Tipping photographer after engagement shoot

LudaSeka

We had our engagement shoot yesterday and I am very very happy with our photographer. He was very patient, encouraged us to take so many different kinds of shots in different areas of town (Hoboken) and was so easy to work with. He even got yelled at a few times by cops (apparantly you cannot take photos inside a train station due to post 911 security regulations) and I felt so bad.

We did not tip him at the end though.. everyone I've talked to and a few people over at the Etiquette boards advised us that you don't tip the photographer until the end of the wedding. We had such a fun, excellent experience with him though that I kinda regret it now..

Sometimes different rules apply when it comes to Jersey weddings so I figured I'd ask here.. did any of you tip your photographer after the engagement session? Should we send him a thank you basket or something? Or is it ok to just wait til the wedding day to tip him for everything like we planned?

Reilly626

We didnt tip and the pics were great.  We paid the company enough.  At the wedding we gave him $75.

goaliegirl

we tipped our photographer after the engagement shoot, i think about $50.    We felt that he did a great job and he still had to do a lot of work for us, so we felt it was right to give a tip.

altimat873

hmm thats a tough one. . .I have my shoot in April of next year and also doing Hoboken, Id love to see your pix. I think it would be just fine to tip after the wedding only.

USER876

I don't think a tip is necessary....you are paying for a service for a contracted price.

Does this guy own the company?  If so, then a def no.

rernst

Tipping the photographer is generally neither necessary nor expected.  Espeically for an engagement shoot which is only an hour or two.

After your wedding, a tip is a very nice gesture for someone who does not own the company.  When you're working with a staff photographer who is an employee of the studio, it's always nice to recognize their efforts; maybe $50-$100.  For someone like myself who owns the studio, tips are a nice bit of recognition, but absolutely never expected nor necessary.  Ask any professional photographer and they will tell you that they'd MUCH rather have your recommendation than a few extra $'s.

Bob
Robert Wayne Photography

USER876

Ban in 5......4........3.......2......1.......

felicia220

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_tipping-photographer-after-engagement-shoot?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:e5ef821a-13ca-4555-ae93-2eefe3708808Post:ec248c29-0cec-4d7f-9d3c-64a4dbc1fecc">Re: Tipping photographer after engagement shoot</a>:
[QUOTE]Ban in 5......4........3.......2......1.......
Posted by USER876[/QUOTE]

<div>This.....hahaha</div>

LudaSeka

Thanks guys.

Yes I believe he does own the studio. It's a family owned business.. they've done work for my family for years. His father used to do the work, and now his son (our photographer) seems to have taken over.

The input from rernst was actually very useful being that he is in the profession himself.. I don't get the ban comments, that went over my head. lol

USER876

If you read the rules....

Any member of our community, including a bride, involved in a wedding related business must adhere to the same rules as wedding professionals and are not permitted to post on The Knot message boards.

Vendors are not allowed to post here, and in the past have been banned.  We'll see if and when our mod's even read this I suppose.

uppereastgirl

I would add to what User said that there are good reasons to ban even helpful vendors.  First, it isn't fair to the vendors who pay for Knot advertising but abide by the rules that other vendors are sneaking by and getting their name out for free.  Second, Mr. Wayne isn't the only photographer out there, and while his perspective may be helpful, it isn't the only perspective and other photographers may disagree with him anyway.  But they won't be able to get their word in because they're nice enough to follow the rules.  How do we know anyway that we're getting the right industry standard answer, and not the one that is his practice and that sheds his business in the best light?  He isn't impartial.

And I'm sorry, but at the end of the day he isn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart; rather, he's doing this to promote his business.  Otherwise he wouldn't need an elaborate introduction and his business name in his signature.

This whole thing is a very slippery slope -- if he's allowed, every other photographer should be allowed and every catering hall manager and every florist and every limo driver should be allowed too and the boards will flooded vendor promotion crap.

Enough brides and grooms here have gone through the process that it is pretty easy to get a consensus from us on whether tips are appropriate, contract terms, and all of the other stuff he says he's helpful for.  

Maybe it would be helpful if there was a vendors helping brides forum here in which vendors could answer questions that brides posed specifically for him.  Nycweddings.com has that.  But The Knot doesn't have that, and so there's no place for vendors here.