THE PAPPARAZZI CLUB:
I have found by being nice to guests and giving them a moment after my work is done and even a few tips has made me a friend rather than competitor. After each sequence I tell my “helpers”, Ok now all on three, one, two, three. Then after a moment I’ll say something like “The Paparazzi will meet outside the church by the steps after they come out and you see me set up”. It has worked every time. It’s also a great time for card giving and you would be surprised at the referrals you get. They love you for this.

I have business cards that say “Official Paparazzi” and when we do the informal shots at cake, and limo and tosses, AFTER I shoot, I yell Paparazzi time and they all come forward and let them have a good time. What do I care if they shoot a set, you think the point and shoot at fifteen feet and eight people wide is competition to a Quantum Q2 or a Norman with 400 watt seconds. Half of those point and shoots won’t even work at the distance they are at so I push them closer so they do come out. 

Sometimes I have taken an advanced amateur who got in the way and made him hold the lights so that took him out of the picture but he learned something and appreciated it. Why the Official Paparazzi cards? They are my business cards on the other side and you wish you had a dollar for everyone that found me a wedding. Most of the snappers are friends or members of the wedding party and they get married too. What a time to make friends and future clients, not enemies.

LEGALITIES: PERMISSIONS…
It’s their pictures and you want permission to use their pictures for your promotional use. You want this clear and in writing if it is important to you for advertising, marketing, trade shows, print competitions, and for promotional use in locations other than your gallery i.e.: the web. (Get it in writing) 

If they say no (which is rare) then abide by it. The sword has two edges and one does not need to abuse this either by pictorializing their entire family for your benefit and violating their privacy. Written permission agreeing to use is important. The trend today is to give the negatives to the Bride after a short period, like after you are paid in total for services rendered. (More below on this subject)

THOUGHTS:
   •  Thus good digital copies of your work is a must, as is a good release to use them.

  •  I use and believe in the three part payment for the Wedding; A good contract is fair to both the photographer and the Bride who hired you. The one third deposit to retain the date, second third the day of the Wedding, third part on delivery of the Wedding proofs, CD-ROMs, discs, and/or enlargements.

  • Sometimes (see the sample contract) I want it all up front, just a gut feeling tells me I either have a Bridezilla or sometimes bounced checks tell you that. Understanding what is and what isn’t included up front is the best way of doing business.

  •  The prime rule of individual business success for the Wedding Photographer is customer satisfaction. And that is achieved only one way, giving the consumer more that his or her expectations. Business sense, if you got paid enough to do the job, extra shots (one roll or fill up that spare card) might cost you another 15 dollars for prints and proofs or a CD . For the extra fifteen dollars I get all the shots that show up late, or become apparent at the affair. Maybe some special folks at the table, but, the surprises get captured. The Bride gets it all.

  •  As trends change and laws of ownership change, the many Wedding Photographers I know added a little extra to the package to cover the cost of film and processing and now after sixty days or so release the pictures to the client. With digital, a hi-res and lo-res disc is often all that is delivered.

  •  Extra cost of the post time on the computer is fair to charge for. The on-line PROFESSIONAL wedding services (PBASE is not what I’m talking about) do a great job and the pro people I know using them love the convenience.

  •  Another argument is that most of the “cheaters” shoot down to Ritz and make copies on the Kodak machine or scan them. Again with much of the industry going to digital, the abundance of digital at weddings and many households with scanners the whole issue becomes a moot point. 

  •  In addition people at most of the kiosks turn the other way when copying anyways so get it in writing and get it up front are the mottos. If you are a business act like one. (get it in writing)

KNOW THE RULES:
For those in Florida...Sales Tax. Keep all books and records. Especially if this is just a casual business. The sales tax people visited us one year in the store and requested all film sales to PROS or those with sales tax exemption records.

If you keep the negatives or original files on disc and charged sales tax on your wedding fees, yet you claim tax exempt when you buy film, you are in trouble.

Florida has incorporated a sales tax law that if film is part of an agreement and you are paid for that film as part of the cost, you better turn in the sales tax if it was included in your billing. It’s cheaper to pay seven percent tax on the film cost and be done with it, than screw with the sales tax people. They are bears.

The sales tax people visited us one year in the store and requested all film sales to PROS or those with sales tax exemption records. IF you keep the negatives and charged sales tax on your wedding fees, yet you claim tax exempt when you buy film, you are in trouble. Florida has incorporated a sales tax law that if film is part of an agreement and you are paid for that film as part of the cost, you better turn in the sales tax if it was included in your billing.

It’s cheaper to pay seven percent tax on the film cost and be done with it, than screw with the sales tax people. They are bears and boy  did they turn over the soil. Many “casual” shooters who claimed small business but didn’t adhere to the record keeping turned over more dirt as they dug. They were fined.