Messed up with a client - Not sure about working with client again.

[MartyCrean]

Regarding Real Estate photography, I recently took on a new realtor client. The 1st job I did for her was very nice and she loved the work. The second job I did for her my images were a little soft and this didn't go over well with her or her client. I was able to correct that straight away. Her client was terribly particular (pretty expensive home). I stood by it, made it right and refused to charge her for that job, even though she insisted I do. (I've just ventured into RE photography and have a half dozen under my belt and having fun so far.)

She just texted me and want me for another job. I feel like someone who got thrown from a horse and don't really feel like getting back on. Ego and fears aside, have any other pros out there messed something up for a client and felt okay working with them again or do you just leave that relationship in the rear view mirror and move on? Is there something here that can bite me in the butt if I work with this person again?

Thx,

Marty

 

[robbins.photo]

Regarding Real Estate photography, I recently took on a new realtor client. The 1st job I did for her was very nice and she loved the work. The second job I did for her my images were a little soft and this didn't go over well with her or her client. I was able to correct that straight away. Her client was terribly particular (pretty expensive home). I stood by it, made it right and refused to charge her for that job, even though she insisted I do. (I've just ventured into RE photography and have a half dozen under my belt and having fun so far.)

She just texted me and want me for another job. I feel like someone who got thrown from a horse and don't really feel like getting back on. Ego and fears aside, have any other pros out there messed something up for a client and felt okay working with them again or do you just leave that relationship in the rear view mirror and move on? Is there something here that can bite me in the butt if I work with this person again?

Thx,

Marty

If she texted you then no reason not to shoot for her again. If your worried about the results post one or two here for C&C first before presenting them to the client. If anything is wrong, someone will point it out for sure

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

 

[vintagesnaps]

You can't give a client images that are soft; professional quality images should be sharp on a consistent basis. You need to practice and bring up your skill level so you have the confidence to do the job. I'm taking a guess here but if you're fairly new to this, are you undercharging? and getting clients that mostly want cheap?

At least you were able to correct the images and the client was reasonably satisfied, but If you do this you need to do better than last time. After this don't take on any more photography jobs until you know that you can do it every time under even challenging circumstances.

 

[ronlane]

Unless she has motives that she will get images for free now since you offered the first time. Like Robbins pointed out, she texted you. Seems like she is okay with your work again.

 

[Designer]

Is there something here that can bite me in the butt if I work with this person again?

Well, you've already established the fact that you're not very skilled and cheap, so how can it go downhill from there?

 

[tirediron]

Everyone has an off day; she called you... 'nuff said.

It sounds like you did the right things after the fact, but why did you turn over sub-par images to begin with?

 

[MartyCrean]

Thank you everyone. Charging market rates in our area, so not giving it away for sure. Not charging a premium yet because I'm still developing skills in this area. For having just started with RE Photography with no formal training or mentoring in the area, I don't feel as though I'm doing awful. I've linked 3 recent jobs below. I love what it is I'm doing. I need to keep learning.

Client Sample 2

Client Sample 1

Client Sample 3

 

[MartyCrean]

Tirediron, I performed an improper import out of Light Room. (Selected wrong preset). Still refining my processes so I can meet my client's needs for a pretty quick turn around. I'm good with a 24 hr turn around, but you get done shooting at 4:30 PM and they seem to need the images by 9 AM the next morning. Still trying to grow accustomed to that and learn how to work with it. Bottom line is I rushed myself and made a mistake...

 

[tirediron]

Tirediron, I performed an improper import out of Light Room. (Selected wrong preset). Still refining my processes so I can meet my client's needs for a pretty quick turn around. I'm good with a 24 hr turn around, but you get done shooting at 4:30 PM and they seem to need the images by 9 AM the next morning. Still trying to grow accustomed to that and learn how to work with it. Bottom line is I rushed myself and made a mistake...

So you did nothing wrong in-camera? I'm very confused now....

 

[vintagesnaps]

To me the indoor shots look way more processed than the outdoor shots. That usually seems to indicate issues with proper exposures, although some people like the look of so much processing. I'd say you might need to get a handle on consistent quality (since the indoor and outdoor look like they may not even have been done by the same photographer, even though you did both).

If the pricing is competitive the work has to be competitive too on a consistent basis. Maybe since you corrected the images they decided to give you another try, so make sure you give them a final product that doesn't need further adjustments. Then maybe more learning and practice is necessary, not with framing/composing shots as much as exposure.

 

[MartyCrean]

As far as I know, no. My previous shoots were fine and there were no changes with this one. I'm shooting with a Nikon D7200, ISO 400, AE Priority, f/7.1, using a Tamron 10 - 24, Live View focusing at the sensor, not the viewfinder, tripod, cable release, bracketing for HDR 5 frames, 2 stops per frame. Using a Data Spyder Cube for color accuracy.

In LR, combine the 5 frames, apply my lens corrections, WB, +15 contrast, +15 clarity, sharpening amount +50, sharpening detail +50, applying vertical transform for perspective correction, adjusting whites and blacks and highlights. I will then scale and offset the images as appropriate.

Then I take the images into PS and applying the unsharp mask Amount = 95%, Radius = 1.5 and Threshold = 1

I then export these into the sRGB color space, JPEG, Quality = 65, Resize to fit long edge, 1024 px, Resolution of 72 px per in.

I then crop these to 16:9 1920 x 1080 and export accordingly.

I make these both available to the realtor on line.

 

[MartyCrean]

Thank you Sharon. I am working very hard to achieve this consistency. (I do not yet know how to achieve this) Only done 3 of these real estate shoots so far. What I've done up to this point is not bad, but it's nowhere near where I want to be. What I have done though is light years better than most of the RE photography I'm seeing. I promise that by the time I have 30 or so of these done, there will be a big difference. Just have to teach myself what works and what doesn't

 

[tirediron]

As far as I know, no. My previous shoots were fine and there were no changes with this one. I'm shooting with a Nikon D7200, ISO 400, AE Priority, f/7.1, using a Tamron 10 - 24, Live View focusing at the sensor, not the viewfinder, tripod, cable release, bracketing for HDR 5 frames, 2 stops per frame. Using a Data Spyder Cube for color accuracy.

In LR, combine the 5 frames, apply my lens corrections, WB, +15 contrast, +15 clarity, sharpening amount +50, sharpening detail +50, applying vertical transform for perspective correction, adjusting whites and blacks and highlights. I will then scale and offset the images as appropriate.

Then I take the images into PS and applying the unsharp mask Amount = 95%, Radius = 1.5 and Threshold = 1

I then export these into the sRGB color space, JPEG, Quality = 65, Resize to fit long edge, 1024 px, Resolution of 72 px per in.

I then crop these to 16:9 1920 x 1080 and export accordingly.

I make these both available to the realtor on line.

1. If you did nothing wrong in-camera, then wherein lay the problem? Take the images, reprocess correctly and Bob's your unlce.

2. Why such aggressive sharpening?

 

[The_Traveler]

Not a real estate guy (and not a pro) but a lot of these have the bottom of pieces clipped on a routine basis and there seems to be this hdr look with a bluish cast on the indoor shots that's not my favorite look but teh places look good.

 

[MartyCrean]

I sincerely believe it's that Tamron lens. The images seem to come out soft and somewhat out of focus (only sometimes) It's driving me nuts

I did some magazine shots for one of my retail clients this morning using the D7200 but with a Nikon 35mm f/1.8. Except for WB, a wee bit of sharpening and minor cropping, the images are awesome. I need to achieve this level of clarity in my RE photos.

Appleton Magazine October 2016

This is making me insane!