Wedding photography

[OversighT]

Anybody ever shoot a wedding on a barter system? I'm thinking about helping out a couple who are short on cash by shooting their backyard wedding in July. As payment the couple would give me some cash, but most of the payment would be in the form of a housecleaning service.

I've never shot a wedding and would love to try it. The couple has already looked at my work and like it so I don't think they'll be disappointed. The wedding will be small and casual. They would contract me for about 4 hours of shooting and prints they want will be paid for by the bride cleaning my house (which is a completely acceptable form of payment since both my wife and I don't like to clean).

I'm I crazy for thinking about doing this? Anything I need to be careful of? How many prints should I include in the package? I'm going to draft up a contract that we'll sign to cover the package and then everything else will be ala carte.

Thanks all.


T.

[PhotoSpidy]

i've never shot a wedding, been asked, but dont feel im that good yet. but what i have done, on barter, is gatherings, birthdays, and a few different portraits. it can work out if you do it correctly. when i was younger i worked as a tax preparer for a tax company, according to the IRS, the value of the trade is what its worth. so i would suggest for your contract, see what she normally charges, and decide what you would normally charge, and she needs to clean your home for how ever long it takes for the value of your work to be paid off. include that in your contract to cover yourself. be specific. you work X number of hours, they get X prints, and in turn she cleans your home for X number of weeks. and make sure you include all your expenses, including gas for travel and your time away from family. this is my opinion only.

[LoungeLizard]

Troy - only thing I can say is that they won't be disappointed. I hope their house cleaning is at least half as good as your photography!

[brad]

The other thing to remember is that if it is a formal barter arrangement, the value of the barter trade will be assessed an income tax based on that value.

[OversighT]

Originally Posted by LoungeLizard

Troy - only thing I can say is that they won't be disappointed. I hope their house cleaning is at least half as good as your photography!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm a bit nervous about doing this because the ceremony is going to be outdoors at 8pm. There should be plenty of ambient light, but I'm probably going to pick up a 580ex when we get back from our vacation so I can keep shooting after dark.


T.