Starving the wedding photographer

[Eric]

Don't blame this guy one bit for walking out.

Full story here.

I'm not really a photographer, I'm a dog groomer. I take lots of photos of dogs all day to put on my Facebook and Instagram, it's "my thing" if that makes sense. A cut and a photo with every appointment. I very seldom shoot things other than dogs even if I have a nice set up.

A friend got married a few days ago and wanting to save money, asked if I'd shoot it for them. I told him it's not really my forte but he convinced me by saying he didn't care if they were perfect: they were on a shoestring budget and I agreed to shoot it for $250, which is nothing for a 10 hour event.

On the day of, I'm driving around following the bride as she goes from appointment to appointment before the ceremony, taking photos along the way. I shoot the ceremony itself, and during the reception I'm shooting speeches and people mingling.

I started around 11am and was due to finish around 7:30pm. Around 5pm, food is being served and I was told I cannot stop to eat because I need to be photographer; in fact, they didn't save me a spot at any table. I'm getting tired and at this point kinda regretting doing this for next to nothing. It's also unbelievably hot: the venue is in an old veteran's legion and it's like 110F and there's no AC.

I told the groom I need to take off for 20min to get something to eat and drink. There's no open bar or anything, I can't even get water and my two water bottles are long empty. He tells me I need to either be photographer, or leave without pay. With the heat, being hungry, being generally annoyed at the circumstances, I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, so I deleted all the photos I took in front of him and took off saying I'm not his photographer anymore. If I was to be paid $250, honestly at that point I would have paid $250 just for a glass of cold water and somewhere to sit for 5min.

Was I the asshole? They went right on their honeymoon and they've all been off of social media, but a lot of people have been posting on their wall asking about photos with zero responses.

 

[fooferdoggie]

the worst jobs are the ones where you help someone or a friend out for low pay. they expect far more and appreciate far less.

 

[Eric]

the worst jobs are the ones where you help someone or a friend out for low pay. they expect far more and appreciate far less.

Agreed, I did a party for a friend as a favor and it didn't work out at all. The lighting in the room was low, I was asked to "be discrete" meaning no flashes, tripods, etc. and I had to tell them it wasn't going to work out. My friend got upset with me and I made the decision that I would never do that again without clear guidelines.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Agreed, I did a party for a friend as a favor and it didn't work out at all. The lighting in the room was low, I was asked to "be discrete" meaning no flashes, tripods, etc. and I had to tell them it wasn't going to work out. My friend got upset with me and I made the decision that I would never do that again without clear guidelines.

I cant imagine getting into that situation with a bridezilla. there is a reason they are charged so much.

 

[Eric]

I cant imagine getting into that situation with a bridezilla. there is a reason they are charged so much.

I recently did some drone work for a local shipping fleet and one of the guys asked me if I would do a friends wedding and I said no way. I've never done one and it's not really my thing, I just don't have the interest. I'm guessing those who do something like that likely really know their stuff.

 

[Citysnaps]

I recently did some drone work for a local shipping fleet and one of the guys asked me if I would do a friends wedding and I said no way. I've never done one and it's not really my thing, I just don't have the interest. I'm guessing those who do something like that likely really know their stuff.

In the past I toyed with that. But I suspect most typical clients would want typical wedding photos. Which would drive me nuts and be a real snoozer for me.

 

[Roller]

Don't blame this guy one bit for walking out.

Full story here.

I don’t blame the photographer for leaving. But he didn’t say if he told the groom he was about to delete all the photos before he did so. That’s what I would have done, though I wouldn’t have taken the job to begin with.

 

[Eric]

I don’t blame the photographer for leaving. But he didn’t say if he told the groom he was about to delete all the photos before he did so. That’s what I would have done, though I wouldn’t have taken the job to begin with.

He put it like this, it took balls but at the same time I have to tip my hat to him lol.

He tells me I need to either be photographer, or leave without pay. With the heat, being hungry, being generally annoyed at the circumstances, I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, so I deleted all the photos I took in front of him and took off saying I'm not his photographer anymore.

 

[Roller]

He put it like this, it took balls but at the same time I have to tip my hat to him lol.

What I couldn't tell was whether the photographer said something like "Hey, if I leave now, I'm deleting all the photos and you'll have nothing. But if that's what you want, I'm outta here." The photographer was treated horribly - especially as a supposed friend of the groom - and he had a right to be pissed. But it would have given the groom one last chance to salvage the situation, instead of ending up with no wedding pics. He could also have left without deleting anything and then offered to provide the photos for a much higher price. This also depends on whether there was a contract, which I doubt.