10 Worst Things to Say to a Photographer

Forgive my rant but I rant for a reason. LOL  Here are my top 10 things you should never tell a photographer....

1.  Here...why don't you let me have your camera and I'll take a picture of you.  There is a twofold problem with this.  First, I am incredibly protective over my camera...it's my baby.  Partially because it's how I capture my passion in a physical form and partially because I actually do make extra money with it.  Secondly, true photographers don't like to be in front of the camera all that often.  Yes, I wish there was more pictures of me at events, etc but the fact is that I am not a fan of selfies so there aren't a lot of options for a girl that's protective of her camera. 

2.  How'd you do that?  I'd love to try to copy it.  Ummm if I wanted you to copy it, I would have put a tutorial on Pinterest.  If you want to copy it, figure it out.  It's one thing to use someone's work for inspiration and another to copy it exactly.

3.  Is that what you wear to shoot a wedding/event/family photo shoot? Just so you know, we don't like to be critiqued and it varies widely by photographer and event/type of shoot as to what we wear.  There are occasions when I'll be "hiking" a lot that I wear sneakers.  Then again, there are a lot of occasions where I throw on some 3" heels and shoot just fine (Flirty 30 parties, charity events...I'll climb on chairs in that stuff and not think twice). Unless it is essential that we be dressed in a certain fashion, let us have the ability to gauge it for ourselves.

4.  Do you really have to charge that much?  Here's the deal...I don't charge much for my sessions because I mostly do CDs and let people print on their own.  For people that handle the prints, etc, I understand their desire to charge more.  Yes, it is definitely true that we are giving away copyright and we have the right to charge what we want.  Yes there ARE a lot of photographers that gouge on pricing because they can.  Get to know and trust your photographer and you can negotiate price much easier.

5.  Well he was doing it for free so I went to him instead.  This is my pet peeve.  If you know and trust your photographer, you should be loyal, particularly if they're flexible and courteous of you with their time and budget.  A freebie is NOT worth pissing your photographer off so they won't work with you anymore...trust me.  Great photographers who will work with your budget are hard to come by in some areas.  Taking advantage of their trust is not the route to go to work with them in the future.

6.  Well money's tight right now.  Can't you just do it for free since I know you?  I happen to know doctors, bankers, etc  I don't expect their services to be free because I know them.  If someone is willing to give of their time and energy, you should be willing to compensate them.  With that being said, yes I have done freebies but I do them when I'm volunteering my time.  I don't like to be surprised with it.  I have also bartered services for sessions.  Most freelance photographers aren't unwilling to negotiate but don't low-ball them. 

7.  Why do you have to charge mileage?  As a rule, I don't charge mileage unless it's more than 15 miles away from me.  With that being said, that is NOT always the rule for photographers.  In general I charge mileage because I keep my rates low otherwise.  If you travel close to me, there's no mileage charge.  If you don't, I actually figure out the overage of miles, look at the current gas rate and charge only what it costs for me to travel.  Not all photographers work that way.  With that being said, if a photographer is up front on their cost, you know what the cost is ahead of time and questioning it at pay time is tacky and rude.

8.  I brought *insert prop name here* so we can copy this.  Okay I want to be delicate here....I love when clients bring with ideas for inspiration.  I don't want to copy it exactly and, most of the time, it's not entirely possible.  This is especially true with babies.  Yes, those newborn shots are adorable, but you might have a wiggly newborn that can't do it.  Those adorable tummy shots are great but you might have a baby at 3 months that isn't quite ready for it developmentally.  There are a lot of shots we can recreate but let's work together to use it as inspiration, not tracing paper.

9.  Can you photoshop off 15 lbs?  Quick answer, at least for me....YES...but no.  Yes I CAN take 15 lbs off of your body in the portrait.  I can also sculpt your face, change your eye color, give you a tan or a million other things.  Will I?  Not so much.  My goal is to bring out your natural beauty, not change who you are and what you look like.  My goal is to show your personality, not hide it with airbrushing.

10.  Is this your only job?  This isn't entirely offensive but you seem to get the hairy eyeball when you say "no."   The reality of it is that I think I'd lose my passion if it's the only thing I ever did...at least for now.  Would I love to do it again as my sole job someday?  YES!  Right now, it's just not possible....but it doesn't make me any less passionate about or good at what I do.

Lesson for clients?  Think before you speak.  Exercise tact and it will go miles.  Use your word of mouth to spread the word that I'm good and I'll work with you even more!  Treat your photographer the way you'd want to be treated and you'll go far!