Client requests to have images removed from online portfolio

[thomas_hardy1]

<p>She was very polite with her request. I'd just take them down.</p>

[DB_Gallery]

<p>Am I correct in that the only engagement photos I see are one couple and that the very first splash page image on the entire site is of them kissing?<br>

I'm sorry, but the quality of work on the site, the fact he would even have to ask the question in light of the polite email and that he posted it and her name on a public site just reeks of an amateur who thinks he is a professional.<br>

So glad I am not a wedding photographer...</p>

[sandy_labana]

<p>Hi Joshua: If you need advice in such a matter, my suggestion is to get out the business. Sandy</p>

[buffdr_rasouliyan]

<p>Wow Joshua, you have taken beating here. I would take the pictures down AND ask the moderator to please delete this entire question. She can simply google you and come across this. Do the right thing and choose your battles, this is NOT one of them. v/r Buffdr</p>

[sam_comtois]

<p>hi josh..... take the pictures down..especially if you are going to do her wedding pictures. dont let egos get in the way., after all you are the professional here!</p>

[sam_comtois]

<p>hi josh..... take the pictures down..especially if you are going to do her wedding pictures. dont let egos get in the way., after all you are the professional here!</p>

[mjferron]

<p>How to succeed in business. Please the customer. Within reason of course but happy customers are repeat customers. You work for them. I'm sometimes surprised at the lack of business savvy I see demonstrated on this forum. Proper business operation is every bit if not more important than your technical and artistic skills.</p>

[gomezimages]

<p>I Josh, I personally recommend you take them down like mostly everyone here. Partially because the customer asked you very nicely.<br>

I too provide customers with password protected galleries to give them privacy (I think this is where she's getting at) and allow them to be the first ones to see the images. I never publish images of an event before i have handed the customer their printed images and I suggest may be you try this for future clients to avoid similar scenarios from arising. Btw,Absolutely have a model release form explicitly stating their rights and yours when it comes to the images. Your customer has no issue with this, her issue comes from the pictures going live before you are done with them. After she selects her images and all pictures/albums have been handed over and you have fulfilled your contract, politely ask the customer is she is OK with the work going back on your site. Normally I never ask a customer for permission, because i post them after i'm "done" with them, but given the nature of your case, I would play it safe. Remember, we are never done with a customer, so play it safe and happy shooting!</p>

[dan_south]

<p>Never post a client's photo in a publicly viewable manner without prior authorization. Never, ever.</p>

<p>You should treat your clients as though they're the most important people on the planet.</p>

<p>Do you think these clients feel valued and respected? Do you think they'll recommend you to other potential clients? Or will they say nasty things about you? Better luck next time.</p>

<p> </p>

[jeff_schear]

<p>In this kind of economy your clients are more important than ever, supply and demand my friend. Good advice from everyone.</p>

<p>Jeff<br>

URL signature removed. Not allowed per photo.net Terms of Use.</p>

[jeff_schear]

<p>In this kind of economy your clients are more important than ever, supply and demand my friend. Good advice from everyone.</p>

<p>Jeff<br>

<b>URL signature removed. Not allowed per photo.net Terms of Use.</b></p>

[DB_Gallery]

<blockquote>

<p>I would take the pictures down AND ask the moderator to please delete this entire question. She can simply google you and come across this.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Big time, totally insane it was asked and posted here in the first place.</p>

[William Michael]

<p><em>“<strong>Feb 15, 2010; 11:14 p.m.</strong> . . . I have not yet responded to her as I am unsure how to balance what <strong>is now a delicate situation</strong>. <strong>Any advice is much appreciated</strong>”</em><br>

<em></em><br>

I had a peek at the site. I too can only see one “Engagement” portfolio and I therefore assume the Client is the woman with orange high heeled shoes? – (Nice Shoes).</p>

<p>The overwhelming advice has been to take the images down and chill with the client.</p>

<p>There was never ever any <strong><em>“delicate situation”. </em></strong>That advice / comment was implicit in many posts also.</p>

<p>Also the other main thrust of the advice here was that having this all displayed even more publically is just plain silly – you have a client who asks nicely that she wants to talk about what is public and what is not – so your reaction is make another link to those images AND you publish details of the interaction with that Client, who was merely asking you for a little more privacy.</p>

<p>***</p>

<p>So my question is Josh – <strong><em>what have you done since Feb 15?</em></strong></p>

<p>It is obvious you have done nothing about this thread. It appears that you have done nothing about the publishjed Photos, thoygh of that I cannot be sure because I dod not look at you webpage earlier.</p>

<p>And it is a reasonable conclusion that you might have had little or no communication with your client – at leats you have not reprted that here and you seem to have a passion so to do.</p>

<p>If over the last few days you have done nothing, then IMO you could be fast approaching a “<strong><em>delicate situation”</em></strong><br>

<em></em><br>

<em>“we blend a <strong>compassionate</strong> approach with photojournalism and keen <strong>attention to detail</strong> . . .</em> <strong><em>each moment caught with clarity</em></strong><em>.” (your website)</em><br>

<em></em><br>

IMO you need to employ that same mantra to your Client / Business Relationship protocol.</p>

<p>Because it seems to me:</p>

<p>> you were not in tune with the <strong><em>passion</em></strong> (the tone and feeling of the of the Client’s request),</p>

<p>> you have not paid attention to the <strong><em>detail</em></strong> (the Client’s main thrust is she wants privacy)</p>

<p>> you have severely missed the <strong><em>moment</em></strong> (no apparent action for days)</p>

<p>WW<br>

<em></em></p>

[William Michael]

<blockquote>

<p><strong><em>"totally insane it was asked and posted here in the first place"</em></strong><br /></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hello Daniel<em><strong>,</strong></em><br /><br />Well I agree. And potential Business Suicide IMO . .. I just went about saying it in a longer way . . . <br /><br />but <strong><em>"totally insane</em></strong>" has an immediacy about it. <br /><br />Perhaps that phrase combined with <strong><em>"potential Business Suicide"</em></strong> will jolt Josh into action?<br /><br />Let's wait and see.<br /><br />WW</p>

[nick grove photography]

Hi Josh

I guess you've already done the right thing and taken the engagement

shoot pictures down as requested and from now on you'll notify the

clients first before anything goes live on your website or blog in the

future. I know that it hurts when your asked to take down photographs

that you are proud off but there will be plenty more engagement and

wedding shoots In the future. Best just to save yourself a lot of bother

and always put the client first.

[john_h.1]

<p>There's that "totally" word again William. Is insanity a partial occurrence or is it only I who is asked about communicative redundancy?</p>

<p>Inside humor aside, it is indeed 'totally insane' from a customer relation standpoint to broadcast to the world what a client has explained as private and 'extra' insane to do so when it does nothing to help people answer the question at hand. It may be uber insane considering that ANY potential future client may see that being done. More of that potential win the battle but lose the war phenomenon.</p>

[ianivey]

<p>Of <em>course </em>take them down, but just as important:</p>

<ol>

<li>immediately email saying you've pulled them all until she can have a chance to make some decisions, and </li>

<li>then <em>call </em>without delay to <strong><em>apologize profusely </em>for upsetting her.</strong></li>

</ol>

<p>You're not apologizing because it was necessarily wrong to post them. If this was your standard practice which you discussed with her before-hand and she was, as her email suggests, simply surprised by her friends' and her own reaction, then this just didn't turn out quite like you and your client expected, at least at first blush.</p>

<p>You're apologizing because you did something that (to your mutual surprise) upset her. And you're unhappy to have upset her. And you want her to know that right now. </p>

<p>If you're anything like me, you got into the wedding photography business in large part because of the HUGE psychic reward of making brides so very, very happy. It's horrifying to get a note like this because it threatens to undo the value you create with your work.</p>

<p>But golly, how much easier is it to work with a take-down request when the client delivers it in such a conciliatory tone?</p>

<p>This has got to be one of the ten best clients in the world. She enthusiastically acknowledges your ownership and right to use the photos and then clearly and without laying blame shares her gut reaction. She <em>asks </em>rather than demands that the photos come down, and implies that this is temporary -- just to give her time to be the one who makes decisions. And she ends with "Let's talk!" I daresay this is a <strong>dream client.</strong> And you should tell her right away that you really appreciate her manner of communication, her obvious concern about your business, and her interest in working things out to your mutual benefit.</p>

<p>I, too, am perplexed by the need to ask for advice about this in a forum, not to mention the wisdom of making such a post. I suppose this thread could help new or non-business-savvy photographers. But there's not a serious argument to be made for not pulling the photos and contacting the client immediately. Really, is there?</p>

[david_miller41]

<p>She doesn't sound like she wants those images down forever. She probably just want to be little bit more picky about what images are going to be available for the world to see. Let her choose a dozen or so that she is comfortable having public and she will probably be happy.</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Well we are "totally" in to the 18th Feb now . . . Calling Josh? . . . I do sincerely feel for his possible pending situation.</p>

[pdbphotography]

<p>She seems very reasonable. If it were me, i would talk to her and be professional about it. you may own the images but a happy client is worth much more. word of mouth can be a powerful thing and i would much prefer more business and a happy client base than i would a few pics on the site.</p>