Have you ever finished a shoot and felt like you didn’t…
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Have you ever finished a shoot and felt like you didn’t really deliver what you’re capable of?
I recently had a fairly high-paying photo + video job at an event in Saint-Tropez. The price was completely reasonable for what was being asked, and the client had me covering both photography and video throughout the event.
I’m currently going through the photos, and I’m having a weird feeling about them.
There’s nothing *wrong* with them. They’re technically fine, and I’m sure the client will be able to use them. But there’s very little that makes me look at an image and think *“wow.”*
And that’s where I’m struggling to judge the situation objectively.
For example, I recently shot the Cannes Lions, where 100% of my attention and energy was dedicated to photography. I had the mental space to slow down, observe what was happening around me, anticipate moments, try things, make mistakes, and simply wait for something interesting to happen.
This time, I felt like I was in a constant rush. I’d be shooting photos, then suddenly have to switch to video, respond to a client request, move somewhere else, make sure I hadn’t missed something, etc. I never really felt like I had the time to *look*.
So now, looking at the photos afterwards, I keep thinking: *“These are okay, but the client isn’t going to look at them and think ‘wow’.”*
But at the same time, I genuinely don’t know if that’s actually true.
Maybe the client will be completely happy with them. Maybe I’m judging them through the prism of knowing what I normally produce and knowing that I wasn’t operating at 100%. The client doesn’t know what the photos *could* have looked like under different circumstances.
That made me curious about other photographers’ experiences.
Have you ever had a shoot where the final images were perfectly acceptable, but you knew you hadn’t produced work that represented your actual level?
How did you distinguish between *“the client probably isn’t happy with this”* and *“I’m personally disappointed because I know I could have done better”*?
And did experiences like this change the way you approached similar jobs afterwards — especially jobs where you’re expected to do both photo and video, deal with clients, and constantly switch between different priorities?
I’d be really interested in hearing people’s experiences with this, rather than just advice on my particular shoot.
#hobby
source
I recently had a fairly high-paying photo + video job at an event in Saint-Tropez. The price was completely reasonable for what was being asked, and the client had me covering both photography and video throughout the event.
I’m currently going through the photos, and I’m having a weird feeling about them.
There’s nothing *wrong* with them. They’re technically fine, and I’m sure the client will be able to use them. But there’s very little that makes me look at an image and think *“wow.”*
And that’s where I’m struggling to judge the situation objectively.
For example, I recently shot the Cannes Lions, where 100% of my attention and energy was dedicated to photography. I had the mental space to slow down, observe what was happening around me, anticipate moments, try things, make mistakes, and simply wait for something interesting to happen.
This time, I felt like I was in a constant rush. I’d be shooting photos, then suddenly have to switch to video, respond to a client request, move somewhere else, make sure I hadn’t missed something, etc. I never really felt like I had the time to *look*.
So now, looking at the photos afterwards, I keep thinking: *“These are okay, but the client isn’t going to look at them and think ‘wow’.”*
But at the same time, I genuinely don’t know if that’s actually true.
Maybe the client will be completely happy with them. Maybe I’m judging them through the prism of knowing what I normally produce and knowing that I wasn’t operating at 100%. The client doesn’t know what the photos *could* have looked like under different circumstances.
That made me curious about other photographers’ experiences.
Have you ever had a shoot where the final images were perfectly acceptable, but you knew you hadn’t produced work that represented your actual level?
How did you distinguish between *“the client probably isn’t happy with this”* and *“I’m personally disappointed because I know I could have done better”*?
And did experiences like this change the way you approached similar jobs afterwards — especially jobs where you’re expected to do both photo and video, deal with clients, and constantly switch between different priorities?
I’d be really interested in hearing people’s experiences with this, rather than just advice on my particular shoot.
#hobby
source
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