions in a message to the couple for acceptance before releasing anything to them and agreement of what they desire at what cost.

Back to matters now - So I was asked if I could help out, they weren't expecting much now, but they would pay me Knowing I could save the day. They knew about my mental health issues and I was told if I needed to I could stop at any point.

Over the next few hours as I didnt have flash, props or any plan I managed to get several hundred photos covering the church, groups and reception, which are up to my usual levels of competency. Now things start for me as over the next couple of weeks I will be processing the images and putting my own creative slant on images as necessary.

What I need help on now is logistics and guidance of how best to proceed

1. My plan is to end up with as many digital images as possible which can be considered for final use by the couple

2. I will watermark and pass lower resolution images to the couple to look at and choose which ones they will want with high resolution digital images supplied then and after payment

3. With no resources available to me like websites and so on, is it best just to provide digital images for them to view and choose, or to produce printed contact sheets with say 4 images to a page. QUESTION 1

4. AFter the images are chosen should I offer to arrange from a professional lab printed photos for the couple - if so what sort of mark up should I add to the cost price. If yes, recommended printers please. QUESTION 2

5. I have absolutely no idea what I should charge for my time for taking photos and processing as detailed, obviously there are going to be many many hours of checking and processing. Advice please bearing in mind I am just a good level amateur with no notice. I had no props, no plan nothing with me. QUESTION 3


One things for sure I still am not going to do weddings in the future - too stressful for my health. The couple are grateful I have saved their day as apart from 4 or 5 people with phones nobody else had a camera.


So guidance please and advice appreciated for the above

Cheers
Andrew
 
I can't offer any guidance but I will just say well done for stepping into the breech despite your reservations, and try not to let your stress become too big an issue whilst doing the PP. Take mental breathers if you find your self drowning in it.
 
Indeed, very well done.

If you wanted a low-hassle option, you could just agree a price allowing for your time and then pass them everything, to make their own selection and albums.

They probably can't afford a payment that reflects a normal daily rate if (as an amateur) you don't have a fast, highly efficient workflow that should be normal for a wedding tog.
 
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Ok I might cause WW3 here (not my intention) But in your case I'd be tempted to edit the best images, maybe a 100'200 put them on a zip drive and tell the couple that as your not a wedding photographer and you did not have the right gear for a pro wedding you dont want to charge then but they can have these with your blessing. Then add maybe they give a donation of say£100 to your favorite charity.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Ok I might cause WW3 here (not my intention) But in your case I'd be tempted to edit the best images, maybe a 100'200 put them on a zip drive and tell the couple that as your not a wedding photographer and you did not have the right gear for a pro wedding you dont want to charge then but they can have these with your blessing. Then add maybe they give a donation of say£100 to your favorite charity.
Click to expand...
This.
 
I’ll add from
Mystery57 said:
Ok where to start - I'm an enthusiastic amateur photographer of some 50 years, however due to PTSD issues I always refuse requests to do weddings, even though I have had numerous photos printed in papers, maagzines and books over the years. I am also an enthusiastic Photoshop user

Yesterday I was at a casual acquaintance friends wedding, and was planning to take some snap shots only with my R5 and 24-240 lens.

After the initial ceremony had taken place, the groom asked if I could save them as the photographer had not turned up - hours later it transpired they "thought" it was next week,and when asked they said could they refund monies paid over2 instalments. Apparently this was a recommended source and all booking was done by Facebook Messenger and literally consisted of taking photos etc for X amount of money. No plans, no written agreements. I will be detailing my plans and intentions in a message to the couple for acceptance before releasing anything to them and agreement of what they desire at what cost.

Back to matters now - So I was asked if I could help out, they weren't expecting much now, but they would pay me Knowing I could save the day. They knew about my mental health issues and I was told if I needed to I could stop at any point.

Over the next few hours as I didnt have flash, props or any plan I managed to get several hundred photos covering the church, groups and reception, which are up to my usual levels of competency. Now things start for me as over the next couple of weeks I will be processing the images and putting my own creative slant on images as necessary.

What I need help on now is logistics and guidance of how best to proceed

1. My plan is to end up with as many digital images as possible which can be considered for final use by the couple

2. I will watermark and pass lower resolution images to the couple to look at and choose which ones they will want with high resolution digital images supplied then and after payment

3. With no resources available to me like websites and so on, is it best just to provide digital images for them to view and choose, or to produce printed contact sheets with say 4 images to a page. QUESTION 1

4. AFter the images are chosen should I offer to arrange from a professional lab printed photos for the couple - if so what sort of mark up should I add to the cost price. If yes, recommended printers please. QUESTION 2

5. I have absolutely no idea what I should charge for my time for taking photos and processing as detailed, obviously there are going to be many many hours of checking and processing. Advice please bearing in mind I am just a good level amateur with no notice. I had no props, no plan nothing with me. QUESTION 3


One things for sure I still am not going to do weddings in the future - too stressful for my health. The couple are grateful I have saved their day as apart from 4 or 5 people with phones nobody else had a camera.


So guidance please and advice appreciated for the above

Cheers
Andrew
Click to expand...
Well done for stepping up, now’s the time to step back and be realistic about what happened, and what expectations might be.

1. Never aim for as many images as possible - deliver the best of what you took, anything is better than nothing, 1 substandard image lowers the average quality.

2. We don’t proof for digital weddings, you’re wasting your effort and their time. If you do aim to charge; you need to be confident that what you’re providing meets what they’re expecting for the money. That’s a conversation not a transaction.

3. Q1 Answered above; haven’t delivered proofs since shooting digital.

4. Q2 deliver them digitally, recommend some printers.

5. Q3 it’s after the fact now, but a ruthless cull should cut down your processing time. What’s left shouldn’t take too long to process. And in 30 plus years of shooting weddings I never used my own props, that’s an odd assumption, you’re recording their wedding, all the ‘props’ have already been carefully chosen by the couple.
 
Phil V said:
I’ll add from

Well done for stepping up, now’s the time to step back and be realistic about what happened, and what expectations might be.

1. Never aim for as many images as possible - deliver the best of what you took, anything is better than nothing, 1 substandard image lowers the average quality.

2. We don’t proof for digital weddings, you’re wasting your effort and their time. If you do aim to charge; you need to be confident that what you’re providing meets what they’re expecting for the money. That’s a conversation not a transaction.

3. Q1 Answered above; haven’t delivered proofs since shooting digital.

4. Q2 deliver them digitally, recommend some printers.

5. Q3 it’s after the fact now, but a ruthless cull should cut down your processing time. What’s left shouldn’t take too long to process. And in 30 plus years of shooting weddings I never used my own props, that’s an odd assumption, you’re recording their wedding, all the ‘props’ have already been carefully chosen by the couple.
Click to expand...

Some interesting points here thank you all for your input and comments - to be honest the couple one of whom is in his 60's had given no thought to what sort of photos they wanted, further evidenced by how they "booked" the original photographer. They are not mega digital aware as to my knowledge neither owns a computer or laptop, they do everything on their phones.

I'm hopeful that having browsed through my photos I should get at least 100 decent good quality images - interestingly one of my younger friends was married last month and the "pro-photographer" had produced what I deemed a boring amount of photos.

My own best experience is photographing local bands and so on in pubs and clubs, so I'm quite used to culling photos ;) and improving things slightly if needed
 
My thoughts as an amateu. Don’t charge more than what they were initially paying the other “photographer”. Don’t go overboard with editing as presumably they weren’t expecting award winning photos as this will reduce the time spent post processing. Photographers are more conscious of small faults in their photos than the general public so it’s easy to get carried away trying to make every photo perfect. They are getting photos which they otherwise won’t have received. I would negotiate a separate payment should they want you to deliver prints or photo books.
 
Mintchocs said:
My thoughts as an amateu. Don’t charge more than what they were initially paying the other “photographer”. Don’t go overboard with editing as presumably they weren’t expecting award winning photos as this will reduce the time spent post processing. Photographers are more conscious of small faults in their photos than the general public so it’s easy to get carried away trying to make every photo perfect. They are getting photos which they otherwise won’t have received. I would negotiate a separate payment should they want you to deliver prints or photo books.
Click to expand...

good points indeed thanks
 
I reckon you need to charge some way to a fair price to make them happy . . . the couple would not have enduring feelings of bliss if it were all 'on the cheap' for free I am sure.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Ok I might cause WW3 here (not my intention) But in your case I'd be tempted to edit the best images, maybe a 100'200 put them on a zip drive and tell the couple that as your not a wedding photographer and you did not have the right gear for a pro wedding you dont want to charge then but they can have these with your blessing. Then add maybe they give a donation of say£100 to your favorite charity.
Click to expand...


Absolutely that.
 
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