EDITORS NOTE: We make it a rule of thumb to do as much original content as possible here on the DWF blog. In fact, I don’t know that we’ve ever republished someone else’s blog post in full before but I really felt that this recent post by longtime DWF Pro Member Doug Boutwell was worthy. So here it is with Doug’s full permission of course.
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It’s A Big Deal To Your Clients
If you’re a professional photographer, then you have probably experienced that dreaded feeling in the pit of your stomach as you’re on your way to another shoot. You have already done 4 this week – I really DON’T want to do another one. To you, it’s just another shoot. To the people you’re photographing, however, this isn’t just another shoot. It matters to them immensely, which is why they sought you out and paid you a hefty fee and lost sleep the night before. To your clients, being photographed is a BIG F***ING DEAL. Therefore, the next shoot you do, is a BIG DEAL to somebody, even if it’s just another day at the office for you.
Let me relate a story to you about an experience I had today, which highlighted this point for me in a painfully frustrating way. For Mother’s Day this year, I decided that I would schedule a family portrait with one of Chenin’s favorite photographers. Someone she nearly idolizes, who’s hot shit right now. Since it entailed a bit of travel, I figured we’d turn it into a couple nights away, where she could hang at the spa, and we could do vacation stuff with little Max. So I surprised her with the news on Mother’s Day, and we were all stoked about it, even though the earliest available date was nearly a month away. I booked two nights at one of the nicest hotels in the area. We rescheduled meetings, rearranged Max’s childcare, and worked extra before leaving so we’d be caught up. Chenin spent the better part of a day shopping for just the right outfit, plus a new shirt for Max and sweater for me. We fretted and worried about the shoot, even having a little tiff about it. This morning, we packed everything up (which is no small deal when you’re packing for a photoshoot and a one-year-old as well) hopped in the car, and headed out.
After getting nearly halfway to the hotel, Chenin gets a text from the photographer saying, basically “I don’t feel well, and I don’t like the weather, so I’d like to cancel.” We asked if we could do the shoot tomorrow. Nope, because the photographer “had meetings in the afternoon.” At that point, the damage was basically done. We could have said “suck it up, we’re still shooting today,” but there’s no point in making a photographer shoot something they don’t want to shoot, because they’ll just half-ass it (or at least we’ll be convinced that they are). Once you ask to cancel, we KNOW you don’t want to shoot it, so how can we put our trust in you, as subjects? You wouldn’t say to your wife, “hey, mind if I fuck your sister?” It doesn’t matter if you actually DO fuck her sister, because once you ask, the damage is basically done. She knows you’re thinking about it. If it were me, I would have made every effort to reschedule (maybe at least ASK the people you’re meeting with the next day to bump their appointment up an hour?) or somehow make it up to the client. Canceling a shoot with a client who lives 4 hours away and has driven half the distance isn’t like canceling lunch plans. Our photographer made us feel like they didn’t really want to shoot US. (as a sidebar, I could be mis-reading all this, but it’s hard to tell with text messaging. If you are going to give someone disappointing news, pick up the phone).
So we basically said “nevermind, we’re going home.” The main reason we were going out of town was for this one hot shit photographer to shoot us, and if that couldn’t happen, then spending tons of money for two nights in a fancy hotel just didn’t seem like a good 2nd prize. Besides which, we were at a fast food restaurant in a nasty suburb off the freeway, nearly a hundred miles from home, and were more than a little disillusioned. We kinda felt upset about the whole thing, and the trip didn’t sound fun anymore. So we said goodbye to the $300 deposit on the hotel. We wasted an entire day packing and driving and sitting in traffic and eating fast food in crappy neighborhoods only to turn around and come back home. Chenin basically doesn’t get the Mother’s Day present I promised her. All because our photographer didn’t really stop to think about what WE had invested in the shoot.
I know photographers that have gone to shoots while practically going into labor, and others that have gone to shoots while bleeding from having a miscarriage. Some have shown up to a shoot right after getting the news that their father had a heartattack, or that their husband just committed suicide. Broken bones, sprained rib, fucking EYE INFECTIONS that cause puss to run out of your eyeballs and crust over your camera eye so you have to shoot with the other one – none of that deterred these shooters from showing up and getting the job done. If you’re going to cancel a shoot, it better damned well be more than a tummyache or a hangover (not to say that our photographer wasn’t stricken with swine flu or leprosy or whatever, just making a point) This isn’t to say that you have to make superhuman sacrifices for your clients. The point is that when you commit to doing something for someone else, they’re counting on you to deliver. They’ve put time, effort, money, and emotional energy into getting ready. Just because your job only entails picking up 20 lbs of camera gear, driving across town, and frolicing through golden pastures at sunset, that doesn’t mean it’s not a commitment. It might not feel like a job, on the good days, but people are counting on you to do it.
Your clients have probably devoted at least a couple days of their life to making their shoot happen. They rearrange their schedules, buy new clothes, and sometimes even get professional hair and makeup done. They’re basically doing all the pre-production on the shoot at their own expense, and counting on you to help them document something important in their lives. They’ve put a lot of trust in you, so be sure to show them a little respect in return, because to them, it’s a big f***ing deal.
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18 Comments at "It’s A Big Deal To Your Clients"
A very good post, and even if it’s “just” a portrait shoot and not a wedding, it’s still a big deal for the clients. I’m in the camp of those that only let death (my own) stop me from shooting.
To me it’s got nothing to do with being busy or being another day in the office.
It’s more about the tog’s huge ass ego. I guess being the rock star that he is, he thinks he can ditch a client or two because he has 10 more clamoring for their spot.
One thing though, call me twisted and what not, on some level I envy the tog because he did what he did without even blinking. He must have some awesome marketing skills to be the hottest potato right now.
why you protecting his name and letting him continue to be a sought after photographer, isnt word of mouth our checks and balances, he will continue on not knowing of his mistake
While no eye pus infections or worse has interfered with our shoots my wife has insisted on shooting two summers worth of weddings and events during both of her pregnancies. Even when we brought along an additional assistant to give her more breaks, if needed, she kept shooting the entire reception, even, or session. She was having contractions during our last event of 2009, I finished the last hour myself and within 3 hours after packing the camera bags to go home we were at the hospital. Our daughter was born just 6 hours after our last event to photograph last year. (We thanked her for waiting out till all our shoots were done!)
Not liking the weather and texting a cancellation is just trash.
I understand the passion from which this comes, and I don’t want to sound like a prude, but does the narrative warrant the vulgarity, especially in a public forum? Am I the only one that thinks multiples “f’s” in a piece that basically says “do what you are hired to do or quit” is a bit over the top? And with your wife’s sister, even? Yikes — where did that come from??!
I guess I’m getting old. Good points, though.
I agree with the gist of this post, but IMO we should (and that is a big should) already feel this way. We all should approach each shoot with anxiety and consider it a learning opportunity and a great day for the client. I have been shooting a while now, and still no two shoots are ever the same. To compare them to “another day at the office” is apples and oranges IMO. Scott
How could we as professionals not agree. When a client hires us, we make a commitment to them to do what we promised. It is a big deal. I’m old fashioned too – you make a fucking commitment, you follow through. I had a kidney stone the night before a full-day wedding. I hired a second photographer to insure the best possible images, did all I could do to get better and worked the full day as well. My client got everything they expected and more. Because I made a commitment.
Apologies for all the f-bombs. I figured Mark would have bleeped them or something. I did write it for my own blog, though, while more than angry. Had it been written expressly for another, more reputable outlet, I might have chosen my words with more care. My deepest apologies.
Important message. Too bad the writer did not proof it or think through the process a reader may go through when the come across objectionable language.
As photographers we are creative people, not all “creative” language is acceptable.
Writing the F Bomb anywhere, anytime may come back to haunt you.
Tim,
True, true… but using my credit card online might come back to haunt me, and eating tacos in Mexico might come back to haunt me. In fact, I’d give good odds that the tacos will. I’m almost certain of it. But they’re delicious. And Amazon is very, very convenient.
I very seriously doubt that I’ll stop saying naughty things on my blog anytime soon, and I do so with full awareness of the potential consequences to my reputation and my business. Again, I apologize that such offensive language was brought into such polite society as the Digital Wedding Forum. We shall not use the F-bomb here. Are we not men?
Doug,
Some of us are actually women.
If I see this question on an IQ test I hope I can figure out how to answer:
Which does not fit: Credit Cards – Amazon – Tacos – The F Word
Your article is very good and has value. The F word does not bother me, even if I choose not to use it writing. I feel it devalues the message. Needlessly.
Doug, thanks for a well written, honest article and keeping it real. If you’re pissed enough to use the F-word, so be it. It’s your blog and your right to do so and in doing so saves me from the sterile world of euphemisms.
Sorry – I meant that as a somewhat oblique reference to “The Island Of Dr. Moreau”, which I got a chance to read recently, and thoroughly enjoyed. The gist of it is that “men” was meant as in “mankind,” not as in “male”, though upon a second reading I realize that it certainly looks like I’m saying that chicks should take a hike.
I suppose we could go around and around all night about about which four letter words are appropriate in which forums, and we’d probably never get anywhere, so I’ll just leave it alone from here. Thanks for taking the time to read the post, and to send your thoughts!
Doug, I’m a chick. I’m not offended. I got the reference. Great points made. :O)
I’m really sorry this happened to you guys. What a bummer! It’s disheartening when your idol becomes human. Still, a more professional way to handle it would have been optimal. I hope you get another chance to have another photographer take your beautiful family picture. You’re a thoughtful guy to do all that for your sweet wife.
I meant a more professional way on the part of your photographer…
Doug – Normally I’d say the same thing about the “vulgarities”, but in this case I think it just emphasized your emotions and anger and I felt it appropriate. It came from your blog – and any critical comments should be directed to the DWF for their choice in not editing it. Whatever. Who cares – It shouldn’t be the focus or the point.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Its a firm reminder that we are also in the service industry, and not just art-teests! ;o) Or fartists, as I like to think of those with the “rockstar” mentality!
Good points ruined by C R U D E N E S S. Wow. Sorry you had a disappointing experience, now that makes 2 of us.
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