Hip Coyote

Just give the pics to them and move on. Next time make sure the contract is tight so that you dont have this problem again...or if you want, give them the photos!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

So there are gaps in the time. So what? Nobody expects a photo every second. (Or every 1/10 second during bursts). The point is that the photos are not named with an index number, so there are no obvious gaps in the sequence of photos.

dpfoto Loc: Cape Coral, FL

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I tell them, "I'm sorry, but they have already been deleted." Actually, they HAVE been deleted from my main computer, just not from my backup system.

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

I never give the ones that I believe are not good representation of my work. I tell the client that I will submit approximately "X" number of photos and that is all.
You could rename them so they are in numerical sequential order and the client would never know that there are any missing. Good luck.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Clarification:
I rename my files to use the date and time in the file name. I do not use an index number. The files can be sorted chronologically, but any gaps will not be visible because you will not expect the time you take photos to be incremented at a constant interval.

If you're using Lightroom, and renaming files on import, the original file name is preserved in the metadata. That means that someone who knows what they're doing could look at the Lightroom Metadata panel or the EXIF data and find the original file name. If it's the camera name, there is an index number included there. That means that gaps could be detected.

If you rename the files BEFORE you import them into Lightroom, then LR only knows about the new name and the camera name is lost. That means that gaps will not be detectable in metadata.

If you export the image as a jpg, the preserved file name will show up in the EXIF data (if you don't rename before importing into LR). You can find it using Jeffrey's EXIF viewer (http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi). Most of the EXIF viewers I've used do not show a complete list. Jeffrey's is the most complete viewer I've come across.

I have no experience with other DAM systems so I don't know whether they would include the original file name or not.

skatz

It has been a long time since I shot a wedding (I learned to avoid them) and perhaps digital technology has changed things a lot. I had 2 kinds of “out takes”. There were technical ones (flash didn’t fire, focus was off, etc.) that went straight to the trash. And there were subjective ones (someone blinked, duplicates, etc.) that I held back in case Aunt Molly only appeared in one of those. These were never part of the album or offered for enlargements, but under special circumstances could be bought as well. The contracts were for a package that included a defined number of prints of various sizes, no ambiguity.

htbrown Loc: San Francisco Bay Area

Are they buying pictures, or the skill of the photographer? I would suggest the latter. They are not paying for pictures they didn't get, they are paying for the pictures they did get, done with skill. It's a little like demanding a painter's rags because otherwise they'd be paying for paint they didn't get.

lositton Loc: Pensacola, FL

[quote=NormanTheGr8]

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!

nadoboys Loc: Atascadero CA

It sounds to me that this person is new to this industry, otherwise he would not be looking for business advice on the internet. Yes, he should have a good contract that spells out what he will provide so his clients know what to expect. If his final work product was to be a finished album that commemorated his client's special day, it seems to me he did not meet his clients expectations. Otherwise, they would not be coming back to him asking for other photos he took so they could give a shot at trying to fix them up in Photoshop and include them with the photos they will keep and cherish and share with friends and loved ones.
My advice would be in this case to sit down with the client and work with them to help create a product that better meets their expectations. This way the client will be satisfied and the photographer will learn more about what his clients expect. He will also maintain creative control over the images he took.