soap box Archives – Studio Laguna Photography

Winter Wedding Discounts

February 8, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

I was talking with a caker friend today about off season discounts. We simply don’t offer them. We feel that our time and costs are worth the same whether it is on or off season…and we’re not the only ones. This isn’t to say offering winter discounts is wrong at all, heck, some wedding businesses even work on sliding scales during the entire year! While it doesn’t hurt to ask a vendor if discounts are available, it also shouldn’t be expected that you’ll get a discount for a non summer Saturday wedding.

In the winter, most flowers are out of season. The cost of flying in blooms, especially very seasonal blooms, is pricey. The same seasonal logic goes with food and desserts. I just learned the price fluxuation of butter from summer to winter…it is a lot of money! Lets move on to venues…heating a large venue is very expensive, and safe transportation of guests and staff come into play. For photographers, I think it comes down to editing time and delivery of albums and prints. When the holidays roll around, things take twice as long, or you have to pay hefty rush order fees.

That being said, winter is my favorite season for weddings! But if you’re thinking of having an off season wedding just to save money, you might be limiting yourself as far as vendor choices go. Not all vendors give winter discounts, not because they’re scrouges, but because it might cost MORE for them to operate in the off season, not less.

Just some food for thought =)

Photography Copyright

November 2, 2011 By katrina Leave a Comment

As nice digital cameras become easier and easier to purchase, and with the readiness for online image sharing, the fine line between professional and hobbyist becomes blurred. Along with losing weddings to “uncle Bob” photographers are also having to fiercely protect their copyright from other businesses.

There is still so much confusion about photographer copyrights, so I thought I’d address some basic issues for easy understanding.

First and foremost, I am the first to say that photographers are very lucky to have their images copy written…other industries, like fashion design, do not have any rights to their creative outlet at all. We are truly fortunate to have our industry protected the way it is.

Even if they give you a disk of your photographs, the copyright is still the photographer’s unless they sell it or sign the copyright away in a contract. So how do you work with a photographer to make sure copyright isn’t violated but you still get to use your images?

It is now pretty much standard to have a disk of images included in your wedding package. Photographers used to make their income on prints, and now they are generally giving away that income on a disk for their clients to have. This is a bitter sweet situation. Photographers lament that clients can print their beautiful images at a big box retailer (where the images won’t look as good due to inferior printing), yet we all understand that the client wants to own the memories that have been photographed. Some photographers still hold on to those negatives because it is considered a full service to have your photographer retouch and print each image for ultimate quality control. Obviously, this is the ideal for photographers, but many of us know that the disk is the main thing clients want in their wedding package.

How does this affect the client? Make sure that if you’ve purchased a disk of images for reprint, that your photographer gives you written permission to print your images. The big box retailers will not print images without written permission if the images look professional. Also make sure that the images you’ve purchased are high resolution. Some photographers will give you a disk of low resolution images for facebook postings and clients think they can make prints of these, but the prints turn out pixelated.

On facebook, make sure there is an image credit in the subject of each image. Some photographers like you to include both their name and website so potential clients can find them. And you should always double check with the photographer before posting your images. Discuss the restrictions of copyright BEFORE you sign a contract so you can be an informed consumer.

If this still doesn’t make sense, think about the photographers who have their images stolen by other newby photographers that they use as a portfolio (it happens more than I would like to know). If we didn’t have copyrights, this would be perfectly legal. Copyright also prevents a corporatation from taking a picture they haven’t paid for and blowing it up on billboards…which has happened in the past many times as well. A photographer deserves to get paid especially if another company makes money off their image.

If you buy a DVD, you can’t show it to a large group of people without paying royalties. You technically own the DVD, but the movie industry has to protect their intellectual property, you can just set up your own movie theater. The same goes with music copyright. You can’t post a YouTube video of your cat doing tricks to your favorite Gorillaz song. Think of all the music copyright issues going on right now with iTunes, it is similar rights with photographs. The biggest bee in my bonnet are photographers that use mainstream music on their websites…we are so protective of our copyright, yet violate the music industry’s? I just don’t get it. Videographers, photographers and websites need to use royalty free music unless they paid the record companies to use mainstream music…that is the simple fact of the matter.

After all this do you still want full copyright of your wedding or family pictures? You can always purchase the copyright…this is what the 1% do when they get married. Prepare to spend quite a few thousand dollars.

I hope this helps answer any questions you may have!

Wedding Processional Advice

May 24, 2011 By katrina Leave a Comment

This may seem like a little thing, but it is something I see so often in church weddings and it drives me crazy…the need to have the narthex doors shut after the flower girl starts processing and then open right before the bride goes down the aisle.

This seems to be something that the church wedding planners like to do because it gives a “grand reveal” of the bride, and most brides just shrug and do it. There is supposed to be this seamless transition…the music changes to “Here Comes the Bride”, the doors open, and it is your Cinderella moment right? Well, it rarely happens that way. You need two people to shut and then re-open the doors in unison. Guess how many times that actually goes off without a hitch ; )

Usually, one usher lets go of the door early and it closes with a BANG, or there is so much whispering between the involved parties that the congregation can hear it, or it takes SO LONG to do that it gets a little silly, or the doors bunch up the aisle runner when they close. And to open the doors, the ushers need to be right at the door handles…and that sometimes involves having to step or reach around the bride and her dad. Then there are the times (and I’ve seen it more than once) where there aren’t people to man the doors and an overzealous church coordinator thinks she can open both doors by herself.

I firmly believe in eliminating elements on your wedding that don’t need to be there. First, the aisle runner is SO not needed. It just bunches up and doesn’t roll out correctly and trips people. Second, do you REALLY need the doors to close and then open again? Won’t your guests get the same wow factor if you just turn the corner and walk down the aisle?

I believe one reason people think they need this door closed moment because in that split second, someone can be behind the bride and fluff out their dress so it falls perfectly behind the bride when she walks down the aisle. But guess what? The moment you start walking, the train folds under itself anyway. All that fluffing is only seen by the fluffer.

Rather than adding this last minute of hurry and whispered stress, why not just let the music transition and walk down the aisle? As you’re planning your wedding, think through the decisions you make. Don’t agree to something just because another person says you should do it. Do you want a garter toss? Or are you doing it because you impulse bought a $40 garter when you got your dress? Do you need a veil? White shoes? Cake cutting ceremony? Four hours of formal photography? As each decision comes up, think through it before agreeing…and make sure you give yourself enough planning time so these little decisions don’t make you go crazy.

Aaaaand, off soap box ; )