p.4 #1 · Upset bride wants pictures that were never taken
Mike Mahoney wrote:
Like life itself when you turn 30.
Ha.... you could ALMOST make that into a haiku!
"Three minutes later
The rainbow was gone but the
chicken dance went on"
Seriously though... this thread has been fantastic. Opening up to everyone about a weekness is a tough thing to do and the dialog its created has really made me feel like I'm part of something bigger.
p.4 #2 · Upset bride wants pictures that were never taken
Thanks to all who responded so far.
The bride emailed me again and clarified that she wasn't mad at me, but at herself for letting the receiving line happen and thus shortening our time for formals. We've compromised to photoshop her siblings into one or two images (one shown earlier here) and to group images together in the album to make it look more "together". I've also offered her to shoot her with her family this fall during another session we have scheduled together.
All's well that ends well. I'm glad this thread has helped other photographers. Yay!
p.4 #3 · Upset bride wants pictures that were never taken
jeremy_clay wrote:
Yes. I was curious as to the correlation between certain financial groups and expected output from a photographer - in my experience, the bigger pricepoint booked from the couple, the more likely they are to just let us 'do our thing' for the photography then not.
This is very true... This is also what drove me to the higher pricing for my services... The less they pay the more the want... and sometimes the harder they are to satisfy....
p.4 #4 · Upset bride wants pictures that were never taken
lisy78 wrote:
I hate to pile-up on the OP but I would be pissed off at them if I were the client.
[puts on client clothes]
...
Hey pro-photog...
You didn't manage my expectations - if it really takes 2-3 minutes to get a group shot then why didn't you tell me?
You accepted my list of shots and didn't express any clear reservations at the time
You never brought up the problem to my attention during the event. Maybe if you had done so I would have pared down the list to a more manageable number... but WTF you didn't even get a shot of me and my siblings?!?!?!
And don't you dare say something like "If you don't remember being in a shot with your siblings then obviously we didn't take it" ... the whole thing is a blur... If I thought *I* needed to keep track I'd a kept the list rather than giving it to you.
You left early after asking me if there were any MORE shots I wanted taken ... of course I assumed that the 54 I'd asked for had already been taken... WTF are you leaving early for if you haven't done what I asked you to do?
I can't say that I don't agree with this... seems like a lesson well learned for you, myself and other new photogs... managing the expectations of clients and making sure those expectations are met or exceeded is IMPORTANT!
As I read further down, I was glad to see that you had successfully resolved the issue.
p.4 #5 · Upset bride wants pictures that were never taken
Letenele,
Glad you got it resolved nicely
Great thread, it is a reminder for all of us (who don't know) to make sure we are all in the clear before we leave the wedding.
Last week, I seconded another photographer and reminded him that he had to get the couple shots. This group was eager to get to the reception and agreed to take the photos there, rather than at the church. Couldn't blame them, they had been in the church since 3:00pm with ceremony at 6:00pm, but the couple didn't want to be seen together so no couple shots. Plus, raining all the time, no outside shots there.
Well, they didn't cooperate at the reception, so MOB was not happy, no couple shots aside from the alter, dancing, two regular shots etc. Now the main photog is doing a day after session and paying for the rental of the tux. MOB said that he should have told her if they were not cooperating and she would have handled it then.
p.4 #6 · Upset bride wants pictures that were never taken
I had a bride who sent me an email with a list of nearly 60 formals she wanted taken after the ceremony. I told it would take about 2 hours and she responded by cutting the list down to 12 groupings. If she had given me the list and I had said nothing and it took too long and I was not able to finish the fault would be mine as much as hers.
If your contract states "up to" then you are covered on the time and you can remind her of this and that you asked if she wanted anything additional before you left and leave it at that
Important in situations such as this to keep your correspondence short and to the point or it will ping pong back and forth forever.
I request that the couple appoint someone to be the "wrangler" and they are responsible for the group shots and this includes getting the people together. It is my job to arrange them and to take the picture, but not my job to round them up. Doing this makes everything go faster and smoother and greatly reduces the stress on the wedding photographer. When a group is together I arrange them, take the shots I need, and while this is going on the wrangler is getting the next group together.
As for the brothers I would propose having her and her brothers come to your studio and take some pictures that you can use in the album. Make her responsible for coordinating getting her brothers, husband, hair & makeup, and you are again just the photographer.
Far better to spend an hour taking new pictures than attempting to use Photoshop to add people to prior shots.
