Take the 150 and don’t look baxk

Honey, you dodged a bullet

A wedding for 400$ - thatcs not the kind of client you would want. The 400$ is why they bailed on you, that just screams to me “I don’t value your time, your skill, my cousin can do it for free”

You got the deposit which is good.

Always insist on a deposit.

Sucks that you lost your first shoot, my brother did one for free before so that he could use it in his portfolio so people have got less for a first wedding!

Your rate is fine to start with small weddings or short half day ones.

Now since weddings happen longer after you have booked them, you need to have a contract that retains them while allowing for a reasonable amount of time to rethink or policies that allow you or them to bail in extraordinary circumstances.

The prob with the rate I see is that if you make your downpayment a percent based (say 30%) even if your contract threatens that you will pocket it if they bail for no justifiable reason, it’s an expense that most people can bare if they decide to change photog last minute.

$400 for a wedding? even if it’s your first one I think it’s low balling yourself. just be thankful she ghosted you cause you don’t want to do all that work for that price.

I charge 100 eur for the booking, and the remaining they can pay in several parcels or all at once at the end of the day, whatever.

Most annoying that happened, I talked to the bride and groom, they were about to book their day with me, and we talked about a second meeting where I would take my digital albums so they can take a look and choose one of their liking. They told me someone has offered them the photography service. I hadn’t booked the day yet, but is still annoying.

Another time, I was asked by a model I know to shoot her wedding as 2nd shooter. The pay would be a dinner. Yes, she wanted to pay my *secondary* work with a meal.

Well, I am sure the main photographer did charge her wedding, but the nerve to ask me to shoot the wedding and get paid with food was outrageus. I told her a round “no, thank you, I can’t” even tough she reminded me of the several shoots we had (not many, I think two, and she was always bailing out of her pregnant shoot I was willing to do her for free).

I charge whatever they want to give for deposit. Then they have until the day of the wedding to pay the full amount

On to the next

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you will get another client soon.

I’m not quite sure what the issue is here. If she had given you $150 as a deposit and she ghosted you, that means you “earned” $150 for doing nothing. She either goes with some other photographer (which doesn’t mean this photographer is better/worse than you, but I’ll say he/she’s probably worse off knowing the situation with the couples so I’d even consider myself dodged a bullet), or she goes with no photo coverage. Neither sounds like a problem for you. And you still have all your equipment and your skills as a photographer to go out and book again.

Seems like a win-win to me.

Depends on your portfolio and your price point, both of which change with your level of experience. Low-end clients will always act low-end, but the higher-paying clients are difficult, too, just for different reasons (e.g., they’re harder to find and they want more creative control of what you’re doing).

At the end of the day, if your work is good enough and you market yourself well enough, you will get there. Just remember what Winston Churchill said: “If you’re going through Hell, keep going.”

Look man even as a entry level photography. I think if you think your good enough not to mess up photos you should at least be charging 150 a hour at a wedding cause 400 bucks for 6 or 7 hours isn’t alot along with all the editing you’ll have. I think ya undercharged but. As for getting clients. It comes with time and advertising to friends family’s and eventually you get the friend of friends who friend recommended you. Who you don’t even know. And from there I think ya gain traction.

I live in India where the OP is. Wedding Photographers here go from $200 per day to $20,000 it all depends on the scale and the type of team needed. I think the median spend goes from USD 1000-5000 for Middle Class and Upper Middle Class weddings. The Spend for the rich is anyones guess.

I’m guessing the wedding is off, lol. Well that’s what the deposit is for.