Hired a fantastic newborn photographer - unimpressed with the results

Don't like them, don't buy them. He got paid. No explanation needed on your part.
Now shoot them yourself.

jebrady03 wrote in post #17550440
More proofs

Have you asked the photographer if the proofs you've been given are unedited/ unfinished?

I've seen photographers that will give proofs that have only had basic editing done (color correcting, exposure adjustment, cropping). Once their client has selected the photos they want that go through and finish those photos with their own style (which is what people see in their website, Facebook, ect)

If you haven't yet, ask the photographer what the deal is. Tell him/her that the photo proofs you received don't appear to be the same quality or style as the work they display elsewhere. See what he/she says.

Also, like memoriesof tomorrow siad, the rapport building is part of their sales strategy. In the end they are a business that you hired and they have a job to do. That is to please their customer (you). If you're not pleased let them know!

Good insight and well stated, gremlin75. Thanks for sharing this.

Ed

I think gremlin is onto something. They are most likely not edited.

Most of the images are not edited, but the few that are aren't mind blowing. But there are even a few that aren't edited that I can't believe the photographer included.

One of the problems with photographers only having portfolios with the hero shots is that those shots are the exception and not the rule. It would be much better if photographers advertised with what they can consistently deliver and not what they may deliver once in a blue moon. My guess would be this photographer falls into the category with the ones who set unrealistic expectations.

In my opinion, if you aren't compelled to spend your money (and not obligated to either), then don't. Provide feedback to why.

Good luck.

In the mean time, I am going to head over to the Business section and look for/wait for the "Unrealistic Pain in the Butt Customer!" thread with the "I had a newborn photo shoot and put a bunch of excellent proofs out there, and now this customer says that they aren't of the quality he has seen of my past work and is refusing to purchase any prints!"



Kidding.. sortof.

You paid your session fee, that's all you're committed to. He/She isn't your best friend, you hired them to do a service. Keep it on a business level and remove the emotion (rapport) and only buy what you want. Tell them why if they ask, otherwise move on. Nothing to get caught up on.

Either take more images yourself or hire someone else.

This runs completely counter to putting your best foot forward. So, you're advising someone to put mediocre work in their portfolio? They aren't all going to be 'hero' shots, as you call them. You're just not going to get 300-500 of those at a wedding or event. I don't care who the photographer is. What you can promise is that the photos will be lit properly, composed in a pleasing manner, etc. But they won't all be 'hero' shots.

OP, you're not obligated to buy anything. Also, have you ever thought about just asking the photographer the same questions you're asking us? He's the photographer. He's in a much better position to answer based on the fact that he took the photos and he knows what they look like. You're asking for us to give you input on photos that you've merely described. We have no basis for whether they are well done or not.

So this keeps getting better. Upon initial contact, I was provided a pricing sheet that said 10 images for $1000. This, to me, meant $100 per picture. Apparently not. If you buy less than 10, they're $150 each but this wasn't stated anywhere on the pricing sheet nor was it communicated by phone or email.

Our original plan was to buy 10-20 at $100 each. But, since we didn't have 10 we considered good enough to buy, we decided on 7 (even though we didn't feel they're worth $100 each - we just can't go back in time and book with someone else). Once I sent the list of 7 over, that's when I was told I might as well pick 3 more since it's $50 less, total.

So, we picked 3 more that we just considered freebies and now the wait begins to see the final product. These better blow my mind after they've been processed...

Best wishes on them being "mind blowing"!!!

jebrady03 wrote in post #17556809
So this keeps getting better. Upon initial contact, I was provided a pricing sheet that said 10 images for $1000. This, to me, meant $100 per picture. Apparently not. If you buy less than 10, they're $150 each but this wasn't stated anywhere on the pricing sheet nor was it communicated by phone or email.

Our original plan was to buy 10-20 at $100 each. But, since we didn't have 10 we considered good enough to buy, we decided on 7 (even though we didn't feel they're worth $100 each - we just can't go back in time and book with someone else). Once I sent the list of 7 over, that's when I was told I might as well pick 3 more since it's $50 less, total.

So, we picked 3 more that we just considered freebies and now the wait begins to see the final product. These better blow my mind after they've been processed...

So you are saying that you were completely disappointed with the proofs, upset you had to pay the session price, didn't address it with the photographer and then plopped down another 1000$ on the hopes that final processing will somehow make this experience all you hoped it would be?

nqjudo wrote in post #17556892
So you are saying that you were completely disappointed with the proofs, upset you had to pay the session price, didn't address it with the photographer and then plopped down another 1000$ on the hopes that final processing will somehow make this experience all you hoped it would be?

I am as well confused ...

nqjudo wrote in post #17556892
So you are saying that you were completely disappointed with the proofs, upset you had to pay the session price, didn't address it with the photographer and then plopped down another 1000$ on the hopes that final processing will somehow make this experience all you hoped it would be?

No. Here's what I said.

jebrady03 wrote in post #17550003
Last night, we received the images and after going through them, both my wife and I are VERY disappointed. Sure, there's a handful that are nice, but compared to the work we've seen this photographer put out (all over the website, facebook, hospital, pediatrician and OB offices - this photographer is the high end, amazing photographer in the area), our images are very ordinary. In fact, I feel like I could have made them (and we hired someone because we wanted work much better than my capabilities can produce).

I said I was VERY disappointed, not completely. I also said there was a handful of images that are nice (ok, so it was 7, not 5 - which would have been a true handful). But, out of 54 images that we received, that's a pretty low yield for someone with such a level of talent.

Also, I never said I was upset I had to pay the session price. I'd post a quote to prove it, but I can't because I never said it.

I did address it with the photographer to a degree I felt comfortable. 1) I only selected a very few images when they knew I wanted 10-20 and 2) I asked that if the few images that had editing done to some degree could be redone as the results didn't look natural.

We haven't put down any further money yet.

So, while I appreciate each and every person's contributions to this thread, please stick to what I've said, not what you've inferred.

All these statements were made in an open forum and you asked for advice in the opening post. Now you're telling people to not "infer" things from what you wrote. It might be a good move to check in with your local community college to see if they might be offering a Self-Assertiveness 101 course...the attempt at assertiveness that you used in your last post would have been better directed at your amazing photographer friend.