Client (family friend) unhappy question...

you overcharged.

crricha13 wrote in post #8630422
you overcharged.

Thanks for the deep insight.

To be perfectly blunt, I think your work does not reflect what a professional portrait photographer would have done. In a few of the photos, the hand placements look a tad awkward (one guy has his hands in his lap, kind of drawing attention to his pelvic area). Your lighting looks fairly decent, but like the others have said, a hair light would have gone a long way in helping your images pop a little bit more, and maybe even a background light.

I know this doesn't help you now, but the client in question is obviously dissatisfied with your work, and in all likelihood, probably doesn't even want you to do a re-shoot and it's pretty much impossible anyway, since the family flew in from other locations. I'd refund the money - your reputation is far more valuable than the $200.00 you charged for this particular client. They haven't ordered anything, so just take the images down, and refund the money, and chalk this up to growing pains - and most importantly, practice and learn how to better take photos of this kind, and learn your current equipment better. If you had kept all those speedlights, you could have done so many things differently.

A couple of points:

1. If I'm not fully satisfied that the quality of my work is at better than minimum professional standards (better than Wal-Mart or Sears), I will offer to reshoot. If the client is not satisfied, I will offer to reshoot. If reshooting is not feasible, I will refund. I don't hold anyone's money if they're not happy with the product.

2. I never reduce prices, I never charge "expenses only," I never charge a cut rate. Everything is either full freight or free.

Yes, I may work for a close friend or relative completely free of charge as a gift...if I like that person well enough to give them an expensive gift (otherwise, I just send them a Hallmark and call it done). I also do free charity work.

However, people do not appreciate reduced prices in photography. They don't understand that they're getting a "good deal" by your good graces. If you charge them a dime, they expect top-notch service and your own relatives will turn into clientzillas.

But you control the amount of work you do when it's a free gift. So either I like them well enough to give them a gift, or I charge them the full price. I don't mind bending over backwards for full price--see #1 above.

A tactical point with respect to photographing groups:

With digital, we have the ability to make easy composites if we plan for it ahead of time.

I always shoot groups on a tripod so that I get accurate shot-to-shot registration. As I take multiple shots, I will concentrate specifically on troublesome persons in turn to get at least a couple of good shots of each of them.

Then I'll swap heads, hands, whatever, as necessary to get a final product in which everyone looks good.

Yes, that means there might only be one or two final images that I show...this is something I explain to the client.

RDKirk wrote in post #8630958
If the client is not satisfied, I will offer to reshoot. If reshooting is not feasible, I will refund. I don't hold anyone's money if they're not happy with the product.

2. "...Everything is either full freight or free."

Agreed. I've only had to offer a reshoot once, due to the fact that the client didn't tell me a specific grouping she wanted. We did the reshoot, and she was fine with it.

But I absolutely agree with refunding their money and taking the pictures down. It's s very small world, and if word goes around that you're unprofessional(at best) and a terrible photographer (at worst) that will set your business/brand back quite a bit. Don't discount, it makes you look like you don't have faith in your product.

jra wrote in post #8627902
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.

agreed, these were snapshots at best.

I am on the fence about this. I don't think the images are horrible, some have a more red balance to them, cropping issues and some seem on the soft side - but they are just family portraits - posed and smiled. I do think for $200.00 and you still being in the "learning" stages, you should offer some prints with that package though - not just $200.00 for your time.

I never think you should refund unless the issue was completely your fault - lost images, damage, something like that. You still went and did the shoot. I think offering something is the next best option. I also think that since the client changed the location at the last minuet - you should bring that up and explain that you were prepared for an outdoor shoot and they requested an indoor shoot at the last minuet. Non-photographers will not understand what this means by any means due to not understanding lighting - which is the key element to photography. I think that needs to be explained to them. If there were people coming from FL and there was a chance of rain or something to ruin the outdoor shoot, then a backup inside location should have been planned and lighting brought for that.

I make it part of my client meeting to explain such things to them before hand, so they also know what to expect. I also explain that if they want physical elements of themselves changed - chin, bags under eyes, wrinkles - that they also need to let me know prior to editing and there may be an additional cost. I am there to make them look their best, not make them look like someone else. If they want me to, they just have to pay me.

I ramble, but those are my thoughts.

For future reference, try to get the family together on what to wear. Also,the women would have looked much better with sleeves! Sleeveless dresses and shirts are terrible for portraits. It may not have saved your session, but they would have looked much better.

The venue change is a horrible experience, but I also advocate not going out on a job without being prepared for at least some minor inconveniences. I would consider this one a major inconvenience but at the same time, I would expect a professional photog to have at least a few lights to use no matter what the occasion.

In this circumstance, you're probably best to refund the $200, take down the images and say that's that.

not to be an ass but if you are still learning and practicing why are you charging for your time? Yes, charge for the prints but not for your time.

Sorry this has gone bad for you.

A few tech issues. Why, when you have a full-frame camera, are you cropping so tightly "in camera" when taking the shot. Many of them (as you now know!) have had various joints cropped, giving you no recovery area at all.

Try and allow a significant "free" area around the subjects so that you can crop the photos to a suitable point AFTER you have taken them. It also allows you to crop to a variety of print formats. A full-frame image doesn't crop well to a 10x8 photo, you'll end up cutting even more off! (you loose 17% of the height of a full-frame pic when cropped to a 10x8 ratio)

I'm not a big fan of black backgrounds. Yes, I guess it makes lighting a tad easier (or does it?) but it also means that a lot of subject matter just blends into the backdrop (unless you have more lights for rim lighting - I see a viscious circle!) In particular the lady holding the baby (a lovely shot BTW) seems to be missing the lower half of her body. Maybe a discussion about clothing beforehand may have helped.

Be aware that bare skin (mainly arms) attracts the viewers attention, so the less bare skin the better.

I do not agree with others who suggest you should display ALL the photos from the shoot. IMHO you should only ever show the final (adjusted) selection.

I would refund the shoot money and take the photos down. You will probably find that they then come back wanting prints! - in which case - charge them whatever your full price is for the prints they want.

Good luck for the future, I think you re doing most things right - life's one big learning curve.

TJ