This was a short notice wedding (less then 1 week). They booked my small wedding package for $700. They contacted me because they liked my gay pride parade pics, woot for blog advertising. No idea if a gay wedding on my site could impact sales, but u know what, i dont care. I shot 2000 pics in 6 hours, 500 or so made it online.
IVE had to REMOVE the link per the clients request. They dont want their PERSONAL business clients knowing their relationship apprently.
Edited by figmented on Apr 12, 2008 at 03:07 AM GMT
I don't think you should worry about the small minority of potential clients that may be turned off because you shot a commitment ceremony. Personally, I'd actually be more inclined to choose you. The world needs more tolerant people.
I think that you have some great shots here...a few looked a bit soft (but it could be the crummy monitor I have to use at work). You captured some great moments and they look like they were a lot of fun to work with. I would like to say it would have no impact on your sales, but we all know there are those out there that would let these images be a negative influence on the decision, however, there are others that would see them and it would be a positive...you just hope it all balances out in the end.
There would certainly be people who will say, "ah I like this photographer. They don't discrimanate against anyone."
And there will be those who say, " My religious beliefs don't accept same sex relationships," and they will not choose to work with you based on your involvement in this ceremony.
I believe you book what you show. If you want to shoot fun and offbeat weddings, show them. If you want to shoot same-old, same-old - show that.
There's some demographics at play here. Generation Y (the echo boom) doesn't care about gay marriage like Generation X does (the spanning generation between baby boomers and the echo boom - roughly 27-43 years of age). Generation X (in broad strokes) is more conservative (they supported the Iraq invasion at start in huge numbers). So, if you want to reach younger hipper couples - show commitment ceremonies is ok (though your milage my vary based on zip code, but gay acceptance isn't just for San Francisco anymore).
What Generation Y likes, more than anything, is something real. Decode that as you wish.
Another possible factor in all this - cost. I shoot very few commitment ceremonies anymore as I'm out of the $700 price range.
On a related note, a New Mexico commission ruled this week that Elane Photography is to pay the legal fees of a gay couple who felt descriminated against. In a response eMail, Elane Photography signaled she only photographed "traditional" marriages and would not photograph same-sex marriages. Elane Photography has a $6,000 legal bill coming soon.
Edited by tomKphoto on Apr 11, 2008 at 03:18 PM GMT
I think I edited in the 'real' line - can't remember. Also I removed a well-worn reference to FM removing lite political posts in the forum a few weeks back. 2 weeks back is an eternity on the internet.
Yup, sucks we have to worry bout this kinda stuff, when we just wanna take awesome photos of awesome people, yet have to worry bout displeasing future customers. LAME
oh well, i live life pretty freely, and i dont care if your a rock, you pay me I'll try to take awesome pics.
OT - my GayWeddings.com listing is up for renewal. I've gotten zero leads from it in 12 months. Not renewing. Again, I think it's a price thing. You can shoot every GLBT ceremony in town if you'll charge $500 for shoot + burn.
tomKphoto wrote:
OT - my GayWeddings.com listing is up for renewal. I've gotten zero leads from it in 12 months. Not renewing. Again, I think it's a price thing. You can shoot every GLBT ceremony in town if you'll charge $500 for shoot + burn.
Well, you do offer to cover Laramie WY. GLBT relations are a little different there than San Fran or Dupont Circle.
Why take a very happy set of clients and all the good they can do for you and turn them into adversaries?
Consider also that the contractual authority to use the images for critique and technical discussions may not be clear.
Even unintentionally some of these discussions of wedding or other shoots go down strange paths. Sometimes discussions turn on how to "fix" problems with a particular piece of clothing, or "You can hide that double chin by ....." or "That skin blemish can be fixed using ...." Some people are just private and would prefer not to be on display like that.
I edited the link at the client's request for their personal business reasons. I would have kept them up if they didnt ask me to take them down, they just dont want to be searchable by name with google.
Though, i dont understand what point you were trying to make craig? (im sorry, i just dont understand)
Why they may not want to be Google searchable and revealable as gay? It may not be "right" to some that they may feel that way but they may have extremely good reasons to want to remain private.
Also, you may have seen threads which get into detail about how to deal with "problems" - but these problems are sometimes a result of physical characteristics, or clothing choices, venue choices, etc. While it may be seen as a technical photographic issue, it may also be perceived as a "problem" somehow caused by the couple. While many photographers include fairly comprehensive "release" language in their contracts, it could be quite a stretch to think that a couple wants to have their wedding pictures the centerpiece of a discussion on "how to pose someone with a double chin" or "flabby arms."
Photographers aren't always sensitive to the privacy or personal concerns of people who aren't photographers. Personal relationships can be very complicated. Some people want to be able to be able to keep some thngs low key, they may be struggling with family or work problems, image concerns, etc. Finding themselves on the internet might be very distressing.
