*Sigh* Taking Photos for Family

[table1349]

You know... uncontrollable sneezing or coughing with out covering your mouth combined with a nasal voice like you are congested with every bottle of asprin, cold, flu, and perhaps even diarrhea medicine you own sitting out on your kitchen counter or table works wonders on getting rid of pesky friends and family. No family no photo shoot.

 

[Buckster]

Yeah, lying to family and friends is always a good idea, since they never find out and it never comes back to bite you. And of course, it always feels so good to lie, especially to those you claim to like.

 

[pixmedic]

unless you either really hate photography, or really hate your family, I would just take one for the team and get some nice shots. its family. you never know when you will wish you had taken some.
believe me, i know.
I have buried two sisters, two brothers, both parents, and both grandparents on my mothers side that practically raised me.

grandpa was always, always trying to get the kids to hold still for some pictures when we were young. we never cared about pictures back then. when we had our son, their only great-grandchild, they begged for photos. I only took a few here and there, and consequently, there are only a scant few with them and their great-grandchild. and those few were only some quick snapshots. I have no pictures of either of my parents less than 30 years old. They never saw their only grandchild, and our son will never be able to see a picture of his grandparents as I remember them.
I have no pictures of my surviving brother or sister except for the selfies they post on Facebook, and now my sister is out of the country, and my brother lives far away.

its family.
suck it up and get the job done. whatever it takes.
at some point in time, you may be glad you did.
i know i know...family by marriage....
we never took any good pictures of my wifes parents, and her father recently died. now we will never get the chance.

the only pics i have of my grandparents and their only great-grandchild are some cell phone shots.

 

[Dave442]

My wife often sets me up for family photos. I actually prefer it when family want to pose as I feel it is less of a imposition when telling them what to do.

 

[table1349]

Yeah, lying to family and friends is always a good idea, since they never find out and it never comes back to bite you. And of course, it always feels so good to lie, especially to those you claim to like.

Well in this situation there are only three options to choose from.

1. Nut up and say no.
2. Walter Mitty and just do it.
3. Lie.

There is the forth option, but death would be an over reaction to this situation and really spoils the weekend.

 

[sm4him]

The first--and worst--experience I had with this was when my niece asked me to take some pictures of "her family". She lives in a neighboring state, and had a six-month old baby--so I understood why she'd want to try to do some pictures while they were here.
However, I hadn't even done any portraiture work at that point--which I told her. Well, what I told her was, "I take pictures of birds, not people." But she insisted that she just KNEW my photos would be great, and they weren't in a place at the time to be able to afford a "REAL" photographer (my thinking, not hers), since they had a new baby and although her husband had a decent job, she was still finishing grad school.
Anyway, she pressed and I caved, but I warned her that I couldn't promise the photos wouldn't all suck. But really, I figured it would actually be a great, low-pressure way for me to get some practice on people photography. She and her husband are delightful people, very laid back and easygoing, their baby was the cutest kid in the entire world...what could go wrong?

Flash forward to the day before the photo shoot. I call to finalize arrangements. We've decided to do the shoot at a Trial Garden here in town, lots of beautiful backdrops everywhere, in the early morning while G-man (the baby, my grand-nephew) is at his best.
Oh, but wait. She says they're going to have to delay the shoot. Until about 11 a.m. Oh good. So now, we'll have nice, glaring harsh light and a hungry, tired baby. The reason WHY they had to delay the shoot was the kicker. Because the REST of the family couldn't get there any earlier.

REST of the family?!?! I thought I was doing a no-pressure, fun little practice shoot with my niece, her husband and their baby. Turns out, it ALSO included her mom, her grandmother, HIS mom and dad, and his brother--who arrived irritated about the whole thing and REFUSED to even attempt to smile.

They loved the photos, of course. I hated the stress and swore off ever doing that again. That worked...until the next time someone asked me to do some.
But at least the next time I did a shoot for THIS niece, she made sure I knew who would be there, they did NOT invite the sullen brother-in-law...but we still did it in the middle of the freakin' day.
I should also say that both times, she has offered to pay me something, and *I* am the one who has refused payment.

I pretty much agree with Pix. Where family is concerned, I will always try to just buck up and do it.

I took photos for a friend a couple of years ago at Thanksgiving. She had both kids and all the grandkids coming in and wanted some family pictures, but she HATES--I mean really, really HATES--having people take pictures of her, so if I'd insisted she use someone else, the photo session simply wouldn't have happened. I was surprised she was not only willing to let me do it, but actually asked me to. (Again, full disclaimer, she offered to pay, so not quite the same scenario--but I'd have done it whether she'd offered or not).
I felt in over my head with such a large group--13 people in all, 7 of them children, and most of the children under 5 years old. But I did it.
The following Memorial Day, my friend's husband died in a tragic boating accident. Those photos instantly became incredibly precious to that family. And the lesson will stay with me, I hope forever. Take the pictures, because you never know when the last opportunity to do so may be.

 

[astroNikon]

Solution ... show up with only your cell phone camera. And work hard to make bad photos.

They won't ask again.

 

[Dave442]

I took all the last set of family pictures in B&W as that is what I wanted to do. Do what you want to do in these cases.

 

[Bryston3bsst]

I have a little different view on this.

I came from a big family that had all of the holiday gatherings and as a kid, of course, I used to just hate it cause I couldn't go out and play with my friends. As a teen I hated it for different reasons, it just wasn't cool to spend time with the family.

Well, now they are all gone. And I gotta tell you there are surely times when I'd give most anything to be at one of the big family gatherings again.

Go, shoot pictures, crab about it. But deep down, take it in and hang on to it. Because in the blink of an eye it won't be there any more.

 

[Buckster]

Well in this situation there are only three options to choose from.

1. Nut up and say no.
2. Walter Mitty and just do it.
3. Lie.

There is the forth option, but death would be an over reaction to this situation and really spoils the weekend.

For someone with integrity, there's actually one fewer than you've listed.

 

[SquarePeg]

If the problem is the time/place/circumstances being presented to you instead of your having input, let them know that what they are suggesting is not ideal and make a "counter offer" that works for you. You're the expert and you need to control the shoot.

 

[bribrius]

This has been a topic of discussion in business threads before, but I thought I'd vent just a little bit elsewhere...

I have family coming in tomorrow...Well...sort of. They're family by marriage. I have been nominated as the designated photographer. Now, normally this wouldn't be a big deal. I would take photos regardless since they have a new baby and they don't get down often. I love family candids/snapshots.

However, they want a legit family portrait session...at nine in the morning...at my apartment...in an area I just moved to...

I was actually in the car while they were discussing what time they want their free photos taken without my input. "He's going to have to take lots of photos because no telling how the baby is going to be acting tomorrow." Awesome. I can't wait to spend 3 hours compositing baby heads.

This seems to happen a lot with weddings, but have any of y'all ever been in a situation where a family member expected you to be THE photographer at the expense of just getting to enjoy your time with them?

by marriage don't count for me. If anyone on my wifes side wants photos they can take their own or my wife can take them. On my side they seem content with taking their own photos and my sister was a better photographer than i am (she gave it up) but if they really want photos i would just point to her. I hardly ever take family photos except for my own children. The times i have run in to it, i generally have turned it down.

 

[rexbobcat]

unless you either really hate photography, or really hate your family, I would just take one for the team and get some nice shots. its family. you never know when you will wish you had taken some.
believe me, i know.
I have buried two sisters, two brothers, both parents, and both grandparents on my mothers side that practically raised me.

grandpa was always, always trying to get the kids to hold still for some pictures when we were young. we never cared about pictures back then. when we had our son, their only great-grandchild, they begged for photos. I only took a few here and there, and consequently, there are only a scant few with them and their great-grandchild. and those few were only some quick snapshots. I have no pictures of either of my parents less than 30 years old. They never saw their only grandchild, and our son will never be able to see a picture of his grandparents as I remember them.
I have no pictures of my surviving brother or sister except for the selfies they post on Facebook, and now my sister is out of the country, and my brother lives far away.

its family.
suck it up and get the job done. whatever it takes.
at some point in time, you may be glad you did.
i know i know...family by marriage....
we never took any good pictures of my wifes parents, and her father recently died. now we will never get the chance.

the only pics i have of my grandparents and their only great-grandchild are some cell phone shots.

View attachment 105063 View attachment 105064

I understand that feeling. I only have a few photos of me and my grandparents together. I think part of my frustration is with the fact that this family is...very well documented. The husband works in a printing company, so they have photos everywhere.

Thankfully I did do it and it wasn't too big a deal since apparently - the husband's company also does compositing and PP for large companies - they're going to Photoshop the background out and print it as a holographic...or...something. It sounds cool, but I just gave them all the raw files. No mixing and matching faces for me.

I guess I'm just used to people saying "Oh, I'm not looking for professional photos" and then in retrospect acting like "Why...aren't these professional quality like the ones on Pinterest."

Maybe I've just had bad luck, but that's one of the reasons I've stopped doing impromptu/short-notice pro bono shoots. There's almost always miscommunication of expectations and what is actually possible (No, I can't do that cute sun flare thing at 2 in the afternoon in this high-traffic area)

 

[jake337]

My usual reply is that I do not do planned photoshoots but if you come over and hang out there's a good chance you might get some nice candids if the light is right.

 

[Designer]

Update on my latest escapade:

Yesterday went as well as could be expected, and we got some keepers.

My son and I spent two hours clearing the room and setting up my gear.

Some people were "impressed" by the setup.

Grandma kept everyone moving by suggesting (?) different permutations of family groups.

The 19-year-old nerd actually figured the maximum number of possible combinations, in case anyone was curious about that.

Today we have the 8-year-old's First Communion, and I am elected (?) to take photos after Mass.

Unfortunately, both grandmas will be there in the same sanctuary at the same time.

So we'll see how that goes.