I'm SO not happy about this shoot- considering to not charge client

RowmyF · Jan 1, 2008

Hey everyone..

I did this shoot today and I just am not happy with it..I wanted to get your feedback on it to see if it's a total train wreck or not..

bemmermazda · Jan 1, 2008

I think besides a lack of variety the shots came out good.

dpolston · Jan 1, 2008

I don't think so [trainwreck].

I did one of these lately too. Horrible weather conditions for an outside photo session. I ended up not charging for the session, rescheduling it for the spring BUT I gave them a proof cd of it anyway. These particular clients ordered 50 4x6's (Christmas shots) and a senior portrait anyway.

We had a good laugh about the events that day (they are from Michigan and live here at the Beach, so it's "very romantic" to have beach portraits shot for the family back home. The weather was very cloudy, around 40 degrees and winds gusting around 30 mps. We shot a total of 12 beach shots in around 3 minutes. They took of their coats, shivered, smiled "pop" photo. Then coats back on and we;re headed back to the truck).

But enough about me.

I like the photos here and I think the family will too. You (like the rest of us probably) are your biggest critic. I know that they're "something" about these in your mind, bt the client might love them. Take a risk.

My little family from the story and I went away from the beach and to a wooded nature trail and took more photos. I showed one to the mom (from the back of the camera on site) and she loved them... and started crying. We are going to do more photos and I have received glowing emails from her reassuring me that "I should be proud of these photos, because she's proud of them too". And these are what I thought to be "my worst session ever!"

Fight the fight! lol

RowmyF · Jan 1, 2008

Hey DPolston...thanks for that reassurance... I'm still not happy with these pictures...I think in general I'm a very creative photographer and I am good with taking risks and I feel like this shoot is so BLASE

The family I shot also lives close to me and I want to keep them as long term clients and I'm afraid these shots wont do it. That's why I'm questioning if I should just call for a re shoot... is that totally unprofessional of me to do?

Thanks again for your story..it helps!

The Phototron · Jan 1, 2008

Have you post-process them yet? You could get reasonably good results with some of those shots.

For example with number 2, you could bump up the contrast, and give it a dark vignetting. You can PM me for precise steps I've used if you are interested.

Sorry for the low quality, but you get the general direction of my edit.

RowmyF · Jan 1, 2008

I did touch them up a bit...I shot in JPEG...I'm no pro with photoshop so I did the best I could..what would you suggest in order to help save these?

What I've been trying to figure out how to do is to get that saturated look in photos... for example if you look at any of the photos on this blog http://firstlightphotography.blogspot.com/ you will see that the images are so saturated..how can I this in photoshop??

The Phototron · Jan 1, 2008

RowmyF said:
I did touch them up a bit...I shot in JPEG...I'm no pro with photoshop so I did the best I could..what would you suggest in order to help save these?

What I've been trying to figure out how to do is to get that saturated look in photos... for example if you look at any of the photos on this blog http://firstlightphotography.blogspot.com/ you will see that the images are so saturated..how can I this in photoshop??

There are many ways to go about doing that, you can duplicate the image, and set the blending mode to "hard light" for the top layer. Or you can make an adjustment curve layer, and select "strong contrast." Or you can just select hue/saturation and increase the saturation.

Txaggie08 · Jan 1, 2008

Should be able to get more saturation like that by bumpin gamma down and upping saturation and tightening levels I THINK

The Phototron · Jan 1, 2008

Here are some screenshots I took of the steps I used:

These are only for demonstration purposes so don't start parading on me about how it's overdone.

RowmyF · Jan 1, 2008

Thanks phototron!
I'm going to play around and repost my finished products

elsaspet · Jan 2, 2008

I think they are fine!

emogirl · Jan 2, 2008

no, there is nothing spectacular about these, but a little processsing as suggested will make them better.

We all have shoots that seem to be boring....sometimes the clients just aretn "into it" no matter how hard you try....sometimes its us, and we are not having a very creative day. the trick is to not let them see that....so taking the suggestions in editing and they will probably love them....in fact, YOU start to love them and they will love them!!! its partly in the 'sell' in the end!

Big Mike · Jan 2, 2008

Looks like the focus is off just a bit in the first one...but the others look pretty good.
As mentioned, sometimes a shoot just doesn't come out as spectacular as we would like. I don't think it's a good idea to refund any money or not charge them...and I'm not sure that telling them that you are not happy, is a good idea either. If you feel strongly that it's not up to your standards, then I don't think a re-shoot would a terrible thing.

As people are showing us, post processing can add some zing to your images if they are lacking. Maybe this is a good opportunity for you to learn more about image editing and 'special effects'.

RowmyF · Jan 2, 2008

Emogirl & Bigmike - thank you for the encouragement.
I've already began editing my photos and see a big improvement.
I'm going to repost them in the same thread when I'm done and get your opinions on them

thanks again.

Jennyboo7481 · Jan 2, 2008

Don't forget you are your own worst critic. It's easy to tell ourselves they aren't good enough when we don't get our creative fulfillment. How about maybe a discount and coupon for fututre shoot?