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ahh, so funny, yet so spot on...
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Hope that helps, Bruce |
Thanks for all the great advice guys. I will keep it all in mind for future 'favors' asked by family members.
As it turns out, the wedding date was put back and now falls on my 33rd birthday in August! So I think I've got a 'get out of jail' on that one! They all know I like to take a drink (or several) on my birthday, so luckily it hasn't been mentioned since. Her father required a little bit of video work done today (just took a couple of hours) so I was very happy to do that for him...also makes me look like less of a 'scrooge' hopefully! Thanks again for all your valuable, excellent feedback. Peter |
My simple rule of thumb in life is no monetary transaction of any sort with family and friends.
Personally, I think it's good to keep the two separate to avoid unnecessary consequences. |
Peter, my advice is not to do it. I have been exactly the same situation with a cousin. We ended up having some bad blood. Due to chinese culture, I was unable to raise the topic of some form of payment. I was expecting a token sum in which I would be happy to return some of it as a wedding gift but the final amount should be left to my perogative IMHO.
However it turned out that she expected it for almost free. I even did a pre wedding shoot with SDE and documentary edit for the actual wedding. It took me 4 weeks to do and we ended up with some unhappiness as the photographer (another relative) also had the same problem. |
Peter,
Since you are just starting, Id suggest you do it for free. If its gonna cost you extra out of your pocket, (for example buying props and renting equipment. Kindly asked them if they are willing to cover the cost for you. Big chance they will agree, coz this is fair. I dont think they would even argue with you why they will pay for you gas, props, or your rentals. If they dont, then still do it. You want to build up a good porfolio, and it means having a capital. If there is a videographer here that have charged their first client their current full price now, I salute them. If your next client asks you : How many weddings have you done? Wouldnt doing your relatives be a plus to your resume? Im a newbie too, and Ive done a wedding for a friend and they agreed to cover the extra cost around ~60. But hey, it opened a lot of doors and opportunities. just my little advice. |
My advice is to do it for free if necessary but shoot it like an in-camera edit, and just clean it up in post-production with no more than a day's worth of labor. Let them understand that time is money and that two days of free labor is more than a worthy gift to them. If they don't like it, they can book my basic package for $1195. :) Somehow, I think they'll go for "free". Good Luck.
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