For weddings, do you let clients pick their own pictures?

[Overread]

Doing that will do you more harm than good - if they see all your mistakes and slight mistakes they will grade you on those mistakes not the few good shots. Sorting through to show them only good shots means that they will grade your work on those shots.

Instead of - he/she took a lot of rubbishy shots with a few good ones -- it becomes - he/she took a lot of good shots.

I also echo the thoughts of Big Mike - there is sound advice there - read it and take on board.

 

[bigtwinky]

Mike's last intervention is what I aim to do.

I take say 1200 images. I keep and present 300 images. I do minimal correction on each of the 300 and show them in colour, bw, sepia. The contract states how many photos are worked on (specific processing, skin cleaning, cloning out stuff,...). This is usually 25 images.

As I dont do prints, I give them the high res basic edits and the 25 specific edits on a DVD.

I'll usually give them a few more than the 25 when I see an image and want to work on some processing myself. So whatever "experiments" I do, I also give them that.

 

[MohaimenK]

Done deal: all images uploaded 160x120 (About 1700 images) and they will get to chose 100 of them and then $3 a pop for the rest 4x6

 

[Big Mike]

Anyway Im just going to upload all the images 160x120 and let them figure it out. There are over 1500 images. Good luck to them

Another thing to consider, is how hard you are when culling down the images. It's one thing to narrow it down to the 100 images when you have 200 good ones....but it shouldn't be too hard to pick out the 200 best shots out of 1000.

I tend to do it in waves. First I take out the obviously bad or missed shots. Then I try to take out ones that are obviously duplicate. Then I go through again and try to decide if it's worth taking the image to the next level (spending time in PP). If a shot is just OK, and is maybe just another angle of a better shot, then I'll drop it.

Then I'll usually drop a few more as I work through the images in PP.

It really helps to be hard on yourself at this stage. If an image is in question, put it aside and look for something better.

 

[MohaimenK]

Mike, at this point I can care less. They either deal w/ it or take their $300 back and I'm done w/ them. I am not usually a dick about stuff but now I chose to be. Sometimes you got to be. There was no written contract but verbal. If they chose to take 100 images, I will make him sign a contract saying that as per contract for the wedding, they were to chose 100 4x6 images from the entire album, $3 per after that. Once they sign it, they get the photos. If they dont' sign, give $300 back, go to my next wedding, lesson learned and have a damn contract sign one on one.

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, business is business...and sometimes you have to play a little hardball.

But you also need to consider that the most effective marketing for wedding photographers is usually word of mouth.

It may well be a good idea to cut your losses with this wedding...but it may cost you any good word of mouth that you may have gotten, which could be a wedding or two (and each of those could have led to another wedding or two...).

But than again, it sounds like this one was a mess right from the start, and you may be saved from most of the mud because you weren't the originally hired photographer.

 

[UUilliam]

I dont understand why you seem to be in such a pissy mood, it isn't their fault you only took $300...
it is your own fault for taking it, you have commited to a service, stick to providing that service, just put on a fake smile, make them think you were happy doing business, they refer you.

if you just say "pick 100 from all these then **** off." then they will likely never recommend you again.

if you have lightroom (or if you dont, download the trial.)
look through your images, pick your favourite 300 that show your talent best of the 1700, since you dont want them to see any mistakes, blurry photos or stuff like that

so pick 300 -500 that show your skill best.

then let them choose 100 from that.
and make the thumbnails a bit bigger, you cannot judge images from that small
go about 200px minimum

 

[MohaimenK]

I dont understand why you seem to be in such a pissy mood, it isn't their fault you only took $300...
it is your own fault for taking it, you have commited to a service, stick to providing that service, just put on a fake smile, make them think you were happy doing business, they refer you.

if you just say "pick 100 from all these then **** off." then they will likely never recommend you again.

if you have lightroom (or if you dont, download the trial.)
look through your images, pick your favourite 300 that show your talent best of the 1700, since you dont want them to see any mistakes, blurry photos or stuff like that

so pick 300 -500 that show your skill best.

then let them choose 100 from that.
and make the thumbnails a bit bigger, you cannot judge images from that small
go about 200px minimum

Because the deal was that I'd give them 100 images from my own NOT THAT THEY GET TO CHOSE THEIR OWN IMAGES! That's why I'm pissed. I am more pissed that I edited 50 of them already. So yes, I have the right to be pissed off because now they want to change this and that and pick their own photos. That was not the original plan. Get it now?

 

[vtf]

I hope you are learning your lesson about only charging $300 for a wedding...is sound like you are learning all about that, so I won't give you a hard time about it. :greenpbl:

This issue comes up fairly regularly in wedding photographer discussions. They see you shooting hundreds or thousands of photos, then wonder why they only get to see a few hundred etc.

The usual advice is to choose the photos yourself and don't let the clients do it. Chances are that they will hum & haw about it forever.
After all, they are paying you for your artistic vision, so they should trust you to pick the best shots...and you can (usually) tell them something to that effect.

I've heard of some photographers telling people that the non-keepers are deleted. That (hopefully) keeps them from wondering what shots they aren't seeing. Another thing I've heard, is that then they ask about the other shots, you pick one where the bride is making a stupid face, has her eyes closed etc....and show her that one, saying that all the others look similar.
Of course, a more diplomatic thing to say would be that many of the other shots are simply duplicates of the keepers...and that you shoot as many as you did, to avoid things like closed eyes etc.

The one exception where I might let the clients see some of the other images, is if they are looking for someone specific. For example, maybe their great-aunt just passed away and the last photos taken of her might have been at the wedding.

I havent done weddings but I totally agree with Big Mike.
I also agree that its spelled out in plan english in a contract of what you offer then its up to you to stick to your guns. Good Luck.

 

[Blake.Oney]

I charge a flat price for weddings, then I edit a set number of images. I put all of the edited images on a disc in high res JPEG with all of the good unedited shots in JPEG. I don't give the RAW files away, which I'm sure you know, and I of course kill all the bad ones.

 

[kundalini]

That was not the original plan. Get it now?

No, not really. You were contracted to the main shooter, not the couple..........

The first photographer said he couldn't make it a few days before so I had to step in. At this point the whole thing became my responsibility. I was first contracted to give my images to him and let him deal w/ it. He spoke to the couple before and contracted it for $300 for 100 4x6 and that's it. Which is exactly what I'm doing myself now.

This is a change in terms and conditions by the main shooter to you. If the main shooter is worth his salt, his contract would stipulate that another primary shooter will be in his stead if circumstances prevented his presence.

For your part, this is often referred to as a 'negotiating tool'. It only became your responsibility because you accepted the responsibility and it sounds like you did this without considering the consequences. Sorry, but your lack of re-negotiating is not the couples fault. It lies squarely on your shoulders.

Grin and bear it, as they say. Lesson learned.

 

[SecondShot]

I don't know if this helps you in this particular case, but our wedding photog provided us with 926 Fullsize JPEG's on DVD. Some were edited, but I doubt all were edited (maybe a basic batch edit?). I know that I would not have liked to not have all images taken (OOF/blurry/etc aside) given to me. I think she probably took about 600, the second shooter the rest.

 

[MohaimenK]

This is a change in terms and conditions by the main shooter to you. If the main shooter is worth his salt, his contract would stipulate that another primary shooter will be in his stead if circumstances prevented his presence.

For your part, this is often referred to as a 'negotiating tool'. It only became your responsibility because you accepted the responsibility and it sounds like you did this without considering the consequences. Sorry, but your lack of re-negotiating is not the couples fault. It lies squarely on your shoulders.

Grin and bear it, as they say. Lesson learned.

In simple english:

Original agrreement: $300 for 100 images (by photographer's choice)

New agreement: $300 for 100 images (now being chosen by the couple)

So they decided to have a change of heart after their honeymoon. So please do explain how this is completely my fault? I'd like to know.

All I really wanted to know was (for those that have actually done wedding photography) if I am at right to give them the 100 pics as negotiated or do I now go and let them chose the photos and scrap all my work in editing them.

And since now they are trying to change the negotiation, was it really worth the $300?

 

[gsgary]

I have not done wedding but if I do one, I will give them more than 100 for sure. 100 seems not enough.

Yeah they charge $1300 and I was given $300. They can pay me $1300 and I'll be happy to let them choose and give them 200 images. Do the calculation and see what I'm left w/ after working 18-19 hours plus printing the pics and buying an album then you'll see what I'm left with.

Well there is only one person to blame for that $300 thats only a days wage

 

[MohaimenK]

haha yeah I know. It's one of those thngs that you think would be a piece of cake the first time then you realize it wasn't worth it. I didn't care about the $300 till today when I get a acll saying "ohh so we wanna chose the photos now" and I'm like "wth? we already discussed this originally that I was going to take 100 pix from there and give you" anyway, yeah, talked to some wedding photographers that I know on FB, they simply told me to tell them to shove it and deal with it because a contract is a contract. But I told him I didn't want to deal w/ it anymore so I'll just let them chose upto 100 pix then $3 per pic (which is just about right looking at different wedding websites) there after.

In a way its a good thing because after going through the images quickly and looking at them, there are still a TON of images so they'll get confused on which 100 to pick out of them and will probably end up getting 200

It just pisses me off that I was supposed to give them the images this weekend and they just change it at the last moment. Thank God I didn't have them printed then I'd have just hung up the phone.