What are you willing to give?

[elsaspet]

Ahh, a question for all the artists out there:

Do you do what the client wants?

Or do you do your own thing and if they don't like it, too bad, they shouldn't have hired you.

 

[ScottS]

You will make a lot more money if you do what the client wants. But that doesnt mean that you cant make it better.

 

[sabbath999]

I never, ever do what the subjects of my pictures want... then again, I take pictures of animals, many of whom want very much to kill me and eat my mortal remains.

 

[zendianah]

I do what my client wants. I dont think Im asking the right questions. I love your idea of a questionere .. on pp techniques. Im not PS savy enough to turn a 200 pound woman into 130 pound glamour princess yet

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I always gave the client exactly what they wanted. It was what they were paying me to do.
But I would often do my own take on it and show them that as well. 9 times out of 10 they would prefer my version.
At the end of the day your job is to make the client a happy bunny. And happy bunnies pay bills.
And if I want to take pictures that I like then I do it on my time.

 

[Iron Flatline]

I do not have photographic clients. My photography is purely a creative expression for me... but you may call it a hobby, if you insist.

I do not compromise.That's not a question of nobility, it's a simple statement of fact. I do not subscribe to a particular rule book, and in its absence it is hard for me to record compromises.

 

[Christina]

well i start of by asking the customer exactly what kind of image they are looking for. Then i will present some of the idea's that i may have ( because lets face it, alot of thinks about a photo shoot and immediatly has a bunch of ideas and poses pop into your head like oohh.) I also tell them about things i have done in the past, and ideas that i may have seen elsewhere.

but never ever do i tell them, lets do it this way, We discuss their idea's. i tell them some about mine, and i always tell them "its food for thought" and leave them to make their decison.

 

[Mike_E]

What Hertz said, only not as well put.

 

[JIP]

I think the mark of a great photographer (like yourself) is giving the perfect combination of the client's wants and needs with your own personal style.

 

[kundalini]

I haven't got any paying clients as of yet, but this is a question I have posed to myself for when the time finally arrives. I would never chosen the words Hertz did, but that envelops entirely my attitude. Give the client exactly what they want or rather what they think they want. Sometime during the session , pop off those visions of your own. It will be interesting to note if they are inspired by inspiration.

 

[oldnavy170]

I think you do alittle of both and you have some amazing photos. The last wedding I did I had all these ideas of photos I wanted to take but we had all of 30 minutes to get the family shots done before dinner and those "ideas" never happened. So the bride pretty much ruled that day!

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I worked in Advertising and then Editorial. They were areas that made working in them very similar to prostitution*: you sold yourself by the hour.
I had no qualms about doing that as the rewards made it worth it.
The down side was that if you upset anyone then word swiftly got around (it's a very small world) and work dried up. With such fickle clients it was a tricky balancing act between the huge ego you needed to survive and the total subjugation of your will to the Art Director (whilst keeping your style). That was one reason why most of us became alcoholics.
With other disciplines the strictures and pressures are different.


*Prostitution is the World's second oldest profession. Advertising is the oldest. Before a person can sell their body customers have to know it's available.
I had a t-shirt that said "soul for rent - see owner for terms and conditions" :mrgreen:

 

[photogoddess]

I always gave the client exactly what they wanted. It was what they were paying me to do.
But I would often do my own take on it and show them that as well. 9 times out of 10 they would prefer my version.
At the end of the day your job is to make the client a happy bunny. And happy bunnies pay bills.
And if I want to take pictures that I like then I do it on my time.

I have a style and I'd like to think it's fairly obvious. It is shown to literally every client prior to booking so they know what my work looks like this when they hire me... I'm hoping this is why they picked me over the literally 1000s of other photographers in the So.Cal area but I am open to any ideas that they might have. I shoot a lot of boudoir and routinely have girls come in to the studio asking for a specific pose. I'm happy to oblige but I do put my own spin on things. One... I'm not into copying the work of others. Two... things that work for 95lb super models do not work for the average woman. So far, so good as I seem to have some pretty happy clients.

I try to get out periodically and do 'personal work'. Stuff just for me. Just for the love of photography... something to remind me why I need to use a camera. Sometimes it's photos of a person and sometimes I just like to get out into the world and photograph it. That is the stuff that either no one ever sees or it ends up in my 'fine art gallery' on my website. Both mine and my partner Michael's.

Aside from all that rattling on I just did... I must be Hertz Jr!