Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

FM Forum Rules
Wedding Resource List
  

FM Forums | Wedding Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2016 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.

  
 
glort
Offline
• • • •
[X]
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.



* Long sentimental Rant ahead warning*

I don't promote wedding work any more, haven't done any promo at all for nearly 18 months but still pick up referrals and WOM bookings.

I booked a wedding on Sunday for a year out which was good. Referral from people I did the one and only Registry wedding I have ever done which was 2 years ago exactly now.

Also on Sunday, I looked in on my FB page I set up for my glam photography and have done little with since.

There was a message asking for me by name and I recognised the message as coming from a girl I shot with years ago.
She was a beginner model and out of the hundreds ( or more) models I have shot over the years, this girl was my favourite by 100 miles in front of anyone else. I was real happy for her to have made contact again and told my wife who was also excited she had got in touch.

Long story and bit of an ironic one I spose.

I first was contacted by this girl so many years ago on a modelling site I used to frequent.
Unbelievably, I was the outspoken, against the grain, black sheep on there that a lot of people didn't like! Imagine that!!

She asked if I would consider shooting with me as out of all the shooters there, she liked my pictures and more over, that I didn't crawl and suck up to the models like the other shooters and said what I thought. At first I thought it was a gee up.
I knocked her back because she was only 16. I shot a lot of Nudes and beyond work then and the last thing I wanted was any suspicion of what I did when shooing anyone under age.
She persisted in asking and finally I said as long as her mother or sister or someone over 18 Came with her and stayed the entire shoot, I'd do a test with her.

To make a bad situation worse, she excitedly came back telling me her BF was 18 and he'd come with her! BF's are the last people I let come to shoots so this was looking worse by the minute. Again I knocked her back saying no way do I let BF's in the place and again she talked me around although I did insist on a phone call from her mother telling me she knew what was going on and the BF was OK to accompany her before I finally agreed.... still against my better judgement.

The day of the shoot just minutes before the girl was due to arrive, I got a distressed call from my wife saying she had broken down on the motorway. She said she was in a bad place and was clearly upset which was not usual for her. I tried contacting the girl to no avail and then went out to the car, threw a bunch of tools in it and went to go to my wife. I put the car in gear and the couple arrived for their shoot. I told them what happened, apologised profusely and said we would make another time.
I think that was the only shoot to this day I have ever piked on and clearly the girl was disappointed and I'm sure not 100% convinced I was telling the truth.
Got to my wife and the fault with the car was a 10 second fix which I wasn't sure to be happy or annoyed about.

We rescheduled our shoot for a week later and I met the BF who was a real nice guy.
My son was very young then and came wandering into the studio with his game boy. The BF saw it and asked him about it and the next time I turned around, the guy is sitting back in the chair with my son on his knee and showing him all this stuff on the machine.
My son was very excited about all that he showed him and very much took to the guy.
From then on, the guy brought his own machine and a cable that linked the two together and played with them like that.

The girl and I got on really well and we did a bunch of shoots together and I lined her up some work with some of my clients. Every time she would come in, we would be going over pictures and there would be my son with the girls BF on his lap playing game boy. I still remember that like it was yesterday. Every time she would come over, there were always Chocolates or a toy for the kids which always touched me at her thoughtfulness.

The girls school formal was coming up and being the studio was between her and the city, she asked if it were possible for them to drop in on the way to have some pics taken.
That was fine with me. Then she asked if My wife could do her makeup as she always loved the way she did it for the shoots. Next thing the hairdresser wouldn't' go all the way out to her so could she come to the studio and do the hair there. No worries.
Then it was Mum and dad would really like to have some pics too and.... In the end they Both came to the studio and got ready with the parents following a bit later.

The hairdresser frigged her around and was running stupidly late so with barely 30 min left, I told my wife stuff the hairdresser, you do her hair before she is late for everything. My wife did it in about 20 min flat and the girl was genuinely pleased with what she did as was her mother. 10 Min of pictures and the next thing the limo her parents got her as a surprise is in the driveway.

Off they went and while talking to the parents, they told me after doing the pictures with my Harley, she really wanted to go in on that but of course it was impractical. My wife said you could have escorted them in if you had known. I said I still can. I threw on my gear, took off on the thunder beast and had the limo behind me less than half way to the city.
Pulled the camera out of the Saddle bag and got some more shots of her with the bike outside the hotel. Don't know honestly who enjoyed that more. Her having the escort and pictures with the bike or me enjoying seeing how stoked and thrilled she was.

The next afternoon, about 6 Pm, there is a knock on the door and I see it is the girl and her mother. They are holding this Huge gift basket and said they just came to say think you for all we had done for the girl both yesterday and all the pics I had done and work I had got her before.
The mother said she always loved working with me and said it had done a lot for her self confidence and esteem.

The last thing my wife and I ever expected was anything like this. We were thanked most sincerely the day before and we were happy with seeing the girl happy and helping with maybe her 2nd most special day. They had put some thought into this basket, had my favourite booze, some treats we both liked, a big bunch of flowers and this big elephant ornament that my wife collects.
We were really lost for words by the gesture and they kind of came in, gave up the basket, thanked us, kiss goodbye and were off with us still standing there like stunned mullets.
One of those things I'll never forget in my life.
I rang them a while later and thanked the mother and then the girl as I was sure we were too taken aback at the time to say much at all.

The girl left school and moved to a country town to train as a paramedic and we eventually lost touch. I thought of her quite often because a lot of the pics we did are still the ones I like best and are in my folio. I only started re doing my glam website last week and had a hard time choosing which of her pics to put on the site and there were too many of the one person to have them all.

After replying to the girls FB message, she emails me tonight and tells me she is now living interstate, works as a music teacher and is getting married to the guy she was with all those years ago.
She asked If I was still doing weddings and if not, would I consider just doing hers as there was no one else she would be happy with doing them. She also asked if my wife would do her makeup as she always loved what she did for her.
I'm really blown away to be asked to do this wedding and really feel touched by it.

This girl never really had what was needed to be a serious model but she recognised that and took it as a bit of fun and an experience. One of the things that shot her in the foot was she didn't have the catty, full of herself attitude a lot of them had and she was extremely uncomfortable on a few castings I sent her to sitting in the waiting room with the rest of the vultures sneering at her. None the less, she always did a great job in front of the camera.

I remember one shoot I was doing for a Clothing company where the model wouldn't Co operate. I had tried to get the girl the gig but the company went with the bimbo instead. I threw the princess off the shoot after she tried me on once too often not far into the shoot and with the client freaking , rang the girl who lived close by and with her styling done, was shooting her less than 30 min later.
The client was laughing her head off afterwards at us. She said the girl walked out of makeup, I told her what I wanted, fiddled with the camera, looked up and said " Righto, mate, hit it" and off we went. I really didn't have to give her much direction, often just a finger pointed from the camera as we were always on the same wavelength.

The client said she could just see from what the girl and I were doing the shots were going to be great and she was stoked with them. We worked for that company a fair few times after that and the in joke was always having people from the company say " Righto mate, hit it" at every possible opportunity.


I got to say, I haven't been this touched/ excited about shooting a wedding in as long as I can remember. I guess the girl reminds me of a much happier time of my life and how I really enjoyed working with her and just being in the company of such a nice kid.
For some reason I still have a huge soft spot for this girl and so does my wife. When I told her the other night who had got in contact with me, straight away she said " that's where I got my favourite elephant from, it was in that basket they brought us, remember?"
I said to her, " That's something I'll NEVER forget!
My wife then asked if she was still with the BF which I didn't know then.

My wife is away at a conference for a few days but I know she is going to be stoked when she finds out the news.
I think we are both about as jaded as they come when it comes to weddings but right now, I'm hoping -I- don't cry too much on the day. I have a picture burned in my mind of my son and the BF sitting in that chair in the corner and remember well how happy my little boy was whenever he saw that guy. I'm very much looking forward to seeing him again too but dreading the question I know is going to come of what my son is doing these days.
That guy is going to make a great father though, that was obvious 10 years ago.

I shot some lousy self centred stuck up bimbos doing that modelling / commercial work but this girl was someone we always felt maybe even a disproportionate liking of. It's sure made my week hearing from her and being asked to do this job.
I asked my daughter tonight when she came home if she remembers the girl and of course she did. My daughter would have been no more than about 8 when she last saw her but remembers her well. I showed my daughter the girls FB page and she said exactly what I thought when I saw it, she hasn't changed a bit. If anything, she has become more elegant and beautiful as a woman than she was as a young girl.

I was kinda amused with the email when the girl asked how much It would be for the job with a hastily added, she wasn't looking for mates rates, she fully intend to pay me everything she knew I was worth.
Typical, never expect a thing from anyone this girl and always appreciative of anything anyone did for her.

I thought of making the pics her wedding present and not charging her at all but then I thought no, she'll probably then go out and buy us something worth more than I would have charged her anyway. I'll have some fun with her instead with a few surprises. Bring the bike, have the photobooth at the reception, Video of the day, slide show on the night..... Just don't tell her a thing about it. Once I find out what she has and hasn't organised, I'll see what I can call in a few favours some people in the industry still owe me.
I'll get some revenge for that time she surprised my wife and I!

I'm really looking forward to January now. This one is going to be really special. I imagine it will be a fairly low key wedding but I'm going to pull out all the stops and leverage it hard as I know how to give her the best memories I can.

Better get those new bodies and flash system sooner than I planned and might have to think about going back to promoting weddings a bit more seriously as well.




Oct 19, 2016 at 10:37 AM
crteach
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.


Good memories - thanks for sharing! It will be hard when that question comes, but you know her response will be heart-felt.



Oct 19, 2016 at 12:19 PM
mjgphotoz
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.


crteach wrote:
Good memories - thanks for sharing! It will be hard when that question comes, but you know her response will be heart-felt.


A big +1

Mary




Oct 19, 2016 at 12:42 PM
J Knight
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.


Glort, thank you for the time and care you took to write out this lovely story. I am so happy for you and for the couple and your wife. I would suggest you mention your son before you meet the couple as it might be less difficult for both of you. I guess they too will be upset, the guy in particular as he clearly thought a lot of your lad.

For myself, I thank you for this happy story. I have been feeling pretty low (just life) the last couple of weeks. Your enthusiasm and kindness has brightened my day, the first thing to do really touch that in quite a while. I sat here smiling as I read it.

I hope you are able to post a couple of images for us to see after the big day. Are you doing an engagement shoot too?

Hope all of you have a fantastic day.



Oct 19, 2016 at 03:02 PM
TTLKurtis
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.


Thanks for sharing, buddy, it really is incredibly rewarding on the rare occasion that you get to work with somebody who you have a really good connection with. Bittersweet, the bit about your son and the boyfriend bonding - great memories to have of him being happy, but then you've got the sadness of missing him.


Oct 19, 2016 at 05:36 PM
nolaguy
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.


Hey mate,

I really loved this post. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes I think if you shed your self-described ogre persona we'd all go "holy sh*t, Glort is Tinkerbell" ...pixie dust and all...


As my mother liked to say to me when I was a child, you're a good man, Charlie Brown.

Best always,

Chuck



Oct 19, 2016 at 07:11 PM
glort
Offline
• • • •
[X]
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · 2 bookings for the week, 1 very special.




Thank you to everyone for the kind words. It is very much appreciated.

J Knight wrote:
Are you doing an engagement shoot too?



Ha! You know what, I didn't even think of that! What an idiot!

I did ask if she wanted to do a glamour type shoot for the husband as a present, we could do that if she is coming down before hand. She is living interstate now so I am hoping she'll be down for or before Christmas so we can get together to go over details. I imagine she'll have to do that with other vendors as well.

If they both come down I'll make sure to do an engagement shoot as well.
Neither of them look much different but I imagine they will get a shock to see how I have aged!

I really want to get onto her mother now so I can get her to line me up some pics of them so I can put them into an intro to the slide show for them and run things by her for some of the other things I would like to do for them.

Her mother and father were really lovely people as well. I photographed them too.
The mother was diagnosed with cancer in the face which had to be cut out. They came in for portraits because she was worried after the op she would be disfigured and wanted some nice pics of herself before that happened. The doctor had recommended it as well in case she needed re constructive surgery they would have something to go off.
I didn't shoot " mature " people too often but the pics came out brilliantly. No credit to me, they were just awesome people to work with.
I had the lab do me a 20x30 for a studio sample and had it framed.

When they came in I showed them the pic and they loved it. I asked if I could display it for a studio sample and the mother agreed on the proviso I sold them that one for her to take home that night and I got another one done. No Problem!

The mother had the operation and it turned out to be a false alarm and a week later when she came back you could not see a mark on her. It was a great result.
I'm looking forward to seeing them again as well.

I am so looking forward to doing this. It's only a few days before my Daughters 20th Birthday so we'll have to celebrate that the weekend after and then it will be my Dad's birthday the weekend after that.

Going to be a very busy time!.




Oct 20, 2016 at 08:19 AM





FM Forums | Wedding Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.