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Weather & £€$

Hummingbird

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Hi, I live in bonny Scotland and have rain a lot! How do you work a wedding or commercial flight if weather doesn't permit. Do you still charge as part of your contract or just take the loss? I'd be interested in your views.
 
If we are asked to book and hold the date we get 50% deposit up front in order to hold the date. This deposit is NON-refundable but TBH we've never held that policy if it was only weather related. If I can't fly at a wedding I can't fly at any other event and the client shouldn't be penalized for that. Now if they have a change of heart etc and I COULD be flying at another event then the deposit stays in my account. We have held that policy 2x in the last year.
 
If we are asked to book and hold the date we get 50% deposit up front in order to hold the date. This deposit is NON-refundable but TBH we've never held that policy if it was only weather related. If I can't fly at a wedding I can't fly at any other event and the client shouldn't be penalized for that. Now if they have a change of heart etc and I COULD be flying at another event then the deposit stays in my account. We have held that policy 2x in the last year.

Thanks, I would feel guilty too charging full price due to weather. I take it weather is the biggest obstacle we face and difficult to make a solid income.
 
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Thanks, I would feel guilty too charging full price due to weather. I take it weather is the biggest obstacle we face and difficult to make a solid income.

Wx can be a hurdle and even more so for an "event". When I'm doing Construction/Arch shooting I'm not nearly as critical of weather so long as it meets my personal mins in terms of image quality etc.
 
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Thanks, I would feel guilty too charging full price due to weather. I take it weather is the biggest obstacle we face and difficult to make a solid income.
Look at it this way - returning their money is an investment in goodwill. If it's a wedding they'll appreciate one less thing to stress about; if it's commercial it can only lead to good word of mouth. Short term loss, long term gain.

Just to be clear - if it's weather related you keep nothing. I think that's what BigAl07 is saying, and I concur.
 
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Thanks guys. Do any of you do UAS as your only job or as an extra feature i.e. full time photographer or something unrelated?
 
Full time till recently; now I've relocated to Europe, buying a house in France and running wine tours in Moldova. The benefits of multiple passports :)

WoW! Your planet is a very small place in deed. France is a beautiful country. The French on the other hand are a different species... [emoji15] I am picturing the fly overs in vine yards, with rustic buildings and sunsets. I would pay to see those films!
 
WoW! Your planet is a very small place in deed. France is a beautiful country. The French on the other hand are a different species... [emoji15] I am picturing the fly overs in vine yards, with rustic buildings and sunsets. I would pay to see those films!
Send your money to..

It's National Wine Day on the 5th (?) October; they take their wine seriously.

And yes, the French and I don't see face to face. I bought a kiwi flag (to go with one of my passports) to throw them off the scent. ;)
 
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Thanks guys. Do any of you do UAS as your only job or as an extra feature i.e. full time photographer or something unrelated?

We started a sUAS company as a side business a few years ago and it's blow up into a full time business but we still have our "original" full time business. Way too close to retirement to stop it this late in the game. So for the time being we just don't sleep much LOL.
 
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We started a sUAS company as a side business a few years ago and it's blow up into a full time business but we still have our "original" full time business. Way too close to retirement to stop it this late in the game. So for the time being we just don't sleep much LOL.

[emoji23]
 

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