Photographer assigning another for Wedding

mkdon05

Hi Lads,

Just looking for your thoughts on this.
Background;
We were meant to get married in Aug 2010 and had booked most things including a Photographer. We ended up having to cancel due to a little bundle of Joy arriving that month instead. We just moved everything forward to Aug 2011 and informed everyone we had booked nearly a year and a half in advance.

Fastforward to today.
We got an email from the photographer saying that his business was doing great so he has hired 2 photographers and was assigning one of them to cover our wedding. (He says he has to do a family weddindg that day)

Do you think this is an acceptable thing to do?

omr2011

Ya i would think thats ok to do, one photographer we hav looked has approx 2-3 others working for her and they can cover a few weddings in one day. Its not like he's after getting some completely other photographer to do it. you could always ask him to see some of this guys shots, see would ye be happy with them. But he must be some bit decent or he surely wouldn't have hired him

32finn

Hmm, depends really. I take it seen as you've taken the time to post about it that you are not exactly comfortable with the situation?
As the above poster has suggested, look to see some of this other photographers work, you chose your photographer because you liked his/her style so be sure that you like the work of the replacement photographer.
I, like most photographers would have another photographer with similar styles to cover them in case of emergencies, so it is possible you will still get what caught your eye in the first place.

BC

I agree with the others, ask to see some of the new photographers work to see if you're happy that they are up to scratch.

D3PO

From a personal standpoint I find this unacceptable.

I will be making sure when booking my photographer that its clearly stipulated in the contract that the photographer booked is the one that must attend.

Its all down to personal choice though. Im very cynical and ultra cautious when it comes to my wedding planning.

If the other photographer was so good why wouldnt they be running their own business rather than working as a sub contractor for somebody else ?

mightymouse11

i think this is grand to happen to be honest.Fair play to him his business grew and he took people on.In relation to why is the other photographer not out on his own, i suppose everyone has to start somewhere starting up a company aint easy or cheap.
just get a look at the propsed photographer album and if happy go for it.

D3PO

mightymouse11 wrote: »

i think this is grand to happen to be honest.Fair play to him his business grew and he took people on.In relation to why is the other photographer not out on his own, i suppose everyone has to start somewhere starting up a company aint easy or cheap.
just get a look at the propsed photographer album and if happy go for it.

I know were in a recession but not cheap to start up a company.

Less than €100 to register a company
Less than a grand for a decent website

Yeah real expensive.

As for somebody having to start somewhere, you might be ok with a green photographer being assigned to your wedding most wouldnt I suspect.

Lets put it another way.

If you booked a band or reception venue and they turned around and said becasue of growing business they were going to pass you off on somebody else would that be acceptable to you ? I thought not.

A supplier is a supplier you book a phographer based on their work, its a bit pointless to look at examples of their work if your willing to accept being pawned off on somebody else

seamus

We booked our wedding photographer on the strength and quality of his portfolio. Another photographer would have a different style and different ability. My wife would have hit the roof, I think she checked with him about 50 times that nobody else was going to turn up on the day.

It's acceptable IMO if you're upfront with the client that you're running a firm of photographers and any one of them my arrive on the day. I would expect the price to reflect this uncertainty and to be relatively cheap.
But if the client is booking you and paying money on the basis of your portfolio, then it's not acceptable to send someone else in your place.

IMHO, it's a pure sign of a photographer who sees his work as a cash cow, rather than an art.

smelltheglove

Different people have different ways of doing business. I myself meet with all clients before taking the booking as I find it hugely important to have a good relationship with my clients. Like 32finn above I have back ups incase something was to happen, like in my case, my wedding photog ended up in hosp the night before my wedding. 32finn would be one of my replacements should this happen to me as would I to he. After that then no I would not be inclined to hire someone else to do the job for me, clients book me based on my work and my attitude.

But looking at it the other way, I know of photographers who have been in the business years who would have other photographers work for them. They may not be exactly the same quality but if this photographer is happy to send another guy out under his name then he must be ok, look at it this way, if this guy is brutal he will tarnish the photographers reputation, one which is hard to build, this being a reason why the new guy may not be working for himself. Yes it is cheap to register a business but it is not an easy road to build a client base especially in wedding photography so it is understandable that people with mortgages and bills would rather work under someone elses name.

If you are uncomfortable with it ask to meet with the new photographer to ease your minds, you may like him and his style even more than the original. Remember though, if you have paid a deposit you may not have this deposit returned if it is written into the contract.

A client of mine called today to give me the news of pregnancy and putting the wedding off, it happens often enough. Congratulations on your new arrival.