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Average Wait For Photo Digital Negatives??

rjade15rjade15
First Comment First Anniversary
in Illinois-Chicago
I found my dream photographer, but I have to wait a year to get the printing rights to all of my wedding photos. I do get a $250 print credit to print pics right away and I could get the rights to the pics in 8-10 weeks, but it costs an extra $500. Does this seem strange to have to wait a year? I understand this is the way photographers make money (people buying prints), but I want to make my own wedding album to save money. Thoughts?! Thanks!
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Re: Average Wait For Photo Digital Negatives??

  • june22twelvejune22twelve
    First Comment
    It depends....my photographer releases the negatives 120 days after the event. However, a relative of mine just got married and her photographer won't release the negatives until a wedding album is purchased. Make sure you read the fine print! Nothing can be easy these days...... 

    Good luck!
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  • aimers1525aimers1525 member
    2500 Comments Combo Breaker
    I think that's pretty ridiculous. We got the rights to print and received our edited photos about two months after our wedding day, did not have to pay extra, but received a print credit in our package.  We also weren't required or forced to purchase a wedding album from our photographer, but she did offer ability to purchase.

    There are so many wedding photographers out there, I would look around to see what type of packages are out there where you don't have to wait so long or pay extra. 
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  • scstar17scstar17 member
    100 Comments
    That sounds so shady, but you're right it's so they make money.  There are a lot of photographers out there that don't do that, you usually need to find one that doesn't offer an album in their 'package' deal and just lets you buy their photography without signing to promise to buy prints.  Generally speaking, a company with a brick and mortar store won't give you this option. 

    My photog is getting my finished digital files to me in a month, and has a backup for me forever should I lose or destroy my files.  I am not buying any prints or albums from him since my own work gets me access to much higher quality printers and album makers than he has.
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  • rjade15rjade15
    First Comment First Anniversary
    Thanks for the advice girls!

    This photgrapher doesn't require me to buy an album or any minimum of prints, so I don't have to worry about that. But if relatives or friends want to buy the pictures, they would have to through the photographer. Their prices for pics are pretty reasonable and I would probably order the larger sized ones through them for better quality. I'm just thinking if I'll get too antsy to wait a whole year to be able to print them off myself! Now I'm so confused because I thought I was all set!!
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  • aimers1525aimers1525 member
    2500 Comments Combo Breaker
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_average-wait-for-photo-digital-negatives?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:f2dbd624-1cdf-4393-8639-ce7e47156be5Post:c71bc74e-ecc2-43f4-a6b9-04555af7a5d9">Re: Average Wait For Photo Digital Negatives??</a>:
    [QUOTE]Thanks for the advice girls! This photgrapher doesn't require me to buy an album or any minimum of prints, so I don't have to worry about that. <strong>But if relatives or friends want to buy the pictures, they would have to through the photographer.</strong> Their prices for pics are pretty reasonable and <strong>I would probably order the larger sized ones through them for better quality</strong>. I'm just thinking if I'll get too antsy to wait a whole year to be able to print them off myself! Now I'm so confused because I thought I was all set!!
    Posted by rjade15[/QUOTE]
    If family/friends want pictures, ordering through the photographer is pretty typical.  I did order prints as a part of our print credit for our parents, but plan on printing my own via our DVD of images that was included in our package. 
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  • taniontanion member
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_average-wait-for-photo-digital-negatives?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:f2dbd624-1cdf-4393-8639-ce7e47156be5Post:44d4fdc4-463b-4208-bbe6-c679a234f9a9">Re: Average Wait For Photo Digital Negatives??</a>:
    [QUOTE]Our photographer is going to put our photos on a DVD for us. We can get them printed through them, or where ever we want to take them. I liked that option. We are basically paying for their time to shoot our wedding and reception. We did not want them to do an album. We are doing that ourselves.
    Posted by marisa2012[/QUOTE]

    That's one of the packages Fred Fox Studios has, its who my sister used.  You can buy your service time with a DVD of all of your digital files.  If you want an album later, you can go through them, or you can make your own on like snapfish for a lot cheaper (of course I don't think the albums are the same quality).
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  • 2cultures2wed2cultures2wed
    10 Comments
    It doesn't sound shady. When I was looking, the photographers that were the most artistic and subsequently cost the most did hold on to the negatives for the first year. $250 worth of pictures right off the bat does sound like a lot of pictures. Try to get picture costs in writing before you commit to hiring them. You have a lifetime to look at the pictures so as long as they will be available online for the entire year and you get $250 worth of reasonably priced pictures it might be worth it if you love the style.
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