idobelieve

I booked an engagement session in December, session was supposed to be tomorrow. When she booked she asked if I would allow for rescheduling or refund if her fiance got deployed, he is in the Navy. I do allow this if it's for military reasons although in the past I've just rescheduled. At first she just requested allowing reschedule but then later she asked about refund and in the crazy of the holiday season I must have agreed. So she emailed me 3 days ago to say he was unexpectedly deployed and asking for a refund. I responded no problem, just send me documentation of his deployment and I will get you refunded. Her response: "I did not get documentation of his orders because I am not married to him yet and they are not allowed to bring papers home. He left within 12 hours of finding out he was being deployed." The deposit is only $100 so it's not that big of a deal to refund it, but of course I'd rather reschedule. I'm wondering if she is just using the military as an excuse for changing her mind. I have never requested documentation before since in past instances we just rescheduled. Any military folks out there who can tell me if this sounds right? Should I just let it go? TIA

Thanks for the responses, I've been checking back regularly to see your advice. I ended up responding very honestly. I said I wasn't sure what to do since I do charge for additional photos (and I repeated my price structure), but I understood it was an honest mistake and I wanted to work with them. I asked for them to start by choosing the 20 they would have selected and we could go from there. After a few days they got back to me that they were just going to buy the whole collection anyway. :)

Yes, of course there are. The reason I structured my packages this way was so that the "cheapskates" who kept trying to negotiate a lower price because "they just wanted a few photos" could have that option. When they see all the beautiful photos most choose to buy more or all of them. But I've found most people will try to get something extra for nothing. I do see this as a spot where I needed to refine things for the future, but I am still looking for a diplomatic way to move forward without a complete loss. Thanks for your response though.

I just double checked my contract and it looks like I only state no returns and refunds but I don't say anything about substitutions :( I will be updating this immediately. I also updated my gallery release/download instructions email to say I don't allow substitutions for download mistakes.

I'm in an awkward business situation and I could use advice on how to handle it. My portrait package includes 20 digital photos. Clients receive a Shootproof gallery and their account is authorized to download 20 photos. After downloading 20 they have the option to purchase more or buy the entire gallery. Instructions are very clear and this has never caused any problems in the past 2-3 years I've been doing it this way. I just had a client email me this: "I think my wife accidently downloaded the 1st 20 pictures unknowing that it meant she selected those. Can we reselect the ones we actually want?" I checked, and she did in fact download images 1-20. The problem is it's not like they can un-download them. So by allowing them to choose now they are getting a bunch of free product. I'm very intentional in the way I set up my packages and I am able to set my sitting price a little lower knowing that most people will buy more photos upon receiving their gallery. I state clearly in my contract and on my website that because of the nature of digital downloads I don't allow returns, refunds or substitutions.

Thanks, I took your advice and came to a quick and easy agreement with the other photographer about a referral fee for this one with no drama. I really appreciate your input :)

Hey, so I am in an awkward situation and I am not sure how to handle it. I shoot as a contracted associate for a photographer who lives about 1 1/2 hours away, she also shoots for me sometimes. I shoot for her clients in my area and vice versa. We each shoot and deliver raw images to each other (no post) and make a little less then half of what we would make as the booking photographer (we have a similar price structure). We have been doing this for years now, and usually it's good but sometimes problems arise. So I've just been contacted directly by a client that has always booked me through her. She has hired me specifically 3 times now and this time (4th) she skipped past the other photographer and contacted me directly to book through my company. I don't know if I should tell her to contact the other photographer or just book her myself. I have other associates that shoot for me and I am trying to look at it from every angle. If it was a 2nd shoot for this client I would tell her to book me through her, but by shoot number 4 I'm not sure. They are specifically seeking me out for what I bring and the relationship they have developed with me. I have not responded to the client yet, it is time sensitive because they want a shoot this weekend. Advice requested, I am open to every side of the argument but please be kind. TIA Edited to add: I also only book sessions for the other photographer on weekdays during school hours, this would be outside of my normal booking times for her.

I run a studio with a couple of associate photographers, priced by experience level. So this girl booked a last minute shoot this week with my least experienced (cheapest) photographer (btw - I am very upfront and transparent with clients about who is shooting, galleries are shown, prices are explained, I try to be extremely clear about everything). The shoot went well but the day after she emails to tell me how she wants to see all the images taken and choose which will be edited. Then later responds to my auto email that she can't wait to edit the photos. From her first message: "Photographers tend to choose different photos than I would choose due to an eye for lighting and camera angles. While I, as a professional model, I know a lot about, and care most about, correct body positioning over lighting, angles, and background. To me, our/my positioning would make-or-break the images for me." I state on my FAQ page that photos will be chosen for the final gallery by me, I just checked and I did not have that down in my contract (now I do!) I have already started drafting an email nicely stating no, and why. But I'm pretty sure this girl is going to be a problem if she doesn't get what she wants. She has also already mentioned how she can't wait to review our services. Had she brought this up prior to booking I would have said no and happily allowed her to find another photographer. That window has closed and now I'm just trying not to start a fire. I'm considering allowing her to view the images on dropbox, maybe with a big of watermark stating "raw photo" all over it, possibly for an additional fee. What would you do?

I let her fuss around everyone (and oh did she fuss over every little thing!) and it actually felt really good to relinquish the control and just let it happen. She took charge of her family and I mainly focused on what was in my frame. Luckily, the kids were very well behaved and happy (7y/o, 3 y/o and 6mo). Once we got a round of her photo list completed she relaxed (a little). It ended up being a very good experience for everyone. Thank you so much for the advice. It was so simple but incredibly helpful and I know I will apply it a lot in the future.

Thank you Sam Stevens, this is exactly what I needed to hear today.

How do y'all deal with it when you have a family portrait and the parents (usually the mother) wants to micromanage everything? I've been doing this for years and I've been struggling with this lately. When mom is so concerned with her babies looking right, smiling for the camera and not getting dirty that it has a negative affect on the whole shoot. I have one coming up this afternoon and I suspect this is going to be the case. My stress level is already up just thinking about it and I hope that once we get started everyone will relax and have fun.