How do you feel when "they" dont care?

shingfan · Feb 26, 2007

haha.....i think the topic is a little hard to understand what i mean....lol

i was taking portraits of my families over the chinese new year....as many of you might have seen

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72624

sigh.....i met them over the weekend and show them the pictures.....and gave to them as gift.......they just scan through them like looking at snapshots and say "pretty good"........that's IT....didnt really spend much time looking at my effort or show any appreciation....i was so disappointed..........the only comment i got was.....how come there is only one of my picture.....apparently they care about quantity more than quality......sigh >_<

how would you feel if this happen to you?

Digital Matt · Feb 26, 2007

This is the problem when you mix business with family. A few years back I did senior photos of my cousin (against my better judgment) because her mother was not happy with the ones she had done. The day after the shoot I put proofs up on the net, and shortly after I got an email asking when they'd be done. I told her a few weeks to a month, because I was very busy with other things. I think after that I got emails daily asking when they'd be done. It got so annoying that I almost deleted the pictures. I love my family, as we all do, but sometimes it's a better idea to refer them to a colleague or another photographer.

shingfan · Feb 26, 2007

sigh.....they just take things for granded when you are part of the family.....i'm sure if they need to spend extra $$$ doing it outside....they would show a lot more appreciation and take good looks of the photos that they spend their $$$ on.....lol

......now it changes my mind about giving them a family portrait section with my new setup (borrowing a flash from a friend for background light and an umbrella to spread the main light better)

Torus34 · Feb 26, 2007

'A prophet is without honor in his own country.'

DeepSpring · Feb 26, 2007

I know what you mean. I did a shoot for my friend at the park and picked out about 5 pictures that were really nice and edited them up and stuff. She didn't care how they looked she just wanted to see ALLLLLLLL the pictures.

It's a shame but that's what happens. If it counts for anything I love the set you did. The bubbles and backgrounds are great.

neea · Feb 26, 2007

Your pictures are great. My fav is #4 I think. The little girl in red, her outfit is adorable.

I'm sure we all know what you mean.
My family is pretty good in offering encouragement.
My bfs mom is my best fan but I worry sometimes that she has a biased opinion *sigh*
But my bf assures me that she's been looking at art alot long than I have and has an eye for it. So maybe she's right.

Same goes here.. as we're all 'artists' we see the time and effort you took to make these pictures really special.

I've had people pay me to take pictures and showed no appreciation what so ever. But I've also had people offer to pay more because they were so impressed.
It all depends on your customers/audience. Some get it. Some dont.
Don't be discouraged by it. When I get discouraged I make it a point to prove them wrong and show them how successful I can be in photography

Aquarium Dreams · Feb 26, 2007

shingfan said:
how would you feel if this happen to you?

I would feel that next time I would charge them. I would phrase it as, "Since you're family, I'll give you a discount."

357magnum · Feb 26, 2007

happens to me with parents "hey dad check this picture out" sometimes i get him in an excited voice with "thats really good!" and i say thanks and he goes back to doing whatever he was doing or sometimes its just..thats nice.

craig · Feb 26, 2007

Feeling disappointed is fine. It will help because you may look at the shoot differently next time. Keep in mind that some people have no interest in photographs.

On a broader scale having the client or subject not care is a problem. Experience and knowledge is the only answer.

The_Traveler · Feb 27, 2007

I have long gotten used to the fact that others won't 'appreciate' my pictures as much as I do the same as no one loves my children as much as I do.

neea · Feb 27, 2007

craig said:
On a broader scale having the client or subject not care is a problem. Experience and knowledge is the only answer.

Is this in response to my comment about having a paying customer show no appreciation?

craig · Feb 27, 2007

neea said:
Is this in response to my comment about having a paying customer show no appreciation?

My response is to Shingfan's post.

AudioInjected · Feb 28, 2007

It's just like any other art form (writing music, painting, sculpting, etc) and most people won't "get it" like you do. No matter how much hard work you put into it, the hours of editing, looking for the "perfect shot", finding the right light, etc...lots of people won't ever understand it "Oh, neat picture...next!".

That won't stop me from showing people my work though lol

Efergoh · Feb 28, 2007

Non-photo or non-art people don't really get wrapped around the axle over our work like others who are more appreciative of the arts would. this includes, and is most often, our families.

My cousin tried to wrangle me into shooting a Baptism for one of her friends. She had told her friend that she could get me to do it for free "because I needed the practice." Normally I would have been offended if someone told me I needed practice, but I considered the source. this is coming from someone who finds more aesthetic appeal in the label on a bottle of Bud Light than in a beautiful print.

I informed my cousin that I would be happy to shoot her friend's baptism, and this is my price schedule. She was a little shocked, and upset that I wouldn't do it for free, and I explained to her that this is my profession, this is my livelihood, not just a simple hobby.

Her daughter enjoys my work quite a bit and wants me to shoot her senior photos next summer. I will probably shoot her photos for cost only simply because I know she will appreciate them.

Patrice · Feb 28, 2007

I once photographed a babtism in a really old English church for my sister in law. There were tons of family members and friends as well as a reception afterwards. I took nearly 200 exposures that day. Since the majority of people really only want snapshots of themselves and their friends so as to reminise later in life I made contact prints pages containing every shot and a cd of the jpegs. Every one present got a copy. Good quality prints were only mada of a few select photos and presented to the parents and grandparents. Everybody was happy and the good work is on display.