The lady is being a pain!!

[ang1995]

I did a photo shoot for these people back in the spring and now the lady is pregnant so they want more family pictures and maternity pix which is great but the last time I was not very demanding on what I wanted at all so now this time I think since she is already a take charge kinda person she just wants to run over me.
So she wants to do the shoot Saturday when it is starting to get dark and I told her that that is to late and I want to do it earlier so that I am sure I have plenty of time while it is light out but she is being very persistent on what she wants. At first she asked me if we could meet at 5:30 PM I told her that that was to late so she is trying to come down on the time but not very much.
And is doesn't help that I know her from church and I'm 16.


I guess there wasn't much point in posting that here except for that she is annoying me. What do you'll do when you have people like this?

 

[12sndsgood]

just try to explain to her that you need time to get setup to make sure you guys get the shots you need before its too dark. ask her if she would rather meet earlier and get some good shots as the light drops. or show up later. not have the time needed to get a good shot and have to come back and redo it.

or tell her to have someone else do the photos if she's not willing to work within the time you feel you need.

 

[Trever1t]

free or for $

If free you can set any rule you like if $ the customer wins with her acknowledging that the shots may not be as nice if you had better lighting.

 

[MissCream]

Around 5:30 is when I usually shoot because the light isn't as harsh so I can understand her point there! Also what Trever said

 

[shootermcgavin]

I personally would do it at 5:30 if she insists, it's like a get out of jail free card in my opinion.

 

[sm4him]

Around 5:30 is when I usually shoot because the light isn't as harsh so I can understand her point there! Also what Trever said

Don't know about New Brunswick, but in Tennessee where the OP is, once Daylight Savings ends this weekend, sunset will be right about 5:30.

I'm going to make some "assumptions" here, so if I'm wrong, please clarify for us. Since you're 16, and this is someone you go to church with, I am guessing that you aren't really doing this for a "living" yet, that you still need to get a good deal more experience, that you did the first shoot "as a favor," and that you are either not getting paid, or getting paid precious little for this shoot. Assuming all those things to be true...I'd try one more time to explain to her that it is going to be DARK within 15-20 minutes of the time she wants to start shooting. Maybe grab a friend, go take a couple of quick pictures of them at around 4 p.m. and again at 5:30 p.m.; then show them to the lady so she can SEE what she is asking for.
If she STILL wants to do it then, and if she understands that you can't promise decent pictures doing a shoot at that time...then let her have her way. It will be good experience for BOTH of you. You'll have to figure out how to do the best you can with your available light, and she'll possibly learn to LISTEN when the person with the camera tells you it's gonna be too dark...

 

[MissCream]

Around 5:30 is when I usually shoot because the light isn't as harsh so I can understand her point there! Also what Trever said

Don't know about New Brunswick, but in Tennessee where the OP is, once Daylight Savings ends this weekend, sunset will be right about 5:30.

You sir are correct.

I would like to change my statement! If she shows up and it's dark give her a cd of all black pictures lol

 

[Big Mike]

What do you'll do when you have people like this?

It doesn't sound like you are 'in business' yet...but part of learning to be successful when running a business, is knowing when to say no.

Problem clients are a reality for any photography...but you get a lot more of them when you charge very little or do it for peanuts.

So I'd suggest finding a way to decline this job as tactfully as you can.

 

[jake337]

Will you be using off camera flash? Rear sync flash is your friend...

 

[CCericola]

Since you are starting out you need all the advantages you can get including the time of day. Sunset in TN is going to be 5:30 so you need to be ready to shoot at 4:30. In that case they need to be at the location, ready to go at 4:00pm.

If that won't work for her then politely decline the opportunity. You have plenty of time to gain experience and this one person will not make or break you.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Hmmm unless you something going on that night maybe break out the strobes and give her a disclaimer (and yourself a free ticket) regarding the night pics?

 

[ang1995]

Since you are starting out you need all the advantages you can get including the time of day. Sunset in TN is going to be 5:30 so you need to be ready to shoot at 4:30. In that case they need to be at the location, ready to go at 4:00pm.

If that won't work for her then politely decline the opportunity. You have plenty of time to gain experience and this one person will not make or break you.

I talked to her again and I am trying to get her to be there a little before before 4 since she kinda runs late and they have to grumpy little boys. You are correct about sunset being around 5:30 in TN.

 

[bentcountershaft]

Believe it or not, this is actually a really good opportunity for someone your age to get to experience. Dealing with difficult customers is unfortunately a fact of life in any business. The more you deal with the easier it gets and the better you are at predicting/avoiding bad situations. I don't have any specific advice to add to what's already been said, I just wanted to put this idea in your head so that you have a silver lining to the cloud you're dealing with now. Good luck with the shoot and when it comes to dealing with people, don't be afraid to make mistakes. You have to make them sometime when you're learning and people will be a lot more forgiving now than later.

 

[ang1995]

Around 5:30 is when I usually shoot because the light isn't as harsh so I can understand her point there! Also what Trever said

Don't know about New Brunswick, but in Tennessee where the OP is, once Daylight Savings ends this weekend, sunset will be right about 5:30.

I'm going to make some "assumptions" here, so if I'm wrong, please clarify for us. Since you're 16, and this is someone you go to church with, I am guessing that you aren't really doing this for a "living" yet, that you still need to get a good deal more experience, that you did the first shoot "as a favor," and that you are either not getting paid, or getting paid precious little for this shoot. Assuming all those things to be true...I'd try one more time to explain to her that it is going to be DARK within 15-20 minutes of the time she wants to start shooting. Maybe grab a friend, go take a couple of quick pictures of them at around 4 p.m. and again at 5:30 p.m.; then show them to the lady so she can SEE what she is asking for.
If she STILL wants to do it then, and if she understands that you can't promise decent pictures doing a shoot at that time...then let her have her way. It will be good experience for BOTH of you. You'll have to figure out how to do the best you can with your available light, and she'll possibly learn to LISTEN when the person with the camera tells you it's gonna be too dark...

No, I'm not doing it for a living yet. They did pay me $20 on the last shoot that I did for them but I don't think she is planing on paying me this time which kinda annoys me but I know that I'm still learning and not everyone thinks I should be paid. She told me on the last one that she was going to pay me and she didn't until like 2 months later so I just kinda guessed that she wasn't going to and when she did she said "now I will not feel bad when I ask you to take pictures again in the fall" and she hasn't said anything about paying me.

I feel like I can't really tell her no.

I tried last night to explain it to her but because she is older and is the kind of person that likes to take charge she thinks she knows better then me.

 

[ang1995]

Believe it or not, this is actually a really good opportunity for someone your age to get to experience. Dealing with difficult customers is unfortunately a fact of life in any business. The more you deal with the easier it gets and the better you are at predicting/avoiding bad situations. I don't have any specific advice to add to what's already been said, I just wanted to put this idea in your head so that you have a silver lining to the cloud you're dealing with now. Good luck with the shoot and when it comes to dealing with people, don't be afraid to make mistakes. You have to make them sometime when you're learning and people will be a lot more forgiving now than later.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not really the type of person to take charge and last time I think that was one of my big mistakes so now she thinks she can run over me more but I'm trying to fix that.