JG and I received an e-mail from the bride from the Labor Day wedding we attended that included a link to their photographer’s website. We hopped on right away to check out the shots, which were so gorgeous. The photographer and assistants did a really nice job in capturing the major moments and it sounded like the bride and groom were pleased with the results.
JG and I had such a good time that weekend and we loved being there to see our close friends get married, so I was excited to round out our dim, amateur pictures with professional shots from the site. Much to my chagrin, I left my camera at our table during the cake-cutting and I always forget to have someone take a picture of JG and me when we’re all dressed up. Plus, I wasn’t feeling well during the day, so I wasn’t as energetic about capturing pictures as I normally would have been.
I began to mark pictures as favorites, making sure to grab shots of the entire wedding party, the cake-cutting, JG and me dancing, and the newlyweds and us. I probably had about 15 pictures in my shopping cart, but I was prepared to cut back if the cost and shipping dictated. Because it was my first time ordering wedding pictures from a photographer’s site, I had no frame of reference for cost. I figured that the photographer had already put in the time at the wedding and in creating a slideshow, so sending batches to print and shipping them would require minimal labor that some intern could complete. I only wanted 4” x 6” prints, not even an 8” x 10”, so that would help the bottom line, too. At worst, I estimated that I would pay $5, $7 max, per print, which I thought was still pretty pricey, but doable. For $30-40, I could get a handful of shots I had missed and that would be fine with me.
I clicked the “Order” button and gasped.
Twenty-five dollars. For one picture. Before shipping.
“What’s wrong?” JG asked.
“We’re not ordering any pictures of Liz and Andy’s wedding,” I said flatly.
“Why not?”
I swiveled the screen in JG’s direction and his face dropped. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry, kiddo.”
Yeah. Me, too.
8 comments
What a RIP OFF! I wouldn’t have ordered any pictures either.
Thank you! I wasn’t sure if my estimate was totally off or what.
That’s ridiculous. What are they THINKING?
I assume that people take them up on the prices, but I can’t imagine how.
That is crazy! Even my marathon pictures only cost $15 each!!
I know! It was like I was buying a theme park mid-ride action shot WITHOUT the cheesy cardboard frame! Ridiculous.
I can’t even believe that!
Ugh, neither could I.
that’s insane! I’d ask the bride if she got the digital images/rights and would upload them to kodak (or wherever) herself. (I think that’s pretty common.)
Good idea! She did encourage us to order off the site, so I think that might mean she doesn’t have the rights, but I will definitely ask.
I would check with the bride to see if that’s what she is paying for the prints. When my mother in law tried to place an order after our wedding she ran into the same price gouging that you did. It turned out that our photographer had two price lists, one for on contract and one for off. Based on our contract we were able to order prints for much less. We ended up placing a huge order to cover what everyone else wanted, saving a bundle for them in the process.
Ooh, very sneaky. That’s a great way to get around it, though.
I had the same thing happen when my best friend got married last year. I went to order some prints, saw the prices, and immediately closed the internet window and walked away.
I don’t even remember how much our photographer charged to order prints online. People had the opportunity, but I don’t know if anyone actually ordered any. Part of our contract specified that we would get DVD of high-res images of every single shot (we were supposed to get negatives, actually, but the photographer ignored the part of our contract where we specifically requested he use film instead of digital). Our photographer turned out to be a real asshole (took good pictures, though!) and thought he could pick and choose which parts of the contract he felt like honoring. We had to work hard to get that DVD, but we did eventually get it, and our families all got 19-cent Walgreens prints of all the pictures their hearts desired rather than giving that jerk any more money than we had to.
Hey, that’s a pretty happy ending for such an ordeal. It seems like photographers really run the gamut of skill/personality, which stinks, because they are all so expensive.
Oh, my God, this is SO TRUE. These prices are so ridiculous. I think the photographers would make much more money selling MORE photos at a lower price!
Wouldn’t you think so? Because I am not spending $100 on FOUR photos. I assume that people do it, though, because photographers would charge what people would pay. Silly people, that is. I felt weird during the wedding because I was constantly taking pictures, but now, the guilt is gone.
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