by Rabbi Chanoch Hecht
I was dancing the night away, celebrating a most joyous occasion. People were jumping along with joy and singing to the music. It was a family member’s wedding, and it was going great, without a single glitch.
Then I spotted my uncle talking to the photographer, with a frown on his face. They were gesturing wildly at their watches and shaking their heads.
Are you confused? Let me fill you in.
With about an hour to go until the end of the wedding, the photographer we hired and already paid, stated that his time was up. The band was still playing, the dessert was just being served and everyone was still dancing; the party was in full swing.
“My time is up, and that’s what you paid me for. If you want me to stay, you will have to pay me more money” said the photographer, threatening to leave.
Are you still confused? Allow me to clarify:
When we hired the photographer he guided us on how many photographers and videographers we needed and how long we needed them for to capture the wonderful moments of this grand evening.
The photographer took advantage of his position by making us believe we only needed the staff for X amount of hours, when in fact we needed them for more.
I am not against paying the staff overtime if a wedding goes way beyond its normal time. However if the photographers are telling people they need less time than they actually require, or offering to come early in order to be able to charge more for “staying late,” then there is something very wrong here.
Sadly, he is not alone.
After speaking with numerous people, I discovered that this sick practice is quite common in our community as well as other Frum communities. It is a problem that needs to be addressed promptly. These
photographers attack when people are at their most vulnerable, forcing them to cash out big amounts of money in addition to the named price they negotiated beforehand. It is such a betrayal, for fellow Jews to do this to one another.
I am hereby calling to all the Frum photographers out there: this has to stop immediately. It is wrong in so many ways, legally and Halochacally, morally and ethically.
Being a professional photographer allows you to know exactly how weddings work, how long they usually go on for and what kind of hiccups can happen. You know that they run late sometimes.
So please don’t negotiate a price for a time-period when you know that weddings last more than that time. Don’t go extorting money from families at their Simcha, it is simply stealing and it is disgusting.
May G-d bless us with the ability and the wisdom to choose the right paths and make the right decisions.
As one of the more regular musicians here in CH I take offense to the comments that “musicians do the same thing”.
A regular wedding is 6.5 hours. If a family wastes time taking pictures etc, and needs more than that, I have no problem charging.
That said, I charge overtime maybe 1 out of 20 weddings.
This happaned a lot. And this is already practics. Big names studios using outside photographers. I don’t want to say names but I was on the wedding in Boro Park where studio used two spanish guys with a cameras ( i don’t want to say photographers) They work so slow, missed important moments, don’t care what is going on.) At the end castomers got only 600 proofs and low resolution CD. But they paid big money just for the mame. Therefore my advice. Ask the manager, who personnaly will be photographer in Your Simcha, his name and recomendations. If answer… Read more »
It is clear from all these comments that photographers are not letting clients know exactly what they will / will not be getting from hiring them. Clever photographers can take a hint from these comments and format a page of options clearly letting clients CHOOSE exactly what they want and what they will be paying for. To continue on with clients being unaware of likely hidden costs is to invite more criticism, disappointment and frankly, lack of respect for photographers. Some photographers have responded in these comments – but they seem to miss the point. Yes, everyone knows you work… Read more »
my son is married 5 years and i have yet to see a single proof or video from his wedding. A local photographer we used sent other photographers, he did not come himself. by the time the wedding was over he had been paid $3000. cash. the wedding would not have run into so much overtime, had his workers been doing their job when they were supposed to. he charged for six hours, but during the kabolas ponim his workers were busy eating from the smorgasbord and when a sibling asked them to take a family picture during that time,… Read more »
Just to add one more voice to the fray, our family was also forced to pay overtime charges. The photographer never made it clear at the simcha that the allotted time ends here, and from here on overtime will be charged. We had a rude awakening at the end when he informed us of a thousand dollars overtime. No, we did not end anywhere near 2am!! Buyer Beware!! There’s no teacher like experience. Next time we’ll be wiser, but we sure won’t use this photographer from CH again!
I cannot begin to understand why people here have so many misconceptions and preconceived notions that are so far from the truth. As a professional photographer I will ask a few rhetorical questions and then give a detailed explanation. Hopefully then, the people following this blog will respect photographers as people who are also allowed to earn a living. 1-What do you consider a “big name” studio? 2-What do you consider a fair price 3-Why do you feel that a person who is working and charging for his time is a Ganiff (theif) 4-What makes you think that a goy… Read more »
Despite much nitpicking by my family, we decided to go with a local Crown Heights photographer for photos. I was desperate to try Alon, who was new to the business at the time. We had much Difficuly with the one we used and are extremly unstatisfied. X years later we still do not have our photoes, and doubt we ever will. A true ganef who stole money and raised his rates without telling my family and had rude photographers.
If you are like most lubavitch weddings yout chuppa was not on time and you spend way too much time in the uichud room causing the wedding to be delayed. Why does your not being punctual mean that he should get home hours later than schedualed without getting paid for it? PS why is this for COL and the public? He did not lie to you, you justt assumed you’d get away with a few hours of paying him, if you were really worried about the photgrapher leaving early you should do due diligance and hire him for two extra… Read more »
At old film times, when we shoot portaites with medium format Mamyas and Hasselbtads and other moments with 35 mm Nikons and Canons we gave our customers about 700 -1000 px for the weddings and 300-500 px for barmitzvas. We send films to develop and print. That time we value every single shot to make it best. Today with digital camera I shoot myself about 2,000 and my second photographer – about the same 2,000. After the wedding we spend a day just to select best of the best px from 4,000 to 2,500. Then we work with every single… Read more »
At my wedding we used a great non-Jewish photographer (it was out of town). We only paid her to stay for the amount of hours we could afford and that was it. She didn’t stay to take pictures of the second dance and that’s OK. That’s what we paid her for and expected. Do you really need pictures of people getting super sweaty?
Also, it seems that a lot of Crown Heights weddings run late….
what she means to say is as a kallah she did not know her parents or whoever else would be paying for your sleeping and eating arrangements otherwise she would have spared the cost for someone that was local. by the way # 31 not to many people are thrilled with this photographer and if you are the photographer, your defense is a rather weak one.
In our community one of the commonly used non Jewish photographers didn’t show up. One of the community members who did photography as a hobby ended up doing the wedding pictures.
Dealing with big names u pay big $$$$$ and
They use different available photo-videographers without any reputation, sometimes without expirience. ( never know) – better use local services whom u trust.
thanks u people for recomendation.
All these guys u named a great and honest photographers:
Alon, Alex, Levi, Mendy
Just make shure ask for high resolution disks – more important then proofs and online galleries. And contract
We used Alon Anava for our daughters wedding. He has a contract with prices and hours. He negotiated so easily and fairly. We got a great deal, amazing pictures and a photographer for our next simcha!! That was our first wedding. Thank you Alon.
what a pleasure to finally deal with a true mentsch from the community-Mr. ROUMANI is not only has an artists’ eye for capturing all our unique images but conducts himself as a professional should-I am proud to have him in all our family Simchas!
we have used Levi from Photography by Levi many times over the past 15 years and i must admire his honesty. At one point in the middle of the 2nd dance he approached my mom and suggested that it was no longer needed for him to stay. No, he didn’t threaten to leave or suggest to stay and charge more, just the contrary, as soon as he saw that he had sufficient coverage needed for albums etc. gave us the option to decide. Guess what he was right and honest! I know from many many friends of mine who used… Read more »
I run a photography and video studio. Most of the comments are ridiculous, absurd and ludicrous. People have to make simchas, and expect the vendors to finance them. It is common amongst the photographers competing for business in the FRUM communities to give an initial quote for 6 hours of coverage and one 50 image 8×10 album and two 24 image 5×7 albums. The time starts from when the photographer starts taking pictures. Not when the baal simcha invites his guests for kabblas panim. A photographer has to make a living, and should not be expected to work for free… Read more »
i made a wedding we used alex from glattart photo he was excelenent he came with a crew of 5 people he coverd every shoot we love his setting he has great taste potrate and artistic and a good sence of humer and personality and big jewish heart i would use him again he dos not kevtch and dos not rush you good shabbos
I’m so glad that there are op-eds on collive.com so that we may all vent and agree that there are many Jews in this world that are dishonest, such as babysitters and photographers. I can’t wait to see what op-ed comes up next, so that everyone else can vent again about more people in our schuna (note the sarcasm). And just for the record writer #29, I’m not a photographer, nor am I currently related (as far as I know) to a photographer. I’m a teenage girl who is sick and tired of reading about Jewish people bashing people in… Read more »
Agree with u. Wedding contract must state till what time photographer on the wedding. Normally after 11:30
they packing up. And if contract till 10 or 11 pm nothing wrong to pay him overtime. U have to hire a good wedding planner to avoid this problems.
I agree with #53. We had Mendel Meyers too. Very professional and no shtick or hidden fees! A real pleasure. Prices were reasonable too.
My wedding went way past my estimate and I was very happy about despite the added cost.
This is not proprietary information that a photographer is hording. We have all been at wedding that have ended at 10pm and at 3a.m. That’s just the way it works and is not the photographers responsibility to predict your audiance and how long they will be mismaech the choson and kallah.
To #45: Dmitriy, your a great boxer & i respect you very very much. As u recommended, I just visited Alex Gorokhov’s site, and what I can say is that I really regret that he didnt take the photos of my sister and other relatives wedding. He is real real frum photographer, and it is the same guy who found the lost pictures of the Rebbe (Lag Baomer 1990) I went through all his galleries, and love all of them but galleries (something else) makes me feel that he is a real lubavitcher chossid. Plus the Tzomo Lecho Nafshi and… Read more »
As i already stated in my earlier post that i clearly state to ALL my customers up to what time i expect to stay and if there will be any overage charges. However some customers only like to listen to numbers and do not pay attention to detail. If we give unlimited time we will end up going to the Ohel with the kallah as well! Please get your priorities straight, as there is no substitute to using one of your own which is sensitive to a chassidish wedding unlike all the outsiders that touch and move females etc. There… Read more »
we hired a photographer from the shechuna and were EXTREMELY dissatisfied. When it was time for the extended family picture he just jumbled everyone together at OT stairs leading up to the second hall. The pictures came out HORRIBLE – you can’t see half the people… we were very disappointed…
but BH before the wedding!!! He gave us a quote for 6 hours.. come on, he wouldnt even make it past bedeken:-/ (and he was a fmily friend) so we hired him till 11:30 (OOT wedding, which end then anyway…) BH we read the contract clearly before signing… I would def say his name… we were unhappy-hes a CH photographer that we flew him in…
He is great, none of these stupid overtime fees etc, his package includes 2 crews, over 2000 proofs, unedited mens video, unedited womens video and edited combined, all for a very affordable price, he is gaining lots of popularity here in ch!
HE IS AMAZING, and his shots are BEAUTIFUL!!!
When we were married over 25 years ago, we did not have money for a wedding. We cut so many corners that our wedding was round. We were not going to have a photographer or video but everyone pressured us. Finally, the caterer said he could do the photography as well. We decided that we needed only 120 pictures. In the meantime, he took a lot of stupid pictures before the wedding. Picture #120 was us sitting in the Yidchud room. When I asked if he was taking pictures of the simcha he said, “It will cost extra.” We told… Read more »
The same thing happens when you order your pictures. They slip in more extra charges & don’t tell you until after you’ve ordered.
We recently married of our oldest son B”H. After asking around a bit, a good friend of ours recommended to only use Mendel Meyers for the photography. She told me that although he’s known to be expensive, he recently has come down a lot in price. I must say that my friends advice was priceless. His price was very fair. (even better than some of the “more affordable” photographers). His pictures were stunning and he committed to stay from the beginning of the portraits till after Shevah Brochos for a flat rate. When after Benching my son started singing, he… Read more »
i have more to the story if u want
he admitted to his secretary that he was lying (he didn’t know she was our friend) few days later she couldn’t take the lie it was to much for her
he was making her lie to !! so … SHE QUIT
Our photographer made us believe that we had 9 hours total of photo and video but at the end he said the 9 hours was only for the video and for the photo its only 6 hours. So he started the job at 2!!! and by 8 even bfr the choson kala came down to the hall he had finish his time and now he was overtime meaning $$$$$ an hour He never mentioned anything and never asked anything but when the bill came he said ” i went over to the mother and i asked her if its ok… Read more »
If you read what I wrote more carefully, you can answer your own question.
She asked for a better rate due to lack of money, she begged to keep it at a flat rate for around 3 hours… she then begged me to come just a bit earlier (30 min) i ended staying a extra 2 hours, then she begged upon a 24 hour later delivery of her job to pay me tomorrow… I never asked her for a extra penny, i had really hoped based on her many extra requests to give me a tip… All i got was 3 months of waiting for my money, which finally came in 2 head checks..… Read more »
As in any business there are various business models. Many (if not most) photographers charge by the hour. When I used to do that I found that no matter how many hours I would suggest are required, the client almost always insisted that they didn’t need so many hours. My experience is that I haven’t yet shot a wedding that doesn’t run somewhat behind schedule. So a few years ago I changed my business model. Since I really can’t do anything else on the day I shoot a wedding, I charge for the “event” and I don’t mind if I’m… Read more »
A few weeks ago I had a guest at my Shabbos table that was complaining about how the photographer convinced his father into taking a larger package that included longer hours.
Based on the comments, it would seem to me that the photographer did the right thing.
The way I see it – some people can’t “fargin” that somebody else is allowed to make a parnossa. Unless the photographer / musician etc. loses money on their simcha, they will always feel like their being taken advantage of – “how dare he make a profit off of me”
Everything you said means zero UNLESS you clarified everything in advance. The moment there are surprises YOU ARE IN THE WRONG. In my own service profession, a) there are never surprise fees, ever! b) I hardly advertise because word of mouth recommendations is how I keep myself busy c) I keep thanking Hashem for my parnassa no matter how much or little I made in a given month.
We used Alex Gorokhov for our wedding. He was incredible he had a team that was working with him. There was a lady for the womens section, top notch professionalism. High quality pictures that I am proud to say captured most incredible moments. Highly recommended by me for any and all occasions. Check out his site at glattphotography.com
There is nothing wrong with them charging overtime, i mean what if your simcha goes till 2 am? when I made my first b- mitzva we used a ch photographer, he did tell us there is overtime after 3 hours and we told him to leave, so we dont have pics of bentching… big deal. And what about the band? they charge over time as well. thats life, but if your photographer did not tell you then thats a different story. Its def. not stealing…. its business.
I haven’t charges overtime for the past 10 years. Lately the one man bands play and play and play. Two weeks ago the second dance set was over 2 hours. How may times do I have to photograph the same people dancing? 6 years ago the average wedding started at 5 which meant I started at 3 and lasted to 11 and benching by 11:30. Today with a 5 0’clock Kabbolas Ponim a 2 o’clock start is normal and a 12:00am finishis average with benching by 12:30. Part of the problem is the photographer. More glamor more creativity adds to… Read more »
BEWARE!! All frum musicians do the same thing. I twisted them pretty good and got a gr8 deal!
well sorry for using capital letter just wanted to get your attention.
Just go and sue them in Din Torah.
Call them to the beis din, they will have to come (otherwise they will be “mesarev”) and give you back the money.
One person then 2 people will do it and those guys will stop!
Someone should have the guts…
Why can’t there just be a flat fee? Factor in today’s wedding times & charge accordingly. That way there are no surprises, you get paid & the Baal Simcha doesn’t have to find a few hundred extra bucks at the end of the evening. He knows in advance exactly how much he will have to fork out.
but honest means the photographer should: 1) tell the family (as soon as they give the list of extra shots and relatives they want taken) what the extra costs will be due to how long it is likely to take to fit all the siblings / relatives in 2) tell the family what time overtime will start BEFORE the wedding is in full swing, so they can decide in an organised way whether / how much longer to have them stay and will know that there is a time frame to the job (it seems the photographers think the wedding… Read more »
Only money, nothing else.
Only Glatt and Art gives their weddind clients
unlimmited time for the wedding date.
http://www.glattphotography.com
If your “overtime” hours cost an extravagant amount, and you know the wedding is likely to go into “overtime,” based on the reasons you mentioned, and you did not clarify this to the family beforehand… it is slightly less than fully honest.
Of course an 8 hour wedding shouldn’t = a 10 hour wedding, but why should your per-hour fee suddenly jump at 9:00 pm?
The writer DOES give his name at the top of the article.
You should be ashamed of yourself speaking that way to a rav especially even to any yid…
Next time think before you write
You know what? Hashem decides how much a person is supposed to make a year right? So if people ( photographers,musicians,party planners etc..) Are not being honest with their pricing Hashem will take the money away from them another way and vice versa…if you lost money overpaying for a service you will get that money back another way. Don’t sweat the small stuff!
you are right that the size of chasuna’s have grown & you end up working more hours, but teh amount you charge per hour has probably doubled since 5760 and is not in proportion wit the extra 2 hours you are crying about
yes, photographers cateres etc have a life, but its a proffesion you choose to do, and you know it will involve long hours
so just clearly state up front the hours you will be there with a price, sign a contract & be honest
or, if you dont enjoy your work, find another job 🙂
Sounds very convincing to me… It seems that people don’t appreciate work, hab hab v’aliteini.
As a Crown heights photographer for many years, i have read all the comments carefully and let me please clarify what has not been mentioned! Up until 5760 the typical Kabolas Ponim was called for 6:30pm. The families expectations of a photographer were way less then it is today. So starting pictures then 2 hours before, has in worst scenario added 1 hour overtime. Today, due to wedding resizing, in order of Simchas Chosson v’Kallah to work out on schedule and to accomodate the families who cant feed all their guest, weddings have been moved up to the AVERAGE of… Read more »
to #18
you mentioned that you ended up paying for the photographers plane ticket & accomodations.how was the photographer able to do that without your knowledge?you mentioned that you did not realize until after the chasuna in california that you ended up paying for the photographers plane ticket & accomodations.how was the photographer able to do that without your knowledge?
cher
sorry. emailing did not help. i do think that what would help is putting a list up of the photographers that do this. Trust me, that might help!!
Thank you author, for exposing this!
looks like you’re one of the photographers trying to protect yourself, just keep quit and be a ‘mentch’
Go Menachem Serraf (from Montreal)! U never go wrong with him!
http://www.menachemsportfolio.com/
A newly-married couple have successfully sued their wedding photographer after paying £1,450 for a “woefully inadequate” service.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6263595/Couple-sue-wedding-photographer.html
When we got maried the photographer came over to my husband and said…
“we start overtime now”…
my husband (the chosson) replied
“then you can go” so they did…
and guess what we are happily married 15 years later and we never look at our chaunah pictures anyhow!
The band did the same thing..but what’s a wedding without music..so we paid the band overtime
This is all the reason why its good to bring in a Photographer to your wedding, there are many out there today.
We had a photographer that came early morning, stayed to way in to the AM, was nice, in to it, got our album within 6 months and was so nice. He even gave us the originals on CD.
He has done many Chabad weddings, all over the world.
see http://www.benlapid.com if you click on wedding you can scroll down and see some of the chabad weddings he has done.
Many should learn from him.
Thanks to the Author who lets everyone know about this type of attitude. When they plan their own Simchas they know what to exactly ask about.
Thanks to the other respondents who let us know that it is not just a one time thing.
Next maybe the Event planners will help and tell ppl what they might be in for …Be prepared
If you would hire a wedding coordinator, then she/he would be able to guide you through all these things and make sure your wedding runs on time so that you dont land up paying for overtime!!! If the photographer is hired for a certain amount of time and a lot of that time is used up after the chuppah with pictures, that leaves the family to pay for overtime at the end of the wedding.! I hired a wedding coordinator after I made this mistake with my first wedding. What a savior she was! Money better spent.
so what time is this? 11 PM when most simchas officially finish or 2 a.m.? Seriously, photographers, caterers, and musicians have a life. Are they supposed to stay til 3 am because the party is still going? Figure this out before the wedding! By my wedding, we didn’t take any of the standard photographers. But when researching photographers, they all CLEARLY stated how many hours they would work for. Do the math. If they say 8 hours and start at 2 pm..well, I hope you realize there will be overtime. Yes, they should be honest. But you have to use… Read more »
At my daughter’s wedding the same thing happend, but since we were not the ones who dealt with the phtographer (since the chosson’s side generally hires and deals with it) we were unaware the photographer had left smack in the middle of the wedding. Apparently they had tried to extort money from the chosson’s side and they didnt want to hear of it. Oh wel… so theres no pictures of the Mezinka Tantz with my one and only youngest daughter. I cant bear to think about it, because its been a few years and I’m still upset whenever I do.… Read more »
At my son’s Bar Mitzvah the videographer came to tell me that his “time is up” and it would be $x to stay longer. I protested that I hired him for the entire Bar Mitzvah, and he said “Well, I didn’t think it would be more than three hours when I gave you the price.” I refused to capitulate to terrorism, and the video stops IN MIDDLE of my father-in-law’s speech! This was the first simcha I made, and I was caught unawares. Sadly, when comparing notes with friends after the simcha, it turns out that the only ones who… Read more »
weddings should be cut down to minimal expenses anyway!!!! This whole pressure placed on people is unfair and ridiculous! Even the ‘simple’ weddings cost a fortune. and the saddest thing is that in CH people fork out huge $$$ for a wedding that most people only drop in for a few minutes. Weddings should be cut down to a meal for immediate/close family and everyone else should ONLY come for a dessert and dance- thats what they do anyway. NO more of these huge weddings in huge halls that MOST people cannot afford. the wealthy should take heed – if… Read more »
Even though I might kick myself for wasting my time leaving a comment (!!!!!!!!!) part of me really wants to give vent to my experience with a crown heights photographer years ago when I got married. When my husband and I got married a photographer who had hosted us for Shabbos when we were single told us, “My wife and I really want to come to your wedding” (it was out-of-town) He also added that they’ve always wanted to visit the particular city in CA where we were getting married. I remember thinking ‘Wow! That’s so nice, I can’t believe… Read more »
Since Frum photographer’s know that weddings run
until Midnight, they should present the photo package
for the evening….not per hour. On another note… My daughters wedding is coming up iy’h..and the musicians package states a price until 11:00 p.m. and anything thereafter is $75.00 per hour, per musician (frum out of
crown heights area) The Frum musicians know that
weddings go much later. It’s a tricky way to make extra
money when people are overwhelmed with a Simcha.
maybe it is time to hire out of town photographers they do not take advantage and they are very clear before hand about time and price.
To #3 – you are entirely wrong. Sending private e-mails would change absolutely nothing. Unfortunately most people have to be “forced” to change – either out of fear of losing business, or out of fear of other consequences. Furthermore, the writer of this article only touches the tip of the iceberg. I have experienced and heard of such horror stories about photographers that I await the day that people become comfortable enough using their own cameras so that some of these photographers have an opportunity to make an honest living for a change. I would name names, but this comment… Read more »
Unfortunately, during a simcha, families are most vulnerable to this scam. This happened to my wedding. This particular photographer had done my siblings’ weddings and my wife’s siblings’ weddings up until that point. KA”H there was still many weddings to go for both families. Right in middle of dancing the photographer informed my father that unless he agreed to a certain overtime rate per hour he was going to walk out. My father was coerced into agreeing to pay this extortion. After the wedding I personally contacted the photographer to express my dismay and disgust. I informed him that –… Read more »
this is ridicilous every minute they must be payeed cheapskates
first off all you said it is against halacha but i don’t think you have the right to pasken unless you leave a name of yourself and you pass as a moro D’asra or you leave a name of a moro D’asro that you heard this halacha from. secondly i am sure you knew how many hours to begin with you were taking him for and you should have told him when he showed up to early i am sorry but you came to early and you will not be getting paid for these hours this is not what we… Read more »
Kobi, from near expressions is a pleasure working with and delivers stunning shots! …and hes economical
So you didn’t get pictures of the dessert and final dancing. Big deal. At my wedding the photographers stayed only one hour after the chuppah. That meant a little bit of the dancing and that’s it. We couldn’t afford to pay for more. And we could only afford to pay for 30 pictures of the whole wedding. No, we didn’t get a great deal, but we’re still married 15 years later. I look at my wedding album maybe once a year, if that. People treat the pictures a lot more important than the wedding itself!
lets not name names but there are “shchuna photographers” who do this!!!
perhaps the writer ought to hire photographers from the shechuna and then he will be treated with the respect he deserves! (when Lubavitch brings in outsiders and don’t support their own how dare anyone complain?)
For our wedding, not only did the photographer tell us when we went to pay him at the wedding (when he was packing up while the dancing was still going strong) that we owed him an extra $150 for the extra hour he stayed — without asking us!!!! — but he also told us that 95% of his customers take this, that and the other thing in their package and if we don’t order them, we will be embarrassed when the mechutanim ask if these parts of the package are ready yet!!!! He was trying to swindle us for almost… Read more »
We hired a local photographer, Alon Anava, who doesn’t charge like this. His price was from beginning to end & he was still at the wedding after Sheva Brachas, His pictures are beautiful. In the past the other photographers at our weddings did the “overtime” dance, so I know what you mean. To be fair, they explained at the time we hired them they only were charging for x hours & anything more was $xx per hour. It’s obvious if you take 2 sets of video people & photographers you have more chance of getting every detail recorded. But that… Read more »
Although an honest businessman is nice, these days everybody is trying to schnore an extra dollar. pay the photographer or snap the pictures yourself.
If you have a problem with photographers, send them each an email, it shouldn’t take long. It would probably take quicker than this insulting article you posted on them for EVERYBODY to see. You are stereotyping all photographers, as you say, “I discovered that this sick practice is quite common in our community as well as other Frum communities. It is a problem that needs to be addressed promptly.” They are not all the same. Many individuals feel the need to post op-eds these days- please look it over before you send it in- it could really hurt people! You… Read more »
some party planners make you pay in full and dont deliver!
I think the names of the photo companies who do this should be printed. If they have the chizpuh to do this, then the public has the right not to hire them. We need to now who they are so we dont get jipped at our simchas. Maybe then things will change.