[Leica] Re: an ethical question....

[brougham3@yahoo.com]

Kyle Cassidy <cassidy@netaxs.com> wrote:

>if i show them the pix now,
>it'll most likely screw the real photographer out of a lot of reprints --
>after all, why spend $80 on an 8x10 when your cousin has one just as good
>and he's willing to give you the negatives.

Something else to think about is how good you are at saying "no."  You
pictures--as usual--are excellent, although disappointing.  No blood on the
bride's veil.  The bridesmaids are neither naked nor gothic.  The groomsmen
aren't killing anything.  Getting back to my point...  Do you want to become
the official photographer at future family weddings?

If your question is simply a matter of ethics, then I'd say you owe nothing
to the "official" photographer.  If he has the shots that the bride and
groom want, then they'll buy them.  If not, why should you enable him to
make a profit from poor shots simply because the b&g don't have more of a
selection?

When we got married, we were contractually obligated to buy $X worth of
pictures.  We could have one billboard-size print, or a whole slew of
proofs.  Didn't matter what we bought as long as we bought a minimum amount,
determined by how much time we booked the photographer for.  So in our case,
you wouldn't have screwed our photographer out of anything.  If your cousins
see your photos first, perhaps they'll spend their money on the official
images that are a lot different from yours.  Whereas if you hold out, they
may end up buying some that are similar.  You've done a great job with
everything, but to find a specific example that the pro is sure to have...
the cake cutting.  If they like your images of that better, maybe they'll
spend more money on the posed shots you don't have.  And use your cake shot.
Make sense?

In any event, I would only worry about ethics if you were "stealing" shots
from the pro.  If he's lining up and posing people, and then you're using
that pose, I'd toss those images before passing them on to the b&g.  That's
not fair to use the pro's expertise and knowledge and "steal" your own
image.  Other than that, I'd say any other shot would be fair game for
competition.