My wedding photography?

Question

Ok here is the story. I am getting married in October, we have little money. My friend is a photographer just starting her business. She has been taking pictures of our baby daughter to use in her gallery, I have no problemd with this because she is a friend. For my wedding she said she would do everything for $300.00 because we have helped her so much.

To make a long story short, a client of hers never payed her for her work and now suddenly she is asking me how many prints I will be ordering from her after the wedding. We hav discussed on numerous occasions that it would be $300.00 for everything but now I feel like because her client ripped her off, now he will take it out on me. We only have the $300.00 her and I discussed ,that is all we can afford. How should I handle this?

Answer 1

Talk to her about it. Ask her why the sudden change of heart about the pricing. I think she needs to stick to what you and her originally talked about.

Answer 2

Maybe she's just asking so that she will have an idea. If you feel she will want to charge you more than the $300, you should bring it up now. Ask her if what's happened to her is changing your arrangement with her. Because it's a business deal you should have a written contract with her; friend or not. BTW, a rule of thumb is to NEVER do business with friends. It can ruin a relationship.

Answer 3

Tell her gently you don't want to p**s her off so she won't do it at all but remind her she promised.

Answer 4

Is she willing to give you all of your pictures on a CD? I would make sure to get them all on CD - then just tell her that you guys will decide on prints later when you can afford them; this way you can either ask her to print them when you have enough money - or print them yourself off of the CD.

But, I would still sit down and have a talk with her about all of the services that you are getting. You might want to think about signing a contract so that you won't be taken advantage of in the long run. Tell her that she is your friend, but it's still a business and you'd be more comfortable having everything written on paper...

Answer 5

Always have a written contract, friend or not. But, since I assume you didn't do this, if you feel uncomfortable, have a conversation now and perhaps it's not too late to write something up.

Does anyone get married BEFORE they have children these days?

Answer 6

This could be a big misunderstanding based on her interpretation of "$300 for everything" meaning all of her time and taking of the photos vs. her time taking the photos plus all prints. In photography, the shooting fee is one thing and the prints are another fee. The reason for that is because she would lose money if there was only one fee and then the client ordered tons of prints. See?

I don't think she intentionally mislead you but she should have explained the situation much more clearly. If you tell her that your entire photo budget, including the shooting fee and the prints is $300, then maybe she will shoot the wedding and give you a CD of the photos for $300.

You could then have the prints done yourself at a later date, when your budget allows for it. She would not be out any extra time running to the lab to oversee the print orders so she wouldn't lose money either.

Good luck. I think if she realizes that you're not assuming she's trying to rip you off and that you sympathize with her situation, then you'll be more likely to get the photos on a CD.

A $300 shooting fee is extremely low so you're lucky she's a friend and willing to do the wedding for that!! : )