If someone offered you $300 to cover 3hrs of a wedding, 1.5hrs of commuting, and 2hrs of sorting/editing time, WITH LESS THAN 8HRS NOTICE, how many photos would you include? Prints? Extras?
If you’re thinking that sounds insane then you’re correct but I’m just losing my mind here. He asked for an additional DISCOUNT and thought that I was going to include 200+ prints into a photo album for him??? I’m new to photography so I figured I could at least get the experience and use for marketing but I don’t have permission to post photos of the family in their culture either. I did someone a favor and it’s been nothing but a nightmare.
It sounds like you’ve already taken the pictures, eh?
In that case, if you didn’t go over these specifics beforehand, I’d give this person the best you can offer digitally (ONLY AFTER he pays!!!) and tell him prints or a photo album would cost extra. You can also show him examples of wedding photography pricing for your area and explain he is getting a huge discount, especially because you were available at the last minute.
Consider this a lesson and learn from it. Get everything in writing beforehand, even from people for whom you’re “just doing a favor.”
$300 is obscenely low for a wedding. Just as a comparison, where I live, I’ve seen people shooting passport photos for $80 + taxes (just a plain white background at their studios — no commuting and barely any editing time). In the future, it might be helpful to create yourself an itemized pricing list for any kind of photography work you’re willing to do, which you can pull out in situations like this. You should also have a “rush” fee for last-minute requests like this.