Lesson learned thought its worth sharing

Soo.... I am getting started in a business. I have a site, license, insurance, cards, and everything else needed for a business.

I have family members that have been wanting pictures. I went ahead and did both for free with no contract. BIG MISTAKE.

Brother in law - Did some pictures for him outside so he could have some new portraits of himself. I did this for free and had no contract with him. I told him he could print them and post them online. I noticed on his facebook page he posted the picture from his Iphone. (keep in mind I edit on a calibrated monitor so colors are great). The picture appeared much warmer than what I had done and his teeth also looked yellow. I asked him about this and sure enough he said he did "some color corrections" on his iphone...

So now I have told him, in the future and corrections you would like contact me, do not do your own corrections.


wifes cousin - Did some pictures of her daughters birthday with no contract and no payment. I gave them as a free download. Several days later (today), I see her and a friend have posted a horrible looking b/w version with selective color. Since it was my mistake to not get a contract I am telling her to go ahead and keep her edits but do not reference to me in any way. I do not need people thinking I did that. I have removed all the pictures from my facebook and website from the party.


LESSON LEARNED - ALWAYS get a contract signed even if doing free work for family. Conditions must be understood otherwise this will happen to you. And then of course if its family its awkward to tell them to take it down..... Always get a contract signed, no matter what.

But selective color is so awesome, whats the problem. =)

gh patriot wrote in post #15801749
But selective color is so awesome, whats the problem. =)

lol. They did the selective color on a big flower the girl had on her head (in a headband).. so its all black and white except for this big pink blob on her head.....

When I questioned her about it she said "well this is what we like"..... -_- I will never press the shutter button again without a signed contract.

lol...yeah people go nuts. Get contracts for everything.

Thankfully I have clients that wouldn't even bother with doing that.

You can't control what people do with images once you give them to them. You can't assume people will read or honor a contract. Just suck it up and move on.

Yah I learned this too. I did some newborn pics for my bro's new baby. He also "adopted" his wifes kid who is disabled. So I take a cute pic of big brother looking at the baby. He has some vision problems so he wears turquoise kids glasses. Anyway, I send my bro the pics and he thinks they are all awesome and all, and the next day I get a text and sure enough its that pic, and they made everything black and white and did the whole "selective coloring" on big brothers glasses only.

"That's great" I replied. "Wonderful"

(Make Note to self.....)

But in all seriousness I cant imagine a family member having a problem if you asked them not to do that or to take something down. Most will understand its part of your business.

I've also learned never to take advice from certain family members about what "they like" for a picture or pose or backdrop. In fact sometimes I ask that person what their idea is now and make sure not to do that lol

In the world we live in now are you really going to be able to stop people from putzing with the images we send to them in all of these apps that are available for either our phones or computers. Say you have that contract with a person that says they can't do this and they do it anyway. Are you going to sue them. Taking legal action against customers (whether they are family or not) is not a good way to build your name. Contracts are a good thing and sometimes statements in there will keep our customers on the straight and narrow but once we have passed along soft copies to customers we lose most of our control.

Sounds like it's time for you to get a Leica Monochrom

the only thing you really have control over is your own marketing. just make sure your website, your portfolio, your galleries, your posts, your collateral all represent the work you do.

as much as it can make you wince when you see the damage others do to your works, those images are still going to get a ton of likes and aw-how-cute-oh-that's-gorgeous comments.

the more you shoot, the less it will matter...hang in there, relax, and roll on.

How about when people take the CD and put it onto their TV to photograph and post online via their cell phone.

If you don't charge for photos, the recipients will understand them as gifts. The normal expectation will then be that the photos belong to them, and they can do with them as they wish.

tim wrote in post #15801807
You can't control what people do with images once you give them to them. You can't assume people will read or honor a contract. Just suck it up and move on.

^^^ This.

Even if you do have a contract stipulating what people can and can't do once you give them the files you'll spend all your time policing it if you worry about it. Chances are several people will crop, selective colour and generally instagram the crap out of them. I've seen plenty of my ex clients do it and it really isn't worth worrying about.

One ex bride did a really "interesting" job on some of the pics she got from me. Do I care? Not really as I've had at least 4 referred brides from her since.

Do you guys ever worry about people seeing the pictures and think you did that? Causing a bad reputation with your editing skills?

Ratjack wrote in post #15802412
Do you guys ever worry about people seeing the pictures and think you did that? Causing a bad reputation with your editing skills?

No, I worry about the photos I actually have some control over. Those on my website and my facebook page. The "pros" of people sharing your images for word of mouth vastly outnumber the "cons" of being super restrictive and trying to police how every last image is shared/used by clients.

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #15802406
One ex bride did a really "interesting" job on some of the pics she got from me. Do I care? Not really as I've had at least 4 referred brides from her since.

exactly. at some point we all have to decide if we want to be remembered as a "jerk photographer" or "so easy and wonderful to work with". of course, you might have to pull someone in line from time to time, but for the most part you can get further (and with less stress) by rolling with it.