Clients Unhappy? Hey all, I’ve been trying to find my way…
0 reactions
Clients Unhappy?
Hey all, I’ve been trying to find my way and settle into a ‘niche’ so to speak. In the last year, I’ve focused heavily on maternity photos and families secondary.
My clients love their maternity photos, I never get a bad response to them. I love doing maternity, so it is super encouraging. My issue is when it comes to family photos, I get a lot more feedback. I wouldn’t classify it as negative or constructive criticism, but I feel less like an artist and more like “lady we hired to hold a camera” if that makes sense lol.
I’ve been trying to lean into more “story telling” in my photography and being more artistic. I have stopped trying to make everyone stand still together and stare into my camera lens and instead I capture my families as they are. I am so proud of my growth and find it much more fulfilling to deliver a gallery filled with genuine smiles, laughs and love. My social media and portfolio reflect this style of photography, and in the last year I have gotten so many more sessions booked and my social media has grown. My issue is every family I have worked with in the last few months has either asked for more photos of everyone standing and looking at the camera or if I have a different version of a completely candid shot I grabbed during the session. They don’t like their side profile in that one, or something along those lines. It’s kind of defeating because I almost never get a positive reaction or even a thank you, it’s always “can we have more” and most of the time I don’t even get a response after providing more of the requested images. I deliver 50-60 photos from an hour session, so I don’t feel like I’m under-delivering at my price point.
I do deliver several of those intentionally posed family photos, but the rest of the gallery are more story telling and relaxed. I kind of feel like there are only so many versions of that kind of photo to provide anyways, but a client recently complained that she only got 5 of the posed family pics (there are 10 total, but baby slept through second half of the session and she isn’t counting those). A part of me feels frustrated because I am not discreet about my style of photography, and I find it hard to expect those kind of photos when they aren’t the kind of photos I take. I also deal with families that have small children, even infants, so if your toddler or baby is not interested in looking at my camera…
A part of me also feels like if I keep getting this response, maybe I should change something. But if I do that, then I feel it will be less true to who I am and the goals I have for my photography career. I already spend so much energy on editing and curating a gallery, so when I’m asked for more I feel exhausted and it’s hard to not take it personally. I could just get ahead of those requests and assume that I am just a lady holding a camera to them.
Has anyone else dealt with this? I really am not sure how to handle this going forward, but I really would like to find a solution so that everyone is happy. I love photography and I’ve kept at it for years to get where I am now, I am so grateful for the growth and support, but it has come with these issues.
#hobby
source
Hey all, I’ve been trying to find my way and settle into a ‘niche’ so to speak. In the last year, I’ve focused heavily on maternity photos and families secondary.
My clients love their maternity photos, I never get a bad response to them. I love doing maternity, so it is super encouraging. My issue is when it comes to family photos, I get a lot more feedback. I wouldn’t classify it as negative or constructive criticism, but I feel less like an artist and more like “lady we hired to hold a camera” if that makes sense lol.
I’ve been trying to lean into more “story telling” in my photography and being more artistic. I have stopped trying to make everyone stand still together and stare into my camera lens and instead I capture my families as they are. I am so proud of my growth and find it much more fulfilling to deliver a gallery filled with genuine smiles, laughs and love. My social media and portfolio reflect this style of photography, and in the last year I have gotten so many more sessions booked and my social media has grown. My issue is every family I have worked with in the last few months has either asked for more photos of everyone standing and looking at the camera or if I have a different version of a completely candid shot I grabbed during the session. They don’t like their side profile in that one, or something along those lines. It’s kind of defeating because I almost never get a positive reaction or even a thank you, it’s always “can we have more” and most of the time I don’t even get a response after providing more of the requested images. I deliver 50-60 photos from an hour session, so I don’t feel like I’m under-delivering at my price point.
I do deliver several of those intentionally posed family photos, but the rest of the gallery are more story telling and relaxed. I kind of feel like there are only so many versions of that kind of photo to provide anyways, but a client recently complained that she only got 5 of the posed family pics (there are 10 total, but baby slept through second half of the session and she isn’t counting those). A part of me feels frustrated because I am not discreet about my style of photography, and I find it hard to expect those kind of photos when they aren’t the kind of photos I take. I also deal with families that have small children, even infants, so if your toddler or baby is not interested in looking at my camera…
A part of me also feels like if I keep getting this response, maybe I should change something. But if I do that, then I feel it will be less true to who I am and the goals I have for my photography career. I already spend so much energy on editing and curating a gallery, so when I’m asked for more I feel exhausted and it’s hard to not take it personally. I could just get ahead of those requests and assume that I am just a lady holding a camera to them.
Has anyone else dealt with this? I really am not sure how to handle this going forward, but I really would like to find a solution so that everyone is happy. I love photography and I’ve kept at it for years to get where I am now, I am so grateful for the growth and support, but it has come with these issues.
#hobby
source
| 0 mlx | |
| 1 | |
| 0 |