"If they pay me more"...

ORourkeK · Feb 19, 2019

I am on a FB group and someone posted a series they did for an engagement shoot. One of the pictures was of the couple in the center of a footbridge, and the photographer was off of the bride on the right side taking the shot. There were plants, trees, people, airplanes, boats, etc. all around the image. It was incredibly distracting. Before I even read the comments I was thinking about all of the things I would crop out to make it look better. Well, someone did comment all of their suggestions advising what they would remove or crop out. The person's response was really surprising to me. They said something along the lines of, "Well, if they want to pay me more to edit all of that out I will". Is this the normal thought process? Am I the crazy person? To me, the products I hand to the customer are my product. I will take the few extra minutes needed in certain photos to make sure it looks as best it can. Literally, a five-minute touch up would have improved the photo greatly. As is, if they didn't include other photos from the same set, I wouldn't have known right away that the people on the bridge were their subject. Thoughts?

vintagesnaps · Feb 19, 2019

No, the other person's the crazy one! lol That's an unacceptible photography practice for someone who is aspiring (or in that person's case, pretending??) to be a portrait photographer.

I'd get out of that group and find something better, unless you just want to be another person with a camera, or another wannabee, or whatever you want to call such people! I think you're better than that.

I do think it's a mistake to depend on fixing photos to be able to do professional level work. Maybe starting out that might happen more often than not but I think it's better to get good at using a camera and develop skills and and do editing as needed rather than to depend on a lot of time on the computer editing because of poor skill development. It seems like that person has a low level of skills and a lousy work ethic. Don't follow that lead! lol And I don't think you will, you already know that's not the way to go.

tirediron · Feb 19, 2019

Yep ^^^ !!!! If the photographer doesn't have the pride in his work to produce the best images he can, then his future in this industry is bleak indeed.

Derrel · Feb 19, 2019

ORourkeK said:
I am on a FB group and someone posted a series they did for an engagement shoot. One of the pictures was of the couple in the center of a footbridge, and the photographer was off of the bride on the right side taking the shot. There were plants, trees, people, airplanes, boats, etc. all around the image. It was incredibly distracting. Before I even read the comments I was thinking about all of the things I would crop out to make it look better.>SNIP>>>>>-

Wow! WHAT A LOUSY outlook that "photographer" shows.

480sparky · Feb 19, 2019

ORourkeK said:
........Is this the normal thought process? .......

It is these days.

Overread · Feb 20, 2019

Depends

1) On the one hand a photographer really shouldn't be giving out substandard work that they know is substandard and which they can fix. Every work they send out is potential advertising for them and referrals to other lines of work (esp for something like weddings where the photos will get shown off around a lot after the event and many friends circles of a similar age will often start getting married around the same sort of time).

2) On the other we have no idea how much the photographer is getting paid for this wedding. It might be that their fees are right at the bottom end of the market to the point where spending several hours extra shifts them into earning less (per hour) than shelf stacking down the supermarket. We always say that a photographer must look at their bottom line; must ensure that they cover their costs etc... and this could be one of those situations where the photographer is at that near limit point.

3) We've no idea if the photographer (from the info given above) pitched removal of those elements to the client or an editing package - again it might be their pricing structure to cut prices and then add on extras to make up for it. Could be the clients said no to the editing package and thus the photographer isn't providing the extra work.

4) To my eye the main weakness is that the photographer is letting all these distractions into the scene in the first place. If they are working an area one would hope they've been scouting and studying and finding good spots to get clear nice easy to process photos that look good. However it could be a special location to the couple which limits what the photographer can do again.

There are justifications for both sides depending on the specifics of the situation. There are justifiable arguments but there are also elements such as ignorance, lack of skill, lack of forethought or planing which could also be contributing factors.

Perhaps the line should not be "If they pay me more" but "if I've the sales skill to convince them the value of paying for that service"

pixmedic · Feb 20, 2019

if they produced a better finished product, perhaps they would get paid more...

Dean_Gretsch · Feb 20, 2019

I hope that person doesn't have children depending on their " professional " traits to provide food. Looks like another welfare case in waiting.

smoke665 · Feb 20, 2019

Not sure if it's this way everywhere, but around here we have a lot of "Mom's with cameras" who flood Facebook with $30 bookings gets you 30 images on CD.

Dean_Gretsch · Feb 20, 2019

smoke665 said:
Not sure if it's this way everywhere, but around here we have a lot of "Mom's with cameras" who flood Facebook with $30 bookings gets you 30 images on CD.

Out of the 2 dozen or so business cards on the employee bulletin board at work, at least 2 are from photographers. If I was young and my head was full of dreams of making my riches as a photographer, I like to think I'd be smart enough to have a real job as the main source of income that could also support the photography endeavor

CODYMAJ · Feb 20, 2019

ORourkeK said:
To me, the products I hand to the customer are my product. I will take the few extra minutes needed in certain photos to make sure it looks as best it can.

This is the right mindset. Everyone has a personal brand, and you always want to think of how you want your brand to be perceived. Always put out something you are proud of!

ORourkeK · Feb 20, 2019

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am glad I am not the crazy one. I woke up this morning to a post on that site from someone advising that they are trying to get into senior portraits, but they don't have any that they have done already so they don't have a portfolio, but don't worry, they found a bunch of pictures online that they feel fit their style and will use them in their brochure. Yeah, I am leaving that group.

Designer · Feb 20, 2019

ORourkeK said:
.. a bunch of pictures online that they feel fit their style ..

Select the "style" before they even start?

chutzpah

ORourkeK · Feb 20, 2019

Designer said:
ORourkeK said:

.. a bunch of pictures online that they feel fit their style ..

Click to expand...

Select the "style" before they even start?

chutzpah

Yes! I couldn't believe my eyes. The worst part? I went to go grab the popcorn, considering this should have been a fun read, and when I came back, all of the comments were on board with it. I started with my response when I decided I didn't need the fight and that the FB page just isn't for me.