What Should I Do?

CMcCord25 wrote in post #18388620
Earlier today I did maternity photos for a friend of my Sister-In-Law and well the photos turned out terrible, so far out of 68 photos I took I would say only about 5 are decent. The Mom to be did not smile in any photos, their kid was not cooperating, and her husband did not want to do them. I know it is all my fault because I should have taken charge but once again I froze up and just stood there . So my question is should I give them their $40 back? I want to because I just don't feel good about taking their money.

Hey, at this rate, the true problem is that it's not you selling them something but them selling you something. You are completely in their badly-behaved hands.

Learn from this, and don't do it again. And give them the money back!

DaviSto wrote in post #18389300
Once money comes into the equation ... be it $40 or $4,000 ... it changes everything.

The photographer may think: "You get what you pay for" ... the customer more likely thinks: "I know I got myself a bargain but wtf if I'm paying I expect quality".

Give the money back ... pass over every image file that is remotely acceptable ... then rally round your friends to act as willing victims for a whole lot of practicing and work out how to do the job properly.

Photography is, I believe, a true 'profession' (although not well recognized as such) and entails 'standards'. It's a real shame that any idiot with half a camera can pitch to get paid for doing it ... and get business.

Well I know I could do good photos but I unfortunately suffer from Social Anxiety and it makes interacting with people difficult for me, and thank you everyone for the advice I talked to a guy that I consider a mentor and he wants me to bring him the photos tomorrow to look at before I make any decision.

CMcCord25 wrote in post #18389411
Well I know I could do good photos but I unfortunately suffer from Social Anxiety and it makes interacting with people difficult for me, and thank you everyone for the advice I talked to a guy that I consider a mentor and he wants me to bring him the photos tomorrow to look at before I make any decision.

That sounds like a good idea. Probably your photographs are better than you have convinced yourself they are. Anyway, you'll know one way or the other.

I have never sold a photograph for money but I do find myself taking group shots quite a lot on an amateur basis. I find it's helpful to use some tricks to get people to loosen up.

The main one that I use on a regular basis is to ask the group to jump in the air on a count of three. I offer the pretext that ... although it's going to be hard to get the shot ... I'd like to see if I can get a photo of them 'airborne'. I usually don't manage to time the actual airborne shot but I'm not actually bothered about that. The images that you can get in the few seconds after they have landed are usually really good with relaxed poses, big smiles and laughter. And the effect generally carries on through the rest of the shoot ... everybody is more relaxed (photographer included). And sometimes you do get the shot with all those feet off the ground, which can be a major bonus.

With children, a trick like "Don't say 'cheese' ... say 'bananas'" or some such can extract a big smile.

I'm sure others can offer similar or better suggestions. But, if you know that you have a couple of tricks available, it can really help build your confidence and the more confident and relaxed you are, the easier it's going to be to take charge of the session and get good shots.

Also, when I go into a situation that I know is potentially stressful, I'll often prepare a little crib list and write it on a scrap of paper. In your case that might be things like: check for a clean background; look out for some shade; check aperture is around 4.5 (or whatever you prefer); check ISO/WB settings; try the jump trick? ... and so on. I rarely actually look at my crib sheet in the event but it's a confidence booster just to know it's there.

If you know you have the technical skills, and you know you have a couple of tools to deal with difficult clients, I'd think the sort of photography that you are doing could be a good way of addressing Social Anxiety issues.

Good luck, anyway. You'll soon put this immediate situation behind you.


[EDIT] But don't try to get the MTB to jump in a maternity shoot!!!!!!

DaviSto wrote in post #18389608
That sounds like a good idea. Probably your photographs are better than you have convinced yourself they are. Anyway, you'll know one way or the other.

I have never sold a photograph for money but I do find myself taking group shots quite a lot on an amateur basis. I find it's helpful to use some tricks to get people to loosen up.

The main one that I use on a regular basis is to ask the group to jump in the air on a count of three. I offer the pretext that ... although it's going to be hard to get the shot ... I'd like to see if I can get a photo of them 'airborne'. I usually don't manage to time the actual airborne shot but I'm not actually bothered about that. The images that you can get in the few seconds after they have landed are usually really good with relaxed poses, big smiles and laughter. And the effect generally carries on through the rest of the shoot ... everybody is more relaxed (photographer included). And sometimes you do get the shot with all those feet off the ground, which can be a major bonus.

With children, a trick like "Don't say 'cheese' ... say 'bananas'" or some such can extract a big smile.

I'm sure others can offer similar or better suggestions. But, if you know that you have a couple of tricks available, it can really help build your confidence and the more confident and relaxed you are, the easier it's going to be to take charge of the session and get good shots.

Also, when I go into a situation that I know is potentially stressful, I'll often prepare a little crib list and write it on a scrap of paper. In your case that might be things like: check for a clean background; look out for some shade; check aperture is around 4.5 (or whatever you prefer); check ISO/WB settings; try the jump trick? ... and so on. I rarely actually look at my crib sheet in the event but it's a confidence booster just to know it's there.

If you know you have the technical skills, and you know you have a couple of tools to deal with difficult clients, I'd think the sort of photography that you are doing could be a good way of addressing Social Anxiety issues.

Good luck, anyway. You'll soon put this immediate situation behind you.

[EDIT] But don't try to get the MTB to jump in a maternity shoot!!!!!!

Thank you for the tips and tricks I'm gonna do the crib list thing next time I do portraits for someone because I do find that sometimes my mind does go blank and I forget those basic things during a shoot.

CMcCord25 wrote in post #18389411
Well I know I could do good photos but I unfortunately suffer from Social Anxiety and it makes interacting with people difficult for me, and thank you everyone for the advice I talked to a guy that I consider a mentor and he wants me to bring him the photos tomorrow to look at before I make any decision.

Taking portraits for other people is a lot harder than it seems....and the social aspects are often the most difficult part. This is very typical because many photographers I meet tend to be introverted (though this is not always the case of course). There's a confidence you need to convey in order to command control over the shoot so you can get the photos you want.

But just like anything else, that confidence comes from experience, and it comes quicker than you probably think it will if you keep at it. I would hit up meetup.com and find a photo club near you. There's a lot less pressure in these meet-ups since the expectation is that everyone is there to learn...plus if you find one that has models for you to shoot, it's actually even easier because they're better at posing themselves than the typical people who would pay you to photograph them. It's definitely a confidence booster.

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CMcCord25 wrote in post #18389411
Well I know I could do good photos but I unfortunately suffer from Social Anxiety and it makes interacting with people difficult for me . . .

This makes me curious about why you are pursuing a vocation or sideline in taking photos of people for hire. . If you are able to articulate the reasons behind why you are doing this, I would be quite interested in hearing them.

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18392213
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This makes me curious about why you are pursuing a vocation or sideline in taking photos of people for hire. . If you are able to articulate the reasons behind why you are doing this, I would be quite interested in hearing them.

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I'm not getting a lot of hours in my part time job at the moment, right now I'm only working 2 days a week and so I figure why not try and make some extra money doing something that I love to do plus I figured it would help me conquer my Social Anxiety.