edit: 12-13-07::: YES you should be upset...sorry I do not take this as a let it go and live and learn situation.............
i have only read the first page of posts and already I see that some are saying that the public doesn't realize what they are doing is wrong and I will tell you that from over hearing conversations from other photogs clients (amazing what is heard or overheard in small resturants and such) but I ahve overheard many times that so and so photog charges such and I can upload his digital negs to labx and save hundreds on my kids senior pics or my daughters wedding and so on an so on....the general public knows and abuses this great tool called the internet all the time.....I used to just come unglued on a couple of my ex student employees that would offer to take peoples digital negs and remove the copyrights so they could upload to any service they wanted......99.9999% of the people using point and shoots know some about digital editing.....every computer has ms paint and always has had......I have sat in introductory courses at a local University on Adobe Elements and that was one the first tricks I saw the presenter do was remove the photogs signature..........People want it all for as close to free as they can then they still want more......one reason I am seriously looking at going back to Med format and film or at least 35mm and film.............theft is just too easy and ignorance is just to easy to claim..........
Interestingly, this is the bride from this thread (she's mentioned from post #10 on).
Shay is a psychic!!!!!!
I actually saved that thread as a favorite as I was very interested in the outcome. I get the feeling digtal "negatives" are much more valuable than film negatives because it's easier to share them without worry of friends and family messing them up with their grubby fingers.
It's amazing they are doing exactly what you said you didn't want them to do according to your gut feeling.
It's a learning experience, but it sucks to learn the hard way. Thank you for sharing the experience with us here.
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Well,
I hardly have a portfolio yet, but as you know I recently said "no" to a wedding. I couldn't put my finger on it, but just got a bad vibe in our initial conversation. I just kindly said that I did not think that the available lighting at her location would be a good fit for what I am trying to accomplish as a photographer. I did tell her that if she could not book anyone else, or if she felt she was being taken advantage of on pricing(late booking) to call me back and we could talk. I told her I would hold the date open for 2 weeks to hear from her. I called her last night out of curiosity, and she has pulled her brother in law out of the wedding party and he will be the photographer. I am sure that once she talked to other photographers she jilted on price. I wasn't sure at first, but am now positive that I did the right thing. BTW the very first thing she asked about was a cd with all the images.
I have sold many photo cd's.......mostly to portrait clients. I have saved an action that reduces file size to under a hundred kb, and they know up front that the file is of insufficient quality for print. I have so far neglected to also add a watermark. I have seen very few watermarks that do not irritate me when viewing an image. i may have to rethink it on the watermark.
We learn by making mistakes. Giving them the Hires files
on CD was like the 2nd biggest mistake you could make.
If you send HiRes images you are effectively giving away the
sales of prints - thats a fact. If you do that you need to figure
out beforehand how much extra you'd need to charge them
so you are compensated. The biggest mistake now would be to
go after them unless you have a signed contract with states
the terms of usage of your images. Otherwise just send them
an invoice and see what happens...
“To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.”
― Edward Weston
Comments
i have only read the first page of posts and already I see that some are saying that the public doesn't realize what they are doing is wrong and I will tell you that from over hearing conversations from other photogs clients (amazing what is heard or overheard in small resturants and such) but I ahve overheard many times that so and so photog charges such and I can upload his digital negs to labx and save hundreds on my kids senior pics or my daughters wedding and so on an so on....the general public knows and abuses this great tool called the internet all the time.....I used to just come unglued on a couple of my ex student employees that would offer to take peoples digital negs and remove the copyrights so they could upload to any service they wanted......99.9999% of the people using point and shoots know some about digital editing.....every computer has ms paint and always has had......I have sat in introductory courses at a local University on Adobe Elements and that was one the first tricks I saw the presenter do was remove the photogs signature..........People want it all for as close to free as they can then they still want more......one reason I am seriously looking at going back to Med format and film or at least 35mm and film.............theft is just too easy and ignorance is just to easy to claim..........
I actually saved that thread as a favorite as I was very interested in the outcome. I get the feeling digtal "negatives" are much more valuable than film negatives because it's easier to share them without worry of friends and family messing them up with their grubby fingers.
It's amazing they are doing exactly what you said you didn't want them to do according to your gut feeling.
It's a learning experience, but it sucks to learn the hard way. Thank you for sharing the experience with us here.
dak.smugmug.com
I hardly have a portfolio yet, but as you know I recently said "no" to a wedding. I couldn't put my finger on it, but just got a bad vibe in our initial conversation. I just kindly said that I did not think that the available lighting at her location would be a good fit for what I am trying to accomplish as a photographer. I did tell her that if she could not book anyone else, or if she felt she was being taken advantage of on pricing(late booking) to call me back and we could talk. I told her I would hold the date open for 2 weeks to hear from her. I called her last night out of curiosity, and she has pulled her brother in law out of the wedding party and he will be the photographer. I am sure that once she talked to other photographers she jilted on price. I wasn't sure at first, but am now positive that I did the right thing. BTW the very first thing she asked about was a cd with all the images.
I have sold many photo cd's.......mostly to portrait clients. I have saved an action that reduces file size to under a hundred kb, and they know up front that the file is of insufficient quality for print. I have so far neglected to also add a watermark. I have seen very few watermarks that do not irritate me when viewing an image. i may have to rethink it on the watermark.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
on CD was like the 2nd biggest mistake you could make.
If you send HiRes images you are effectively giving away the
sales of prints - thats a fact. If you do that you need to figure
out beforehand how much extra you'd need to charge them
so you are compensated. The biggest mistake now would be to
go after them unless you have a signed contract with states
the terms of usage of your images. Otherwise just send them
an invoice and see what happens...
― Edward Weston