Awkward predicament?

[mav496]

So, I helped my friend out at a wedding for him, doing 2nd shooter stuff as well as some group shots and romantics...

The bride and groom chose to have my friends package of edited photos on disc... (no worries so far...)

I told them as I was helping my friend out, would they mind me using MY shots on my website/FB page with my interpretation of their day..? (again, B&G say no worries)

This weekend my friend gives the B&G their photos on disc and they're chuffed to bits with them! He's then said I can go ahead and post my pics/edits on FB and my website now they have their disc (feel it was rude to post them on my site until the B&G get the "official" photos!)

Well my edited pics consisted of me doing a complete Black & White conversion on all the photos I took. IMO, they came out great and I really liked what I did to them....

This evening the Bride has contacted me saying she's seen my photos of the wedding, in B&W, and would like a disc of High Resolution photos to print at their expense!
Now i'm chuffed to bits she loves my conversions etc, but what sort of price do I charge for this? I don't want to be extortionate as I wasn't the Main shooter, but I also don't want to go too low.... I haven't told my friend yet as I think it could insult him.... ??

I edited 110 photos....

Hope you can help, and thanks for reading the essay!

Mav

[tnis0612]

Someone else i'm sure will comment on legally what you can/should do..but in my opinion you need to tell your friend and work something out with him assuming you didnt have a contract with him for your 2nd shooting job. If your friend says it's fine to charge whatever you want then you can go from there, but I think your first step needs to be to discuss with your friend. You're right, it may insult him, but that's not really your problem. He will likely be more upset if you are selling photos behind his back of shots that he setup and a job that he was hired for.

[nicksan]

I agree. I would discuss with your friend first.

[bigarchi]

hands down, these guys are 100% right.

[scorpio_e]

What was your contract with the main photographer? If you are not working with a contract, you should call him.

[btmlinedan]

if it were me, and ok with the main shooter, i'd hand them a disc with a smile.

"if you ever need any other photographery work, please don't hesitate to ask us!"

boom.

[nicksan]

Originally Posted by btmlinedan

if it were me, and ok with the main shooter, i'd hand them a disc with a smile.

"if you ever need any other photographery work, please don't hesitate to ask us!"

boom.

Yeah, but then aren't you stepping on your friend's turf?

I would definitely check with the friend to make sure it's OK to make money off of what was essentially his gig and his client.

[Tony_Stark]

Originally Posted by nicksan

Yeah, but then aren't you stepping on your friend's turf?

I would definitely check with the friend to make sure it's OK to make money off of what was essentially his gig and his client.

Of course. IMO this whole situation can get out of hand real fast, especially in the whole paradigm of doing business with friends. Slippery slope here. For the next event you shoot, you have to clearly iron out who edits all the photos, and if another situation arises such as this again, what will be done about it. I know in some cases, second shooters gives all their shots to the main shooter, and he is then responsible for delivering them to client etc.

While you did help out and were second shooter, the client did specifically ask for your shots. I think if compensation is given that the main shooter should get some money as well.

Im just throwing out ideas, not 100% sure how to deal with a wedding, much less a situation like this.

[LBaldwin]

As you say you were the second shooter, if that's true then the images belong to the primary photographer. Along with that thinking, you need to check with him first, to see if he wants to charge her for those images.

That would be the honorable thing to do, since you had no contract with her. In the future, make sure these things are ironed out prior to you starting to shoot weddings portraits etc.

[mav496]

Thanks all for the comments, I'll think i'll have chat with my friend and see what he says....

LBaldwin & Others....

Am I not right in saying then, that even though I was a second shooter, the copyright/images would belong to me as I was the one behind the camera shooting

[bnlearle]

There's some sort of unwritten codes in wedding photography. Probably at the very top of the list would be that you do not ever mess with your friends' clients when you're helping your friends. If I got an email asking for my photos, I would simply let them know that I was only helping the photographer and that they can get everything they need through the main photographer.

[tim]

You were working for your friend, and they already paid him. He should already have all the high resolution photos, and he should've supplied them to the couple already.

Apologise, cut off all contact, give the images to your friend no charge, and make sure you have written permission to use the images for your own marketing. Your real win was experience.

[bnlearle]

Originally Posted by tim

Your real win was experience.

Bingo.

[awad]

Originally Posted by mav496

Thanks all for the comments, I'll think i'll have chat with my friend and see what he says....

LBaldwin & Others....

Am I not right in saying then, that even though I was a second shooter, the copyright/images would belong to me as I was the one behind the camera shooting

the images usually belong to the main photographer. you're working for them. You might able to use the images for your blog or portfolio, but usually those images belong to the main photographer.

[LBaldwin]

If you were ORIGINALLY there to assist your friend, not create images for your own income, then they belong to your friend. He should have rec'd them from you and included them into the first presentation to the couple.

You would not be at the wedding otherwise. Yes the copyright may belong to you, but morally they should go to him.