When do You Leave?

PeaceFire wrote in post #10958001
I'm kind of having a tough time reading this. Are you saying that they asked you to capture the getting ready part of the day and you voluntarily said you'd give them extra time without clarifying what that really meant (and that this extra time was intended for the reception), and then the groom got upset when you tried to charge him more during the reception? Um, yes. I'd be pissed off, too, if I were the groom.

my mistake was mentioning that i (personally) have a built in buffer.. all receptions run late... and thats what its for. not to add time to the begining of the day, its a "just in case" since I mentioned it... they took advantage of it. where if i didnt all would have been fine.

they bought 6 hours... had me come an hour early... wanted me to stay another hour at reception turning a 6 hour package into an 8 hr... so I had NO right to charge them??

I've been doing 6 hours start to finish. However, it seems that I've been getting to the 5.5 hour mark (5 weddings, not too much experience but still) and things just sorta come to a stand still. I've caught all the important parts.

If there's a lull in shooting at the end of the night and I just can't think of getting anything that I haven't already capture I ask the bride and groom if there are any in the room that they want a picture with and we'll snap it away. If there aren't I'll let them know that I'm about ready to leave and start getting things packed up.

By the time I'm done with that I've fulfilled my contract. So I've been finding that the last 30-45 minutes is a good time to wind down the night. So I approach it a lot like you do. Unless the B&G are really into checking the clock and on your back about time I would think they would hardly notice.

Peacefield wrote in post #10958218
I know it's a different topic and we all have our reasons for our approaches, but this is precisely why my offer is for a full day. I'm just not interested in going out for a few $'s less to shoot a six hour day. My day is shot whether I'm photographing a wedding for 6, 8, or 10 hours so, in my view, I'm only hurting myself by offering a lower price for a 6 hour wedding. And I definitely don't want the how-much-to-stay-another-hour discussion while the couple are trying to enjoy their own reception. A full day is a full day; the same whether it's 6, 8, or 10 hours (and I price it assuming about 9).

But as I said previously, we get a pretty good sense of the timing of the day right away during that initial consultation. If they want me at the hair salon or to shoot breakfast with the girls or whatever, I'll have the opportunity to say pre-contract that this is beyond the typical expectation for a full day. Then, we can negotiate price in a more comfortable environment.

I totally get that. I do. But I am also trying to fit budgets too... I had one that was a four hour deal... ceremony was 3 minutes... so yeah... i cant charge them FULL DAY now can I? A lot of people want my work but cant always afford what I would charge to be there for 10+ hours...

[QUOTE=gravy graffix;10958389]I had one that was a four hour deal... ceremony was 3 minutes... so yeah... i cant charge them FULL DAY now can I?

The wedding still took up your entire shooting day. It isn't like you could have another wedding right after that one finished for another 4 hours. There are prime days throughout the year to do weddings. Saturday>Sunday>Friday>other weekdays, Spring/Fall>Summer>Winter. Since you can't shoot a wedding every day of the year, the ones that you can are at a premium, and booking a 4 hour wedding especially on a prime day for less money than an 6,8,10+ hour wedding is just silly.

point taken.... this was a good while ago and i wasnt booking a lot then.

Long before I understood the value of other people's time, my wife and I lowballed the photographer who shot our wedding.

We got what we paid for.

Not his fault. My wife and I were cheapskates. But he did a good job for the two or three hours he was there. His white balance was off, however.

gravy graffix wrote in post #10958389
I totally get that. I do. But I am also trying to fit budgets too... I had one that was a four hour deal... ceremony was 3 minutes... so yeah... i cant charge them FULL DAY now can I? A lot of people want my work but cant always afford what I would charge to be there for 10+ hours...

I'm with you. And though I don't advertise it, I'll do stuff like that, too. Officially, I'm $x for the day, but I say that I'll quote a special price for an event that's only an hour or two long.

Once you hit that 4-6 hour window, I feel like I'm consuming a full day even though I'm not getting paid for a full day. So I'll make a judgement call on whether or not I want to offer something special. If they're local and I won't need an assistant, probably. If not, then probably not. Any time I do offer a special price for something like 4 or 6 hours, everyone is real clear; I'm staying for just those 4 or 6 hours.

I hate to do it, though.

I learnt very early on to set a time in my contract.
It states...up to the cake cutting and 1st dance or 7 hours whichever comes first.

My B &G know that I dont just pack up and leave after 7 hours...it was put in place as a safegard for us. We got caught staying over 12 hours at a couple of our earlier weddings. (some reception places really do drag out the formalities)

There are only so many candids that you can take at a reception before they all look the same.We also felt we had to keep taking pics as long as we were there.Which in turn produced masses of photos for me to cull. My B &G don't want 500 photos of the reception.

We get all the shots that are important to the B&G + candids, table shots ( if wanted) then before we leave we ask the B&G and often their parents if there are anymore photos they would like.
This usually takes us up to at least 8 hours.
My price is the same even if their wedding is only 5 hours long. (not often)

I do 4-8 hours.

I'm free to leave after that but usually stick around for as long as I like shooting, at their discretion sometimes the after party too

I think my previous job ruined me. When you're used to 14-16 hour days a 10-12 hour day seems short.

I'm in the midst of changing my policy to set hours, because a couple interpreted the "All day coverage" as truly all day. In a couple weeks, I'll be following the groom and groomsmen around on the golf course for 18 holes in the morning.

What I normally do is as things are wrapping up, I'll go to the bride and let her know that I'll be taking off shortly and ask her if there are any images she still wants captured. Usually, she'll gather a couple of her friends on the dance floor for a few quick candids.

David Ziser always preaches the "Be prepared for anything" which happens about 3/4 of the weddings. I'm walking out, everything is packed up and there will always be one last cute picture, which I'll end up taking in P for professional with the pop up flash. It's inevitable. It's not going to win me any awards, but it's a moment that otherwise would have been lost.

I will leave as close to my contracted time as convenient. I'll give them a few extra minutes here and there.

For whatever reason I can't quote... but in response to what you said wdwpsu- I had that happen to me so many times that I stopped packing up my camera. I keep it, the flash, and a lens on the camera. I'll walk out of the venue with it around my neck so I don't miss anything. Then I'll pack it up in the car.

Since I started doing that, there's never been a last minute cute photo to take. Thus is life, right?

I have a few pkg's to choose from.
In all of them, I don't judge by time... I judge by event increments of the wedding day.
The cheapest is the ceremony & formals
Next up is getting ready, ceremony, formals
Next is (full day) getting ready, ceremony, formals & reception.

In my price list, it's clearly stated that if their package includes the reception, I stay until around 11pm - midnight. (depending whether or not I feel I captured all there is to capture...) If just about everyone is gone by around 11, that's when I'll pack up too! If the party's hoppin' I'll stay.

Last year, a couple cut the cake at the very end of the night and ended up getting into a cake fight!!! It was awesome!!! And if I had ran my packages according to hours, I would've missed it!! I don't mind staying around! I'm full of adrenalin during the reception anyways.

But what I won't do... is go to the next increment of the event "for a few extra pictures". If they paid for their formals to be the end of my job. I find sometimes I run into couples that want me to go to the reception and just take some pictures of the room and details. Nope. Sorry. The reason why I won't is because I don't want to be taken advantage of once I get into the hall. If they want to pay for that extra time, they'll have to pay for the next size package.... Then they'll have me all night!

do any of ya'll stay until the end of the reception when the b/g leave? like to take the pictures of them walking out to the limo? some of my favorite wedding shots are of that!