jthrasher

Quote: Originally Posted by akh lol - i do agree. but i'm not going to lock myself up at home! but that's different from walking into a room alone with a male and taking off my clothes. I wouldn't recommend walking in alone! lol Usually a photographer will have a makeup artist or assistant. Plus I ALWAYS recommend bringing someone with that you're comfortable with.

Quote: Originally Posted by akh i'd also feel uncomfortable on the beach if someone was taking pictures! but i also said i was one that would consider a male lol, I didn't mean on the beach with some stranger taking photos. yeah, that would make anyone uncomfortable. I just meant you're on the beach with guys you don't know in just as revealing clothing. Most of them are probably more perverts than us male photographers

Quote: Originally Posted by TAMMYM BTW, I just asked Cain if he would mind if I had a male photographer do this type of pictures, he said no he wouldn't care. So Jonathan if you want to do some free pictures give me a call.. lol just kidding.. LOL maybe I'll take you up on that. Just to post some B-photos on here that were done by a guy

Quote: Originally Posted by akh but it's just human nature for a woman to be hesitant to be semi-nude in front of a male that she doesn't know well. i just don't think any amount of logic will get past that. why is this different from being on the beach in a bikini? Most of the time the type of B-shots are just as covered up.

Quote: Originally Posted by AQHARIDER I don't think this is a topic that's even worth debating, sorry to hijack your thread! But, I think there's a world of difference between having a male doctor and having a male photographer...A doctor is a necessity- having a great doctor could be the difference between life and death! Not so much with photography...lol If my husband knew I had the choice between two photographers with equal skill and I chose the male- why? I LOVE Juan's work, and I couldn't be happier with my bpics by Leigh- even though I'm extremely comfortable with Juan, would I let him take bpics of me? Absolutely not. Maybe I just value my body too much to let another man see it. If it helps you understand my perspective I also don't agree with pornography, strip clubs, and any other form of female degrading...I just think that a woman's body is a beautiful thing, and something that should only be enjoyed by her significant other... Sorry to rant, just took offense to the statement that having a male photographer is comparable to a male doctor- no comparison, not in a million years! I didn't mean to offend you or anyone by my comments. And my comparison to a doctor was strictly a comparison on a professional level, not a medical level. Obviously doctors can have life or death situations. That wasn't the aspect of being a doctor I was referring to. Just from a stand point that as professionals in our area of expertise, we aren't focusing on the subject as a sex object or "enjoying" the subjects body in some way, we are only doing our jobs. That's it. nothing more. There are some pervs out there but for me and many other professional male photographers, it's about taking great photos for our clients, not about what is in front of our lenses. again, sorry if you took offense, that was not my intention at all. I'm just trying to help you ladies realize our thought process. When it comes down to this type of work, our male instincts go out the window because we are focusing on doing the best job we can. It sucks that to many pervs out there have given male photogs a bad rep. and thus given the idea to your FI's that we might have ill intentions when doing this type of work.

I don't understand why your FI's would freak out. I would think they'd be happy that you did it and that it was a great gift. They should know that a photographer is a professional just like a doctor would be. Do all of you have female doctors? Would your FI's get upset over you having a male doctor? A photo shoot would be far less revealing than a doctors visit. How is that different?

not in Detroit but in Lansing. Jennifer Shelton If you contact her, tell her I referred you to her. Ladies, I just want to reiterate that there are amazingly talented male photographers who also shoot boudoir work. And limiting yourself to only female shooters I think is limiting the options you have. I realize the comfort issue but male photographers are just as professional as female shooters and will make you just as comfortable as well. Many times they have female assistants or a make up artist for you. Plus, you'll have someone with you that you bring. I highly recommend meeting your photographer first whether they are male or female so you are comfortable with them but especially if they are male, I know it would help. All I'm saying is, give us guys a chance too. We want to make great photos for you too!!

Have you looked at the Boudoir Photographers network? Boudoir Photographer's Network - Home There are a couple listed for Minnesota. I could find a few more if needed. I travel to Minneapolis pretty often so that might be a possibility too.

Juan... please man... for the love of all that is holy and good... please start using Mac compatible slideshow programs. with Apple gaining market share you'll want to consider that not all your clients will be on PC's. not to mention your potential clients.

Quote: Originally Posted by kemiller How much would it cost to use their photographer? It sounds like it could expensive paying for your own, flying them down, paying for lodging and paying the $500. You should do the math to see if it makes sense going with theirs. Just a suggestion. If you fly a photographer in, they are a guest of the resort and then you don't have to pay the $500. I'm firm believer in paying for what you get and most of the time the photographers these resorts use are not great, at best. If you can live with only 50-100 photos that are mediocre, that's cool, but most of the time it's in your best interest to hire your own photographer. The extra cost of flying someone down is sometimes very minimal and sometimes would be about the same price of hiring one of the better local photographers.

Gifts are great too. I had a client from last summer send me a $50 gift card to iTunes. It made my day!

Quote: Originally Posted by Nini_Bride So, Jonathan... if I sent a card only expressing how grateful I am for your work with no tip, you'd be just as happy as if I'd sent you a tip? I'm asking honestly... Of course! I'm not going to lie, money is great, BUT, the point of the tip is to express gratitude, and hearing a client tell me how much they appreciated me means more than money. Money is just an added bonus. :-)

Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne That's what I would think. If you're paying someone over a thousand dollars to work for you (or whatever it may be), isn't that tip enough?? I don't get why you would tip over that... I don't expect a tip at all. Some people just like to give extra tips to show extra appreciation. If you think a vendor really went out of his/her way or went the extra mile, a tip is always appreciated to let them know that. Or, even just a really nice card. We vendors really like to know that we've made you happy because that's what we're here for.

Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne I say no but only because I selfishly don't want you to get big and your prices to go up. lol, thanks Jaime. I have to raise my prices for next year though. If I want my business to keep growing, I have to go with the flow. Email me though, we'll be able to work something out

here's the Magazine's website. Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine - bridal gowns and fashion, wedding destinations, honeymoons, local planning resources - reception sites, photographers, caterers and more.

Quote: Originally Posted by akh never heard of the magazine, but i'm not really a "cream of the crop" type gal! for this wedding, i mainly used the magazines for pictures of dresses or flowers - though most of the magazines went untouched. for my last wedding, my favorite magazine was the local bride one (MN Bride or Twin Cities Bride or something), because the vendors and venues were local. yeah, I almost went with doing an ad with them. very nice Magazine as well. Why did it matter if you were looking at local vendors if you were doing a destination wedding though?

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt In my opinion it's not worth it. I've never heard of that mag, but I bought 3 other mags and thought they were pretty worthless... good for a few ideas but there are SO MANY ADS that they all kinda blend together.... Can't remember or not, but are you on WPJA? That's the first site I hit when looking for a photog. I used to be on WPJA. Don't even get me started about that joke of an "ASSociation". The guy who runs it is a jerk and VERY VERY unprofessional. It would be nice if there was a legitimate association (read: not a business) that was actually devoted to promoting photographers and not just about making money any way they can. sorry.... rant done

Thanks Angela, I did do some negotiating. I might be able to do a little more. Their normal price is $9500 for a full page ad, and they are offering a special of $6500, which I know is a really good price for print advertising. Especially with this mag. They are throwing in a couple of other things as well if I decide to do it. I might try to push a little more too.

Are you ladies familiar with Grace Ormonde's Wedding Style magazine? Do you like it? What do you use your wedding magazines for? Just ideas, or do you check out some of the vendors that advertise in them? What catches your eye? I'm seriously thinking about placing a full page ad in Grace O's magazine even though I really don't have the money . Print advertising is freaking outrageous and Grace's mag is at the top of the list in price. I really wouldn't expect any bookings from it but it would be great national exposure, I just don't know if that is worth the money. So, I'd like your thoughts about what you look for in Magazines and if you think it might be worth it. This would probably be the only Magazine I'd be interested in advertising in because it's the cream of the crop AND they are offering a special price right now.

Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne That is very frustrating! I'm not looking forward to the hassell of negotiating this myself. It is good to know that some hotels will let them come if they just book a night. I was already planning that into the budget for booking an outside photographer if we can afford one when the time comes. (I really hope we can, cause that is very important to me.) I just don't want to have to pay an ADDITIONAL $500 on top of that! You won't have to pay an additional fee on top of that. This is just the resorts way of getting money if you don't use their photographer because they usually get a cut of the money the photographer makes. It's completely lame.

I did a quick search for Jamaican wedding photographer and didn't really come up with any Jamaican based photographers. Sorry I couldn't get a list for you. There may be reasons to why there aren't many that show up in searches, either there just aren't many to begin with, or maybe there the photographers that are there, aren't much to be spoken about in terms of quality and style? Why are you limiting yourself to only Jamaican based photographers? Is it only because of budget? I think you'd be very surprised that you could find hundreds of amazing photographers that are willing to travel to Jamaica and put together a package that would still be within your budget. Don't let having to fly a photographer in scare you. Sometimes it's really not as expensive as it sounds and it could be worth it's weight in gold if it means having better photos.

WHA WHA WHAAAATT!!!! Where's my ticket??!!! I'm suppose to come with you and take photos dang it!!

I can't really do a group rate because of the expenses involved. I would either have to rent a studio, like Leigh did, or find a nice upper scale hotel suite. I'm all about group shoots though. It makes things much easier for me and more comfortable for you. Even if we didn't do a group, you're encouraged to bring someone along with you. My rate is similar to Leigh's. $500 for up to 2 hours of shooting. I'd be willing to work out some kind of print credit.

I'm not that far from the Chicago area and I would be willing to make the trip. I know some girls are more comfortable with female shooters for this kind of work but for the record, I'm very professional and laid back. And honestly I'm so focused on shooting and getting great shots that it doesn't phase me. It's really no different than shooting bikini models on the beach.

I used to live on the Big Island in Kona and I've been to a wedding at that exact location. Seriously, the most beautiful wedding I've been to, yet. That wedding is one of the reasons why I got into wedding photography and more specifically, destination weddings.