Am I in an unusual scenario?

This situation starts raising YELLOW FLAGS, in my opinion. There's no clear agreement as to what you're expected to do, and on top of that the "clients" don't even know if they like your work. I would have expected your event planner friend to contact multiple photographers (you included) that would be willing and able to photograph the event and have her clients pick the one they like the best...that may be you...may not. The way it seems now, your friend if helping you out/hooking you up by "hiring" you for this gig but it bares to ask....what if the clients aren't happy with your photos?

You need to figure out exactly what's expected of you. This is a contract gig, and clear scenario for a CONTRACT.

....I can't get over it. I find it hard to believe that your firends clients would be willing to shell out $100 p/hour on a photographer without even ever seeing that photographers work. That's a lot of money to put down on a blind deal and could end up as a really bad deal if the cleints aren't happy with your photos. Both for you AND your event planner friend.

RandMan wrote in post #16027596
Thank you all for your advice. I am going to have the planner email the client with a "just to check in and give you an overview of everything" message where my services will be overviewed (for the first time). Hopefully there will be no issues.

I am aware that all of this has happened completely bass ackwards--the combination of this being my first time and the planner and client being friends has ended up greying out a lot of areas. It's a learning lesson for me moving forward.

While the client expectations are important you are adding an extra layer to the situation.

As a general rule people with the budget to hire a planner to take care of everything just want it done. Your contract and expectations are with the planner. You need to comply with the agreement set forth in that contract. If the planner got it wrong the customer will light them up, not you (this should also be in the contract). Make sure there is some hold harmless language assuming you comply with the contractual requirements.

If the planner isn't setting up some kind of contractual relationships with the folks being hired, they aren't a very good/experienced planner.

Now, where is Banquet Bear...

-F

I had a gig similar to this one time. Friend of a friend hired me to shoot pics at her birthday. Turns out, the birthday was just bottle service at the club. I gave her a rate that was higher than my normal nightly rate in an attempt to get her to say no, but she agreed. I had a quick 5 minute call with her to find out what she wanted, and she just said she wanted pics of her and her friends having fun, she didn't want to be 'bothered' to bring a camera with her and all the pics with her cell phone always come out blurry.

I went, shot photos of a group of hot girls all night, got some 'atmosphere' pics of the rest of the club (DJ, artsy dancefloor shots, bartender pouring drinks, etc), and that was that. She paid me in cash that night, I sent her a zip of all the pics in web resolution and mailed her a DVD of high res, and that was that. Although I didn't have a contract, I got paid before I delivered the pics and the client was happy. Not sure what she did with the photos, they probably just went on a myspace / facebook / flickr gallery and were seen by the 15 or 20 people who went.

is it an unusual scenario?

sigh...unfortunately, no. it's fairly prevalent that people ask people to take pictures for money just because somebody owns a camera. neither party is overly concerned about any structured business arrangement other than 'taking pictures for money'. if you have experience dealing with clients (finding out what they need and being able to deliver), you can handle things like this on the fly without many worries. it's only when problems arise (essentially unmet expectations) that it becomes apparent that going into these situations willy-nilly is not a good idea.

so, OP, ya gotta ask yourself, are ya ready to dive into this whole 'money for pictures' thing the right way, along with all the attendant stress?

rivas8409 wrote in post #16027639
....I can't get over it. I find it hard to believe that your firends clients would be willing to shell out $100 p/hour on a photographer without even ever seeing that photographers work. That's a lot of money to put down on a blind deal and could end up as a really bad deal if the cleints aren't happy with your photos. Both for you AND your event planner friend.

...look: this really isn't that unusual. People don't hire event planners because they want to waste their time shopping for vendors. They hire event planners to organize their event so that they don't have to. It is very likely the event planner has put examples of the OP's work in front of them and gotten them to sign off on it. The Event Planners client likely have not visited the hotel room, never heard the harp player before, or tasted the cake.

OP: the person you need to get a contract with is the event planner: it needs to be a standard contract, make sure you state your deliverables. Have a good chat to the event planner: find out what they are expecting you to deliver. When you are working through a third party: that third party will normally "sell you" the same way to every client. So think in terms of future work with this planner: consider developing an "event photography package" based on this budget that the planner can present to future clients.

As already stated (and as I'm sure you've learned) always be very clear on what is being asked of you by the client and make sure the client is very clear on what they will be receiving before ever quoting or accepting a job. After everyone has a good understanding of the situation, get it in writing right down to the last detail. This can potentially save a lot of grief, arguing and time/money loss. Don't ever assume that the client understands what you'll be providing (or that you understand what they are asking for) without having it in writing.

Sounds great to me.
Go do the shoot, take the $400.
Nowhere has anyone said that you have to provide any images, just that you're going to take photographs for 4 hours.
If you go and do that, you've done what they paid you to do - turn up and take photos.

Of course, I'm only kidding, but without a contract, that's all you'd need to do to fulfill the terms of the agreement.
Get a contract that outlines what you will be doing and what they'll receive at the end of it.
Get this with the couple, and not the third party.

RandMan wrote in post #16027596
Thank you all for your advice. I am going to have the planner email the client with a "just to check in and give you an overview of everything" message where my services will be overviewed (for the first time). Hopefully there will be no issues.

Which will be great right up until the moment the B&G announce that "we thought that email was just a general outline, we were expecting more/something different" - at which point you are screwed because you don't have a contract and you don't know what the planner actually agreed to with the clients.

YOU NEED A SIGNED CONTRACT (with the planner) which defines what your deliverables are. Doing the gig without a signed contract would be finest quality, Grandma's secret recipe, Grade A, stupidity.

banquetbear wrote in post #16028536
...look: this really isn't that unusual. People don't hire event planners because they want to waste their time shopping for vendors. They hire event planners to organize their event so that they don't have to. It is very likely the event planner has put examples of the OP's work in front of them and gotten them to sign off on it. The Event Planners client likely have not visited the hotel room, never heard the harp player before, or tasted the cake.

OP: the person you need to get a contract with is the event planner: it needs to be a standard contract, make sure you state your deliverables. Have a good chat to the event planner: find out what they are expecting you to deliver. When you are working through a third party: that third party will normally "sell you" the same way to every client. So think in terms of future work with this planner: consider developing an "event photography package" based on this budget that the planner can present to future clients.

How did I know what you were going to say...

-F

to the OP if your new to contracts, it can be as simple as you make it or as complex to cover every little detail. The basics is it needs to state what you are doing, what you will be delivering and when, and for how much.

Heck I would have all 3 parties sign it All bases are covered then.

So short answer(s)...
1) It is not common, but not that unusual.
2) get a contract (be it with the couple or the planner)

Many people simply don't know all that goes into photographing an event. It sounds like they think you will be there to push the shutter button and give them great images. All well and good in theory but are they REALLY going to pay $100/hour for the shooting AND the editing AND the site survey or are they expecting to pay $400 for a 4 hour shoot with everything else thrown in for free?

I am also a Technical Director for a modern dance company. Even the directors think I only load a show in and out then ask for pay. They don't understand that I also spend hours, sometimes days, contacting people to find out what the venue(s) have, what they want, how we can all be as happy with outcome as possible (Does this sound familiar???) BEFORE the truck even gets loaded.

You need a contract with SOMEONE. It sounds like the planner is actually your client in this. Talk to them to see what is expected of you in this. It can be anywhere from taking and fully editing over 1000 images to walking in, take a photo at the start (low res jpg) and one at the end and call it a day.

Contracts are good. Talking to the client is good, too. In general though, send them the pictures you like. Much more than five but cull more than just the obvious rejects. You should send send between 100-200 for that amount of time. Maybe more depending on the details of the event.

TheBrick3 wrote in post #16031484
Contracts are good. Talking to the client is good, too. In general though, send them the pictures you like. Much more than five but cull more than just the obvious rejects. You should send send between 100-200 for that amount of time. Maybe more depending on the details of the event.

When you say to send 100-200 shots, do you mean edited, sharpened, finished jpgs? Or are you saying to send 100-200 ootc pics for them to pick which ones they like the most (which would then get edited and sent back)?

RandMan wrote in post #16031841
When you say to send 100-200 shots, do you mean edited, sharpened, finished jpgs? Or are you saying to send 100-200 ootc pics for them to pick which ones they like the most (which would then get edited and sent back)?

Well, those are details that would best be spelled out in your contract. If the client wants, they could pay for your camera JPG's burned to a DVD and that's it. Spell it out in the contract. If they are paying for your time at the event, are they paying for you to do anything more with the photos?

Contract. Use one.