I can confirm from personal experience that shooting outside of your personal style can be a tough thing to do. Second shot with a cool chick from NY recently... I show up... I actually accelerated the planned purchase of a 5D2 so that I could check out the high iso capability tied with LR's NR goodness in the reception photos.
5 minutes into the thing the primary tells me she'd like me to shoot at ISO 1600 max.
Boy that took a while to come up with something that I was actually happy with. And still the whole evening though she eventually came over and said "shoot however you feel comfortable I love your work I'm sure the photos'll be great if you do your own thing" ... I felt like I was handcuffed. Constantly checking the ISO setting making sure I hadn't wanderd off too far away from ISO 1600. Heck I was hoping to try out some made for B/W only ISO 25600 shots
nOt liSy
P.S. Great careers have been built on doing the exact opposite of what I would do... but in your shoes I'd definitely talk to them more and at least find out what these photos look like that they'd like you to shoot.
Your first instinct was your answer. It is unreasonable.
Educate them to understand that as a professional, you offer your unique talent and perspective just as any other professional photographer would. It is impossible for you to focus your attention on trying to emulate, thereby missing key moments from the day. This will happen with any photographer they hire with the same condition.
The test session is a waste of your time unless they pay for it. If you do it, I guarantee you will be spending double the normal time as well.
Your confidence in yourself is being tested here. Show that you believe in what you have to offer.
I wonder if this ends with you charging them $3,000 and their "uncle" will send you a check for $6,000 and would you so kindly send the difference back once you deposit the check
HappyCamp wrote:
I wonder if this ends with you charging them $3,000 and their "uncle" will send you a check for $6,000 and would you so kindly send the difference back once you deposit the check
Thanks for all the input guys.Just so you know I'm not undercharging, I don't price so I can get clients, I price what I think I'm worth. I'm fairly new to the wedding photography world so I can't charge $5000+ for a wedding just yet.
They said they love my portfolio already but would like the indie style in addition to my own style of shooting.
Don't do it man. I wouldn't shoot someone else's style for a gig down the road. There'e no way I'm flying to the other side of the planet to act like another photographer.
But I really love your style, I don’t think I’ll get that from a beginner. Can you recommend someone who does work just like yours but for the price I’m offering to pay?
But I really love your style, I don’t think I’ll get that from a beginner. Can you recommend someone who does work just like yours but for the price I’m offering to pay?
Don't do it. To emulate another photographers style, good or bad, that isn't your own, is harder than shooting as you would yourself. You are not able to confidently charge 1500 plus. Considering these two points together, you are not able to deliver what they are asking.
Or another way of thinking of this, just for kicks is...
Do you have chocolate ice cream. Well, if you can make it chocolate that tastes like Strawberry, I'll grab it.
Do they have some crazy back story and are planning their wedding in Canada? It sounds like one of these sort of scams evolving (see link below), although the emulation of another photog doesn't seem to fit the mold of the scam. It just seems very suspicious. Why on earth would a New Zealand based couple be trying to book a Canadian photographer?
But I really love your style, I don’t think I’ll get that from a beginner. Can you recommend someone who does work just like yours but for the price I’m offering to pay?
I got almost that exact email from a bride a few months ago. Asking me to recommend her to someone who does work just like mine, but for less than 1K. It was lollerific.
