how long before you get your high-res photos?

so i started looking at photographers today. i was really excited, in particular, to go to one of the more high-end photography studios (won't mention names) but when i got there i was disheartened to find out that after the wedding they 'own the copyright' to your photos for THREE years! in other words, they will not give a disk with high resolution images that you can print out on your own unless you wait three years after your wedding. ANY photo you want printed out, you must go through them.... starting at 22$ for a 5x7 picture. want to pick out a few pictures to take to cvs and print out to give people? TOO BAD. what!! maybe i'm naive, but i can't imagine a photo package that doesn't include THE PHOTOS!! is this commonplace?? i really got the feeling that this studio is just trying to nickel and dime brides into paying extra. i'm not cheap and i will pay for quality but this offended me on principle. the other 2 studios i spoke to today gave you your high res images within a few months.

anyway, i'm curious now.. how long will it be before you get your high res disk from your photographer? am i off-base in thinking this is ridiculous?

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Posted by BlushandBashful

Check out Thomas Paul Photography. Tom gives you a cd of your images and you own the rights to your photos. He's a standup guy and wants the best for his brides. I'm a big fan.

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HAHA.. actually, i had spoke to tom on the phone before today, and he was one of the ones i was referring to who said they gave you the high res images within a few months. he was very kind and seemed genuine when i spoke to him. i'm meeting him on wednesday night.. i'm really glad to hear your positive experience!

Some photographers do hold the rights for a few years, and I personally would not book with a studio that does that.
My brother/sister in law used a popular LI photo studio whole held the pics for 3-5 years. When they actually went back for them, they were told that they were archived and eventually thrown out, so they never got their images, all they have are their albums.

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Posted by BlushandBashful

Check out Thomas Paul Photography. Tom gives you a cd of your images and you own the rights to your photos. He's a standup guy and wants the best for his brides. I'm a big fan.

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Absolutely!!

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Posted by sjr385

Curious. It's not so uncommon for photographers to retain the copyright to their photos... but there's usually a provision that allows for personal use. (Lawyers -- what's the US law? Do photographers hold the copyright for their images by default?) It depends whether their business model is based on you paying for photography time, or on you paying for images.

Would you mind FMing me who the photographer was? FH will never agree to that, so it's not worth wasting our time checking them out.

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yeah.. she phrased it like that but i think it has less to do with copyright law and more to do with the fact that they want to squeeze every cent out of you that they can. they know that most brides will want to print their pictures within the first 3 years of the wedding, yet every time you want to do that you have to pay them more and more money. the package was ~5000 dollars and was pretty bare-bones: no thankyou cards, only a few 5*7s, and one very large print, with a matted album (a digital album is a 750 dollar upgrade, which is outrageous)... i think any package of photography should account for both photography time AND the images, especially one that is so expensive. anyway, i will fm you.

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Posted by green_tea

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Posted by sjr385

Curious. It's not so uncommon for photographers to retain the copyright to their photos... but there's usually a provision that allows for personal use. (Lawyers -- what's the US law? Do photographers hold the copyright for their images by default?) It depends whether their business model is based on you paying for photography time, or on you paying for images.

Would you mind FMing me who the photographer was? FH will never agree to that, so it's not worth wasting our time checking them out.

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yeah.. she phrased it like that but i think it has less to do with copyright law and more to do with the fact that they want to squeeze every cent out of you that they can. they know that most brides will want to print their pictures within the first 3 years of the wedding, yet every time you want to do that you have to pay them more and more money. the package was ~5000 dollars and was pretty bare-bones: no thankyou cards, only a few 5*7s, and one very large print, with a matted album (a digital album is a 750 dollar upgrade, which is outrageous)... i think any package of photography should account for both photography time AND the images, especially one that is so expensive. anyway, i will fm you.

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ITA with you...I really do believe the photographers you spoke to really are trying to squeeze every last cent they can out of you...as if you're not paying enough to begin with!

The one we met with that retains the copyright does it because they actually want the copyright lol - they want to be able to post your pics on their site, edit them as they wish, etc. They basically know ppl will just print them at cvs or something and they want to ensure the quality of the pictures by having all of the rights to them for a period of time. Its def annoying but I dont think the SOLE reason is to make more $ (although I agree that is DEF a factor Im sure! ) lol. Honestly with so many companies available though, you dont need to deal w/ a company that has a policy you dislike!

That does seem ridiculous..........three years. I have almost been married for a year and I am still waiting for my disk. I always knew that I would get the disk when my album was fully completed, I have received all of my photos that were part of my package, but I am still waiting on the album and of couse the high res disk.

I wasn't aware that it would take a year because when I signed the contract, they told me 6 months and I even let them know the photos I wanted for the album only a month after the wedding.

Just be careful whoever you sign with because they tell you one thing before you sign the contract and then it is another after the contract. However, I guess I have nothing to complain about after hearing that.............three years....wow!

Good luck with your search!

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Posted by green_tea

so i started looking at photographers today. i was really excited, in particular, to go to one of the more high-end photography studios (won't mention names) but when i got there i was disheartened to find out that after the wedding they 'own the copyright' to your photos for THREE years! in other words, they will not give a disk with high resolution images that you can print out on your own unless you wait three years after your wedding. ANY photo you want printed out, you must go through them.... starting at 22$ for a 5x7 picture. want to pick out a few pictures to take to cvs and print out to give people? TOO BAD. what!! maybe i'm naive, but i can't imagine a photo package that doesn't include THE PHOTOS!! is this commonplace?? i really got the feeling that this studio is just trying to nickel and dime brides into paying extra. i'm not cheap and i will pay for quality but this offended me on principle. the other 2 studios i spoke to today gave you your high res images within a few months.

anyway, i'm curious now.. how long will it be before you get your high res disk from your photographer? am i off-base in thinking this is ridiculous?

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Patken gives them to you once you pay in full and pick everything up

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Posted by green_tea

so i started looking at photographers today. i was really excited, in particular, to go to one of the more high-end photography studios (won't mention names) but when i got there i was disheartened to find out that after the wedding they 'own the copyright' to your photos for THREE years! in other words, they will not give a disk with high resolution images that you can print out on your own unless you wait three years after your wedding. ANY photo you want printed out, you must go through them.... starting at 22$ for a 5x7 picture. want to pick out a few pictures to take to cvs and print out to give people? TOO BAD. what!! maybe i'm naive, but i can't imagine a photo package that doesn't include THE PHOTOS!! is this commonplace?? i really got the feeling that this studio is just trying to nickel and dime brides into paying extra. i'm not cheap and i will pay for quality but this offended me on principle. the other 2 studios i spoke to today gave you your high res images within a few months.

anyway, i'm curious now.. how long will it be before you get your high res disk from your photographer? am i off-base in thinking this is ridiculous?

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Sounds like my photographer. Because FMIL is paying, I didn't have much of a choice. I am not comfortable with them, and am pretty sure they will f*ck something up