We've all had our fair share of nightmare clients. I'm part of a Facebook group where photographers air their grievances and seek advice from their peers on how to handle certain situations. A recent topic of conversation was sharing stories of nightmare wedding clients and potential red flags they look for during their initial consultation. See below for some of my favorites.
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“My mom wants to talk with you since she’s paying.”
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Haggling
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Asking for raw/unedited images
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Wanting to edit the contract after already signing
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"We like your $2000 package, but saw a competitor offer something similar for $900. Will you price match?"
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“We want a copyright release on the photos, because my fiancé will edit the photos himself.”
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“When they have a list of questions printed out like ‘what do you wear to a wedding?’”
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“Talking s***t about a previous photographer they’ve worked with.”
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“Parents who push me on my booking policies (paying in full in advance), asking what’s to keep me from bailing with their money.”
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“Can I have a list of past brides and their contact information?”
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“I’m already three months pregnant and don’t want our family to know I'm pregnant at our wedding in four months.”
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“I met them for a consult and the bride told me she was getting married in a dark cave at 6 pm, but wanted no lighting, flash, or even the shutter to click.”
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“I don’t get along with my future in-laws, so I want them in as few photos as possible.”
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“One groom told me he didn’t want to give me permission to use photos because I would ‘make money’ from it.”
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"My fiancé is in the witness protection program. Are you able to photograph the wedding wearing Kevlar? It's really very lightweight!"
What are some of your nightmare wedding client stories? How did you handle any crazy situations? Share them in the comments section below!
Lead image by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash used under Creative Commons.
Red flag.
Probably. While I agree with him, I'm sure he's not the kind of client most wedding photographers would want.
Why trash photographers who run THEIR business their own way. Don't like it ? Then go elsewhere.
Are you a professional wedding photographer or a baseball little league photographer ?
And that's the kind of comments I argue against! >:-(
I agree with Sam. The person paying ultimately gets to decide on what type of files they want from the photographer. It is up to the photographer to accept or decline the client's request, educate them or help them identify a photographer who could help them.
I presume there is an inherent reason why you would not give the client the RAW files (e.g. reputation damage). However, for every problem, there is a solution, and it would be simple to make sure that the client cannot give the RAW files to any other party, other than for personal use, and could not publish the photographer's name in association with the photographs. In my opinion, as a 'luxury' service industry, wedding photographers should make every effort to work with clients.
Ultimately, Bill, you are also guilty of deciding whether Jacob is or isn't a photographer, mainly by his Facebook profile? This seems a bit unprofessional given that you are in the professional photography business. Does your judgment of whether a client can post process RAW files affect whether you would allow them to pay for your services? Although they are in many ways like negatives, they can be converted to dng files and metadata removed so that you still retain the original files. If this is all the client wanted, you could simply photograph the wedding and save time on post-processing.
I rarely do this... but I actually logged in to down vote this.
My favourite is the "we need you from 9am to 9pm, we only want you to take photos for 4 hours during that time so we would like your half day package with some discount on top" enquiry.
As for the original post, pretty much nailed it.
Around 2010 o 2012 I was assistant for weddings, the company for who I worked decided to take the job of a gypsy wedding just because they was "paying well". They decided pay half first and the other half when they have the pics, from the first minute everything went wrong. From guests stealing in the party to destroying the inner park with pick up trucks, the service found people throwing the trash in the bathrooms between a lot of other things.
At the moment of give the photos my boss send it in low res, the couple show up with their family saying that the photos was totally crap and they wanted the photos for free, after a long and agressive discussion they agree of pay the half of the remaining half and give us a car for our service. Of course my boss only took the money.
Few months after that I say goodbye to weeding photos. Never more.
Price shoppers who think all photographers are the same.
#15 is similar to have a client in Gaza
This isn't exactly on the subject but it always makes me laugh: A friend had couple ask to cancel their contract saying they forgot they had a cousin who's got a really good camera.
To illustrate that point I said the same thing to an accountant about my cousin who has a really good calculator. Confusion ensued.
“My mom wants to talk with you since she’s paying.” Sounds reasonable that you would want to speak with the person paying the bill.
Haggling. A perfectly legitimate business practice that most financial advisers would advise clients to try.
Asking for raw/unedited images. No harm in asking.
Wanting to edit the contract after already signing. Again, no harm in trying.
"We like your $2000 package, but saw a competitor offer something similar for $900. Will you price match?". Legitimate practice. Maybe you have not put forward a case to prove your work is worth $1100. More.
“We want a copyright release on the photos, because my fiancé will edit the photos himself.” Fair call, if that is what the client wants. There is not much use keeping the raw files of a couple you don’t know, will probably never meet again, who wont want their image used in other arenas.
“When they have a list of questions printed out like ‘what do you wear to a wedding?’”. A fair and reasonable idea, people like to plan, and also want the hired help to blend in with the theme.
“Talking s***t about a previous photographer they’ve worked with.”. The client can do this, the professional photog cant.
“Parents who push me on my booking policies (paying in full in advance), asking what’s to keep me from bailing with their money.” With the recent stories of wedding photographers taking months to deliver the final product, it seems fair to want to withhold partial payment until completion.
“Can I have a list of past brides and their contact information?” There has been many wedding photographers who have stated that people should ask around, look at previous work, and speak with satisfied customers before committing. Maybe ask satisfied customers to be references of your work and service.
“I’m already three months pregnant and don’t want our family to know I'm pregnant at our wedding in four months.” It takes all kinds of people….
“I met them for a consult and the bride told me she was getting married in a dark cave at 6 pm, but wanted no lighting, flash, or even the shutter to click.” A tough assignment, but sounds like an interesting challenge. Would also be awesome if it all went to plan.
“I don’t get along with my future in-laws, so I want them in as few photos as possible.” Every wedding ever..
“One groom told me he didn’t want to give me permission to use photos because I would ‘make money’ from it.” Your paid to shoot their wedding, they are not professional models, and probably don’t want their images used everywhere.
"My fiancé is in the witness protection program. Are you able to photograph the wedding wearing Kevlar? It's really very lightweight!" Another interesting and tough challenge. Maybe change neighbourhoods.
I had to add a clause to my contracts to cover the possibility of a drunk attendee threatening me. On a number of occasions, someone got drunk and extremely obnoxious. One guy threatened me if I took his photo at the reception. One "brother-in-law" was so drunk, he fell into the cake during the cake cutting while climbing over plants I was shooting from to get video. He saw how I worked that position and barged right in to take over and fall in into the cake.
I once had a herd of cows stroll through the reception.
Life is weird.
:-D
Add to the list, If they troll F-stoppers, Peta-whatever or other blog, It's really easy. for photogs and clients; if you can't have it your way, you need a different shooter or client. If you want the raws, hire a student or someone that doesn't care, as you don't want pay a creative, you want a clicker. If I don't like the release on the contract, it's not my photog, I need to go a different place or person. There is no reason to get nasty about it. As far as dealing with the drama, photographers have to work, not solve family issues. I guess it is deciding if the check is worth it.
Just curious... You seem to be saying there's no skill in taking the photos, only in the processing. That can't be right. Personally, I don't understand what the big deal is regarding RAWS for weddings, etc.
All I was saying is there is someone for everyone. A photog that wants to control every artistic aspect is not a good fit for the ala carte client. If someone wants to control their raws, so be it. If someone wants to click and dash, sounds good, if that's what the client wants to pay. The entire process of successfully capturing an event, to me includes everything; before capture until the images are delivered and requires skills that the photographer bases their reputation on. When I'm shooting second and I give my raws to the primary, it's because I trust them to process well as it is their reputation . I do not allow anyone else to process my images
Got it! Thanks for the explanation. :-)
One told me she wants to see the list of my BACKUP photographer to choose from in case I get sick and can't shoot the wedding for them...before signing the contract .... I was like you also give me a list of brides getting married on the same day as you so I can choose from :D
I would never think of that but, honestly, I don't see how that's so unreasonable.
What prevents her from not picking one of the photographers I am introducing to her as her main photographer for a lower price ? She hadn't even signed a contract
Good point. The devil's in the details. :-)
Also when I say images in two weeks, don't text me at the end of first week! OK ? Two weeks .. ok ? two