Client (family friend) unhappy question...

I recently did a job where I took a multi-generational family portrait for a family friend.

They have seen my work, and understand that I am still learning as I go (I am). I charged them $200 for the session, and explained that they would be able to order prints directly from my Zenfolio website at about cost (of course there was an ever-so-slight markup to account for my time).

The session was very challenging as I had to get the attention of both a baby, and a great-great grandparent, and choose my final shots accordingly. The post processing was also a nightmare with regard to flare in glasses, and hiding sweat marks but I was pleased with the end result despite the several hours that I spent (and learned from).

When I finally heard back from the mother (who initially hired me for the gig) about the final shots, she was VERY unhappy with the way she turned out and was confused as to why I didn't have more shots. I explained regarding the "look" of the baby/great-great grandparent as my primary motivation and that I wanted to do whatever was possible to make it right.I then uploaded all of my proofs for her to look at and see if there were any other shots she liked (i feel that she wont). And since some of the family had flown up from Florida for this picture, a re-take is not possible.

I have not heard back from her in over a week since that last conversation, nor have I seen any print sales.

My question is, what should I do now?

These are family friends so I feel inclined to do right by them, and have considered offering to refund the $200 as a gesture of good will, but at the same time, learning or not I feel that I did choose the best shots based on what I was able to compose on site, and subsequently post process.

I am surprised that no-one has made any print purchases but I do not feel comfortable calling the other family members to remind them that they can look at the pictures (and now the proofs).

I am also afraid of letting the situation sit for too long without acting at all.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I understand criticism is part of the business of photography, but this situation specifically has me re-thinking my focus from learning protrature to a more photo-journalistic or candid style.

It's difficult to say without seeing the photo but by the sound of it it sounds like she was more concerned about how she looked. I have come across this before and some people just perceive themselves much differently than what they are. Something tells me that she would have hated her appearance even if she had professional stylists and makeup people attend to her on the day.

At the end of the day, unless there was something seriously wrong with your photo from a technical perspective, I would not give the money back. You performed a service and $200 is actually a bargain price for this type of shot. You can't help it if she is not a model and the old adage of not being able to polish a turd comes to mind.

Put the cash in a savings account towards a nice new piece of glass!

I appreciate your comment. I have spent the last few years building a bag of speedlights, and Ls only to sell off most of them and try to learn and perfect what I have rather than purchase for every possible situation.

In retrospect, I believe my biggest fault was that I was auncomfortable "directing" and posing the family that day. Between the baby crying and the great grandmother being upset for asking her to turn her body slightly, I was very much on edge, and longed to break out my (recently sold) macro lens to capture images of interesting things that don't talk back

You can see the photos if you would like. They are in the portraits section on my zenfolio website at www.dececconet.com "Pape Family Portraits" (there is also a separate folder for the proofs). The password to get into either is "Yankees" (case sensitive)

they "look" fine from a family standpoint.

There are a few where the composition/cropping could be much better (such as cutting off elbows and body parts of people in the frame). Seems like you did that too much for my liking, even in the unedited gallery. If I paid you $200 to take our portraits and that's what I got I think I would be disappointed too. That's much more than Sears or JC Penney and it seems like there's are better IMO even though you have the 5d . . . sorry, just saying

As far as the people look in the "edited" gallery they look fine to me. So maybe she just doesn't like the way she looks personally.

I would contact her or better yet email and have her give you some specifics about what she doesn't like. If it's just about the way "she looks" then there's nothing you can do but say, "Sorry they aren't to your liking but I did the best I could with what I had with the time I had and you hired me to do it."

But if she says, "Elbows are cut off. The horizons are tilted. It looks cheaper than what I could get for $30 at wal-mart." Then I would reconsider doing portraits and see what you could do to patch things up.

Honestly.. I think you did the best you could considering what you had..older people. people with poor posture, and so on.. I have to agree with Ruhan on his comments too.

If the mother is not happy with her double chin.. you could shade it a little so its not highlighted by the light that is there..

But it is what it is.. its not your fault that she is unhappy with how she looks. Thats all on her and her maker.

shannon

don't offer the money back. That would make me think that you're confirming what you customer suspects--that your work isn't very good. I'll bet it is!

I also believe you did the right thing, (and maybe should have to begin with) offered ALL the shots for review before doing PP on the shots YOU thought were best. First lesson of customer service: Customer is always right. They don't always choose the shots YOU think are best, but they'll only buy what they like.

Next step: Call your paying customer back and ask if they had some choices that you can work on to perfect in hopes that they'll buy something and be happy with their choice. Seems like that's about all you CAN do right now.

Good luck and let us know how you made this customer happy.

dave

Thankyou for being candid...

The mother (white dress, green stripe)... only has 1 arm, the other does end at the elbow. I chose not to hide it, as she had had the handicap since being a child, and is not uncomfortable with it and to attempt to mask it (i felt) would be offensive.

That said, I know I could have framed the subjects better, and I was unhappy with some of my crops but I kid you not when I say these shots were the only ones the circumstances of the shoot would allow.

This shoot really was a perfect storm in stress for me. Until right before I left, this had been set up for weeks as being an outside shoot in a park, and I was prepared accordingly. En-route I was asked to do it in-doors at their house, due to the heat that day, using a sheet as a backdrop (knowing the state of their largest available space, I would not have been able to shoot indoors otherwise)

It sounds like she doens't like how she looks. I have gotten this before. It's not your fault that people expect you to make them lose 40 pounds in the studio, or remove every last sign of aging.

You are always going to find persons that are not happy. I will say that you could have used some hair lighting. Those with dark hair, their head seems to blend right into the black backdrop.

This is one of the reasons that I very rarely will do work for good friends. My friendship is worth more to me than a photo shoot. If I do take them on they are made very aware that it is all business and they get no breaks and I will treat them like anyone else.

I did a group of 45 at a family reunion last summer that had the same age ranges as you were dealing with. It was nearly impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time but I spent the extra time to move heads form image to image to make that one shot that looked great. Maybe you could offer to do some extra PP to make one shot look like what she is after. I wasn't asked to do this but did it before they ever saw the images so as to avoid this.

DeCeccoNET wrote in post #8619468
This shoot really was a perfect storm in stress for me. Until right before I left, this had been set up for weeks as being an outside shoot in a park, and I was prepared accordingly. En-route I was asked to do it in-doors at their house, due to the heat that day, using a sheet as a backdrop (knowing the state of their largest available space, I would not have been able to shoot indoors otherwise)

ssim wrote in post #8619882
I will say that you could have used some hair lighting. Those with dark hair, their head seems to blend right into the black backdrop.

Yes hair lighting was needed desperately, but honestly... given that the shoot was moved indoors, last minute, at the clients request, hair lights may not have even been possible. Especially if the rooms had the standard 8' ceilings.

jacuff wrote in post #8620393
Yes hair lighting was needed desperately, but honestly... given that the shoot was moved indoors, last minute, at the clients request, hair lights may not have even been possible. Especially if the rooms had the standard 8' ceilings.

Yeah, I would have loved to add a hair light... as it was I was only prepared to use my 580 as a fill flash outside. The best I was able to do when the location changed was to get back as far as possible and fire it off camera through an umbrella.

I used to have a "collection" of speed lights but have sold them off over the past year in the hopes to eventually pick up a set of strobes.

Also, due to the size of the room, I was only able to position them a few feet from the background.

Can we see the picture in question?

turbo212003 wrote in post #8625624
Can we see the picture in question?

It's in the this thread with the whole gallery. 3rd post

After reading through the thread and looking at the photos in question, If it were me, I would refund the money. IMO, for $200, I would consider the photos sub-par at best.
If I paid $200 for those photos, I would be upset also.
I understand that the plans changed but, as the hired photog, it's still your job to take these things into account and produce a superior product. While you must listen to and consider your customer, in the end, you must take control of the session to get the desired results.

In the end, if I do a shoot and I agree that the results are less than stellar, I would have no problem returning the money to a customer. My policy for an uphappy customer is to simply "void" everything if they are completely unsatisfied with a shoot. They get their money back and I delete all photos (of course they can't have prints if they want a refund). Fortunately, I've never had to do this yet

DeCeccoNET wrote in post #8625563
Yeah, I would have loved to add a hair light... as it was I was only prepared to use my 580 as a fill flash outside. The best I was able to do when the location changed was to get back as far as possible and fire it off camera through an umbrella.

I used to have a "collection" of speed lights but have sold them off over the past year in the hopes to eventually pick up a set of strobes.

Also, due to the size of the room, I was only able to position them a few feet from the background.

I can certainly appreciate the fact that you are trying to save for new equipment but if you are going to sell yourself as a photo service provider then you have to go to the jobs prepared. I always (and I mean always) throw in extra lights and stands for every job that I go to. This goes back to my comment about the hair light. Even with 8' ceilings it is possible to get hair light applied.

Overall I don't find the images all that bad. Customers react differently and some are overly fussy. Some can never be pleased and there are those consumers out there that are always trying to get something for nothing. I haven't met the lady in question but from what you have said she is difficult. I don't think that I would refund the money but offer to fix what you are capable of in photoshop and offer her a free print or two. You have to gauge this what you think she may do with negative word of mouth advertising amongst her group of friends.