A little irritated with lifetouch...

[CameraMan741]

first off, im in high school and got into dslrs when i was in 7th grade, but got my dslr june of this year.

well, picture day was around the corner, and me being a photographer in progress, was sort of exited to see the equipment lifetouch would bring in. well, the day came and went just like the session. i really didnt appreciate the lack of attention the guy was paying to his subject. i just sat on the little bench they had set up in advance, and the guy told be to smilel. so far so good. then, while i was half way to smiling, FLASH! so now my yearbook picture will have half a smile... and all he said was next...

i think he didnt even know what he was doing. all he did was look at a little screen that had a live view on it, and pressed the shutter.

even one of my friends said that i could probably take better pictures. lol

and when i got up close to the guy to see his 'technique' and was about to ask him a few questions about his camera(nikon) and what model it was, he told me to stand back.:mad: i guess hes good with kids telling a flourishing photog to go away. i sorta wanted to bring my camera to school that day too just to show up the "pros". (xti with sigma 70-300 and hood) i wish i did to see the look on their face...


anyways, sorry for the rant and the 5 minutes of you life you can never have back, lol, but anyone else have a bad experience with the photogs from lifetouch?

[DStanic]

Those guys just have a job to do. Take pics of several hundred kids that maybe don't care or want their pic taken. As long as the camera is set up to take a proper exposure and the kids don't have their eyes rolled and tounges sticking out, good enough- next please.

You are an exception- not many younger people that are into photography (or can afford it). Maybe if you were able to talk to him after he was done shooting everybody he'd be a nice guy. I'm sure he'd rather be shooting fashion models or something but this is just how he makes a living.

[nicksan]

well, picture day was around the corner, and me being a photographer in progress, was sort of exited to see the equipment lifetouch would bring in. well, the day came and went just like the session. i really didnt appreciate the lack of attention the guy was paying to his subject. i just sat on the little bench they had set up in advance, and the guy told be to smilel. so far so good. then, while i was half way to smiling, FLASH! so now my yearbook picture will have half a smile... and all he said was next...

i think he didnt even know what he was doing. all he did was look at a little screen that had a live view on it, and pressed the shutter.


Whether or not he actually does or doesn't know what he's doing is not even relevant. He was hired by the school and was there to do a job that gets him paid. He was probably going through the motions. Do you honestly expect him to pay that much attention to each student? Sounds to me like an in and out job to me. The fact that you, an aspiring photographer, think that you can do a better "artistic" job than him is of no consequence.


even one of my friends said that i could probably take better pictures. lol


Perhaps. But he's the one getting paid. So that doesn't matter.


and when i got up close to the guy to see his 'technique' and was about to ask him a few questions about his camera(nikon) and what model it was, he told me to stand back.:mad: i guess hes good with kids telling a flourishing photog to go away. i sorta wanted to bring my camera to school that day too just to show up the "pros". (xti with sigma 70-300 and hood) i wish i did to see the look on their face...


I wasn't there so I don't know how all this went down but sounds to me like he didn't want to be bothered while doing his job. He was probably alloted a block of time to shoot the students so he probably didn't have time to mingle with you. Yes, he could have reacted a different way rather than to tell you to "stand back", however you also need to understand he's there to go through the motions, take his pics, and get paid.

If you are feeling that perhaps he wasn't giving you the time of day b/c of your age, than I would agree that is silly of him to do so. Age has nothing to do with ability. However do understand he was there to do the job and get paid, not to make friends with budding photographers.


anyways, sorry for the rant and the 5 minutes of you life you can never have back, lol, but anyone else have a bad experience with the photogs from lifetouch?

I wouldn't be concerned. Just do your thing and enjoy your shooting...

[dave kadolph]

Sorry for your bad experience.

In a situation like this it is just a numbers game.

In my local High School there are around 2000 students--@ 30 sec each that around 17 hours of shooting time--not counting lunch and breaks.

And they are "pro" strictly by benefit of getting paid--but with zero flexibility.

2 Thoughts

Have you searched for a local group HERE (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=80)

Or approach a photographer working a sporting event or covering a school function. I spend time with students your age quite often--explain what and why and let them shoot with my backups if they have never had the chance to use a DSLR--once I get the shots I came for ;)

Hopefully your next experience works out better.

[Sp00ks]

All I have to offer here is this. Can you imagine how mind numbing that has to be to take the same photo, lets say 2000 times? I would be grouchy myself. I bet he would rather have held a class or hung out talking.

I'm sure when he was in high school and was in line waiting to have his picture taken, he was telling himself "that's the job I want" :)

[ssim]

I have done a handful of schools so far this year and it is about the numbers. The school reads you the riot act about pushing them through as quickly as possible and given the rate of return that you get from doing this you are not going to treat it like a portrait sitting.

I have done a second shot on a couple of people when I knew the shot was not right and I would probably have to redo it anyway when it came time to do retakes.

Lifetouch is a huge organization that is, as is said above, strictly about the numbers. I know that everyone with a DSLR feels that they can do a better job but doing school photography is a volume business and volume is the key word in this process.

[440roadrunner]

Cameraman, I don't want to come off as nasty, but I've had several jobs, careers, if you will. Day after day you do your job, and sooner or later, there IS ALWAYS someone who wants to but into your job---you are wherever you are--repairing an A/C unit, pulling telco cables, installing radio gear, or configuring a dispatch computer, and all the while you are trying to think--what have I left on the table, what do I need to do, where are all my tools while unknown people are wandering near, and a hundred other things, and all this time you are being EXPECTED, no---DEMANDED by your paying customer and the company you work for to optimize your time on the job.


With all due respect, bothering someone who is not related to your situation in terms of the job they are hired to do is just plain interferance.