AboutJohn Wilson Expertise Over 27 years specializing exclusively in professional wedding photography. I can answer most questions relating directly to wedding photography concerning the business, film, digital, traditional & digital labs, marketing, effects, pricing & packaging, shooting outdoors and in-studio with multiple flash, color management and creating magazine style wedding albums. I can't answer questions regarding other fields of photography.
Experience Over 27 years experience photographing weddings professionally. Past 4 years shooting digital exclusively.
Organizations Better Business Bureau.
Education/Credentials Going to photography seminars and reading all the wedding photography books I can find then applying the techniques and new styles I've learned with each wedding. You always need to grow and learn to keep up in this field. With each new wedding you photograph, you must challenge yourself to do better work than your previous wedding. You must always have the goal of making the wedding photographs for a bride & groom be the best photographs they have seen of any wedding.
Question I recently had photos taken to be used in my career. I was given a verbal quote for 200.00 which was to include the sitting fee and 4 edited photos of my choice. I did not like the photos but there were 2 that I decided to buy in case I ever needed extras. I found her untalented and unprofessional and wanted to go to someone else. The problem came in when she still wanted to charge me 200.00 for the 2 photos, even though the quote was for 4. I thought the price should be adjusted accordingly. I asked several times for an itemized invoice and she has refused to give me one. She only gives one with a lump sum that says 200.00 for UP TO 4 photos. That wasn't what she told me at the beginning. No breakdown for the sitting fee and editing etc. Her website advertises a 20.00 sitting fee and 20.00 per photo. She said mine was more because it was more labor intensive to do photos that need "copyright release and the extra cost was for the release" These were just plain studio photos. Now she's threatening to sue me. I can understand having to pay the session fee whether I like the photos or not, but she won't tell me what that actual fee is. I don't want the photos at all now and would just like to pay the sitting fee and move on. I'm totally confused at this persons reaction and unprofessionalism.
Answer Hi Ann,
In your second sentence you said, "I was given a verbal quote for $200 which was to include the sitting fee and four edited photos of your choice".
Since you made the appointment and participated in the session with that understanding, you owe that photographer $200. From the photographer's perspective, all you may have ever really wanted was nothing but one or two pics. But the photographer quoted you $200 which was to include providing you the option or choices of several images which she created for you as previously agreed and you would get to select up to four of those images included in that price.
It is not fair to any photographer to set up a shoot for a previously agreed amount of coverage, amount of pictures to select from and then all of a sudden the client decides to change the "package" sold to something smaller after the photographer has already invested the time into the shoot and time custom editing a larger selection of pics. There are many portrait photographers who will include UP TO a certain number of photos in a quoted price. Just because a customer may only want a lesser amount doesn't mean the photographer owes a discount just because the customer is CHANGING the package contrary to what was agreed to previously. Now, if the photographer also offered you a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee - that would be a different story. But based on what you've said, you were not provided a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee that you would like every picture. I know of no photographers who do that. Why? That is the whole idea of shooting several images to start with - so you have a selection of images to choose from. The customer can choose from those they might even HATE and those which they will hopefully absolutely love.
What confuses me is that you say she told you, "She only gives one with a lump sum that says 200.00 for UP TO 4 photos. That wasn't what she told me at the beginning". But at the beginning of your question to me you stated she quoted you a package for $200 which was to include four edited photos of your choice. That is what that photographer has done for you according to the agreement you and she had before the shoot. If you don't select the other two photos, that is your fault for changing the size of the package you want AFTER the session has been shot.
I'm also wondering why you went to that portrait photographer when there is apparently very little work she does that pleases you. I'm assuming she had great samples of work but something went wrong during the portrait shoot you had with her?
I've got a feeling there may be more going on here than you have expressed or than I have been able to understand about this situation. You mentioned something about copyright release and there being an "extra" cost for that? Does this mean she is trying to charge you more than $200? I don't understand how providing a copyright release is suppose to be more labor intensive than pushing a pen across a copyright release form. But apparently that is what she explained to you.
You also briefly mentioned that these were, "just plain studio photos". To this I will have to point out that any photos, are owned by the photographer who created them and the charges for copyright release can be anything from free to millions of dollars. You said she is threatening to sue you. But I've not read anything you've said that indicates to me what she thinks she can sue you for. This just indicates to me there really may be more I need to know before I can really provide you some good advice concerning this situation. Did that photographer provide you full resolution images on a CD? Did you not pay for a copyright release of those images?
