FI/Photog Vent

nurse.misty

We changed the wedding from a DW to a local park a few weeks ago. Well, my cousin had done our e-pics, which looked good online but printed poorly. FI said when we changed to a local wedding that if I wanted to have pictures taken I needed to find a pro to pay to do them so we are sure they look good. Ok. No problem.
 
I find the only photographer in the area that isn't booked that weekend, and she gives me this amazing deal with a CD to print as many pics as I want. Great right? So I fill out the contract, it's still sitting on my table, excitedly tell FI about it and schedule to meet her tomorrow to go over everything. I just told him I was meeting her tomorrow, and now he wants to say he didn't care for her pictures he looked at online and doesn't trust a photog that will give me a CD to print freely. I didn't see him picking up a phone making phone calls trying to find somebody to do it.

My sister originally wanted to do the wedding pics which was fine with me, he wanted a pro so I found one. If he thinks I'm just not going to have any pictures at all done he's crazy.  I just text him and said he needs to decide which one he wants soon or he's getting my sis.

baystateapple

What's his issue with getting a CD?  That's what my H and I did.  About five weeks after the wedding, we got two CDs in the mail with all our pictures.  It saved us a TON of money and we can do whatever we want with the pictures now.  It's pretty normal, for couples who want to save a little money, to get a package that just has a CD of the prints.

[Deleted User]

Yikes. You guys are really cutting it close. I don't think he can be picky at this point.

NuggetBrain

I don't understand why he wouldn't "trust" someone who'd give you a CD.  That was one of the only things we insisted on in a photographer.  A lot of photogs have great prices for shooting, but they own the rights so they end up charging you just about the same price in prints.

hlq2011

Have you told him a LOT of photographers include a CD to print your pics yourself now?  Ours does, and most of the photographers I researched included it in some, if not all, of their packages.  That's a pretty strange thing to have against the photographer.

FutureJilliannD

The CD thing is pretty common nowadays. Some photogs only give a CD, no pictures printed out.

emilyinchile

Yeah, a CD is really normal. It's way better in my opinion to be given a CD of pictures to which you get the rights so you can print whatever you want than to have to pay hugely marked-up rates to print from your photographer. If that's your FI's main complaint, then he's crazy.

If he doesn't like the photos online, I think that's a reasonable concern and something you guys should talk about in more detail before booking, frustrating as it is that he's not taking any initiative.

shaydenise

Um, I don't understand what his issue is with the CD.  We wouldn't work with a photographer that didn't give us our photos and print rights.  That was our deal breaker.  Giving you a CD is a good thing...

Meg1036

Yeah, a CD was one of our must-haves in a photographer.  Not sure why your FI thinks its weird.

Avion22

In this case, I think hiring someone is a better idea.  That way if they come out poorly, you won't have any resentment, like you might if it were your sister or cousin taking the pics.  Also, unless your sister is a professional wedding photographer, you might miss a lot of shots that you would get with a pro.  Pros have enough experience to know where to position themselves, how to move through shots quickly and efficiently, and how to take advantage of certain kinds of light, downtime in the festivities, etc.  

If budget is an issue, then you're better off going with someone who will give you shots on a CD and let you print them however you want.  You'll save a LOT of money doing that.  This way, you're only paying the photographer for their time, and whatever retouching they do, not for expensive processing fees.  Plus you can take the CD to a photo store, or use an online service, to get professional quality prints for less than a photogapher would charge you.  So explan to your fiance that getting a CD is probably the best budget decision you can make:-)

nurse.misty

That's my problem! Every time I bring something up about weddings he automatically says I'm wrong and it's not usually how it's done. Everyone I know that is getting/has gotten married in the past few years has gotten a CD. I really think his big problem is that he doesn't want to take the money out of savings to pay for it. We have all of the wedding money in savings and the more I put into it the more he likes the way it looks and doesn't want to use it for anything. I understand, I like seeing it all in there too, but it has to be done! He was totally depressed when we had to take some out for the wedding rings. He can be weird about stuff sometimes. Usually I just ignore it and he gets over it. I'm just extra irritable this week. haha

pumpkinpumpkin

In my area, the very best photographers give CDs.
If your fiance was MY fiance, he'd be finding his own photographer if he's going to be so finicky.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Add me to the list of people who got a CD because it was cheaper than paying for prints or albums through a photographer. The photographer touched up our images, but burning them to a disk was less work for her too.

My H was very picky about our photographer. We met in person with 4. So if he doesn't like a photographer, I want to say you should keep looking, but with 5 weeks, you sort of have to take the vendors you can get.

nurse.misty

Thanks for the reassurance ladies. I think I'm just going to let it go until he gets home so I can talk to him face to face and spell it all out for him. We are going to look at the wedding site with his parents this evening so I may tell him to talk to them if he doesn't believe me about the CD being a normal thing. We'll see how it goes.

hoffse

The CD is hugely important because it releases reprint rights to you.  Tell him that if he likes how the number in your savings account looks, he needs to be able to print on his own.  One reason photographers are so expensive even with a CD is because they no longer have the copyright to their work once they contract it away.  You REALLY don't want to have to keep going back to your photographer just because grandma wants a copy of that great picture at the altar... and your aunt... and your mom's friend... etc.

HockeyFan4

I was talking with a photographer (not wedding) who sort of had the same thought....why would someone ever release the printing rights....and oddly enough we went with a photographer he recommended that did give the cd (print rights only...she still retains the ownership of her work)....I jokingly brought it up with our photographer and she said in the WEDDING business you pretty much have to do a cd/dvd nowadays.  Let your fiance know it is a common practice now to give a cd in lieu of a proof book.