Want to emphasise that I’m really happy with the outcome and the photos look good, but the expectations on the other side seem different from what was delivered
- Photos were at a different location to a place we’d shot previously, liked the previous shoot better
- Not happy with the classic “Couples” poses
- All four are on disability support, and were chaperoned by parents (which I wasn’t aware of) and contradicted my instructions speaking over my shoulder on client posing at every stage making it hard to get natural posing.
Basically I back my work (https://williamsphotographyau.pixieset.com/couplesshoot/) and think it’s a good shoot. Not great, but I think it’s the best I could have done based on the circumstances above but they’re just angling towards getting another shoot for free which I don’t want to do nor feel their entitled to.
How does everyone else address unhappy clients for what you feel is a good shoot?
a good contract …of course before the shooting and signed by both parties
Which I don’t have and becoming aparent that I need urgently
you live and learn we have all gone through this … you can now use chat gpt to write your contact or booking form… i used it to update the terms of my usual contract when i moved to film photography earlier this year.
These are very ordinary shots. They probably think they could do the same with their phones and they might not be wrong.
Agreed. And the color grading is just too much with no effort.
Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback
ummm… You don’t need more bokeh or shallow dof, that stuff is purely creative choice…
If the pictures are similar to your other pictures, objectively, You should stand your ground. If You feel like the pictures are not up to your standards, objectively, i would reshoot.
And let it be a lesson that you’re in command of the shoot, You get the pictures you plan for first before trying things or letting other ppl influence you
I was in command of it but constantly in a battle which always throws off a mood
Appreciate you on the creative choice comment. I like a little more detail than blowing everything out
Yeah it’s not easy when they are the paying customer
Personally I think most of the shots look like snapshots everybody with a camera phone could have made. I would like to see more bokeh and more cropping on the rule of thirds. But i assume that is your style and they agreed to that before the session. I think posing wasn’t great but not bad either. I mean you do see the fun and love they have in the photos and I think that’s what it is all about. Either way, can’t please everybody. If you’re going to do a second shoot I would suggest splitting the costs with them and let them tell you what they think should be different in that shoot. or tell them to piss off because that is what it is.
Personally I think most of the shots look like snapshots everybody with a camera phone could have made
That’s pretty accurate. They aren’t bad, but everyone is perfectly centered in full-body shots and a lot of them have the background be more of the subject. A lot of the issues could be fixed with some editing.
I think an aspect is there’re just so many redundant pictures that we see 4-6 versions of the same pose/setting that what could’ve been a great image just gets lost in the crowd. I get OP may want to deliver as much as possible but I personally have a rule of "If there’re two images that’re almost identical, pick the best one.
This is by design, I shoot with a larger image count because I find people’s favourite shot from a shoot are ones I wouldn’t think twice about. I’d rather give a few tooany than a few too little. Same with scaling, I shoot landscape and portraits of the same pose and a variety of slightly different angles to try appease most people’s tastes which has served me well this year with almost 80 shoots under my belt having only started this year
Yep, didn’t think of that since the photography I do is mainly for me and rarely for other people.
Well if its paid work, its good when the customer says its good.
What’s your fastest lens? You need more DoF
Thanks, wasn’t a photo critic but appreciate the feedback
My bad
I recently had this situation with a client, they requested things that I told them would result in poor photos, they acknowledged that and then weren’t happy with the photos. Wanted another shoot, but with a discount. Politely, I said no. I said we’ll do it my way, and if they’re not happy, they don’t have to pay. They agreed to that, we did the second shoot, and they were happy as could be. Sometimes you just have to stand up for yourself. Also, just as an addition, if you’re doing more couples shoots, I highly recommend this vid on couples posing. It really elevated my work.
Sorry, could you please precise, on your link all photos are the last session they disliked or part of it is the recent and the rest the previous session?
I don’t have any experience in paid shoots, why not ask them why they didn’t like it more specifically? Make them point out the photos they didn’t liked / liked so you can identify what points could be problematic (to them at least)?
Personnaly, I think a good chunk of photos are great, I love the ones close to the sea, on the sand and rocks, my favorites are the ones with the shadows, beautiful! For the others I certainly agree with previous comment about background blur, especially in front of the plants which contrasted them well but isn’t a great background imo… Their expression indeed truly show enjoyment they look like it was a great experience to them.
Exactly right. I didn’t have a great DOF here just because of the actual positioning of the patio. I couldn’t get any further back without getting a larger area which I was trying to avoid. Also pretty on brand with my styling that I appreciate the landscape as much as the subject (it’s easy to shoot everything at F1. 8 and blur everything into oblivion)
I think you did a pretty good job but some of those shots were framed needlessly wide IMO. The tighter portraits have way more impact.
Regardless, they hired you based off seeing some of your previous work, I assume. Stand your ground IMO or perhaps come to some compromise, but don’t let them have those shots for free.
Depending on your pricing, I think the shots look fine, but…
Are you sure they’d be happy with you posting their photos here for
usthe internet to criticize their dislike of your style?And… Also letting all of us in on their family/disability situations?
"All four are on disability support, and were chaperoned by parents "
I share it here because I’m showing the quality of the images and its a fairly unbiased community here for the subject of client interaction
The disability point is part of the client dispute which I feel is important to the narrative
Not only a little weirded out by the post, but concerned about them finding it and possibly suing you, and possibly over some disabilities act thing. You can share photos and still blur out faces, and not share personal details.
I haven’t done many paid gigs, so take my advice with a grain of salt:
This is what contracts and deposits are for - they cover you and prevent you from being manipulated by the customer. The contract also clearly sets the expectations so there is no confusion.
If I was in your situation (and had taken a deposit-not sure if you did), I would essentially say that they can take it or leave it.
If they want to take it: cool, they can pay the remaining fee and you will hand off the final product.
If they want to leave it: so be it. The deposit covers your time spent so far and they can find another photographer to dick around with.
If they really want another session, then they can pay an additional fee/deposit to cover your time and effort - if you are feeling magnanimous, charge them a reduced fee.
If they go this route, maybe explain that they can supervise from a distance so you and the subjects can kinda get vibe going and not have the vibe thrown off by someone contradicting you.
Good luck with whatever happens.
Thanks mate, this is what I was along the lines of. They pay in full prior to the shoot
Never had this situation. But it in general, I would ask what exactly does not satisfy their expectations. Depending on the answer, I would try to find a solution (e.g., make some “improvements” in the edit). If it’s something related to my style and the client saw samples before. I would charge for it.