jeremy_clay wrote:
The pics are professional - honestly, he had ZERO reason to be upset, they were very well done for what it looked like you were going for. Seriously, WTF is his problem.
it confuses me too jeremy. thus upsetting me yet again. Do you have a humorous image to lighten the mood? lol.
smurfee wrote:
all is true from how i described it. I for one am not angry with him but more so dissappointed with how things were handled. I handled everything as professional as possible, trying to ask him what he didn't like about them but all he can say was it looks like they weren't editted and that they suck.
Very true, there seems to be a certain level of "you owe me" mentality when things are done for friends, and since he was helping me expand my portfolio, i tried my best to help him out as well. But things just don't turn out the way we expect them to. ...Show more →
That is sad. Sometimes you just meet people like that ... I have a sister who is like that. Nothing satisfies her, and doing anything nice for her almost always backfires. For people like that, my only suggestion is STAY AWAY!
SO, Post some of these pics on the thread so we can see them.
Sounds like he was expecting you to perform a miracle in terms of providing an image worthy of being on the cover of Time Magazine - for free, from a friend, from someone who's still learning... That sounds reasonable, to a douche.
You've got no reason to hold out on those images. Did he sign a model release? I would hope so, if you were planning to use his images in your port. You did great work (or so several ppl have said) so be proud of it and display it for all! You GAVE him everything already and I can bet another $30 on top of the money you gave him, that he WILL be printing those pictures.
I've taken my sweet time delivering images - but like you, it was because I was busy with school/paying work and said so to my models. There were some instances where I delivered sooner than later or vice versa, but it is what it is and there's no reason to get upset over it. If he couldn't handle the time frame, nor understand that editing 30 much less 200 images is RI-FUCKING-DICULOUS, then someone should have a chat with him and explain how the real world works and that images don't edit themselves.
Unreasonable expectations by your crazy nut job "friend". Your mistake was being overly nice, working for free and also wanting to help by paying half the studio fee. Nut job started to think you owed him instead of the other way around. He thought you owed him because you said you would give him for free all the photo work and also pay him for the location the shoot took place at. And then you took forever to deliver both! Somehow you thought because you were doing all this for free you could take your sweet time for delivery. In his mind regardless if he paid or not, he wanted his deliverables... NOW! He lost any respect for you because you would do it all for free, and also pay half the studio fee. The other day at a workshop where the photographer-presenter was working on his second million, he said "You are only successful in this business when you treat it as a business. You can be mediocre as a photographer but to be successful, you must run all aspects of it as a business."
I agree if the photos are good, then he's an asshat.
Remember to do this NO MATTER WHAT! It will prevent all sorts of problems in the future.
1. give the client a price, friend or otherwise.
2. make sure they know it's 50% up front, non-refundable.
#2 is the golden sword. If you know you are doing at least decent photography, then you need to get paid for your time--period. I had one client say she didn't like her arms in any of the photos because they looks too big. that was due to her being 40lbs overweight. I had her wear sleeves too, but you just can't hide fat.
The point is, her fat isn't a reflection of my work. The fact that she knew 50% of the fee was nonrefundable made the difference. She paid the entire amount and now she likes them.
Always get 50% at the time of the shoot. Make sure people know that it's 50% THE DAY OF THE SHOOT. If they have any excuses about not having the money, politely pack up your eupment and leave. Tell them to please reschedule with a 50.00 deposit before the shoot, which nis also nonrefundable.
