Wedding Photographer "Agency"

Recently I replied to a CL ad to be a second shooter. Turns out the primary was working for an agency, of sorts. He encouraged me to look into it, too. Which I did.

The deal was $75/hr for shooting but you have to hire your own second. You upload the photos and they pay you. Simple enough. It's kinda crappy pay but as I am starting and want more weddings under my belt, I inquired. I had never heard of such groups, but I am admittedly new to the wedding industry.

Right away they contacted me and were interested. They even asked if I were able to shoot a wedding the upcoming weekend.

Soon thereafter, they sent me a dropbox link so I could upload 25 pics from three weddings to create a portfolio of my work. I replied with several questions.

Here is what I asked:

Reply today:

You had some questions that I want to answer for you.

The usage agreement we have with the clients is that they have full rights to their images to download, copy and reproduce.

Your question about what usage Some Unnamed will expect from the photos you provide are pretty much what we already discussed. We do not want the photos you take to be posted on social media before 45 days after the event. Also, we don't want you to use them for your own portfolio before the 30 day point. We do not have the agreement in writing because it's never been an issue.

Also, in regards to payments: You submit your invoice after the event to: service@someunnamedpho​tographers.com It takes approximately two weeks for the accounting department to generate the check and we ask that you allow one extra week to receive.

I hope I've answered all your questions. If you have any others, please send a reply email or give me a call.

Still not feeling quite right about it, I asked:

Their final reply:

Really? No kidding!

Was I paranoid with my questions or is it totally weird not to have anything in writing?

If you smell fish, it could be fish .

That's what I was thinking but I also thought that maybe it was a practice about which I was naive.

I suppose I can use the pics I have until the bride and groom ask me to take them down. I didn't sign anything when I second shot of Friday. Glad I insisted the primary pay me before giving up the files.

Such a ridiculous business. No paperwork? And photographers that ask questions are not a "good fit."

I'm glad you looked into it. Good experience to know how and what to look for in the future.

Some organisations are cheap because they are ruthlessly efficient others are cheap because they cut corners. A company that doesn't have contracts in place is a disaster waiting to happen. I expect there is no form of insurance in place either and if anything goes wrong you will be on your own.

juicedownload wrote in post #17144971
Such a ridiculous business. No paperwork? And photographers that ask questions are not a "good fit."

I'm glad you looked into it. Good experience to know how and what to look for in the future.

I'm glad, too. It just seemed too easy and they were too eager.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #17144981
Some organisations are cheap because they are ruthlessly efficient others are cheap because they cut corners. A company that doesn't have contracts in place is a disaster waiting to happen. I expect there is no form of insurance in place either and if anything goes wrong you will be on your own.

They have a lot of good reviews on all the wedding sites. Whether they're real reviews or not...who knows.

They have a agreement with a bridal/tux shop, so that is how they get their leads. I'm betting that it's an agreement in writing, though. :P

CYA - Cover your a$s

If you can think if the worst possible thing that can go wrong, it most certainly WILL go wrong at some point in time. Your level of preparedness will determine your ability to pull through a situation when it arises.

You're definitely asking the right questions, and shouldn't feel that this is an opportunity lost. They'll be forced to get their paperwork together at some point, or they will go out of business when a situation arises and they don't have anything together.

JacobPhoto wrote in post #17145014
CYA - Cover your a$s

If you can think if the worst possible thing that can go wrong, it most certainly WILL go wrong at some point in time. Your level of preparedness will determine your ability to pull through a situation when it arises.

You're definitely asking the right questions, and shouldn't feel that this is an opportunity lost. They'll be forced to get their paperwork together at some point, or they will go out of business when a situation arises and they don't have anything together.

I doubt my puny insurance policy is enough to cover the trouble that could arise from them. I actually glad that I had pause before sending over some pics.

They are currently in three states. I wonder how far it will go before a situation arises.

I wonder if I were to contact one of these firms, upload works taken with my normal wedding setup. then show up and proceed to shoot an entire wedding with my iphone what would happen?

There is a very similar agency here in ohio.. brides often ask how some photography agencies can do weddings for $595 and then I have to spend my time explaining all the corners cut and the fact you won't know who your photog is until they show up.

jmikolich wrote in post #17146324
I wonder if I were to contact one of these firms, upload works taken with my normal wedding setup. then show up and proceed to shoot an entire wedding with my iphone what would happen?

There is a very similar agency here in ohio.. brides often ask how some photography agencies can do weddings for $595 and then I have to spend my time explaining all the corners cut and the fact you won't know who your photog is until they show up.

Is that agency in Michigan, too? It might be the same group.

On the phone the rep told me they do the edits.but one home the photog had a spot on his lens that showed up in all the pics. They told home they would charge him per file to edit them unless he did. That $75/hr goes away really fast when they hold things over your head.

Sounds like they are looking for someone that picked up a DSLR from Best Buy last night.

Not worth fretting over.

Did the primary that referred you to this site have good work that you wanted to second shoot for?

Oh, definitely not fretting over it. lol

The primary is a good photographer. He's a veteran who had a studio for many years so he is pretty old school, but still knows how to run a camera. Definitely more experienced than me.

I'm in Michigan, too, and a few different companies popped into my head when I read this. One of my high school acquaintances went with one of these companies for her wedding, and lets just say the results were not great. Most of the pictures she posted were out of focus, poorly edited, and were obviously shot by someone who didn't know what they were doing. But she didn't know any better, and was thrilled with the images. I guess that's all that matters in the end, right?

If she's happy, then great.