8 Things Clients Do And Say That Annoy Photographers

 

The moment you start working as a photographer for money everything changes. While there are many positives when it comes to being paid to shoot, there are lots of headaches along the way too. Here are seven annoying things that clients will try to do to you, and how best to keep the upper hand in those situations.

If you already deal with clients or customers as a photographer then I'm sure you will know how frustrating a percentage of them can be. Some, quite literally take the adage of "the customer is always right" to heart even when they know they are most definitely wrong. The real problem with bad clients is that they ultimately cost you time, money, and energy. Commodities that you really could do with trying to minimize if you want to stay in business.

Every photographer loves something slightly different. Some like shooting models, others prefer landscapes and some just love shooting products or advertising.

However, there are some things that unite photographers of every genre and that is the little things that can really annoy them and make their life a lot harder! Photographers work incredibly hard for you so please don't be 'that guy'.

Here Are 8 Things Clients Do And Say That Annoy Photographers

1. Competing For Attention With Cell Phone Photographers.

As the paid photographer at a wedding or other event, having 40% of your photos ruined by guests and family stealing the attention of the people you're photographing is immensely frustrating. Example: the entire wedding party is looking at my camera, but the groom is looking off to the side into grandma's cell phone. That's not the photo the couple wants to see on their mantelpiece for the next fifty years.

2. “Gorgeous photo! You must have a great camera!”

I've spent years honing my craft and improving my skills, but this statement has the amazing ability to wipe it all away and make me look like nothing but a monkey with a magic camera.

3. When You Edit Our Photos And Put Them On Facebook.

First off, stop doing this (it might actually a violation of the contract you signed when you hired your photographer). Secondly, if you do it, and someone asks who took the photo, do us a favor and lie. We don't want the credit.

4. Asking For Freebies.

Who doesn't love a freebie? Clients especially love to ask photographers to work for free so this is something you better get used to being asked for. Some will offer exposure, a glowing reference, or if you're really lucky, paid work in the future. Doing freebies is a hot topic for photographers and many people have polarizing opinions on whether we should do free work or not. My take on it is that the majority of the time you shouldn't work for free as the future money or opportunities rarely come. You'd never ask a mechanic to work for free so photographers shouldn't be expected to either.

5. Expecting unrealistic edits.

Your stomach is big, your waist is big, your cheeks are chubby and you have a double chin but you expect the photographer to make everything look better. You expect that at the end of the day, you look like a totally different person with a chiseled face, tiny waist and flat stomach. They are not magicians please. They’ll do what they can.

6. People trying to teach you work

This is something I hate so much and I know so many photographers have walked this road before. You will go a lot of places and meet a lot of people who will try to teach you you work, like showing you how to hold your camera, when to hit or when not to hit the shutter release, how to pose your subjects etc.

Imagine trying to get that cool and different look from a subject you are photographing and someone walks up to you and tell you that “your killer” pose looks weird and then, they go all the way trying to show you the “right way” to pose your subject like you don’t know what you were doing all these while.

I was photographing this little birthday party in my neighborhood last week and I decided to use manual focus. I was shooting in live view mode and I had this nosy guy behind me, who was looking at my camera’s screen. While I was trying to nail my focus, the nosy guy start screaming, “snap am na, snap am na, why you the delay”. Now that is what I am talking about.

7. Being late for a shoot.

This is the major reason why photographers now charge for specific hours and extra if it goes beyond the time. Ladies will come an hour late for the shoot and will now have to do makeup which will take about 45 minutes to an hour. 2 hours of the photographer doing nothing but waiting.

8. "Lets do this thing we saw on Pinterest” -

Photographers love it when a client can come to them with a clear idea of what they want, BUT no photographer wants to be seen as a copy cat so don't try and convince them to make an exact replica of someone else’s work (It never turns out the same anyway!).

CREDIT: Fakazanews