Is this general practice???

Well, thanks for all the replies. I didn't start this to debate how quick I should get them or I'm not really complaining as of yet, just wondering what the norm is.

Again we did not pay a lot and she is a friend of a family member - who kind of did us a favor, last minute, because it was such a small wedding we originally weren't even looking for a photographer, so I am grateful that she was able to shoot for us.

Only thing I think is odd, is the Facebook thing. The contract says she can use our images to advertise and that is fine. But I do think it would have been nice to at least have told us she would post them prior to us getting them or just not posted at all.

I asked about the color photos mostly because I just want pictures of the wedding. I guess what I am saying is, I hope, if she does some creative stuff (sepia, there is one with a verse written over it) she also includes the original picture on the disc as well.

By posting an image or two onto Facebook she is most likely trying to "build anticipation" for the main showcasing of your wedding. It's incredibly common, though whenever I do it I always alert the client and attempt to tag them in the photograph. My intent is to get the client, and other people following me, excited about the wedding photos. I don't want you to go too long without thinking about your photos, so I'll post a sneak peak and hope that you'll share it with other people. It's pretty basic social media, and as I said incredibly common.

Things such as Facebook use and turn around time should have all been addressed at the contract signing, so it sounds like she wasn't clear.
 
Based on how she dealt with you guys I am not sure how good of a photographer she is.

Although I am not a pro by any means, I've been asked to shoot a few weddings (probably 7 in total) and I've never posted the couple's pictures without their consent.

First of all, it's always my top priority to get the pictures done as soon as possible, and the very first people who get to see them are the young couple.
Then, I usually ask them if it's okay if I post a few good shots on my website and if they say yes, I do, otherwise no. Facebook? Wow...just wow.

Most of the weddings I've shot required me to print out an album, so I didn't need to hand them a CD with pics, but on some that I did, I never gave out RAW's. I myself only use raws to PP the whole shoot and once that's done, I use some for the wedding album. But once my album is printed I convert all to jpeg and delete the raws. Technically I could keep the raws but in these years there was never no need. I mean, it makes sense because some wedding photographers only shoot jpegs for example.

Like I said, I am not pro by any means and probably I am doing all this wrong. But I've never done what this photographer has done and all my weddings have been very successful.
 
So, recently got married.

Was a pretty low-key, small wedding. A friend of my wife's sister took our pictures for us. She has a photography business, not just starting, but I would say - still new.

Good price.

However, it has been almost two weeks and no pictures yet. She is providing us a disc of the images. I asked if she could just give me the raw photos, she declined. That is fine as said she wanted to do edits.

A couple of questions...

Should she provide just the pictures in color if I request? Reason I ask is she has posted some pictures on her Facebook with weird sepia tones, etc... That is fine, but I can do that if I want. Just give me the picture!!

Also - what is an average time frame for providing a client with pictures of an event??

This leads to the next question, and probably the thing that has annoyed me most... Yes she is posting pictures of our wedding on her Facebook. We did sign an agreement that she could do that - but is it only me who thinks it is distasteful to be posting them when she hasn't even provided us with pictures yet????

There ya go!

You get what you pay for, right?


On a side note. Don't many, established professional photographers, let you see the proofs on person before finishing up their post processing?
 
So, recently got married.

Was a pretty low-key, small wedding. A friend of my wife's sister took our pictures for us. She has a photography business, not just starting, but I would say - still new.

Good price.

However, it has been almost two weeks and no pictures yet. She is providing us a disc of the images. I asked if she could just give me the raw photos, she declined. That is fine as said she wanted to do edits.

A couple of questions...

Should she provide just the pictures in color if I request? Reason I ask is she has posted some pictures on her Facebook with weird sepia tones, etc... That is fine, but I can do that if I want. Just give me the picture!!

Also - what is an average time frame for providing a client with pictures of an event??

This leads to the next question, and probably the thing that has annoyed me most... Yes she is posting pictures of our wedding on her Facebook. We did sign an agreement that she could do that - but is it only me who thinks it is distasteful to be posting them when she hasn't even provided us with pictures yet????

There ya go!

You get what you pay for, right?


On a side note. Don't many, established professional photographers, let you see the proofs on person before finishing up their post processing?

I think this practice is fading out rapidly to be honest. I would never show a client an unfinished product - which includes post-processing. All of the photographs in my portfolio are finished products, so why would I show an unfinished one to a client and then have to explain, "Oh no, these aren't done. I still have to post-process them before delivery." Regardless of that, most if not all of the shots are going to make it onto my blog anyway, so there is no point in not completing them before delivery.
 
So, recently got married.

Was a pretty low-key, small wedding. A friend of my wife's sister took our pictures for us. She has a photography business, not just starting, but I would say - still new.

Good price.

However, it has been almost two weeks and no pictures yet. She is providing us a disc of the images. I asked if she could just give me the raw photos, she declined. That is fine as said she wanted to do edits.

A couple of questions...

Should she provide just the pictures in color if I request? Reason I ask is she has posted some pictures on her Facebook with weird sepia tones, etc... That is fine, but I can do that if I want. Just give me the picture!!

Also - what is an average time frame for providing a client with pictures of an event??

This leads to the next question, and probably the thing that has annoyed me most... Yes she is posting pictures of our wedding on her Facebook. We did sign an agreement that she could do that - but is it only me who thinks it is distasteful to be posting them when she hasn't even provided us with pictures yet????

There ya go!

You get what you pay for, right?


On a side note. Don't many, established professional photographers, let you see the proofs on person before finishing up their post processing?

I think this practice is fading out rapidly to be honest. I would never show a client an unfinished product - which includes post-processing. All of the photographs in my portfolio are finished products, so why would I show an unfinished one to a client and then have to explain, "Oh no, these aren't done. I still have to post-process them before delivery." Regardless of that, most if not all of the shots are going to make it onto my blog anyway, so there is no point in not completing them before delivery.

Yeah I was thinking off. Maybe see proofs of finished images, if a business wants to let the client narrow them down.

I read this article. Does it offer good advice? I don't want to link some bad advice!

Business of Wedding Photography - photo.net
 
I shoot the same as I did with film. Proofs were just that. A quick proof of the negative. Retouching was airbrushed on the print or sometimes we had a negative retouched.

Proofs have a few days turn around but prints and albums are 2-3 months.

But with the digital age came a different process. It is very common for the photographer to do all the digital retouching before hand. It makes for a longer wait for proofs but a shorter wait for prints and albums.

So all in all. Yes it is common. I'm also all for Facebook but not until the bride and groom have received their proofs first. It is just common courtesy.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top