Anyone experience anything like this?

[NLAlston]

Though not really a wedding photographer, I have (due to requests) shot four weddings, to date. The second one that was shot was for some (supposed) friends of our family, who were too financially strapped by which to avail themselves of what they would have liked to have had for their wedding. They'd seen photos of the first wedding I had done, and loved my work. So they asked if I would photograph theirs, and I promised that I would. When it came to pricing, I told them that I'd shoot it for free - with them left to purchase whatever prints they desired. This offer, they very quickly jumped to.

So I shot the wedding, and they were very happy with the outcome. They asked how long the photos would be available on my site (Zenfolio, at the time), and I informed them that I typically leave them up for 30 days. They asked if I would consider doubling that time period - as they wanted to purchase all of the photos, on a weekly basis - and I said that I would. Exactly 60 days later I took the photos down, seeing as there had been no purchase activity for any of them. I received a call from the husband, two weeks later, asking what happened to the photos, and I explained my position about that. There was, yet again, the promise of buying them, and a request to give them just a little bit longer. I put them back up for another 60 days and, again, saw that no purchases had been made. After these two months had elapsed, I took them down again - this time, permanently.

I believe it was a couple of weeks after this that I received an email from Zenfolio. The wife had emailed them with a sob story about how her 'ailing' mother, who lived out of town, hadn't been able to make it to the wedding, and of how she so wanted to have a photographic record of the event. The wife wanted to know if there was any way that the site could make the photos available to her. Now, Zenfolio had forwarded that entire email message to me, and I was really shocked - as well as angered by the audacity; the nerve of those two, in attempting to pull such underhanded tactics.

I never would have thought that they were of this caliber, and all I can think of is the amount of work that I put into shooting their wedding, and post processing their many photos. If I ever shoot another wedding, I will be sure to make certain that monetary compensation will indeed be of the order - beforehand - and that it will be of an amount to insure proper payment enough for my time and efforts. And this will be whether they buy prints, or not.

I am sure that some of you have a few horror stories to share, about your wedding shoots, and it would be interesting to read about them.

[Rick Waldroup]

This is why wedding photographers are the hardest working bunch in the world. And this is also why I never, ever shoot weddings.

I feel for you.

[NLAlston]

Originally Posted by Rick Waldroup

This is why wedding photographers are the hardest working bunch in the world.

Rick, you are absolutely right.

The uninitiated could NEVER understand what wedding photography entails. It is WORK, indeed. Wedding photographers (IMO) deserve every single cent that they charge, for such work. I don't mind shooting a wedding, every now and then, but to do it for a living? Perish that thought .

[Rain Lily]

Originally Posted by Rick Waldroup

This is why wedding photographers are the hardest working bunch in the world. And this is also why I never, ever shoot weddings.

I feel for you.

+1

[thcofer]

Sorry to hear about your experience Nathan.
My guess is that as long as their wedding photos were available online, they felt no need to order prints. They were able to view them and show them to friends and family any time they wished. With various screen capture methods available, they could have captured their favorite photos from their computer screen and transfer them to their cell phones or tablets.

Today's photography has it's mix of good and bad. On-line print sites like Zenfolio lets you make proofs and prints available to your customers quickly and without the cost of having proof prints made. They also make those prints available to the distant family members which may increase your sales. On the other hand, people are more prone to view digital photos today than they are printed versions. When they are available to view on computers, cell phones, and tablets, I think pressure to hurry up and get them ordered goes away. There is no money tied up by the customer in deposits or payments.

I photographed my brother's wedding under simular conditions. I put the photos on a DVD slideshow and posted them to an online printer. After several months, I removed them from the web. Almost a year later, my sister-in-law handed me a print order!!! (I am not the most organized person.) It took me almost a week to even find their photos!

Another situation...
We tried a weekly small town event that we tried. "Pickin' on the Square" was an event where the courthouse square was closed down for traffic every Friday evening. Musicians, would gather around the square and play acustic music. Every week I would take photos of the event. I gave copies with big watermarks on them to the person who was running the website for the event and then posted them to an online printer. I didn't expect to get rich from it, but thought I'd make some money for my efforts. Several people, including the person who ran the website, printed my watermarked photos. They even bragged to me about it in an attempt to let me know how much they appreciated me taking the photos! I made a total of $22 from the Summer-long event! People were mad when they found out that I refused to take the photos the next year!

People download "free" music, movies, and programs all the time. Photos are no different. It doesn't matter how much informational advertisment is put out there about it being illegal or about it hurting those who produce the material. In today's world, if a person figures out a way to get something for "free" instead of paying for it, they will do so and be proud of themselves for being clever.
That's my long-winded two cents worth.

[photolando]

Thats really no reason why you should not do weddings. It's only why you should not post the images online. I keep telling people over and over and over again that putting photos on an online gallery is theeee worst way to sell your images. This is one reason. They just wanted everyone to see the pics and that was it.

Next time even if you do it free, tell them you will only show the proofs at their home (or yours or studio) with a slide show and they can order that way. Once they hear that BEFOREhand, they may reconsider wanting to use you and use some other sucker who will post them online for them for all the world to see at YOUR expense.

I'd create a slide show of all the images (low res of course) and tell them they can buy that for whatever you want to charge them. Tell them the images will never go online again and that maybe the only way they will ever see them. They are never going to buy any prints. Obviously.

[NLAlston]

Thanks, Tom C. & Mike Collins. I really do appreciate your words.

What I did is something that will never be done again. Though I am not against shooting any more weddings, I can state - unequivocally - that any more efforts, along those lines, will be traveled about in a MUCH different manner. There will be no more online presentations of the client's photos. My Ipad will be called into action for the purpose of affording a personal meeting for that. The clients(s) will have the opportunity to view them - then and there; making any desired selections for printing while in my presence. The next time they see the desired photos is when either the prints, or a disk of their digital images (if so desired) are delivered.

As far as showing the clients (those mentioned in my initial post) anything, I can only say that it isn't possible. After learning of what they had attempted to do I was so, uncharacteristically, angry that I destroyed everything that I had, regarding their wedding photos.

But, yes - things will really be different, now .

[Mike67]

Just curious; was her mother at the wedding? ( Not that it matters.)

[Rain Lily]

Originally Posted by NLAlston

As far as showing the clients (those mentioned in my initial post) anything, I can only say that it isn't possible. After learning of what they had attempted to do I was so, uncharacteristically, angry that I destroyed everything that I had, regarding their wedding photos.

Ouch. I don't think this was such a good idea...usually actions as an immediate result of anger are regretted.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you were not justified in being angry, you were. But something still could have been gained from this, eventually. And honestly, burning a disk of images and storing it wouldn't have taken up much space.

Still, what's done is done. Regarding selling online, as usual, I think it depends on the photographer and the business setup. I have very little time and not much desire to meet with people several time - I like to post proofs on zenfolio, and have the clients email me their choices - I then edit those, repost in a new folder, and the clients order the prints on their own. I'm liking this system so far.

But I know and trust my clients, so it works for me. I also don't depend on my photography business to pay my costs of living, so it's not a huge part of my working day, it's just a part-time thing. I can see where a face-to-face contact with clients would be more fitting for someone else.

Really sorry you had to go through this.

[NLAlston]

Originally Posted by Mike67

Just curious; was her mother at the wedding? ( Not that it matters.)

No, she wasn't.