taking a job ... need some help.

[gsgary]

Hey, cut the guy some slack, there's more than just bees and flowers on there. The action shots are pretty good, so you should be fine, so long as you can deal with lower lighting well.

The action shots don't actually catch any action

 

[Misfitlimp]

How about he takes a decent amount of pictures keeping quality in mind i.e composition lighting etc. and only promise them 100 PP final images?

 

[Iron Flatline]

I think you're on the right track, shoot and deliver whatever you can. Over time you will get a feeling for what is reasonable in terms of work load, processing time, and deliverables. It is impossible to get it right the first time. Listen to people's advice (filter out the sophomoric condescension and anonymous internet bullying) and use it to manage your own expectations, as well as those of the client.

 

[o hey tyler]

You're obviously prepared for this event. You watermark all of your images, even images of people giving you the finger. That's professionalism at it's finest. Just go in there with your kit lens set to full auto and you'll be fine imo imho tbqh.

 

[Overread]

My take on things:

1) Don't try to shoot to any set number or memory card size. Take all the cards you have and just shoot as you feel comfortable. If that results in 5 shots or 500 so be it that's what you took. Do try to compose and capture worth while images as much as you can and do try to put a bit of a limit on yourself so that you don't end up walking away with 1000s of images of the same thing.

2) When it comes to giving over the images never say that they will get every shot* - that means every blurred, out of focus and missed mistake and you don't ever see any pro showing those do you? It will take time yes, but go through and give them only the best shots from the evening. Maybe a few lesser ones if they are of notable/humours events or of key people - sometimes people want a slightly less than impressive image because the content is more important to them.
You'll have to be your own judge here as to quality

2b) As to if you provid edited or unedited results - the only time I see pros showing unedited results is when they are showing proofs - and then they always take along a few edited images to show what the final result is likley to be. Never give away images that are unedited - a pro in the "old days" would never give away unprocessed film reels so you never give away unprocessed images.
Processing will take even more time of course, but make sure you do it right - last thing you want is to give over your second best efforts.

2c) If you are shooting RAW you have to procses them anyway before the clients can even make any use of them

edit * at your level I would not even promise them a number of images they will get - I know many will ask this and an experienced shooter who knows the setup in advance might be able to guess at the number of images they are likley to produce - but in your position its too new an event and situation for you to give a number to your output.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

the temptation is there to expand the offered package because you want the work.
but i wouldn't take too many photos for 300 dollars...or offer too much in the way of formats and versions. 16gigs of shots is 750+ shots (i don't know if you have a FF cam or an APS-C DSLR.) you'll have to individually appraise most of these, spend some time getting a feel for the best look, then PP the selected ones (sized for web, 100% size for print..and printables are bigger and slower to PP.) etc etc. it's all hours of your time. planning the job is 1 hour. attending is 2 or 3. appraissing is 2. test editing is 1. pping is 3 or 4. supplying the end-product is 1. chasing payment is 1. so that's potential 13 hours skilled work and associated admin for 300 dollars. then the customer says ''yes these are fine but can we have...'' which another 2 hours or something. $17 per hour isn't enough fee.

if you think in terms of $50/hour (which is dirt cheap) and you agree to spend 2 hours at the party, then the rest of the task will cost you $200 which is 4 hours work. considering admin and payment that leaves nothing left (of $300) for your editing time. take 100 pictures maximum. choose 10-15. PP and supply. that maybe take 4 hours..and extra $200. your price is light by at least $200 IMO. $500 for 15 post-produced shots including RAW masterfiles and PP'd 100% size JPEGS.

and even these costings ignore real-world business expenses (bills, insurance, transport, promotional budget, cost of tools etc). this is why professional services need to be very expensive!

I agree with some of the things you said, but 100 shots? Absolutely not. That would be a massive ripoff.

I'm a firm believer in doing your best no matter what the expected outcome. Just because he's only being paid $300 doesn't mean he should do a half-***'d job. Limiting yourself to a small number of shots purely because you don't want to spend too much time in PP is absolutely ridiculous and *TERRIBLE* business practice.

Take as many pictures as you feel comfortable with. Make sure to try to get the best composition and perspective possible...but don't feel limited in how many pictures you take. I'd expect around 200-300 pictures in a 4-hour event, but anywhere from 150-500 should be acceptable.

I've easily taken 300+ in 2 hours depending on the event.

I've shot 2000 pictures in 3 hours a few times, when i shoot running events....


But not for portraits, because instead of having a few GOOD pictures, i'd have thousands of crappy ones that i'd have to mull through, and they'd all be lesser quality because everything would be rushed through.

 

[wgp1987]

To all...

Thanks for feedback even if it was of zero relevance. I turned the job down for now.

 

[Romphotog]

To all...

Thanks for feedback even if it was of zero relevance. I turned the job down for now.

Look, you posted your photo link, how the hell is what I saw on it relevant to a wedding? Were you replaced with someone who actually did wedding jobs?
Again, $300 for what? Pic of a crayon?

 

[fiveoboy01]

Zero relevance? LULZ.

 

[matfoster]

Just because he's only being paid $300 doesn't mean he should do a half-***'d job. Limiting yourself to a small number of shots purely because you don't want to spend too much time in PP is absolutely ridiculous and *TERRIBLE* business practice.

Derek, unlike you i live in the real world and i'm done with this thread.

 

[DerekSalem]

Just because he's only being paid $300 doesn't mean he should do a half-***'d job. Limiting yourself to a small number of shots purely because you don't want to spend too much time in PP is absolutely ridiculous and *TERRIBLE* business practice.

Derek, unlike you i live in the real world and i'm done with this thread.

Living in the real world doesn't mean you should do a half-*** job. Your entire post made it obvious that if someone offers to pay you less than you believe you deserve, you do less work and give the job less of yourself.

That's horrible workmanship and downright dishonest in many cases. *THAT* is the real world.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

To all...

Thanks for feedback even if it was of zero relevance. I turned the job down for now.

Why turn it down?

 

[ghpham]

Just because he's only being paid $300 doesn't mean he should do a half-***'d job. Limiting yourself to a small number of shots purely because you don't want to spend too much time in PP is absolutely ridiculous and *TERRIBLE* business practice.

Derek, unlike you i live in the real world and i'm done with this thread.

Living in the real world doesn't mean you should do a half-*** job. Your entire post made it obvious that if someone offers to pay you less than you believe you deserve, you do less work and give the job less of yourself.

That's horrible workmanship and downright dishonest in many cases. *THAT* is the real world.

In the real world, you'd get a contract signed, and you don't short changed yourself by doing 6 hours worth of work for 4 hours worth of pay. You'd short change yourself and other photographers training your clients to want more for less. The point is not to over promise on "quantity" but focus on "quality". Now, if you want to focus on quantity only, now THAT would be dishonest and poor workmanship.

 

[Iron Flatline]

matfoster, where are your images? Got a website? Flickr?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Ooh! A throwdown!