Bride asking for more and more pictures...

So i have about a dozen weddings under my belt. I'm by no means a "pro" photographer, in that this is not my livelihood nor does pay for anything other than itself.

Lately, I've been getting more and more requests AFTER i give the bride her pictures, asking for MORE PICTURES. "Do you have any other wedding pictures laying around that you could send?" "Didn't you take so many more pictures than what you sent me? I heard your camera going off so much." Etc. Etc.

Additionally, the bride would bug me within a week after the wedding asking me if the pictures are done. And then a week later.

It clearly states in my contract that they will receive a certain number of pictures, and that the pictures they receive will be picked out by the photographer. It also states that they can expect pictures in 4-6 weeks from the time of the shoot.

Now i'm generally a pretty patient person, but...ya know...don't sign my contract if you don't read it. I've been very diplomatic, if not for simple social courtesy, but it takes more effort than I thought to not simply say "re-read my contract, and you will have the answer to these ridiculous, ill-timed and ill-conceived questions."

Maybe I'm a dick, but man it bothers me...

How do you guys respond to requests like this when they start to happen on a more and more regular basis?

It's unusual for people to read contracts in their entirety, unless yours was written in plain English on a single sheet of paper in 14pt font. So that information may be in there, and you may be legally covered, but that's not what really matters in circumstances like these - as you now well know.

It's your job to manage your client's expectations as to what they're getting from you. If you feel like you're never going to be able to satisfy them, don't take them on as a client. Otherwise you can expect this type of headache often.

i learnt the hard way too.
its all about educating your clients.

last time, while in a wedding, a guest asked me.. so how many photos have you taken.. i said... more than 1000. then,.. clients received about 700. Bride knows about it and demand all photos even if its in low, unprocessed photos. As a nice guy then, i gave the lot.
Lesson learnt, never tell anyone how many you have taken.
Next, I start to educate my clients in the meeting that not all photos are given. photos with eyes closed or photos that failed my QC will not see the light. and I assure them that the amount of photos range that they should received.
Scott

4-6 weeks is a long time to wait. Not an unusual delay (albeit a tad long), but this is the B&G's first time so that doesn't matter to them.

I used to give about 100 or so the week after, along with an online slideshow, then deliver the rest later.

Some argue that it's a bigger bang to deliver them all at once, only after all are perfect, but I found that after 6 weeks, very little excitement remains. Getting 50 - 100 ready for delivery quickly, then taking 4-6 weeks for the rest (if you need that much time) is more palatable.

People don't read contracts. Anything you want them to remember you tell them before they book, when they book, before the wedding, and after the wedding.

Renumber all images you give them to sequential, so they can't see gaps. Tell people "I give you all the images that I would want if it were my wedding", and "I only delete duplicates, test shots, and shots where people look bad".

If people insist then say "sure, but I don't release unprocessed images. Your package includes processing for the images I delivered, extra work is $100 an hour, and I estimate x hours of work - but as I said there are only duplicates and bad photos removed".

You'd want to nicen that up, but you get the idea. Anything is available for a price.

i'm very clear in my original consult what and when i will deliver. I tell the bride and groom explicitly that I try to eke out as many images of their day as I can, but I only deliver the ones that are up to my standards, and I will do so within three weeks of the wedding.

sacral wrote in post #15984426
So i have about a dozen weddings under my belt. I'm by no means a "pro" photographer, in that this is not my livelihood nor does pay for anything other than itself.

Lately, I've been getting more and more requests AFTER i give the bride her pictures, asking for MORE PICTURES. "Do you have any other wedding pictures laying around that you could send?" "Didn't you take so many more pictures than what you sent me? I heard your camera going off so much." Etc. Etc.

Additionally, the bride would bug me within a week after the wedding asking me if the pictures are done. And then a week later.

It clearly states in my contract that they will receive a certain number of pictures, and that the pictures they receive will be picked out by the photographer. It also states that they can expect pictures in 4-6 weeks from the time of the shoot.

Now i'm generally a pretty patient person, but...ya know...don't sign my contract if you don't read it. I've been very diplomatic, if not for simple social courtesy, but it takes more effort than I thought to not simply say "re-read my contract, and you will have the answer to these ridiculous, ill-timed and ill-conceived questions."

Maybe I'm a dick, but man it bothers me...

How do you guys respond to requests like this when they start to happen on a more and more regular basis?

"Per the contract...yadda yadda yadda."

You shouldn't just expect them to read the contract. You should tell them what's in it. You should tell them they won't get every image you take. You should ask them if they have any further questions before they sign.

tim wrote in post #15984866
People don't read contracts. Anything you want them to remember you tell them before they book, when they book, before the wedding, and after the wedding.

Renumber all images you give them to sequential, so they can't see gaps. Tell people "I give you all the images that I would want if it were my wedding", and "I only delete duplicates, test shots, and shots where people look bad".

If people insist then say "sure, but I don't release unprocessed images. Your package includes processing for the images I delivered, extra work is $100 an hour, and I estimate x hours of work - but as I said there are only duplicates and bad photos removed".

You'd want to nicen that up, but you get the idea. Anything is available for a price.

Or simply delete them and tell them they were deleted. They're duds after all. I don't keep the crap.

I keep everything other than seriously out of focus shots and test shots until the image are delivered. I often take heads/faces/eyes/etc from the outtakes if someone blinks or moves. Sometimes my initial culling includes an oof image, so I like to have spares.

I'm sorry to be the harbinger here; but if ALL your customers are asking for more images, my guess is there's something you're not delivering.

We don't need a numbers debate, but if you are not over delivering on your promises, you need to rethink your consultations and any communications you have with your customers.

Most of us have a story or two about a customer asking for more, but when it's all customers, there's a fundamental failing on your part.

Have you considered asking your customers what they think they're missing? Is it a particular person, part of the day? etc.

As already stated, most people wont read the contract so you need to set expectations on your image delivery timing verbally at client meetings at the end of the wedding day and also in a follow up email straight after the wedding if need be .... and even then some people will still chase you to see them ASAP ... its just the way the world is now. Guests will be uploading images straight to Facebook on the wedding day itself so of course the B&G will be wanting to see the official photos as soon as possible.

Regards asking for more photos and without any additional information then I think the way you have worded how you work could have something to do with that. If you say "the photographer will pick out the photos" then of course they will be left wondering about the ones that you didn't choose. Far better imo to say that you deliver the images after you have edited out the bad focus, blinkers, shots where someone has wandered into your photo etc...... you aren't choosing, you are removing the bad ones.

Also do not underestimate a B&G's ability to remember when certain photos were taken on the wedding day. So for example if you take just one photo at a certain point and it turns out as blurred or spoilt in some other way can rightly expect a B&G to question where the photos are from that specific time because they can remember you taking them.

As already mentioned by others, make sure images are renumbered after culling so they are sequential and clients cant see gaps and never ever say to clients on their wedding "wow I have taken 2,000 photos today" or something along those lines as otherwise when you then go on to deliver 500 they will be left wondering what's in the other 1,500.

I cull heavily (my last wedding I started with 2,603 images and delivered 446) but can virtually guarantee that B&G's wont ask for more images because I always deliver at least one image from each time/place I take a photo.

Nothing annoys me more when I have a second shooter working for me than seeing him/her going round taking single shots of things/people because I know a blinker or an out of focus shot will leave me with nothing to work with and a potential for someone later asking where the photo is.

NBEast wrote in post #15984840
4-6 weeks is a long time to wait. Not an unusual delay (albeit a tad long), but this is the B&G's first time so that doesn't matter to them.

I used to give about 100 or so the week after, along with an online slideshow, then deliver the rest later.

Some argue that it's a bigger bang to deliver them all at once, only after all are perfect, but I found that after 6 weeks, very little excitement remains. Getting 50 - 100 ready for delivery quickly, then taking 4-6 weeks for the rest (if you need that much time) is more palatable.

That's an interesting strategy that I think I'll try. After all, this really is a people pleasing business...good advice, thanks.

All great advice. Just for clarification, it's not all my customers, just the last two, who incidentally know each other. I'm very clear on my consultations, and usually try to keep in very close contact with clients before the wedding. There is also a place to initial by each section.

I do like the idea of wording the contract and my communications as "I don't keep ones that are OOF, blinkers, etc. will try that next time.

Live and learn, eh? And with only a dozen weddings, it's still early.

Thanks for all the advice, great to hear from the wiser as usual!

It's all about human behavior. It doesn't matter what the contract said. If I thought you had images from my wedding that you simply didn't give me for whatever reason, I'd want them. It's my wedding and you've already taken them.

I give my clients everything. At least that's the way I describe it. If it wasn't good enough for me to give it to them, I would have already deleted it. So, no, I don't have any photos that a client didn't already receive. That said, I do give them pretty much everything that is worth presenting which typically comes to 800-1000 images. So the issue simply goes away.

Peacefield wrote in post #15985291
It's all about human behavior. It doesn't matter what the contract said. If I thought you had images from my wedding that you simply didn't give me for whatever reason, I'd want them. It's my wedding and you've already taken them.

I give my clients everything. At least that's the way I describe it. If it wasn't good enough for me to give it to them, I would have already deleted it. So, no, I don't have any photos that a client didn't already receive. That said, I do give them pretty much everything that is worth presenting which typically comes to 800-1000 images. So the issue simply goes away.

The issue I personally have with that (which I may need to get over), is this: I ask myself, "would I be proud if my client would display any of these pictures on social media for all to see?" If the answer is no, I don't give the picture to them.

Is that too harsh of quality control on my end?