Lost an awesome photographer :(

agancedo

Hey guys so I just found out that the photographer I really like won't work with us unless we do the album from her. Also she seems she doesn't want to give us a DVD with the full resolution pics like I asked form and instead tried to convince me to get one with 150 of our favorites at mid resolution (print up to a 5x7). The thing is that to get the album we want with her we would have to pay close to another 1k. I was just gonna do an album on adoramapix but at least i get to spend the money I do have and pay her for the awesome pictures instead of going over my budget because of one album and still not having the rights to all of my pics.

I don't really think I'm being unreasonable (please let me know if you think otherwise) and I understand that everyone works different but Im just really disappointed right now...

melb2013

I'll give you my two cents: It's really important to me to get a great photographer.  The goods ones are often more expensive and I've found from a lot of different experiences, often don't just give away the rights to their photos.  If you love her and can shift some money around, I'd go for it.  Also look around for other photographers too, but be aware that really great ones may make you pay extra for things like albums and rights to reproduce.

SSaltzman87

Photographers must do things differently around the country. Mine for example automatically gives you a DVD with the high res pics and she does offer pricing for prints and albums, but you're not required to do either with her. That sucks you can't work with her.

SRRL18

I wouldn't want to do business with her if she runs it like that. She has to right to obligate you to buy something you don't want and to tell you o minimize what you do want. I'm sorry you are loosing the photographer you want, but I'm sure you'll find someone better. 

SRRL18

Sorry, I meant to say "no right" not "to right".

PJBHL5

That's really not super unusual for a photographer. You have to understand that her business is her livelihood. And when you are in a creative business like that, your reputation is built on the color balancing of your photos, your editing, and the clarity of your photos. Most REALLY talented photographers will not give you photos that can be printed big because they don't want it to be printed larger than the photo really SHOULD be printed based on it's quality, then have a crappy, pixelly photo out there that people are crediting her for. It can damage your business. It's just a matter of quality control in an industry when quality control is becoming more and more difficult. As for the album, the same goes. Many album places auto color correct photos and they come out looking crappy and either too warm or too cool. And most customers don't KNOW to requrest no color correction.. so again, an album floating around with jacked up photos that "XYZ Photography took!" Not good for business.
Sucks as a bride to have to put up with that, but really not that uncommon.
When I shot in Northern California for 2 years, I did the same thing. I sold my files on CD, but I made them so expensive that people either wouldn't want to spend the money on it, or if they DID, i was atleast getting well compensated for the potential damage to my reputation.

sbc2013

I think that if you absolutely want a CD and rights to the photos, you need to find a different photographer to work with. I personally find the CD and rights EXTREMELY important and I would not be willing to compromise on that. I want the ability to print photos, more of the same or different ones, whenever I want. And I realize that the photos were meant to be printed somewhere professional, not Walgreens, so I wouldn't even attempt to go there. I just think that at the end of the day, I don't understand why I would pay thousands of dollars for the maybe 150 pictures I could get into an album or afford to print through the photographer at that time. Also, I will be making a copy of the CD and keeping the copy in a safety deposit box, so that's another plus, IMO. If you are really set on having a CD and the rights, I would just find a different photographer. Was there anyone else that peaked your interest? 

agancedo

I completely understand what you mean PJBHL5 but in her print out of prices and everything she not only had the packages listed but also an a la carte section where her price per hour was listed as well as the price of the full resolution DVD. I offered to do that which would come out to 3000 anyway (the DVD was 1500 alone which I thought was crazy but i was willing to do it). However becuase i dont want the album she wont work with it. I dont understand why she even has the a la carte option if clearly she "requires" the album.

@sbc2013 - I too find the full rights extremely important. Not just because I want the abliity to print how many I want at a price point I can feel comfortable with (again not walgreens) I also don't want the photographer's logo on my pictures.

Ugh, I hope I find something soon because this whole vendor search is driving me nuts. I much rather focus on my DIY and have all the contracts set.

PJBHL5

yeah, you're right. don't advertise a "build your own package" option if you don't want to sell it. That, or, like I did, make it so expensive that it's worth your time if people DO buy it.
When I lived in NorCal, I did portrait sessions. My time was $300 per hour. My prints started at $85 per 5x7 and my CD (20 images high res) started at $2,500.00. Very few people bought it,which is what I preferred. But I knew that if someone CHOSE to buy it, i wouldn't walk away feeling like I got screwed out of a decent sale. Like I said, it was a high enough price to be worth the potential damage to my reputation if someone printed crappy prints.
She either needs to make it expensive enough that she doesn't have to FORCE you to buy the album (heck, she could just work the albums profit into that price and walk away with the same $ in her pocket, but far less work) or she needs to take it of her price sheet.