Need some help, please!

alimeece · Oct 17, 2011

I am very new to photography and am still trying to learn a lot. My problem is this...a friend of mine saw some photographs I had taken of different family members and liked what she saw. She asked me if I would take some family photographs for her and I said sure, and let her know that I was by no means even close to being of professional quality. She asked me what I would charge and I told her $30 for my time and gas, and I plan on giving her the disk so that she can do with it what she likes. When I get to her house, which is where she requested to do them, everyone is wearing completely different color clothing, and there are extra people (some of the kids' friends.) There was no place really to take pictures other than along a fence in the direct sun. I did the shoot, went home and uploaded the photos to start editing only to find that no matter what I do, these pictures just look horrible. My question is do you think it's okay to ask her if we can do a re-shoot...I plan on giving her the disk with these images for free just in case she wants any of the shots on it. My husband calls me a perfectionist...I usually really take my time to make sure I do well on everything I do. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

tirediron · Oct 17, 2011

Absolutely. If you don't feel that the work is up to par, than simply tell the clients that there were some issues with the images, and that they don't meet your standards, and that you would like to re-do them at no cost to the client.

That said, you've learned (I hope) a valuable lesson. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS meet with the clients beforehand and discuss all of these issues, clothing, location, # of people, time of day, etc. While you may feel funny doing it, having a contract in place even if it stipulates no cost is never a bad idea.