I think the easiest way to share this with you is to tell you a bit of a story:

I got called a week ago to second shoot at a wedding yesterday due to some emergency circumstances. I had a great time and produced what I think is my best work to date.

I got home a bit after midnight this morning all excited to see some of the images (I couldn't resist - I was so elated). I downloaded one card really quickly that I knew had some great stuff on it, picked a favorite that showed off a romantic moment between the bride and groom, spent awhile processing it (this took me a really long time because I was so stinking tired!), and put it up on the blog.

Next, I emailed both of the coordinators (business partners), thanking them for having me at the wedding (they were the ones who arranged for me to second shoot when the emergency came up), and telling them how excited I was about the images. I included a link to the one image on the blog.

One coordinator wrote back: "Thank you so much for helping us in our time of need! We can never express how much it meant to us. Your picture is amazing!!! I cannot wait to see the rest. I know [Bride] is going to love them. Can I send her to your site to see this one?......You are a very talented photographer and I would love to refer you in the future."

I responded and said I'd love for her to pass the link on to the bride (if I had been the main photographer I would have emailed the bride the link as soon as I got it posted).

The other coordinator wrote back: "Just as I suspected.....BEAUTIFUL! You Rock!"

Two and a half hours ago, the bride left me a comment on the blog: "Aaron… you are incredible. This image takes my breath away. Thank you."

I am so stinkin' happy! To be feeling like I've just done the best work of my life, and then have the person I created it for absolutely love it is an amazing feeling!

The marketing lesson that hit me from all of this: impress a client (and other people involved) as early as possible with an image. It'll be a few days before I get to start editing and processing the rest of the images, but by sharing one image the day after the wedding, I've gone above and beyond expectations and the bride and coordinators are thrilled.

So am I!

If you were second shooting with me I would have not been very happy.

Yeah, I get what you mean.....

The circumstances were really weird for this wedding (for one, the bride herself is a second shooter for the main photographer, plus I was more or less "hired" by the coordinators, plus a bunch of other unusual circumstances that I won't go into).

If this had been me shooting as a normal second shooter, I would never, never, never, never, never do what I did. That's the main photographer's right, and to go to the clients myself would be a horrible breach of etiquette and would make me a jerk.

I'm sorry to have not been very clear in my original post so that this became an issue. Reading it again, the whole apparent ethical no-no jumps right out at me now. I hope I didn't tick too many people off!

I really meant this post to be a way to share something cool for us to do with our own clients.

Edited to add: Crud - 30 views already! I hope that doesn't mean 30 people hate me now!

Double crud! Reading through this again it makes me think I sound a bit like He Who Shall Not Be Named trying to justify myself. Now my mind is trying to figure out whether I did do anything unethical here. I don't think so, but what if???

So Arron your covering your but a little bit. But i'd probably try and get rid of the evidence... haha.

No....not trying to cover my butt. Does it come off that way? Crud!

I hope someone can still get some use out of my reason for posting this, which was to suggest getting an image blogged by the day after a shoot to really wow your client.

A little bit more information that I didn't write yet: I own the copyright to the images I took, and I retain the right to use them (with a model release, of course). I was not hired by the main photographer, but "hired" by the coordinators and, indirectly, the bride. (They sent her my site and my blog for her to approve me as a photographer. I say hired in quotes because I wasn't actually paid.)

If it still seems like I was a jerk here, feel free to let me have it. If I'm in the wrong, I want to know.

Nah, your fine. And since you've explained more details your totally in the right. But only because your an exception to must 2nd shooting circumstances, in a way you weren't second shooting at least not for the other photographer.

Just a good story of success in creating a buzz for your imagery much like pre designing wedding albums.

looking past the circumstances I totally agree. I blog 3-6 photos after EVERY shoot. If I second shoot I blog it and link to the main photographers blog, then I let the main photographer know they are up and it is their decision to forward the link to the bride or not.

Great job creating possitive buzz!!

One concern I would have with this approach is dealing with expectations. What if the bride expects all the images to be that great when you really just picked the best one to showcase? You probably won't spend as much time on the other images.

Just a thought.

If a professional is not shooting at a solid level of consistency with a few "breathtaking" images then they probably should be re-considering doing this professionally. Not every photo is going to be absolutely stunning, but they need to be solid enough to put into an album or shown without any feeling of "shame" or "worry" or that sort of thing.

If you have a meal and it starts out at the perfect temperature, perfect everything, by the time you finish, parts of it will have been at different temperatures and tastes more time to set and won't be as "perfect" as that first bite. You're still going to remember that first bite and it's going to have carried through and reflect back upon the entire meal. Kinda the same idea with the photography.

Right now the bride is excited to look at her pictures which puts her in a great mood to see them.

Hi Aaron,

I was also concerned about the "second shooter posting" thing as well.

Aside from that, as a primary I just started doing this as often as possible. Most of my brides are on Facebook. I ask at the wedding if she's alright with me putting up a couple of shots right away. I then select a couple of killer shots and put them up. The buzz from her friends that happens in the first couple of days is awesome.

A side note...I try to pick the "top five" (ish) and select from them. The "best" doesn't go up. It goes to the top of the box of prints that the bride sees when the package is delivered. Kinda that "perfect first bite" thing. When she pops the top of the box and that's the first one she sees, it just seems to go well from there.

That's a good concern, especially if there were only one awesome image. In this case, I know I have lots of stunning shots all through the day. Not all of them are going to be stunning in the same way - the lighting I used for the image I blogged was only used during the dancing. I actually will spend the same amount of work on other images. This image only took a long because I was too exhausted to think clearly. Normally, it would have taken under ten minutes, likely under five - depending on how fast my brain was working in figuring out what I want to do.


Exactly. Well put.


Yeah, on second thought, it would have been better if I had just left out the words "second shooter," since I wasn't really. On the other hand, I've now had the opportunity to examine myself to see if I crossed a line.

Aaron, I do love the image and it gives me some inspiration to edit a few WOW photos right away after each wedding! Thanks for sharing! I left some blog love!

Thanks Kay, and thanks for the blog comment!

I'm not sure I could edit so soon after every wedding, though! I was just too excited with this one!

Aaron,

Thank you for clarifying your situation, I probably would've done the same thing too.

However, if the photographer were a friend of mine or in my circle of photographers I network with, I wouldn't have notified the bride nor the coordinator despite not getting paid. Would I have posted the images on my blog or site giving credit to the main photographer despite knowing or not know the photographer? Yes I would. That's just me. Actually, it's you too.

M.J.

M.J.,

I'm glad that clarified it.

In this case, it really wasn't a matter of not being paid. I did what I did because I felt like the coordinators were my clients - that one of them forwarded the link to the bride was nice, but I wouldn't have emailed her myself. From my original post, regarding when the coordinator asked me if she could pass the link to the bride:

Did I commit a faux pas by telling her to go ahead and pass the link on? (FYI: When I deliver the processed images, the coordinators are having me send them directly to the bride - not through the other photographer.)

Thanks for your input and critique, everyone. I'm going to email the other photographer and let her know what I've done. I don't want to burn any bridges, nor damage her business.

I didn't mean to make this turn into a drama thread. So much for "warm and fuzzy."

Hey Aaron, just curious... why would you be hired "around" the main photographer, so to speak? If the bride contracted for 2 photogs, and the main photog needed a last-minute second, wouldn't he/she be in charge of getting the second? Seems like a strange situation.

Anyway, I think whatever the situation, it should ALWAYS be cleared with the main photographer first. Even if they weren't the ones that hired you, they were the main photog hired by the couple, and you shouldn't contact the bride directly without them knowing and/or approving, even if you know the bride or coordinators personally. I know it's hard when you're excited, and you know the people well, but it's still professional courtesy to only go through the main photog. If you get their blessing to go straight to the bride or coordinators, then more power to ya!

I dunno. Sounds like this thread got hijacked .

Sorry...that's the part. Strange? Unusual, at least. It ended up working out pretty well, though.


Thanks for your comments, Chris. In this case, I had her recommendation to go straight to the other vendors (d.j., florist, venue), so I didn't even think about the coordinators. That's why I'm emailing the photographer. I'm not in the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" camp, but it is better to ask forgiveness when you screw up.

Update:

I talked to the other photographer and explained what I had done, then asked for forgiveness if I had done anything wrong.

She was fine with it, said she loved the image, was happy that the bride had already seen it, and encouraged me to send the bride and the coordinators more when I have them done. To her it was a non-issue because: 1. The bride is a photographer who works for her as a second, and 2. I was asked to shoot the wedding by the coordinators, not her.

Her attitude is what I expected it to be based on our earlier conversations. Where I screwed up (I think) was to not check with the photographer first and make sure I understood her attitude correctly instead of assuming I did. Also, since I hadn't checked with her first, I let my excitement over my work take over without thinking things through. If I was wrong in what I thought was okay with her in this weird situation, I'd be screwed.

I hope I haven't lost any respect I might have had here because of posting this. If I ticked you off, I'm sorry.


Yeah, I think I hijacked it myself!

Back to the main point, if you missed it: The next time you shoot an event or a session, try picking out one good image, tweak it, get it blogged, and email the link to your client by the next day. Chances are you'll impress them when their excitement is still at its peak, and you'll have a very happy customer who will send that link to their friends and family.

Life happens, no harm, no foul, put it behind you... I've learned in life there's very little that is definitive especially when it comes to mistakes. Now onto a outstanding image and a sound piece of advice. Thanks on both counts.

Glad everything worked out!

Thanks, Aaron.

When you responded, I was afraid I'd ticked you off. If I'd read it myself, I'd probably have ticked myself off!