- Joined
- Jun 7, 2012
- Messages
- 15,469
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- 7,848
- Location
- Central Florida
- Website
- www.flickr.com
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
I will give you a great example of why going with the lowest bidder isn't always a good idea. a co-worker of mine recently got married and she inquired about my wife doing the photography. no problem. we sat down with her, went over the portfolio, talked about the wedding. she liked my wife's work. everything was looking good. it was less of a traditional wedding, and more of a quick ceremony with a reception, 3-4 hours tops. no engagement photos were planned.
My wife typically takes pretty good care of my co-workers (and EMS/Fire in general) and since it was so short, she offered to do it for $500, AND do engagement photos a week or two before the wedding. My co-worker was really happy she would do it that cheap, but...(isn't there always?) BUT...she has a friend that has a good camera, and although the friend already told her she wasn't comfortable doing weddings, she would do it anyway. So, we were told that her mom was footing the bill for the wedding, and would be more comfortable in the $200 range if they were going to "pay" and not have her friend do it.
anyway...my wife politely declined the counteroffer, and the "friend with a camera" shot the wedding. (no engagement pictures) I got to see the results of this today... the friend brought one camera, one lens, and no flash. a lot of the shots were weird candid's of people eating, goofing around, talking...very few "wedding" shots. my wife didn't really get too much into WB and exposure issues because almost every shot was OOF, or at the very least missed focus. heavy vignetting on EVERY picture. (i think on purpose)
the lesson here? I don't know. could we have used an extra $200? yup. would it have been a lot of work for a 3-4 hour event? not really. but at some point you have to stick to your guns on what your time and efforts are worth and not be bullied by the threat of their ability to find someone to do it cheaper. my co-worker found someone cheaper, and got practically ZERO photos that didn't look awful even after whatever weird processing the photographer did. sometimes you really do get what you pay for. I would almost feel bad for her getting garbage wedding photos, but how can we be expected to compete with free? We don't even try.
My wife typically takes pretty good care of my co-workers (and EMS/Fire in general) and since it was so short, she offered to do it for $500, AND do engagement photos a week or two before the wedding. My co-worker was really happy she would do it that cheap, but...(isn't there always?) BUT...she has a friend that has a good camera, and although the friend already told her she wasn't comfortable doing weddings, she would do it anyway. So, we were told that her mom was footing the bill for the wedding, and would be more comfortable in the $200 range if they were going to "pay" and not have her friend do it.
anyway...my wife politely declined the counteroffer, and the "friend with a camera" shot the wedding. (no engagement pictures) I got to see the results of this today... the friend brought one camera, one lens, and no flash. a lot of the shots were weird candid's of people eating, goofing around, talking...very few "wedding" shots. my wife didn't really get too much into WB and exposure issues because almost every shot was OOF, or at the very least missed focus. heavy vignetting on EVERY picture. (i think on purpose)
the lesson here? I don't know. could we have used an extra $200? yup. would it have been a lot of work for a 3-4 hour event? not really. but at some point you have to stick to your guns on what your time and efforts are worth and not be bullied by the threat of their ability to find someone to do it cheaper. my co-worker found someone cheaper, and got practically ZERO photos that didn't look awful even after whatever weird processing the photographer did. sometimes you really do get what you pay for. I would almost feel bad for her getting garbage wedding photos, but how can we be expected to compete with free? We don't even try.