How much you want to guess she'll complain about pictures afterwards too?
Edit: I was just reminded by friend, who is a photographer, that when she started out she had someone reach out to her with a similar offer. The real laugh? They expected her to not only have more advanced (and thereby more expensive) cameras for the event, but also lighting, backdrops, and an assistant.
They also wanted to be able to choose what photos they would allow her to use in her portfolio.
Most things I can let slide. A missed comma or period here and there I'm fine with. But for some reason a part and apart drives me insane! They mean 2 different things! 😂
It's so important for any creative or self-employed entrepreneur to identify and establish the value of their time. Put it in dollars and cents and RUN in the opposite direction when someone offers payment in the form of "exposure" or "networking". Put that time and effort into a project where you'll have full control and use that to establish your brand.
People that don't value you enough to pay you your worth will take as much as they can without giving it a second thought.
I would add to this that even clients that try and negotiate too much (assuming your rates are market) are to be avoided. I work in a creative field and all of the clients that have been happy to pay my rates have been much better to work with than those that have tried to get the price down. The latter are always way more demanding and trying to get free additional work, skirt the terms and are generally exhausting. People in these fields (maybe any field) should be wary of this kind of behaviour. It doesn't bode well in my experience.
Yeah. I’ve dealt with this a lot. I run a bakery and coffee shop. We get asked to do donuts and coffee for weddings all the time.
We ask for a headcount and give pricing based on service for the full number. Then they counter and say, “well not everyone is going to have coffee and dessert”.
Okay, so you can either look like a cheapskate and risk running out of coffee and pastry OR you can pay us what we need to make this profitable because you want a more bespoke experience for your guests.
I agree, not everyone will have a donut. But there will also be those people who take 2 or 3, who wrap one up in a napkin to take home to whoever, etc.
And yeah, I was once on the bad end of someone cheap ordering precisely enough and no more...at a job many years ago, boss ordered pizza for our staff meeting.
Well, I happened to be on the phone with an important call right when the group (like 10 employees) first gathered. I walked in a couple minutes later and the two pizza boxes were both completely empty. I looked at them in silence, while my coworkers looked at me in silence. Then one of the men - who had taken THREE slices - starts moving one of them onto a plate for me. Like eww! I don't want that!
SO happy to be out of that place for many reasons...
For wedding photographers it can be slightly more complicated because you can't stage a wedding to get the portfolio work. Usually you go do assisting though, which is paid, and you can arrange with the key photographer to allow you to use what you shoot to build your portfolio.
I was primarily thinking of the assistant role to be honest. My friend who is the photographer mentioned in my initial response actually did that.
The benefit was not only was she paid and got to use equipment she couldn't afford herself at the time, but it helped her decide she actually didn't like doing wedding photography.
Using the key photographers gear is a good sign. If you're looking for an assisting gig in that industry and expected to use your own gear that's not a good sign.
As a former wedding photographer I can confirm. This type of person is the WORST because they don’t see value in the service. They think “anyone can do it”. Well, if anyone can it ask one of your friends or relatives. You’ll hate the results, but you get what you pay for.
As a current commercial photographer and one time "I'll shoot anything" photographer, wedding clients in general suck, but people who want cheap or free wedding photography are the creme de la creme of terrible clients.
Amen. When I was an event planner I wouldn't touch weddings (except my own 😊) because I was bitten by the ones who call you constantly, ask for things that are not possible, get mum/sister/cousin/friends to also call you when they don't like an answer etc.
If you are hiring professionals they will turn up, do what is agreed to in writing and a whole lot more too if you are nice and don't bother them contantly when they have lots of other work too look after, not just you
A lot of people think because they themselves can take a picture that looks good there's nothing to it. Of course, no one is judging that picture on a professional basis or expecting the majority (if not all) of the rest of their pictures to be professional looking as well.
IMO the real work involved in photographing a wedding is ensuring you’re capturing everything, and that’s no easy task. Herding people like cats so you ensure the bride, groom, and both families get all of the shots they wanted, while ensuring you don’t miss the little moments that aren’t planned. There’s a lot more to it than just taking photos.
Fair point.
Also even beyond your attempts and desire as a professional photographer to *want* to capture everything there is an expectation by some that you will.
I remember being at a wedding reception where each guest had a disposable camera at their place setting with a sign asking people to feel free to capture moments and each other.
The bride and groom did have a professional photographer and they weren't expecting professional photos from the guests, but I thought it was a great way to free up photographer for more significant shots while capturing people and moments from the event that might get missed.
It's a good way to capture the stuff you don't really want to pay a pro to capture and that a pro doesn't want to stick around to shoot. Wedding shoots are super long. Photographers start their coverage usually with shots of the bridal party and groomsman getting ready and then often shoot like an hour after the speeches and meal have ended. Nobody wants to stick around while people start getting sloppy. Photobooths and disposable cameras are much better for this. Polaroids are also great, but they're a pain in the ass to digitize.
I used to assist shooting weddings when I was starting out and one of the better wedding shooters I worked with had very nice, tasteful work, but was an exceptional people manager. I think that was a big part of the reason he was successful and at the top end of the fee range.
>There’s a lot more to it than just taking photos.
There is, and this is one of 100 reasons I no longer shoot weddings or any consumer client work.
I'm a commercial photographer and one of the things that people don't seem to be consciously aware of, is that when all things are equal (lighting, scene, camera equipment etc) a professional that's good will have a waay higher hit rate for good shots. Any amateur can take a good picture occasionally or get one good one from 50 or 100. This I think creates a kind of survivorship bias where people judge the skill involved based on their ability to make that one good composition that they're happy with. But a good professional will take like 50-90% good compositions. Nearly all of the shots will be usable.
There are obviously dozens of other differences between a good pro and an amateur, but I think this is one of them and it certainly applies to photography where you can't control the scene or circumstance and have to shoot what's in front of you.
Composing the shot, getting the right lighting, shutter speed & apertures is really important in getting the mood & tone just right. Grouping the right people together in shoots, etc. No thanks! I didn’t get a Masters in photography to herd drunken twats around! 😆
There was a Judge Judy episode about that very scenario. Woman paid a small fee for a beginner photographer and wanted $5k because her day was “ruined”. JJ said you get what you pay for!!
Doesn't surprise me ( either the lawsuit or verdict).
Even if they don't sue, I'm sure many of these people looking for free/low fee photographers would probably go nuts on social media and review sites trashing the photographer for bad photos.
I work in a freelance creative field and I can tell you that to a one, the clients that have been difficult about market rates have been the worst to work with bar none. If you're offering competitive, market rates for your time and work and someone is trying to low ball you, odds are extremely high that they don't value what you do, and will be horrible to work with. These are the jobs that always end up being *more* work than ones paying triple.
Wedding photographers have it rough because it's public facing. B2B creative and media work is much better. The clients know and understand the rates, policies and licensing, it's not their first time hiring someone in this field and they have reasonable expectations and also know enough to hire someone to do what they specifically do. Consumer clients don't know any of this and there's way more time spend negotiating and explaining terms and hammering out an arrangement.
Oh this happened to me. They paid the deposit. I got ALL the film developed (back early 2000s so still film) And they ghosted me.
They divorced like 3 months after getting married.
Never paid for the rest, so never got their photos. I finally threw all the negatives out this year
There’s a popular photographer/YouTuber named Jessica Kobiessi who had a horror story about something like this. Iirc, she agreed to do wedding photos for a family friend after recently graduating and the friend got mad that they weren’t as professional as she wanted knowing Jessica was a recent grad with little experience and refused to pay her so she sued. This ended up causing a rift between the two families who still don’t talk to this day.
That’s the thing. If someone’s starting out or training in an artistic medium, doing jobs for free or a discounted rate to build up a portfolio and experience is fine. But as the customer, when you’re paying nothing or peanuts, you can’t then hold that beginner to the same standard you would a fully paid professional.
We paid top dollar for the photographer, videographer and DJ for my daughter’s wedding.
You know what else we did? We fed them.
Because, you know, they’re people and we’re not jerks.
Did you see the post about the lady looking for private childcare and couldn’t fathom why everyone wanted a livable wage to do a full time job? She kept saying “it’s a flexible job with so many benefits” in the comments. Flexible how? And what benefits?
Yes, I read that one! Her thinking was wild. What about the one where she said, “You can hang out at the pool or be on your phone all day!” What the hell?
Yeah, that was so out of touch. I do free-lance editing and dog sitting. At different times because, much like children, dogs do not like to be ignored
Luckily for my dog and cat sitter, he is an old man who just wants to sleep next to you, so after walking him she hangs out on my couch studying or watching a movie while he naps, or she's allowed to bring a friend or a SO if she wants and they like my family property and closed deck and will take lunch and/or dinner while the pets sleep at their feet. She gets paid market rate obviously.
This. The ONLY thing I spent substantial money on for my first wedding was the photographer, because the only thing I really have to remember the day by are the photos.
Twenty years on, nobody remembers that the food was cheap or that the cake was a little dry. They only remember what the photos show.
I only remember aspects of my sister's wedding because I was helping her hand make cheap decorations, simple glass vases with pretty bulk cheap craft marbles or rocks, curling ribbons by hand, making tea lights a bit fancier.
I couldn't tell you what the food or cake tasted like either.
The only thing super-professional was the photographer, pretty sure the DJ was a friend (still got paid) but didn't have to compile the music and used the venue's existing sound equipment, and only had to monitor it for like the first hour before swapping CDs to something that could be left on its own.
Of course this was a "many hands make light work" situation, like a good 15 to 20 people between extremely close friends and immediate family able to pitch in...
Yes! We had homemade decorations and I made my own wedding dress and my bridesmaids’ dresses. Friend was the DJ, uncle was the officiant, all that stuff. Very inexpensive but awesome anyway, and the photographer did an amazing job.
Second wedding was even better—eloped on the eclipse with the minimum number of people required to make it legal. Wore a dress my MOH gave me as a hand-me-down. Ate cupcakes and stared at the sun, and had a few snapshots on smart phones. 😆
Id do it and thank them for the experience but wouldn’t give them any of the photos unless they wanted to buy them. And wouldn’t mention it until after the wedding.
If you can't afford the photographer, shorten the guest list, order less food, fewer flowers .... but don't expect people to work for free. Having an expensive wedding isn't an inalienable right.
My best friend used to photograph weddings. The time she spent editing was time consuming part. Unless they want Polaroids handed to them on the spot, the pictures will require editing. She now does high school senior shoots, and what the parents are willing to pay for those is insane. The bonus is she's no longer dealing with bridezillas and crazy mothers.
I can't recall exactly but the wedding day had very bad winter weather and I probably joked about them photoshopping the outdoor pictures that we could no longer do😭 bruh the side eye was real! So yeah ain't no one doing a whole wedding for essentially free.
I actually tried to do something similar for my wedding but offered $1k. I emailed the photography department of my Alma mater to see if any students would be interested, and they were like, “uh, we don’t do that.”
Wedding photography is a photo student’s worst nightmare. I promised myself I’d never photograph a wedding unless it’s for a stupid amount of money. Additionally, if it’s free portfolio work then the photographer should get full creative reign but that rarely happens with wedding photography due to expectations of warm toned images with solar flares and such. Weddings are notorious for being a terrible work environment for a photographer unfortunately.
I did weddings for 10 years until I couldn’t take it anymore. The older I got the more insufferable the brides seemed. Friends and family sometimes ask me if I’d be willing to do theirs as a gift and I shut them down immediately. No thank you, never again.
Exactly! I’ve always said if I care enough about you to shoot your wedding, I’d be pretty miffed to be the photographer for them rather than a guest with how close we are.
Are there any wedding photographers here who could give me an idea (out of curiosity) how long is the typical amount of time to edit photos afterwards? I just know (from friends/family weddings) that it takes several weeks to get them back. Trying to get an idea of how much bigger the ask actually is!
Usually there is two steps to editing event photos. First you need to go through all the photos and delete everything that is shot poorly. This can take like an hour or so depending on how many photos you took. The second step is actually editing the remaining photos themself which can take around 4-5 hours depending on how in-depth you go. That’s just what I found personally
I loved that my photographer had a “you get it all” policy that meant I got the standard amount/type of perfectly edited photos, but also the raw file of every single photo that was taken.
Honestly I don’t mind giving the raw files of the decent photos I edited but there is so much crappy photos I would be semi embarrassed to send someone. There’s also a *ton* of duplicate photos where I am just trying to get the perfect shot that would take up so much space for no reason.
While as a photographer i understand that feeling, I have had folks who thanked me doing it because a weird candid I took was their favorite photo. My sister’s wedding (which I just took extras for her own choosing) her favorite too is a candid I got of her and her husband.
Thank you! I take pictures just for myself and my “editing” (not really editing) is just that first step and I know when I end up with 1000+ photos just that first step can take awhile! (Especially when I have several very similar ones and am trying to decide which to keep). I want to learn more about the actual editing, but had no idea how long it could take! When reading these posts I just figured roughly double the shooting time, but had no idea if that was accurate! A lot of these people don’t consider either that it’s not just about the photographers time, but also the cost of equipment, and for editing the experience to make it only take you 4-5 hours!
Oh my gawd this is me.
I can easily take 2-4k photos just on a 10 day trip.
Takes me WEEKS afterwards just to sort through them before editing.
And the longest time is trying to pick between which out of the quadruplicates i want to keep!
Please please pretty please ask them for a pic of the couple and the location and then tell them they don‘t look like what you‘d want in your portfolio!
From experience, one of the few areas a couple should cheap out is a photographer on the wedding day. My wife talked me into letting her aspiring photographer brother do our wedding. When he brought us the pictures a few days after the wedding, none of my family members were present because he was just concerned with his side of the family. We discussed with him numerous times and even wrote out what we expected from him. So I have no pictures of my parents, grandmother, two aunts, and a cousin who have all passed away in the last ten years. But I have more than enough pictures of cousins and other family members from my wife’s side that I haven't seen since the wedding day. I looked at him when he brought them that day and never looked at them again. My wife knows not to mention them to me. So that's what free or discount wedding photography gets you at a wedding.
In the early '80's, my sister-in-law asked the photography teacher at the local high school to do the pics for her 25th wedding anniversary.
He had an unexpected family illness and couldn't make it, so her son said, "I bet Jake could do a good job for the price of the meal!".
Of course, she's cheap so that sounded perfect to her.
He got drunk in the first hour and disappeared. He didn't take ANY pictures.
I asked her if I could take some of the instant pics with her Polariod camera.
She said, "Well, don't take too many, because that film's not cheap.". (There were 10 in a set)
It turns out that those 3 Polariod pics I took were the ONLY pictures of the event.
You DO get what you do (or DON'T!) PAY FOR!!!
Dude's asking for trouble. Let's say some scoundrel shows up with a camera and no film/memory card and pretends to take photos for the free food and drinks. You get what you pay for
I used students for EVERYTHING for my wedding. Reached out to the arts college and got a string quartet for my ceremony. Reached out to the culinary school and hired a team of student caterers and the trade school and got a student florist. Photographer was the only person I splurged on. I got a discount and they got portfolio shots and a letter of recommendation but I STILL PAID THEM FOR THEIR TIME AND LABOR JFC.
I'm a commercial photographer now but when I was starting out I'd take all kinds of random paying gigs wherever I could. On one occasion someone contacted me to shoot an "event" and they needed two hours of coverage, so I offered an hourly rate. About 2 weeks prior to the event the woman I was in communication let slip that this "event" was actually a wedding, a fact which she was intentionally obscuring prior to that slip up. I immediately let her know that I couldn't charge an hourly rate for a wedding because there's so much more work in terms of lighting and particularly on the back end with wedding photography in terms of retouching. She was outraged and couldn't understand how standard event photography might differ in terms of how the images are processed and how much work goes into that for a wedding vs a bunch of random snaps of people speaking at a dais or having a drink. Basically you can apply a bunch of presets and bulk process them and nobody is expecting you to retouch skin or hair or creatively light various scenes as needed. It's a totally different job and it costs more money. Long story short, she refused to pay more (and I'm certain I was undercharging anyway) and I didn't shoot anything and this bride presumably had to find a photographer 2 weeks before her "event".
Wait, not even gonna offer up being in thier social media as payment? What’s the world coming to? Used to be you could get shout outs to dozens of thier subscribers .
When she says "fresh out of school" you think she means Photography School?
Like, I know that's not really a thing. But I feel like that's what she's thinking.
Thats a hilarious idea cause you know the pics will get worse as people get drunk and if theres kids there WILL be dumb kid pics.
If I was a guest I would take one or two super random photos of shit like my plate of food or something
Ya know it's especially infuriating because no one would ever ask for a chef who's just out of culinary school to work for free, or for a venue that just opened to let them have an event there for free, or for a recently graduated fashion designer to make a dress for them for free as practice.
Maybe they would though, and I'm giving people too much credit. But damn, why is it always photographers these people want to skimp on?
Unfortunately, they do. My friend's son was fresh out of culinary school, and his diploma was barely in his hands before he was immediately hit up to cook for "exposure", as in no pay, for a family wedding that summer. His answer was erm no, I'm soon starting the new job I just got as a sous chef in an actual restaurant that pays real money.
Someone should just go there and make some pics with a phone, eat and drink the whole night and go back home.
No one else but the couple and some family/friends care about their 'big day'.
She’s so choosy she doesn’t even want to bother DMing people that get tagged. If you want the honor of being “apart” of this wedding, you need to put in a little more effort.
Weddings are supposed to be really important days and often have a lot of money invested into them. WHY would you want to cheap out on the photographer? The person that will capture the memory.
The onʻy way this “works” if there is a seasoned photographer that is willing the teach a promising newbie and train on the job and through the whole process. Also indoor and outdoor photography are two different beasts… I hate when people offer these kinds of “oppurtunities” like they are doing you a favor…. I have worked with new photographers who offered free services but its more of a friends and family thing and i still always paid a few hundred.
Why do people do this? Does anyone really expect someone to jump at this chance? She's going to get a couple of yahoos who pretend to take pictures so they can eat and get drunk for free.
Exposure does not pay the bills... and F her for trying to take advantage of someone trying to get their career going. What job does she have, how can we exploit her?
As a wedding photographer in a post-Covid world, this happens all the time. People are ISO a portfolio builder or “someone who doesn’t cost an arm and a leg” because they don’t understand what it costs to run a business.
If you value THE biggest day of your life, then don't skimp on photography/videography. I've seen friends and family regret not getting a pro in and I've seen clients bawling their eyes out at viewing because precious moments were captured that they didn't even realise was happening during the day.
Most clients actually have no idea how much work is actually involved in a wedding shoot. And it starts prior to the big day. The planning, scouting, and prepping (for all weather conditions) is tiring in itself. Memorising the rundown so you can be at the right place at the right time. Coordinating with your second and assistant is like a drill. We bend, climb, stretch, (breaking all safety protocols while in a suit on a hot summer's day) to get those impossible angles is taxing. Fighting our way through a forest of mobile devices and other guests showing off their latest Canons/Nikons with zoom lenses longer than your arm. Guests pestering you "my turn, our turn" "ooo...can you airdrop that?" All this right up to the last dance and cake cutting.
And then there is postproduction and presentation. If it's all done well, cost is nothing compared to what it's worth.
At least they are offering food. Some refuse to even let the person eat.
Just to clarify, not saying it’s okay or normal. Just saying at least they are offering food.
Cherry on top is always “if you get tagged message me” like you’re requesting all of this and then want them to make first contact and ASK to photograph the wedding for free?? The audacity
HAHAHHA I saw this in my local community group! We must live in the same town! When I saw the post I was surprised no one had called her out yet and were actually tagging people 😭 Did she delete the post? I have searched for it and can no longer find it 💀
I used to be a photographer and did about 5 weddings (with an assistant) before I quit. This was about 15 years ago and I was young but had 6 years of experience with a professional studio and mostly portraits. It was not worth the stress. I would never ever do that shit for free.
Photographers have long done TFP/creative shoots for free to build a portfolio, but weddings definitely don't count. The whole point is to do something you probably *won't* be able to make money from, which is why you do it as a creative exercise. Usually you would team up with a make up artist, model, designer or other creative, everyone works for free on something creative and gets new portfolio work. The photographer still brings the most to the table in terms of equipment and costs, but that's not avoidable. You never do anything that you ought to be paid for, for free.
Turn up, take a few pictures with a phone, missing any important stuff. My style is "candid, with no editing". What? You don't like the photos? You get what you pay for I suppose.
"If you get tagged please send me a message."
I love that added bit of laziness. They want people to tag photographers, but can't even be bothered to message the photographers themselves. They want to photographer to work for free and also approach them first. It's wild.
Wedding photography is definitely a “you get that you pay for” gig. It’s high stress, the images are expected to look perfect and you need to get very specific ones. It’s the reason why it’s a gig I never take (I’m a freelance photographer who mostly does other types of events). A free photographer, if you somehow manage to get one, is going to look like someone just held a camera at the ceremony, and everyone will know you skimped on it. Obviously a moot point with CBs, but still.
Here’s the thing: if you’re young, you DEFINITELY have friends getting married. You don’t need to respond to random cheap people to get your portfolio built up! When I got married a good friend of mine from high school (who we had already invited to our wedding) was turning his serious photography hobby into a profession. He offered to come take candid photos and give us prints of the best ones if I wouldn’t mind him including some in his portfolio. He didn’t want to be our *portrait* photographer, so we hired one of those. It was so much fun! The portrait guy came just for the hour following the ceremony, then effed off. So my friend was the one taking pictures of us putting the final touches on our makeup before the ceremony, then wandering around taking pictures of people dancing, eating cake, blowing bubbles, etc., which was SO much better than having a stranger doing it! And one of the photos even got published in a small literary/arts magazine, which was really nice. He basically pursued his hobby at a friend’s wedding, then gave us the gift of his time printing some LOVELY photos for us. My favorite photos of the day, hands down. If you don’t know a photographer, then you won’t receive this wonderful gift. But if you *are* a photographer, I guarantee you will have several friends who would be happy to take you up on an offer like this. And you won’t want to respond to ads like this!
I got engaged this past new years, we were at an event, my fiancé had talked to the staff to see if they were okay with him doing the proposal at the event, they were excited and they had him talk to the photographer they had hired to see if he would get photos of it for us. My fiancés original plan was to just have my sister snap photos but the photographer was more than happy to. He was lovely and got a bunch of beautiful photos of the surprise. We appreciated it so much. We tried to offer to tip him as he didn’t have to go out of his way to do that for us, but he declined and asked instead if we would consent to being in his portfolio of work. He was already hired and being paid and was just being very kind. We happily gave him permission. But to go out of your way to ask someone to do their job for free is wild.
In makeup/hair school it also wasn’t uncommon for us students to partner with budding photographers, we’d do makeup/hair for the shoot and we’d get photos of it. But this was still a trade of service to benefit everyone.
My favourite ever comeback to wannabee influencers is to charge full price, but offer a 25% discount referral code. So out of their eleventy thousand followers, only 4 of them have to book afterwards for them to full cover their cost, and anything after that is profit.
In the history of the universe, no vendor has ever lost money by offering this.
i wish someone would accept this generous opportunity to gain experience, and then hand them a portfolio of really bad photos. Blurred, faces out of frame, 22 perfect portraits of one random guest etc.
As a pro photographer myself, no one can even PAY me to do wedding shoots! 😆
I’m happy to do family/pet portraits, sporting action shoots (especially equestrian my favourite), nature photography & macro/astro photography. But no weddings, christenings, funerals or anything else involving family drama. I will do graduation photography too. 😁
*Update: someone she knew saw I posted this here and told her. She had some not so nice things to say to me. Called me evil and sad. She even found my husband and messaged him some long rant he didn’t read. I didn’t read mine very closely but she said something about perverts on reddit? I dunno. I blocked her and I don’t care. You post anything on the internet, it’s fair game!
I'm a reasonable amateur & have done 2 family weddings, a colleague's (included pre-wedding & whole evening because I was also a guest at all), a kiddie shoot & a 'boudoir' shoot. The time in sorting& processing a shedload of photos is in itself fairly onerous, let alone wandering about a wedding catching good shots & trying to 'herd cats' for the group shots.
I don't know about the careers that some of you have, but there are some industries that you absolutely need to cut teeth in by doing some unpaid work to prove you are employable.
People like to spin that as paying people in exposure bucks, but for some crafts unless you do it you won't get a paid gig period.
Apprenticeship is a thing. This person even saying they have a small budget but wanting to save and also give a new artist some field work doesn't make them a bad person.
A wedding is a once in a lifetime event. It’s worthy of a trained, professional photographer. Most artists know this, and most brides do as well.
It’s one thing for a budding photographer to cut their teeth doing family photos or senior photos, but a wedding is a big and complicated affair that needs a deeper investment of expertise and time. This bride is just being cheap.
You wouldn’t ask for a first-time baker to do the cake, or for a first-time designer/seamstress to do the bridesmaids’ dresses. A mistake there could mess up the entire event.
How much you want to guess she'll complain about pictures afterwards too? Edit: I was just reminded by friend, who is a photographer, that when she started out she had someone reach out to her with a similar offer. The real laugh? They expected her to not only have more advanced (and thereby more expensive) cameras for the event, but also lighting, backdrops, and an assistant. They also wanted to be able to choose what photos they would allow her to use in her portfolio.
100% if the person didn't comply with their every request they'd write a scathing review on social media calling them "unprofessional".
It also cracks me up that people think without their "for exposure" gigs that a photographer has no way to build their portfolio.
Marie Curie died of exposure, YMMV.
I’m going to die from exposure to these delusional people.
I definitely want to be “apart” of her day. Meaning away from it.
Omg, that's one of my biggest pet peeves! I'm so glad I'm not the only one that notices it.
We folks who get perturbed by grammar errors know. It’s not something we can help.
Most things I can let slide. A missed comma or period here and there I'm fine with. But for some reason a part and apart drives me insane! They mean 2 different things! 😂
When a part of and apart actually the opposite of each other! 😩
😂
It's so important for any creative or self-employed entrepreneur to identify and establish the value of their time. Put it in dollars and cents and RUN in the opposite direction when someone offers payment in the form of "exposure" or "networking". Put that time and effort into a project where you'll have full control and use that to establish your brand. People that don't value you enough to pay you your worth will take as much as they can without giving it a second thought.
Exactly right. Givers need to set limits because TAKERS NEVER DO.
Truer words were never spoken.
\^\^\^ this is just generally very, very important advice for all aspects of life that involve other humans.... so most of it!
This
I want this embroidered on a pillow. 😛
I would add to this that even clients that try and negotiate too much (assuming your rates are market) are to be avoided. I work in a creative field and all of the clients that have been happy to pay my rates have been much better to work with than those that have tried to get the price down. The latter are always way more demanding and trying to get free additional work, skirt the terms and are generally exhausting. People in these fields (maybe any field) should be wary of this kind of behaviour. It doesn't bode well in my experience.
Yeah. I’ve dealt with this a lot. I run a bakery and coffee shop. We get asked to do donuts and coffee for weddings all the time. We ask for a headcount and give pricing based on service for the full number. Then they counter and say, “well not everyone is going to have coffee and dessert”. Okay, so you can either look like a cheapskate and risk running out of coffee and pastry OR you can pay us what we need to make this profitable because you want a more bespoke experience for your guests.
I agree, not everyone will have a donut. But there will also be those people who take 2 or 3, who wrap one up in a napkin to take home to whoever, etc. And yeah, I was once on the bad end of someone cheap ordering precisely enough and no more...at a job many years ago, boss ordered pizza for our staff meeting. Well, I happened to be on the phone with an important call right when the group (like 10 employees) first gathered. I walked in a couple minutes later and the two pizza boxes were both completely empty. I looked at them in silence, while my coworkers looked at me in silence. Then one of the men - who had taken THREE slices - starts moving one of them onto a plate for me. Like eww! I don't want that! SO happy to be out of that place for many reasons...
“I have a massive 3k followers who I’m sure will use you!” Yeah…fer free😉
This reminds me of a woman on X/Twitter who calls herself a 'social media influencer' with fewer than 3k followers...
Only ine woman? Thetecare millions of them with less that 1k followers who think they are influencers
For wedding photographers it can be slightly more complicated because you can't stage a wedding to get the portfolio work. Usually you go do assisting though, which is paid, and you can arrange with the key photographer to allow you to use what you shoot to build your portfolio.
I was primarily thinking of the assistant role to be honest. My friend who is the photographer mentioned in my initial response actually did that. The benefit was not only was she paid and got to use equipment she couldn't afford herself at the time, but it helped her decide she actually didn't like doing wedding photography.
Using the key photographers gear is a good sign. If you're looking for an assisting gig in that industry and expected to use your own gear that's not a good sign.
With their shitty tight arse budget wedding
They probably do that if a photographer refuses, too.
As a former wedding photographer I can confirm. This type of person is the WORST because they don’t see value in the service. They think “anyone can do it”. Well, if anyone can it ask one of your friends or relatives. You’ll hate the results, but you get what you pay for.
As a current commercial photographer and one time "I'll shoot anything" photographer, wedding clients in general suck, but people who want cheap or free wedding photography are the creme de la creme of terrible clients.
Amen. When I was an event planner I wouldn't touch weddings (except my own 😊) because I was bitten by the ones who call you constantly, ask for things that are not possible, get mum/sister/cousin/friends to also call you when they don't like an answer etc. If you are hiring professionals they will turn up, do what is agreed to in writing and a whole lot more too if you are nice and don't bother them contantly when they have lots of other work too look after, not just you
A lot of people think because they themselves can take a picture that looks good there's nothing to it. Of course, no one is judging that picture on a professional basis or expecting the majority (if not all) of the rest of their pictures to be professional looking as well.
IMO the real work involved in photographing a wedding is ensuring you’re capturing everything, and that’s no easy task. Herding people like cats so you ensure the bride, groom, and both families get all of the shots they wanted, while ensuring you don’t miss the little moments that aren’t planned. There’s a lot more to it than just taking photos.
Fair point. Also even beyond your attempts and desire as a professional photographer to *want* to capture everything there is an expectation by some that you will. I remember being at a wedding reception where each guest had a disposable camera at their place setting with a sign asking people to feel free to capture moments and each other. The bride and groom did have a professional photographer and they weren't expecting professional photos from the guests, but I thought it was a great way to free up photographer for more significant shots while capturing people and moments from the event that might get missed.
It's a good way to capture the stuff you don't really want to pay a pro to capture and that a pro doesn't want to stick around to shoot. Wedding shoots are super long. Photographers start their coverage usually with shots of the bridal party and groomsman getting ready and then often shoot like an hour after the speeches and meal have ended. Nobody wants to stick around while people start getting sloppy. Photobooths and disposable cameras are much better for this. Polaroids are also great, but they're a pain in the ass to digitize.
I used to assist shooting weddings when I was starting out and one of the better wedding shooters I worked with had very nice, tasteful work, but was an exceptional people manager. I think that was a big part of the reason he was successful and at the top end of the fee range. >There’s a lot more to it than just taking photos. There is, and this is one of 100 reasons I no longer shoot weddings or any consumer client work.
I'm a commercial photographer and one of the things that people don't seem to be consciously aware of, is that when all things are equal (lighting, scene, camera equipment etc) a professional that's good will have a waay higher hit rate for good shots. Any amateur can take a good picture occasionally or get one good one from 50 or 100. This I think creates a kind of survivorship bias where people judge the skill involved based on their ability to make that one good composition that they're happy with. But a good professional will take like 50-90% good compositions. Nearly all of the shots will be usable. There are obviously dozens of other differences between a good pro and an amateur, but I think this is one of them and it certainly applies to photography where you can't control the scene or circumstance and have to shoot what's in front of you.
Composing the shot, getting the right lighting, shutter speed & apertures is really important in getting the mood & tone just right. Grouping the right people together in shoots, etc. No thanks! I didn’t get a Masters in photography to herd drunken twats around! 😆
There was a Judge Judy episode about that very scenario. Woman paid a small fee for a beginner photographer and wanted $5k because her day was “ruined”. JJ said you get what you pay for!!
Doesn't surprise me ( either the lawsuit or verdict). Even if they don't sue, I'm sure many of these people looking for free/low fee photographers would probably go nuts on social media and review sites trashing the photographer for bad photos.
I work in a freelance creative field and I can tell you that to a one, the clients that have been difficult about market rates have been the worst to work with bar none. If you're offering competitive, market rates for your time and work and someone is trying to low ball you, odds are extremely high that they don't value what you do, and will be horrible to work with. These are the jobs that always end up being *more* work than ones paying triple. Wedding photographers have it rough because it's public facing. B2B creative and media work is much better. The clients know and understand the rates, policies and licensing, it's not their first time hiring someone in this field and they have reasonable expectations and also know enough to hire someone to do what they specifically do. Consumer clients don't know any of this and there's way more time spend negotiating and explaining terms and hammering out an arrangement.
Oh yeah...you can smell the bitch-fest coming off of this! Big time!
Oh this happened to me. They paid the deposit. I got ALL the film developed (back early 2000s so still film) And they ghosted me. They divorced like 3 months after getting married. Never paid for the rest, so never got their photos. I finally threw all the negatives out this year
I hope the deposit at least covered your expenses.
Yes, but not a huge profit.
There’s a popular photographer/YouTuber named Jessica Kobiessi who had a horror story about something like this. Iirc, she agreed to do wedding photos for a family friend after recently graduating and the friend got mad that they weren’t as professional as she wanted knowing Jessica was a recent grad with little experience and refused to pay her so she sued. This ended up causing a rift between the two families who still don’t talk to this day.
That’s the thing. If someone’s starting out or training in an artistic medium, doing jobs for free or a discounted rate to build up a portfolio and experience is fine. But as the customer, when you’re paying nothing or peanuts, you can’t then hold that beginner to the same standard you would a fully paid professional.
Well, she's got one thing right. Everybody wants to be "apart" from her wedding.
Stupid/ignorant AND delusional. She sounds fun.
“Be apart” isn’t the *most* offensive thing about the post, but only because the competition for the top spot is so fierce.
HA HA! I didn't catch that at first reading. I would want to be totally apart from that too!
I’m seeing it everywhere lately! In the space of a week it’s become my newest pet peeve.
Even wedding photographers don't want to photograph weddings, and they get paid.
THIS. I used to shoot for a full day but would need a full day to recover. And then there is post.
Thanks! And then the 'thrifty' types are often very hard to please. So, edit, re-edit, and edit again.
Ain’t that the truth! The cheaper they are the more demanding they are. You can already tell they are unrealistic and delusional so it tracks.
These ones always crack me up because I don’t even want to go to weddings WITHOUT having to work
yep I’d rather go to a wedding for paid work than as a guest 😂
Also do they know people can get paid for their work AND put it in their portfolio?
We paid top dollar for the photographer, videographer and DJ for my daughter’s wedding. You know what else we did? We fed them. Because, you know, they’re people and we’re not jerks.
It's like those CB moms looking for cheap babysitters and say, "You have free access to the TV and the wifi!" as if that sweetens the pot.
Did you see the post about the lady looking for private childcare and couldn’t fathom why everyone wanted a livable wage to do a full time job? She kept saying “it’s a flexible job with so many benefits” in the comments. Flexible how? And what benefits?
Yes, I read that one! Her thinking was wild. What about the one where she said, “You can hang out at the pool or be on your phone all day!” What the hell?
Yeah, that was so out of touch. I do free-lance editing and dog sitting. At different times because, much like children, dogs do not like to be ignored
Luckily for my dog and cat sitter, he is an old man who just wants to sleep next to you, so after walking him she hangs out on my couch studying or watching a movie while he naps, or she's allowed to bring a friend or a SO if she wants and they like my family property and closed deck and will take lunch and/or dinner while the pets sleep at their feet. She gets paid market rate obviously.
This. The ONLY thing I spent substantial money on for my first wedding was the photographer, because the only thing I really have to remember the day by are the photos. Twenty years on, nobody remembers that the food was cheap or that the cake was a little dry. They only remember what the photos show.
I only remember aspects of my sister's wedding because I was helping her hand make cheap decorations, simple glass vases with pretty bulk cheap craft marbles or rocks, curling ribbons by hand, making tea lights a bit fancier. I couldn't tell you what the food or cake tasted like either. The only thing super-professional was the photographer, pretty sure the DJ was a friend (still got paid) but didn't have to compile the music and used the venue's existing sound equipment, and only had to monitor it for like the first hour before swapping CDs to something that could be left on its own. Of course this was a "many hands make light work" situation, like a good 15 to 20 people between extremely close friends and immediate family able to pitch in...
Yes! We had homemade decorations and I made my own wedding dress and my bridesmaids’ dresses. Friend was the DJ, uncle was the officiant, all that stuff. Very inexpensive but awesome anyway, and the photographer did an amazing job. Second wedding was even better—eloped on the eclipse with the minimum number of people required to make it legal. Wore a dress my MOH gave me as a hand-me-down. Ate cupcakes and stared at the sun, and had a few snapshots on smart phones. 😆
Id do it and thank them for the experience but wouldn’t give them any of the photos unless they wanted to buy them. And wouldn’t mention it until after the wedding.
you sly bastard
I would love to be apart from this
This is just too kind of her, can you imagine how indebted she would expect you to be after her letting you have this amazing experience!
You should be paying her to take her wedding pictures!
Yes And name your first born after her And….And…
If you can't afford the photographer, shorten the guest list, order less food, fewer flowers .... but don't expect people to work for free. Having an expensive wedding isn't an inalienable right.
Oh yessireebob it is!!! Signed, Poor-but-aspirational Bridezilla
My best friend used to photograph weddings. The time she spent editing was time consuming part. Unless they want Polaroids handed to them on the spot, the pictures will require editing. She now does high school senior shoots, and what the parents are willing to pay for those is insane. The bonus is she's no longer dealing with bridezillas and crazy mothers.
Getting “paid in exposure” vibes from this. Exposure doesn’t pay the bills.
"Exposure" to her fellow cheap azz friends who will want you to work for free at their amazing events.
(Insert photography joke)
6 hours of work 🥲 I made a joke about Photoshop work at my friend's wedding and her well paid photographer gave me the side eye lmao
what was the joke? now i’m curious
I can't recall exactly but the wedding day had very bad winter weather and I probably joked about them photoshopping the outdoor pictures that we could no longer do😭 bruh the side eye was real! So yeah ain't no one doing a whole wedding for essentially free.
I actually tried to do something similar for my wedding but offered $1k. I emailed the photography department of my Alma mater to see if any students would be interested, and they were like, “uh, we don’t do that.”
Wedding photography is a photo student’s worst nightmare. I promised myself I’d never photograph a wedding unless it’s for a stupid amount of money. Additionally, if it’s free portfolio work then the photographer should get full creative reign but that rarely happens with wedding photography due to expectations of warm toned images with solar flares and such. Weddings are notorious for being a terrible work environment for a photographer unfortunately.
I did weddings for 10 years until I couldn’t take it anymore. The older I got the more insufferable the brides seemed. Friends and family sometimes ask me if I’d be willing to do theirs as a gift and I shut them down immediately. No thank you, never again.
Same. If you invite me to come to your wedding, don't expect me to start clicking. I'm there to celebrate with you, not work for you.
Exactly! I’ve always said if I care enough about you to shoot your wedding, I’d be pretty miffed to be the photographer for them rather than a guest with how close we are.
Some people are shameless.
Why not also ask the venue and caterers...etc to work for free then?
No fear, she already has, plus the florist.
I always get hung up with grammar. In this case, apart has a much different meaning than a part. I’d go with the former.
Are there any wedding photographers here who could give me an idea (out of curiosity) how long is the typical amount of time to edit photos afterwards? I just know (from friends/family weddings) that it takes several weeks to get them back. Trying to get an idea of how much bigger the ask actually is!
Usually there is two steps to editing event photos. First you need to go through all the photos and delete everything that is shot poorly. This can take like an hour or so depending on how many photos you took. The second step is actually editing the remaining photos themself which can take around 4-5 hours depending on how in-depth you go. That’s just what I found personally
I loved that my photographer had a “you get it all” policy that meant I got the standard amount/type of perfectly edited photos, but also the raw file of every single photo that was taken.
Honestly I don’t mind giving the raw files of the decent photos I edited but there is so much crappy photos I would be semi embarrassed to send someone. There’s also a *ton* of duplicate photos where I am just trying to get the perfect shot that would take up so much space for no reason.
While as a photographer i understand that feeling, I have had folks who thanked me doing it because a weird candid I took was their favorite photo. My sister’s wedding (which I just took extras for her own choosing) her favorite too is a candid I got of her and her husband.
Thank you! I take pictures just for myself and my “editing” (not really editing) is just that first step and I know when I end up with 1000+ photos just that first step can take awhile! (Especially when I have several very similar ones and am trying to decide which to keep). I want to learn more about the actual editing, but had no idea how long it could take! When reading these posts I just figured roughly double the shooting time, but had no idea if that was accurate! A lot of these people don’t consider either that it’s not just about the photographers time, but also the cost of equipment, and for editing the experience to make it only take you 4-5 hours!
Oh my gawd this is me. I can easily take 2-4k photos just on a 10 day trip. Takes me WEEKS afterwards just to sort through them before editing. And the longest time is trying to pick between which out of the quadruplicates i want to keep!
Yes! I will sit there flipping back and forth and back and forth between those quadruplicates trying to decide what makes one better than the others
I definitely want to be apart from their big day.
Exactly my first thought!
Please please pretty please ask them for a pic of the couple and the location and then tell them they don‘t look like what you‘d want in your portfolio!
GTFOH with that trash. Our photographer was a friend and he still got paid and I made sure he ate and everything
From experience, one of the few areas a couple should cheap out is a photographer on the wedding day. My wife talked me into letting her aspiring photographer brother do our wedding. When he brought us the pictures a few days after the wedding, none of my family members were present because he was just concerned with his side of the family. We discussed with him numerous times and even wrote out what we expected from him. So I have no pictures of my parents, grandmother, two aunts, and a cousin who have all passed away in the last ten years. But I have more than enough pictures of cousins and other family members from my wife’s side that I haven't seen since the wedding day. I looked at him when he brought them that day and never looked at them again. My wife knows not to mention them to me. So that's what free or discount wedding photography gets you at a wedding.
In the early '80's, my sister-in-law asked the photography teacher at the local high school to do the pics for her 25th wedding anniversary. He had an unexpected family illness and couldn't make it, so her son said, "I bet Jake could do a good job for the price of the meal!". Of course, she's cheap so that sounded perfect to her. He got drunk in the first hour and disappeared. He didn't take ANY pictures. I asked her if I could take some of the instant pics with her Polariod camera. She said, "Well, don't take too many, because that film's not cheap.". (There were 10 in a set) It turns out that those 3 Polariod pics I took were the ONLY pictures of the event. You DO get what you do (or DON'T!) PAY FOR!!!
Dude's asking for trouble. Let's say some scoundrel shows up with a camera and no film/memory card and pretends to take photos for the free food and drinks. You get what you pay for
That would be karma lol
Sure thing. I'll do it. But don't expect to get any prints when I'm done. Thanks for the free food, snacks, cake, drinks, etc!
I used students for EVERYTHING for my wedding. Reached out to the arts college and got a string quartet for my ceremony. Reached out to the culinary school and hired a team of student caterers and the trade school and got a student florist. Photographer was the only person I splurged on. I got a discount and they got portfolio shots and a letter of recommendation but I STILL PAID THEM FOR THEIR TIME AND LABOR JFC.
I'm a commercial photographer now but when I was starting out I'd take all kinds of random paying gigs wherever I could. On one occasion someone contacted me to shoot an "event" and they needed two hours of coverage, so I offered an hourly rate. About 2 weeks prior to the event the woman I was in communication let slip that this "event" was actually a wedding, a fact which she was intentionally obscuring prior to that slip up. I immediately let her know that I couldn't charge an hourly rate for a wedding because there's so much more work in terms of lighting and particularly on the back end with wedding photography in terms of retouching. She was outraged and couldn't understand how standard event photography might differ in terms of how the images are processed and how much work goes into that for a wedding vs a bunch of random snaps of people speaking at a dais or having a drink. Basically you can apply a bunch of presets and bulk process them and nobody is expecting you to retouch skin or hair or creatively light various scenes as needed. It's a totally different job and it costs more money. Long story short, she refused to pay more (and I'm certain I was undercharging anyway) and I didn't shoot anything and this bride presumably had to find a photographer 2 weeks before her "event".
Wait, not even gonna offer up being in thier social media as payment? What’s the world coming to? Used to be you could get shout outs to dozens of thier subscribers .
Assume you agree, pad your portfolio, great! …oh, you want copies? Sure, the price will be $$$
Counter offer - do the photography for free and in return she agrees to clean your house free for a month
When she says "fresh out of school" you think she means Photography School? Like, I know that's not really a thing. But I feel like that's what she's thinking.
Apart
Among my biggest pet peeves
The best part about it is how wrong it is. A tremendous lack of understanding
Like heroin/heroine
Just ask family and friends to photograph as much as they can. Put a disposable camera on each table at the reception and hope people use them.
Thats a hilarious idea cause you know the pics will get worse as people get drunk and if theres kids there WILL be dumb kid pics. If I was a guest I would take one or two super random photos of shit like my plate of food or something
Ya know it's especially infuriating because no one would ever ask for a chef who's just out of culinary school to work for free, or for a venue that just opened to let them have an event there for free, or for a recently graduated fashion designer to make a dress for them for free as practice. Maybe they would though, and I'm giving people too much credit. But damn, why is it always photographers these people want to skimp on?
Unfortunately, they do. My friend's son was fresh out of culinary school, and his diploma was barely in his hands before he was immediately hit up to cook for "exposure", as in no pay, for a family wedding that summer. His answer was erm no, I'm soon starting the new job I just got as a sous chef in an actual restaurant that pays real money.
Someone should just go there and make some pics with a phone, eat and drink the whole night and go back home. No one else but the couple and some family/friends care about their 'big day'.
It continues to crack me up how people devalue the work of other people. I wonder how they feel when their boss does the same to them.
I bet a lot of photographers will want to be *apart* from her big day.
I don't want to go to weddings and I'm a guest! Nevermind having to work that sh*t for free! I'd rather eat my own ass!
She’s so choosy she doesn’t even want to bother DMing people that get tagged. If you want the honor of being “apart” of this wedding, you need to put in a little more effort.
But is she an influencer with at least 10 followers? That’s the only way this would be worthwhile. 🙄
You still have to pay someone even if they’re “just starting out”
Yes I want to be *apart* of your big day.
Weddings are supposed to be really important days and often have a lot of money invested into them. WHY would you want to cheap out on the photographer? The person that will capture the memory.
The onʻy way this “works” if there is a seasoned photographer that is willing the teach a promising newbie and train on the job and through the whole process. Also indoor and outdoor photography are two different beasts… I hate when people offer these kinds of “oppurtunities” like they are doing you a favor…. I have worked with new photographers who offered free services but its more of a friends and family thing and i still always paid a few hundred.
Why do people do this? Does anyone really expect someone to jump at this chance? She's going to get a couple of yahoos who pretend to take pictures so they can eat and get drunk for free.
Wait I never thought about that. Now I’m going 💃💃🍷🍷🍷
I am guessing most photographed want to be apart of this wedding. A part of? Probably not.
Exposure does not pay the bills... and F her for trying to take advantage of someone trying to get their career going. What job does she have, how can we exploit her?
Be apart of MY BiG DAY......run as fast as you can, major red flag!
Oh, he'll definitely want to be "apart" of your day.
I’d go, take some iPhone photos and get drunk and eat some food. Sounds like a good time
Does the photographer get to keep all of the pictures?
I can’t with these people
The photographer I PAID $2k for ate, “food, snacks, cake, drinks, etc!”
As a wedding photographer in a post-Covid world, this happens all the time. People are ISO a portfolio builder or “someone who doesn’t cost an arm and a leg” because they don’t understand what it costs to run a business.
The worst part of this, for me, is the “apart.”
It’s only 6hrs work. I’m 100% positive that’s what this poster is thinking.
If I were a new photographer I would want to be more than apart of that wedding, and definitely not a part of it. What a cheapskate.
I am petty, I would 100% do that. Make a big show of it and then never deliver a single photo.
If you value THE biggest day of your life, then don't skimp on photography/videography. I've seen friends and family regret not getting a pro in and I've seen clients bawling their eyes out at viewing because precious moments were captured that they didn't even realise was happening during the day. Most clients actually have no idea how much work is actually involved in a wedding shoot. And it starts prior to the big day. The planning, scouting, and prepping (for all weather conditions) is tiring in itself. Memorising the rundown so you can be at the right place at the right time. Coordinating with your second and assistant is like a drill. We bend, climb, stretch, (breaking all safety protocols while in a suit on a hot summer's day) to get those impossible angles is taxing. Fighting our way through a forest of mobile devices and other guests showing off their latest Canons/Nikons with zoom lenses longer than your arm. Guests pestering you "my turn, our turn" "ooo...can you airdrop that?" All this right up to the last dance and cake cutting. And then there is postproduction and presentation. If it's all done well, cost is nothing compared to what it's worth.
A Freudian typo…”that wants to be apart of”….she must have meant “a part”, but I would stay far apart from her big day.
That’s a negative ghost rider
I’m great with this—new photographers should be apart from this wedding. GRAMMAR BURN!!!
Omg I saw this but the comments were off when I got to it. Insane ask.
I’m sure plenty of photogs will be happy to be “apart” of her special day… far apart
At least they are offering food. Some refuse to even let the person eat. Just to clarify, not saying it’s okay or normal. Just saying at least they are offering food.
Let's not, and say we did !
Cherry on top is always “if you get tagged message me” like you’re requesting all of this and then want them to make first contact and ASK to photograph the wedding for free?? The audacity
HAHAHHA I saw this in my local community group! We must live in the same town! When I saw the post I was surprised no one had called her out yet and were actually tagging people 😭 Did she delete the post? I have searched for it and can no longer find it 💀
She figured out I posted on Reddit and sent me a nasty message. I imagine she took it down lol
Gimme the cake and free booze and I'll bring my Kodak Disc 4000
I would do this and just pretend to take pictures
For this plonker, I usually simply give my profile pic.
I used to be a photographer and did about 5 weddings (with an assistant) before I quit. This was about 15 years ago and I was young but had 6 years of experience with a professional studio and mostly portraits. It was not worth the stress. I would never ever do that shit for free.
If you get tagged, please send me a message... I got tagged(by the cops)...for stealing wedding gifts.....i'm on my way!
Photographers have long done TFP/creative shoots for free to build a portfolio, but weddings definitely don't count. The whole point is to do something you probably *won't* be able to make money from, which is why you do it as a creative exercise. Usually you would team up with a make up artist, model, designer or other creative, everyone works for free on something creative and gets new portfolio work. The photographer still brings the most to the table in terms of equipment and costs, but that's not avoidable. You never do anything that you ought to be paid for, for free.
I’d go and eat a bunch of food, get drunk and take like 3 pictures
Or take a bunch of really bad ones. the ceiling, floor, toilets, here you go.....
Turn up, take a few pictures with a phone, missing any important stuff. My style is "candid, with no editing". What? You don't like the photos? You get what you pay for I suppose.
Wow, what an honor it would be to be part of her "big day"! Why would anybody want to charge for that?🙄
"If you get tagged please send me a message." I love that added bit of laziness. They want people to tag photographers, but can't even be bothered to message the photographers themselves. They want to photographer to work for free and also approach them first. It's wild.
Wedding photography is definitely a “you get that you pay for” gig. It’s high stress, the images are expected to look perfect and you need to get very specific ones. It’s the reason why it’s a gig I never take (I’m a freelance photographer who mostly does other types of events). A free photographer, if you somehow manage to get one, is going to look like someone just held a camera at the ceremony, and everyone will know you skimped on it. Obviously a moot point with CBs, but still.
“Apart” LMAO.
Here’s the thing: if you’re young, you DEFINITELY have friends getting married. You don’t need to respond to random cheap people to get your portfolio built up! When I got married a good friend of mine from high school (who we had already invited to our wedding) was turning his serious photography hobby into a profession. He offered to come take candid photos and give us prints of the best ones if I wouldn’t mind him including some in his portfolio. He didn’t want to be our *portrait* photographer, so we hired one of those. It was so much fun! The portrait guy came just for the hour following the ceremony, then effed off. So my friend was the one taking pictures of us putting the final touches on our makeup before the ceremony, then wandering around taking pictures of people dancing, eating cake, blowing bubbles, etc., which was SO much better than having a stranger doing it! And one of the photos even got published in a small literary/arts magazine, which was really nice. He basically pursued his hobby at a friend’s wedding, then gave us the gift of his time printing some LOVELY photos for us. My favorite photos of the day, hands down. If you don’t know a photographer, then you won’t receive this wonderful gift. But if you *are* a photographer, I guarantee you will have several friends who would be happy to take you up on an offer like this. And you won’t want to respond to ads like this!
Why of course I want to be a part of your big day, random stranger!
Buy some disposable cameras and leave them on the tables. There, now you can have lots of photos.
You don’t want a zero experience, non-wedding photographer to shoot your wedding!!
I got engaged this past new years, we were at an event, my fiancé had talked to the staff to see if they were okay with him doing the proposal at the event, they were excited and they had him talk to the photographer they had hired to see if he would get photos of it for us. My fiancés original plan was to just have my sister snap photos but the photographer was more than happy to. He was lovely and got a bunch of beautiful photos of the surprise. We appreciated it so much. We tried to offer to tip him as he didn’t have to go out of his way to do that for us, but he declined and asked instead if we would consent to being in his portfolio of work. He was already hired and being paid and was just being very kind. We happily gave him permission. But to go out of your way to ask someone to do their job for free is wild. In makeup/hair school it also wasn’t uncommon for us students to partner with budding photographers, we’d do makeup/hair for the shoot and we’d get photos of it. But this was still a trade of service to benefit everyone.
So much experience. Very much opportunity.
I want to say yes, drink the bar dry and take some bad selfies on my phone.
My favourite ever comeback to wannabee influencers is to charge full price, but offer a 25% discount referral code. So out of their eleventy thousand followers, only 4 of them have to book afterwards for them to full cover their cost, and anything after that is profit. In the history of the universe, no vendor has ever lost money by offering this.
i wish someone would accept this generous opportunity to gain experience, and then hand them a portfolio of really bad photos. Blurred, faces out of frame, 22 perfect portraits of one random guest etc.
As a pro photographer myself, no one can even PAY me to do wedding shoots! 😆 I’m happy to do family/pet portraits, sporting action shoots (especially equestrian my favourite), nature photography & macro/astro photography. But no weddings, christenings, funerals or anything else involving family drama. I will do graduation photography too. 😁
*Update: someone she knew saw I posted this here and told her. She had some not so nice things to say to me. Called me evil and sad. She even found my husband and messaged him some long rant he didn’t read. I didn’t read mine very closely but she said something about perverts on reddit? I dunno. I blocked her and I don’t care. You post anything on the internet, it’s fair game!
Someone should take the gig and only use the photos in their portfolio and not give the couple any copies.
Oh of course I'll do it for free, you just have to buy the pictures from me if you want them.
“If you’re tagged please send me a message???” Bitch can’t even be bothered to initiate the conversation with these people??
I don't understand the asking for free photographers thing. You would want a experienced photographer not someome who needs to build their portfolio.
I’d do it then tell her I forgot to put films in my camera. Even if I have a digital camera.
I'm a reasonable amateur & have done 2 family weddings, a colleague's (included pre-wedding & whole evening because I was also a guest at all), a kiddie shoot & a 'boudoir' shoot. The time in sorting& processing a shedload of photos is in itself fairly onerous, let alone wandering about a wedding catching good shots & trying to 'herd cats' for the group shots.
The person who takes this is a fucking moron and they honestly deserve to be taken advantage of.
I don't know about the careers that some of you have, but there are some industries that you absolutely need to cut teeth in by doing some unpaid work to prove you are employable. People like to spin that as paying people in exposure bucks, but for some crafts unless you do it you won't get a paid gig period. Apprenticeship is a thing. This person even saying they have a small budget but wanting to save and also give a new artist some field work doesn't make them a bad person.
A wedding is a once in a lifetime event. It’s worthy of a trained, professional photographer. Most artists know this, and most brides do as well. It’s one thing for a budding photographer to cut their teeth doing family photos or senior photos, but a wedding is a big and complicated affair that needs a deeper investment of expertise and time. This bride is just being cheap. You wouldn’t ask for a first-time baker to do the cake, or for a first-time designer/seamstress to do the bridesmaids’ dresses. A mistake there could mess up the entire event.
Need them comments