GIMME, GIMME, GIMME!!! GIMME THE IMAGES FROM MY EVENT NOW!!!!!!
There is an unspoken argument growing out there and the sides are 'photographers' and 'everyone else' ... the argument goes something like this: gimme the images from my event now or in a timely manner while the details are still valid so that I can share and gain more clients. Does this sound familiar?? Are you on one side of this argument? Let's discuss:
If you are a photographer the job that people PAY you for is to take photos ... and hopefully amazing photos that get you noticed. Couples pay and hire you to photograph their wedding and you do so - sounds pretty cut and dry. If you are on the side of 'everyone else' you offer a different service in the event and wedding industry - you make or coordinate the pretty. Your job is to make the event photographable and memorable for all the right reasons. In a way: you give the photographer something to click. In this scenario BOTH sides get paid for their service. Both the photographer and the 'everyone else' received money to do their job. Yayayayayayayayayay!!!
Now: something beautiful was created ... images of the event or wedding. The images hold the work that went into the day and the couple who hired everyone to make it happen. This is when something ugly happens:
GIMME GIMME GIMME MY IMAGES NOW!!!!
People want images from the event for their portfolios. Right ....
Some photographers are AWESOME about this. Some 'other people' are AWESOME about this. The AWESOME consists of the following:
the photographer sends images to the participating professionals from the wedding for use in their portfolios
the people receiving the photos are respectful about crediting, not cropping, etc
the people receiving the photos don't nag or yell at the photographer to 'hurry up' and send them their photos
^^ sounds pretty reasonable, yes?? Photographers realize the value in sharing their images with the team and the team respects the work of the photographer and makes sure to follow their guidelines ... thus creating a solid platform in which everyone can shine and receive credit and attention for their work. So, my question is:
WHY DOESN'T THIS HAPPEN??
All I hear from both sides is distrust, anger, frustration, GIMME, etc. It's causing issues out there in the world. Photographers no longer want to just hand over their hard work and everyone who contributed to making the event photographable is furious that they can't have those images for their portfolio.
WHAT TO DO???
I see both sides ... I see how there are people that ruin this for everyone ... mostly, I see why photographers don't just want to hand over their images to people! It's true that one person can ruin it for the group! We need to come up with a plan where this doesn't happen. And I have a dog in this fight too!! I want my clients who aren't photographers to have beautiful images for their websites << see how I am involved now?? There has to be an answer here ... I'd love to start a discussion below! Who's in?? I want to hear both sides!!
XO~ Heather
