SABugl123 wrote:
I did my first wedding for free. Spend time editing the photos & sent them to the couple. Now they want me to unedited them & send them to them. Do I go back & unedit them, & resend them? I am kind of socked & somewhat offended. What do I do???
To the OP:
Your situation is not unique! Stories like your own appear frequently on this and other online photo forums. These posts usually contain a variety of complaints similar to your own and the respondents usually post what I call their own "wedding horror stories". There are always remarks from the disgruntled ex-wedding shooters who purport that wedding photography amounts to photo-hell! Well- it does if you don't know what you are doing and getting yourself into.
If you want honest advice, post a few of the images and show what your "editing" entailed. Perhaps all your friends wanted are all the outtakes. If they were dissatisfied with the retouching, softening, sharpening, saturation or whatever- get to the bottom of it and find out waht's up for your own education and experience.
If this first wedding shoot was a one-off venture and you have no intention of doing this professionally- just give them the un-edited files and forget about it. If you are serious about pursuing wedding and event photography on a professional basis, you do have a reputation to safeguard so find out what the problem is and correct it. If the unadulterated images are so bad that they required radical correction, of course, you don't want you to name attached to them but whether you got paid or not, you need to serve the "client" properly, own up and make sure they are pleased. Approach the issue like a business person, can the wounded ego and take care of business.
Remember, no one forced you to take on the job for free, but once you did that, you still have an obligation to satisfy the couple.
An important part of professional wedding photography is PLANNING and sitting down with the couple, well in advance, to find out their expectations and explaining how and what you intend to do as far as scheduling, what and how you cover the event, and all about editing and retouching. Of course, in the future- your PRICE!
I can understand your taking on the job gratis, for experience and creating a portfolio but you have to explain this to the couple and that anyone that they recommend your services to will be expected to pay. Sometimes even good things that come cheaply or for free are disrespected- folks have to know the value of your services.
I am not scolding you or talking down to you. I am offering advice based on over 50 years of professional wedding photography. It's a good and lucrative business but it ain't for the impatient, lazy or faint of heart photographer. Even top experienced pros can have issues with dissatisfied clients. Some have ended up on the receiving end of nasty and costly lawsuits.
I hope you are good at multitasking. If you want to set up a photography business, you need to hone your skills, get the education and experience, and create a solid business plan as to expenses, costs, prices, contracts, legalities and promotion.
I hope this helps and good luck.