• Katie, founder of Tripp Photography, opened up about her rates on TikTok
• The North Carolina-based photographer received backlash for charging $8,500
• TikTok user @haussdrama added to the debate by criticizing her work 

By Erica Nardozzi For Dailymail.Com

Published: 11:11 EDT, 11 March 2024 | Updated: 11:14 EDT, 11 March 2024

A wedding photographer known for her ‘purposefully blurry’ images has sparked a debate about the quality of her work after revealing her prices start at $8,500.

Katie, founder of Tripp Photography, is facing backlash on TikTok after opening up about how much she charges for her fine art photography, serving as a reminder that art is in the eye of the beholder. 

The North Carolina-based content creator, who uses the handle @tripp.photo, explained that someone with a $2,000 budget had inquired about her services. In response, she sent back her rates, which start at $8,500.  

The five-second clip shows her lip-syncing the lyrics ‘you think I’m psycho, don’t you, mama?’ from Jack Kittel’s country song ‘Psycho.’

‘I even have my starting prices on my website,’ she added in the caption. 

Katie’s post has been viewed 4.3 million times and has received more than 7,300 comments — many of which were criticisms of her work. 

‘If I wanted blurry wedding photos, I’d just have my family take them off a cell phone,’ one person responded. 

‘For $10k she’ll give you pictures that are in focus!’ someone else joked. 

‘Hearing your price and then seeing your website… I literally gasped,’ another added.

TikTok user @haussdrama stitched Katie’s video and proceeded to analyze her portfolio, deducing she is a ‘tiny little bit’ psycho for charging that much money. 

‘Now with this picture, I can see the intent, right?’ she said after pulling up a slightly out-of-focus image of a man’s brown brogues. 

‘Going for that old-timey, rustic [look]. I dare say you didn’t capture what you thought you did.’

The content creator noted that Katie is a ‘very big fan of blurry photos’ before tearing apart an image she had taken of a wedding dress hanging on a wall. 

‘Possibly one of the most unflattering photos that you could take of a wedding dress is just on a blank wall on a wooden hanger. It’s giving nothing,’ she said. 

Haussdrama also included a few portraits of a bride posing outside and getting ready before her wedding.  

‘Now this woman is stunning, but this picture looks like it was taken in somebody’s backyard,’ she said of the first image. ‘Again, she’s stunning, she’s beautiful, she is giving, but the photographer… 

‘It just looks like this is somebody’s bathroom,’ she added of the second picture. ‘There is nothing special to the photo that’s like that “wow” factor.’

She ended her video by saying ‘everybody should charge what they think they’re worth,’ but that didn’t stop her from sharing one last dig about Katie’s work. 

‘If I got my wedding photos back, and they looked anything like those, I would request a refund,’ she said. ‘Actually, I would dispute it with my card company.’ 

Haussdrama’s post has been viewed 2.9 million times and has also received thousands of comments.  

Critics were quick to agree with her assessment and add their own critiques of Katie’s photos, while others accused her of being a bully and not understanding trends in the wedding industry. 

‘The people hating on this are clearly not current wedding photographers or in the wedding industry,’ one person responded. 

‘As a photographer (or any creative in general) my biggest fear is someone picking my work apart like this,’ someone else admitted. 

‘As a wedding photographer, don’t bash unless you know the market yourself. People WANT the blurry images. It’s requested in every shoot I have,’ another added. 

In a follow-up clip, Haussdrama clapped back at the photographers who were ‘coming forward and doing a lot of yapping in the comments.’

She referenced Brides’ Complete Guide to Wedding Photography Prices, which featured interviews with photographers who shared how much they charge and the services they include. 

‘All of these photographers agreed that having an open conversation about your client’s budget is an important part of the initial consultation,’ she noted. 

‘If you need to scale back on coverage or additional costs to fit your price point, some of the photographers [will] adjust deliverables to make that possible.’

Katie has her starting rates listed on her website, but Haussdrama accused her of mocking potential clients instead of being forthcoming about her prices. 

‘Making a video of one of your clients asking what the best price you can give them leads me to believe that you didn’t send them any packages that you offer,’ she said. 

‘Instead, you’re making a TikTok making fun of them and how they can’t afford you and you’re not going to work with them. Let’s normalize photographers being open about their pricing and packages.’

Haussdrama’s second video led to commenters slamming her for targeting the photographer over her prices. 

‘So is Katie supposed to lower her prices for people whose budgets are below her starting price?’ one person asked. 

‘S**t like this is what made me stop making content. The internet is full of bullies. She’s a mom. This is her livelihood. Imagine trying to ruin that just because you can’t afford her/she’s not your specific style. Just don’t book with her, duh,’ someone else argued.

‘If a client inquired with me and said their budget is 2k and I charge 6.5k (minimum) nothing I offer will fit their needs,’ another added. ‘It’s literally fine if you can’t afford my services and I won’t shame them for it, but bashing someone (regardless of their work) based on what they charge is wild. Just don’t book them. Simple. Easy. Next.’

Katie also responded to the backlash over her work in a follow-up post, saying she received death threats after her video went viral. 

‘Imagine sending me death threats because you don’t like my photos, but I’m just over here busy working with my favorite little assistants,’ she wrote in the on-screen text. 

‘At the end of the day, saying you don’t like my photos or you won’t pay my price isn’t inherently offensive. We all have different styles preferences, values, and priorities.’

However, she noted that people have been crossing the line by harassing her on her social media pages, sending her death threats, writing fake reviews, and tearing apart her looks and children. 

‘Doing those things say more about you than me,’ she concluded. ‘Hurt people try to hurt people.’

Katie added all the positive comments she received in another clip, saying she has ‘never felt so much love and sport.’  

With less than a month to go before the 2024 total solar eclipse, astrophotographers Andrew McCarthy and Dan Stein have released a gigapixel image of last year’s annular solar eclipse.

The stunning image was a collaboration between the two talented lensmen. The picture was taken in Utah and is a whopping 1.69 gigapixel image which can viewed in its zoomable entirety here.

“What’s unique about it is it was captured using a combination of white unfiltered light and a hydrogen-alpha telescope,” McCarthy tells PetaPixel.

“So it’s detailed enough to actually see atmospheric details on the Sun. You can see prominences and spicula in the solar chromosphere when you zoom in.”

The picture, entitled Ring of the Gods, required extensive planning, precise positioning to be centered in the path of the eclipse, and exact coordination between McCarthy and Stein.

“Once it was captured, the most challenging part was the massive file size. At 1.69 gigapixels my computer was at its breaking point, and crashed constantly during editing,” McCarthy explains.

“The photo itself is fairly simple outside of that, using a very straightforward HDR blend with some masking to combine the various filtered shots with the unfiltered landscape mosaic.”

The photo duo used “a lot” of cameras while in the Utah desert and ended up with thousands of photos to create the panorama.

According to Stein’s Instagram page, McCarthy “crafted the insanely high-resolution image of the Sun using his h-alpha solar telescopes.” Meanwhile, Stein captured a mosaic of the landscape in the foreground and the pair processed the image together.

“Dan’s incredible landscape photography expertise next to my experience photographing the Sun in h-alpha gave us the skill set needed to make something unique, unlike any landscape photo I’ve ever seen,” McCarthy says.

McCarthy reveals that it was quite easy to composite the two shots together since Stein’s photos contained the white light of the Sun for reference. But it still took five months from capturing the image to completion.

“Combining the light from multiple telescopes using multiple filtration methods can create some wonky results, and we wanted the final image to be flawless, and so detailed it could print up to the size of a building and still look great,” adds McCarthy. “I think we reached that goal.”

To buy a copy of the print, head to McCarthy’s website.

More of the photographers’ work can be found on Stein’s Instagram and McCarthy’s Instagram.

Image credits: Andrew McCarthy and Daniel Stein.

The Photography & Video Show 2024 is just around the corner at the NEC in Birmingham, U.K., where the biggest photo and video brands will be showing off their latest and greatest products.

From Saturday 16 March to Tuesday 19 March, attendees can expect to get hands-on with gear from the major camera manufacturers including Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Lumix and OM-System. Some of the U.K.’s biggest photo retailers will also be present, including Wex Photo Video, CameraWorld and London Camera Exchange, offering discounts and trade-ins.

In addition, the event will host more than 350 live talks and demos from brands, professionals and content creators across the four days.

Standard entry tickets cost from £14.95 and can be purchased from The Photography and Video Show website.

The Photography & Video Show 2024: What’s on?

The Photography and Video Show 2024 will be hosting more than 250 brands, allowing visitors to see and even try out the latest photography, filmmaking and production tech (and even some as-yet unreleased gear!).

Manufacturers in attendance include:

• Canon
• Sony
• Nikon
• Fujifilm
• Lumix
• OM System
• Blackmagic Design
• Insta360

You can also expect stands from lens and equipment manufacturers, as well as software providers and major retailers. A full list can be found on The Photography and Video Show 2024 Exhibitors list, but a few of the big names include:

• Adobe
• Capture One
• Sigma
• Laowa
• Tamron
• Neewer
• Godox
• Benro
• Manfrotto
• Vanguard
• Ilford
• Wex Photo Video
• CameraWorld
• London Camera Exchange
• Analogue Wonderland

The Photography & Video Show 2024: Who’s on?

There will also be more than 350 live talks and product demonstrations taking place, from some of the biggest names in the industry. Talks will cover tips and techniques for shooting and post production, as well as touching on major topics influencing the industry going forward, such as AI. Head to the website for the full speaker list.

Some of the key speakers will include:

• Maternity and newborn photographers, Kelly Brown and Donatella Nicolini 
• Wildlife photographer, Matthias Klum
• Landscape legend, Joe Cornish 
• Getty Royal photographer, Chris Jackson
• Adobe masters, Scott Kelby and Julieanne Kost
• Music photographer, Scarlet Page

More from Tom’s Guide

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This is an interesting video from landscape photographer Mark Denney. It’s a discussion on “great” photographers – specifically, great landscape photography. And why many of us will never become one. The thing is, though, that’s ok.

He also talks about the traits of the greats. Things we can apply to our photography, our approach and our mindset. Ways we can constantly push ourselves to improve and become greater, even if we may never achieve greatness.

What makes a great photographer?

Well, it’s difficult to quantify, but one thing is clear. It’s not just about the quality of their work. Of course, it needs to meet a certain standard on some level or another. But there are countless thousands of other photographers out there making work that’s just as good from a technical standpoint.

That is just one trait. Another aspect, as Mark points out, is their dedication. The relentless pursuit of improvement in one’s craft and abilities. The best photographers are constantly pushing themselves to get better.

You’re not great, but it doesn’t matter

You’re not a great photographer. If you were, you probably wouldn’t be reading articles and watching videos like these. But it’s ok that you’re not a great photographer. I’m not a great photographer, either. We don’t all need to be up there with Ansel Adams.

But that doesn’t mean we should slack, either. The pursuit of that greatness, whether we attain it or not, is what drives us as photographers. It’s what keeps us creating. It keeps us improving.

Mark offers several tips and things to ask yourself in his video. Things that can help us adopt the habits of some of the great photographers. Things that will help us on our journey.

Experimentation without the fear of failure

What makes your heart sing? Most people don’t know what truly drives their passion when it comes to photography. You have to experiment. Perhaps a specific genre isn’t your passion because you’re not very good at it yet. Afraid to push your limits?

You need to lose that fear. You don’t have to show everything you create to the world. Have the freedom to experiment and try new things without the fear of failure. Don’t feel disappointed when something doesn’t work out. Use that failure to learn and get clues to improve for the future.

Unrelenting focus on post-processing

This is going to be a contentious one. I’m not the biggest fan of post-processing. I have nothing against it and others are happy to do as they wish. I’d just prefer to do as little of it as possible myself. At least digitally.

When it comes to film, I love spending time in the darkroom. When you have your own darkroom, you kind of shoot with a final result in mind. You know that you can mess with it in the darkroom to get it where you need it.

We have that with digital, too, of course, using apps like Lightroom, Capture One and Photoshop. But the process, for me, is so much more enjoyable with film.

But whether you use a lot of post-production as a general rule or not, you need to understand it. You need to constantly be learning new techniques to provide you with more options when it comes to digital post-production. Some day, an image might rely on that technique you never use.

Become a student of composition

Composition is a wonderful thing. And like post-processing, the “rules” of composition are something you should know and understand, whether you choose to follow them or not. While called the “rules”, they’re guidelines.

Things like the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, etc. A photograph doesn’t have to conform to one of these. But the reason they’re so popular is because photographs that do conform to one of the “rules” often tend to work.

Composition is as much of an art as photography itself. You don’t have to follow the rules. However, understanding them and why they work is vital to understanding how to break them. At least, it is if you want to do it effectively.

Share what you’ve learned

This is another one that’s going to be quite contentious. Some people (still) believe that knowledge should be kept secret, worried that they’re “training up the competition”. Others, like Mark and myself, believe that knowledge should be freely shared.

I never understood the mindset of keeping principles and techniques secret. Most photography setups are easy enough to recreate from the reflections and shadows in the photographs themselves. Fully recreating a photograph becomes something of a technicality when you become proficient.

And even if you’re not, hitting up social media and the few photography forums that are still around will yield lots of educated guesses from other photographers on how it might have been lit. Basically, if they want to figure it out, they will. Nobody’s work is anything special in that regard.

But teaching the principles. The understanding, the reason why certain techniques work, that actually educates people. That helps them to become better versions of themselves. Not copies of you. Teaching somebody else will help you understand it better, too.

Why do you own a camera?

Ultimately, really improving your photography and standing out boils down to a simple question. What kind of camera owner are you?

Do you just want to be able to grab good-looking memories with an expensive camera? To produce images that inspire feelings and emotions in you and your family as they remind you of that time? There’s nothing wrong with that.

Or do you want to push yourself to bring the visions you see in your head to life? Do you want to see a scene in your mind and then be able to set that up in front of you, knowing you can create anything you want to? And evoke any emotion you desire from random viewers?

The latter is a lifelong pursuit. It’s impossible for one person to learn, do, and try everything in photography. The more we do it, the more we want to experiment, learn and pursue the ever-elusive greatness.