Would you let your clients edit and print their own photos taken by you?

[f_mamat]

<p><br /> Hi,<br /> <br /> I need some urgent advice. I have been taking photos for quite some time<br /> now and my hobby has reached the stage where I would like to start<br /> making money from the photos. I am not going to open my own photography<br /> business just yet. I still have many things to do before I can start my<br /> own business. I just want to do this part-time among friends, family and<br /> to make a little pocket money.<br /> <br /> One of my friends has asked me to take photos of her children. However<br /> she would like to edit them herself (adding borders, text etc). Not just<br /> that, she also wants to get all the photos printed herself as well; she<br /> said it is cheaper that way. <br /> <br /> The reason that she wants to edit the photos is because she may not like<br /> the way I do it. She has her own favourite templates that she wants to<br /> use.<br /> <br /> This is my dilemma. Should I let her do this? I am worried if I let her<br /> do all the editing and printing, then everybody else would like the same<br /> thing.<br /> <br /> I know all photographers do all the work (shooting, editing and<br /> printing) themselves.<br /> <br /> How do I say NO without offending her?<br /> <br /> I believe that I retain the copyright to the photos.<br /> Can she legally edit the photos as she intends to?<br /> <br /> Any help would be greatly appreciated.<br>

Thank you.</p>

[DEGREEFOTO]

<p>Hi there,<br>

Iwould try to come to some agreement with your friend in so much as telling her that if you do let her edit the shots then, it is a one off only and only because they are a friend of yours. In regrads to it being cheaper for her, unless she has a great deal of time on her hands and nothing better to do, I would take this opportunity to show her that your future career involves a great deal of more 'behind the scenes' work which if you were to put a $ value to it per hour, then they may understand what is involve in editing not least the layout of an album. You mention the copyright issue and not knowing where you are located, it is something that you will have to consider and bring to her attention in regards to what the law stipulates.<br>

I have a simple rule which may appear inflexible to some, but that has over time saved my butt in many occassions and that is prevention is better then a cure. If you feel comfortable with giving your friend this wish, then remember that you may be setting a precedent for your future operation,pricings etc...if the word was to get out that you permit such things.<br>

The other aspect is, does this friendship have a $ value in regards to you wanting to make some extra pocket money seeing you are doing this as a hobby. I know that when I started out, I was put in similar situations by people that knew me, but it was the fact that they wanted to see my interpretation of the image and everything that that implied that they had me take their photos without asking me to hand over the rolls of film because it was cheaper for them to have processed. A delicate situation indeed, but after all you are not selling a piece of beef that someone takes home to prepare the way they like it, but images of how you see whats before you and your individual interpretation of such. Nevertheless, open discussion with your friend may be a good starting point and do express your concerns.</p>

<p>All the best</p>

<p>Artur</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>It sounds like you have one foot on the deck and the other in the pool. You want to make some money but you don't want your own business? That is what making any money from your work is. You either need to jump in the pool and get wet, or watch the others swim from the deck.<br>

In any event, your best customers come from referrals. EVERYONE loves a good deal or special favor and wil ALWAYS brag about it. So no matter what you say to your friend, the word will get out.<br>

Now is the time to make a decision one way or the other and be prepared to live with it for a long time. It's just like starting off with really low prices to get some customers. Word spreads about your work but also that you're "really cheap". Then you start getting a little busy and decide to raise your prices (which you're kind of doing now) and you get shocked customers who then may go elsewhere.<br>

You have to decided if you want this venture to become something or just remain a hobby. If your friend is really more interested in having it done her way, then have her give YOU those templates. I think she's just trying to be cheap -they always are....-Aimee</p>

[ronald_moravec1]

<p>Certainly she can take them to the local consumer printer. Then you are responsible for the results.</p>

<p>I had a friend at work who procrasinated over printing a wedding photo and got in a bind. She took it Walmart againt my advice and got a pure black tux and blown white dress which is what I told her would happen. She eventually took them to my pro lab. At least she did not blame the photographer.</p>

[justin_greene]

<p>"How do I say NO without offending her?"<br>

Why don't you say "YES", since she is the customer telling you the product she wants to purchase. She would like the digital files so she can scrapbook and template, and whatnot. Why is that so hard to understand in these digital days?<br>

Just charge the amount that covers your time and profit, and off you go.</p>

[enlightened-images]

<p>You explain that you have a price range. Price A is you do everything, including all editing, post processing, color conversions, spotting and cloning, adjusting hue, saturation, lightness, levels, then adding in fancy borders, printing, matting & framing, etc., to her specifications. If you use big 'photographer' words, and she doesn't understand the terms, or all of the sudden it sounds like a lot of work, then you might get a higher value upsell.</p>

<p>Price level B is you do all editing, post processing, conversions, levels, adjustments, spotting and cloning, and she gets a selection of (X) number of finished hi res files for her to print and play with.</p>

<p>Price level C is you shoot a bunch of jpegs, and hand her a CD with all of the unedited, un-retouched shots.</p>

<p>I would personally never agree to option C, and likely never even mention it as an option. You can decide what to do with the third option on your own.</p>

[abby_benedict]

<p>I would personally never hand off unedited photos of my work and allow them to be edited by the client. Because people will inevitably see them and she'll say, "oh, my friend Artur did those!" and they will then attribute whatever the final image is as being your work. If she had a professional skillset, then she would not need to hire you. Therefore I would assume that her editing skills are subpar and what looks great to her would not necessarily be great to anyone else.<br>

I would only allow her to resize your digital files for appropriate placement in templates. (Resizing is different than cropping - I would not allow her to change composition.) If she's worried that she won't appreciate your editing, then maybe she should take the photos herself or find a photographer who is willing to do so. (And I don't think there are many.)<br>

She can go to Portrait Innovations, have a session and then they'll send her home with a cd of all the images, unedited. Maybe that is more her style.</p>

 

[f_mamat]

<p>Hi All,<br /> <br /> I really appreciate all your kind replies. Thank you so much.<br /> <br /> Before I go any further, I just want to say that I am a serious ameture. I shoot for fun and do it for the LOVE of photography. But now I am seriously thinking of making money out of this hobby.<br /> <br /> I started 2 years ago by doing stock photography but now I want to go a little further. I have some photos up on Flickr if you are curious to see what my work is like. Have a look (www.flickr.com/photos/firmamat) and let me know if you think I still have a lot to learn or I can slowly start shooting for money. <br /> <br /> The reason I am not ready to start a proper business yet is there's a lot to learn on the business side of things like taking orders, printing, information packs, invoices, tax, advertising, insurance, etc. I have read somewhere that 80-90% of small businesses fail because they didn't learn the business side of things before starting a business.<br /> <br /> My friend is happy with my photos however she prefers doing the editing (adding text, templates, borders etc) herself as she is into this art and graphic stuff. Is this thing really popular among clients nowdays? I may have to get some good quality templates for these sort of clients.<br /> <br /> Anyway, she wanted me to take the photos of her kids because she doesn't have all the equipment that I have; she just has a small compact camera. Only recently she mentioned that she would like to get a DSLR camera because she likes the quality of photos taken with a DSLR. However she wants something that is easier to use and doesn't have to tweak the settings too much when she takes each photo.<br /> <br /> Sometimes I am a little annoyed that some people can just say they want to get a similar camera like mine so they can take good shots. I don't know why they think that they can just pick up a camera and bam, they'll have good photos. There is more to it than that.<br /> <br /> I'm not a pro but have worked my butt off to get where I am now. I am reading every book I can, I ask for advice, and practise a lot because I do intend to go pro one day, whether part time or full time. I do realise that will be a few years away yet. Photography skills are a work in progress. We all have to start somewhere, and we all constantly work on improving our skills.</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>Good points; however your friend may become your competitor someday too. There is a saying that since the onset of digital photography, the average camera has become smarter and the average photographer hasn't" meaning that the camera does more and the photographer knows less. How does this pertain to posing and lighting? Unfortunately, the average consumer doesn't appreciate better photography. They can be "wowed" with templates, effects, black & white, tilted photos, etc.<br>

In today's market, it's not the best photographer in the area who has the most successful business....-Aimee</p>

[jessie_arnold]

<p>I would be very hesitant to let someone else edit my images, on the off chance that they do a bad job -- it has the potential to reflect badly on you as a photographer.<br>

On the other hand, if all she wants to do is add borders etc, I would probably let her for the sake of keeping her happy. Just make her promise or sign something that says she can't edit anything other than that. The photos on your flickr are very nice, by the way!</p>

[j.lewis.photo]

<p>I think you need to decide if photographing for this friend is a favor, or a money-making practice. I take the advice a more experienced photographer gave me... "Charge them what your worth or do it for free, because if you charge them a nickel they think they have rights."</p>

<p>If this were a job I was doing for a friend, and the images were never going to leave her living room wall, I'd say knock yourself out, just don't tell anyone I did the work if it looks bad.</p>

<p>If it were a paying job, I'd say absolutely not. Your buying finished images. That means I develop/process, and I create the work in every sense. If they don't feel that your competent to do the editing, than they're hiring the wrong photographer.</p>