So if we’re not ‘green certified’ we’re destroying the planet? Sheesh, somebody call the cops on Jose Villa.

Is it really a great goal? What a load of crap. We processed film for decades and the earth didn’t shrivel up and die. These ‘green’ nazis have no place in our industry, stop pandering to them & stop giving them the time of day. Let us run our business in the way we want, serving our customers in a responsible and profitable way.

Amen, Tim.

Take heart in the fact that the green fad is really starting to wain. People who have to cut their budgets for everyday, lower cost items are very likely to save a couple $k when it comes to hiring a wedding photographer that goes to the expense of using “green” processes for hardcopy production.

That being said, when it comes to giving clients digital copies of the photos, my wife and I saw that as a deciding factor when we had our wedding two weeks ago. The package we chose from the particular franchise of a local wedding photography company included an optical disc of all the images from the wedding free of copyright, watermark, or any other infringement issues. I thought they were crazy, but I’ll take it. I only wish they could have given me the RAW files instead of JPEGs. The only real downside was that the photographer didn’t go to the lengths I would have personally when actually photographing the event.

It saddens me to say this, but it seems the facebook world demands to have all photos accessible to all people. It’s this culture that wants access to all photos for free. Don’t forget that this age group demographic includes a large number of today’s brides. The only solace I take is that it still takes a professional to take those copies and make artistic changes or quality prints.

If online sharing is a worry, look to some photographers that use these social networks to put out small previews of their images for family members to purchase for printing.

Being Green isn’t a fad any more than breathing clean air is a fad. Greenwashing however, may be a fad and one that will quickly undermine those who pursue it without making actual changes to their business models.

The issue is not about being Green Certified, the issue is about being mindful of how we impact our future and that of our children. These are very real issues.

The clause that “Truly green photographers have a passion for photography and will include the images for free or for an additional nominal fee.” simply isn’t valid.

One could easily argue that for a client who is not interested in having the digital images because of lack of time (think high end weddings), creating a DVD or CD actually uses up more resources (CD’s and DVDs are petroleum based), than simply not creating them.

I think it’s interesting that that particular clause matches the marketing strategy of the photographers who created that specific “Green Certification” program.

Being a green photographer should mean being a photographer first and green conscious second. Being green without capturing exceptional images is not environmentally sound, it’s simply wasteful.

Being green has many shades and many facets. After a wedding, you can provide hundreds of proof prints and then print the ones they really want, but how green is that? Think of all the energy and chemicals that go into making the special paper and printing the photos. Why not encourage clients to only get the prints they need done and not waste all that? At least do your proofs online.

In this age of the Internet, ask your clients how many of them would prefer to have the photos online to share with friends vs having to print them all.

The legacy method of holding photos hostage and printing hundreds of proofs is going the way of the dinosaur. Photographers who are not willing to change with the times will find themselves losing business to those photographers who are willing to work with and meet their clients needs.

Before making any more negative comments about this practice, do the market research yourself. Ask anyone who has been held hostage by a photographer who kept the images and didn’t offer the originals how they felt about it. Ask them if they prefer to have the images in their posession or let the photographer keep them.

To those photographers who refuse to change and keep the clients originals, or that charge high fees for the digital images… I thank you for the business you are sending my way…

I went through their requirements. That section quoted in this blog as “getting photographers steamed” isn’t even part of the requirements they have for getting certified. It is not one of the “the terms you have to meet in order to be certified green”. It is in a section of “suggestions” for brides who are looking for a green photographer.

Before bashing something, put it in the context it was presented instead of twisting it into a controversial subject.

I would say its rather a mute point, borderline redundant really. We are green by definition not because we set out to be, but because the nature of the digital age has just evolved us (unintentionally so) to that point.

Computers are more green than typewriters- information is shared throughout the world in a matter of seconds, saving time, paper, and all transit-related pollutants. Digital cams are more green than film for essentially the same reasons- I can show a client thousands of pics online, let them only order what they want to print. Then of course I recycle CF cards perpetually, and do most of my business promotion and communication online. The green certification would not change the way I do business, and I can’t see it attracting more clients; just maybe qualify me for a few possible tax breaks:)

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