Photography lets me be really me.
Like most great things in life, photography has some huge downs, at least for me.
DISCLAIMER: I'M ABOUT TO VENT LIKE CRAZY!
You don't have to agree with what I'm about to say, infact, that's the last thing I'm asking of you. I'm sure lots of people will be so annoyed with this post, and wonder why I'm even still trying in photography. All I really want to do is vent. I may feel this way today and feel completely opposite tomorrow.
One time I met another female photographer that literally did not have a SINGLE bad thing to say about photography. Good for her, but honestly... It kind of drove me CRAZY! Has she really not dealt with some of the things I've dealt with?! Granted- I'm sure she gets paid 10x more than me, and has help when it comes to figuring it all out.
MY TOP 10 (OK maybe 12) COMPLAINTS ABOUT PHOTOGAPHY.
1. When going to a photographer to shoot you, a wedding, your family etc. TELL THEM EVERYTHING! Give them a detailed description of what, who, and where you're wanting photographed.
Example: I have agreed to shoots where I expect to be photographing just one person and than showing up to find out I'm photographing them and their entire group of friends. I agreed to photographing a girls bridals, and ended up being manipulated into photographing almost her ENTIRE WEDDING! I just think it's so deceiving. I agreed to photographing a "family" shoot to later realize they meant their actual little family AND their cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents etc. PLEASE be upfront about what you want from the VERY BEGINNING otherwise as an amateur photographer I feel trapped, and obligated to still photograph you because I already said 'yes'.
2. If I offer to photograph you for free don't be expecting 100's of 100% edited photos. If I am going to be putting in 1 hour - 2 hours photographing you, driving to the location, occasionally having to spend my money to get into the location, and hours of editing time, you better believe you'll get 1-10 images, and you better be gosh dang happy with those 1-10 images. If you aren't... You can pay me a couple $100 for the rest. Most photographers charge a LOT of money just to give you ONE photograph. Adding on to this... When I give people my photographs and they completely RE- EDIT the photo. I get that the photograph is 'technically' yours, but it's 'technically' mine too, and then uploading that photograph without giving me a pinch of credit!
3. When I photograph you for free or for a BARGAIN and tell you it can take a couple days, weeks, months to get your photographs I would hope you'd be patient enough to wait. I cannot tell you how many times I have done a free photoshoot to have the person text me every day wondering where the heck their photos are when I told them it'd take some time to get them edited. You came to me because you liked my work. If you want what I can offer then you'd better be patient. Otherwise I will send you the photos straight from the camera, and I'll tell ya what... You wont be too happy with the result. I get that other photographers you've worked with have given you your photos within hours or a day, but photography is kind of like reading. You may be able to read a full chapter book in one day when for me, it can take weeks.
4. If you come to me wanting to shoot and I offer you a screaming deal, or to do it for free please don't come back a couple months or even a year later expecting me to honor that price. Everytime I photograph in between that amount of time I am excelling, learning more, and getting better at what I do. A couple months ago the price might have worked (and was probably way cheaper than it should've been) now it doesn't. I once created a coupon for an expo, it had an expiration date and everything. TWO YEARS after the expiration the person that won that coupon expected me to still give them a free shoot. Seriously??
5. I have photographed several weddings where I did it DIRT CHEAP. My husband and I paid almost $2,000 for our wedding photographer. Yet almost every wedding I have photographed I have to wait months upon months upon months to receive any kind of pay. Which is EXACTLY why I have stopped photographing weddings, sealings, receptions etc.
6. Fun fact for ya, 50% of Americans consider themselves 'self proclaimed photographers' makes sense considering all the iphone photogs out there. Good, great, fantastic! That means you understand why I love photography so much. However- There is nothing more annoying then scheduling a shoot for someone just to have them text you the day before saying 'oh my uncles cousins sister in laws best friend owns a camera and said she could do it free.' In most cases that person owns a camera, but has never photographed a wedding, family event, etc. in their entire life.
7. PINTEREST! Women (occasionally men) of course want the most amazing photographs ever taken! They want the EXACT replica of a photograph they saw on pinterest. That's almost next to impossible! Even the same photographer that took that image probably couldn't get an exact copy. Not to mention most of the photographs on there have been taken by professionals that have been in the photog business for decades. I don't mind people showing me photographs on pinterest to show me an idea of what they want, but it's so upsetting to give the photographs to that person to have them angry at you because it doesn't look JUST LIKE that perfect pinterest photo.
8. BABIES! I absolutely LOVE photographing babies, but here in Utah it's very popular to have your newborn sitting in unnatural poses while in a basket on top of fabric in front of crazy backgrounds. I refuse to conform to that! I love seeing babies in their natural state. Whether they're crying, sleeping, or so messy it's embarrassing. Because that's what a baby really is! They aren't some weird porcelain doll that is perfectly somehow holding their own head up. I am more than happy to photograph your baby, if it's in their natural state.
9. Another wedding one for ya. I have been hired to photograph weddings just to show up to their uncle, dog, and friend showing up with their professional grade camera to photograph as well. I seriously do not mind! I am a hypocrite if I say I do. I brought my camera to my sisters, and brothers weddings, but please understand that I am the HIRED photographer which means I am being paid to get the money shots. It's so difficult to get a newly married couple coming out of the temple doors when there's a thousand other cameras in front of me. Nothing is more humiliating than giving the couple their wedding photos when there's not 'money shots' and their friends somehow magically got the most amazing shot because they were blocking my view. Oh on top of this... That ONE family member that happens to be a 'professional photographer' that bosses everyone around telling them what pose they like when I'm trying to get the family in a specific pose I like. The people that hired me obviously like what they see when it comes to my photography. So please let ME be the photographer.
10. I absolutely despise the fact when I upload and image that took me FOREVER to edit to have some Joe that literally just started up photography to tell me everything wrong with the photo that they would've changed. "You should've edited it this way" "why didn't you photograph this in a studio instead?" "Why didn't you photograph this with a $10,000 lens that my daddy bought me, that you so obviously cannot afford right now?" < Ok that last one is sarcastic, but I have heard something quite similar before! I honestly don't mind constructive criticism from wise photographers that have been in the industry for years and years but not when it's from a person that just barely got into photography and had their rich daddy buy them a better camera than me. Just because you have nicer equipment than me doesn't mean you're any better...
11. It sucks to have so many people tell me I need to charge more. That is... except when it comes to photographing them of course. I honestly don't mind doing free shoots, it's kind of my way of giving back. However- if you tell me I should charge more and then expect me to charge you $5 you're kind of stepping out of line.
12. LAST ONE I SWEAR! Just because I BARLEY knew you in highschool does not mean I'm going to give you my family/ friend discount. I have had people I hardly knew expect me to give them my family discount, and when I don't, they get very butt hurt that I wont charge them less since we talked that ONE time 5 years ago.
My very top complaint... Feeling this way... Whining about something I love so much. Please take this post and remember what it may be like for the person behind the camera. Their job may seem like a piece of cake, but it isn't. Unless they are some mutated gifted natural like that female photographer I had once met. Photography IS hard for some of us, and it would be so wonderful if these kinds of things did not happen to make our job just a little easier.
Literally every complaint I have listed has happened to me, and it has made my experience as a photographer bitter, and I already know what so many of you will say. Don't take that, stand up for yourself, charge more and you wont have to deal with this kind of thing, but I will have to deal with it because I have met many other photographers that have dealt with the EXACT same. Please remember that if you want the photographer to produce great photographs, you need to respect them.
Anywho thanks for letting me vent! My goals in photogaphy is to get more into the art scene. I want to photograph ART more than anything, and I don't care if that doesn't pay the bills. It's what makes me truly happy.
10. I absolutely despise the fact when I upload and image that took me FOREVER to edit to have some Joe that literally just started up photography to tell me everything wrong with the photo that they would've changed. "You should've edited it this way" "why didn't you photograph this in a studio instead?" "Why didn't you photograph this with a $10,000 lens that my daddy bought me, that you so obviously cannot afford right now?" < Ok that last one is sarcastic, but I have heard something quite similar before! I honestly don't mind constructive criticism from wise photographers that have been in the industry for years and years but not when it's from a person that just barely got into photography and had their rich daddy buy them a better camera than me. Just because you have nicer equipment than me doesn't mean you're any better...
11. It sucks to have so many people tell me I need to charge more. That is... except when it comes to photographing them of course. I honestly don't mind doing free shoots, it's kind of my way of giving back. However- if you tell me I should charge more and then expect me to charge you $5 you're kind of stepping out of line.
12. LAST ONE I SWEAR! Just because I BARLEY knew you in highschool does not mean I'm going to give you my family/ friend discount. I have had people I hardly knew expect me to give them my family discount, and when I don't, they get very butt hurt that I wont charge them less since we talked that ONE time 5 years ago.
My very top complaint... Feeling this way... Whining about something I love so much. Please take this post and remember what it may be like for the person behind the camera. Their job may seem like a piece of cake, but it isn't. Unless they are some mutated gifted natural like that female photographer I had once met. Photography IS hard for some of us, and it would be so wonderful if these kinds of things did not happen to make our job just a little easier.
Literally every complaint I have listed has happened to me, and it has made my experience as a photographer bitter, and I already know what so many of you will say. Don't take that, stand up for yourself, charge more and you wont have to deal with this kind of thing, but I will have to deal with it because I have met many other photographers that have dealt with the EXACT same. Please remember that if you want the photographer to produce great photographs, you need to respect them.
Anywho thanks for letting me vent! My goals in photogaphy is to get more into the art scene. I want to photograph ART more than anything, and I don't care if that doesn't pay the bills. It's what makes me truly happy.
#2 is my pet peeve. I haven't even invested enough time in photography to feel like I'm at a point where I could charge people, but if I'm going to take pictures of you, at least give me some freaking credit when you post it! I have a friend who posted a picture of her that I took that garnered more than 100 "likes" on Facebook... I feel like that could have translated into opportunities for me had she just given credit where credit is due!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd let you charge me full price. ;)