What You Should Avoid Asking a PhotographerAnd Why it Matters

Magazines and random blogs tell you what to ask so why not share the opposite? Most photographers are operating small businesses that are primarily service focused with a product outcome.  As a result we have found they are treated differently than other businesses.  We have heard countless times this thinking that it does not hurt to ask.  From the requestors perspective it appears that they only will have to gain.  The nice thing is that those not really running a business you will likely gain out of their desperation.  For those more seasoned photographers who produce the quality you want you will be faced with the irony of getting the opposite of what you are asking due to the lack of respect in the request.

Respect for the importance of these events in your life is what you want so it is what you should give to your photographer.  Mutual respect is a foundational thing for working with another.  Trust can be earned through seeing past work and reading reviews but respect is one of those you should just come with day one.  We are not saying you need to address one formally as Sir but rather to have the mindset of ‘you are the professional’.

Here Are Ways You Can Be Disrespectful in a Question

1. Same for Less – Arbitrary Discounts

We all love deals.  There are win – win scenarios in business that will make sense and we offer those when they are feasible.  Discounts just because of X reason however may not go over right.  Large companies at scale offer discounts and will advertise them.  In the arts world it is dangerous to use a large company as there is an inherent lower skill factor.  The best artists are independent so the same for less is of greater impact to them personally. For us personally if you have done much looking in the proposal to wedding industry you will see our pricing is highly competitive for our experience. We are out there keeping busy so do not need to give discounts to keep busy.  All this to say we often respect the reason for the request but giving it does not make sense from a business operation standpoint.

2. One Way Commitment

It is commonly understood that there are return policies on most products.  Even some perishable items like groceries can be returned within reason.  This leads us to think people see service commitments as returnable time without impact.  We acknowledge that if a service was booked last minute then there potentially is a lesser impact.   We say potential as it depends on the specific day and time.  The reality is that for us there is almost always impact as people book from 2 hours to over 1300 days in advance. Two way commitment therefore is essential otherwise someone else will come for that time.

One way commitment is defined as booking without money down and / or the ability to receive a refund upon cancelation or a lack of availability due to a client initiated change. Another variation is asking for the ability to book in a ‘hold the date’ kind of way before anyone else can book the date. A surprisingly popular blog has been what to do when your photographer cancels on you.  We think it is popular because of the one way commitment being a trend.  If they give you a date / time but you do not have a non refundable deposit what is to stop them from doing something else in life?  Ethics and personal character would be a reason but sadly that is a fading thing.

3. Free Service Others Pay For

Before the event this occurs the most often in information gathering.  We are a photographer not an information hotline.  One example is getting a cold call about a proposal.  We do proposal planning which has a lot of details about a place that you may not otherwise find.  While we love to help people we never could verbally describe it so that means we would need to give away information others get for a cost.  This then might also impact our delivery as the location no longer is secluded.  While one might view this as just sharing information think of it more like going to the airport and asking for getting on the plane for free (or discounted) cause no one else had booked the seat.  While there may not be a cost apparent to you there is a multifaceted cost to that action. Another way this plays out is when another photographer reaches out about a spot where we made up the name cause it’s that much of a wilderness zone.

After the event this comes framed as a request for editing modifications but most often was it means is someone wants pixel perfection.  Our website shows a representation of over 30,000 images.  When you add to the online galleries there are over 100,000 images shown with the ability to download actual images.  We are not trying to hide anything or bait + switch you.  We edit all provided images to the representation shown so when you come asking for an edit change you are asking for us to do our work again.  Almost always what we would be asked is to get the removal of something you do not like about yourself that is outside of our control.  Little did you know we took the most common things and likely did them already.  There is no end to scope in pixel perfecting someone and so we clearly have to define the scope.  When someone then comes and asks for more it is asking for free service.

4. About Recommendations for other Photographers

We used to give some wedding vendor recommendations but the reality is that those people got insanely expensive, weird, or caused issues.  The more common one as of late are for proposal photographers. We have not seen anyone do what we do in proposals to date.  This is not to say that this does not exist.  People do proposals – even copy us at an online surface level – but not the way we do it.  So if what we are doing is unique is it right to ask for recommendations on other people?  Most proposals I see people miss the moment.  Most weddings I see they are very under equipped.  Over the years we have seen people holding others liable for another’s problems.  We want the best experience for you so take any recommendation seriously.

5. Not Answering Questions Directed to You

This happens most often through email as it is otherwise a really awkward phone call.  You cannot help someone if you cannot get answers to the questions.  This illustrates a lack of respect for ones time or another person.  We get if you miss it once but if the photographer has to ask it >3 times you are not helping yourself.  Is there not a line about ‘help me, help you’? What is likely a little worse tied to this one is when you ask a question and it gets answered with a lie to save face.  We hope it sounds absurd to lie to a photographer but people do this nonetheless.

6. Asking the Same Question

This would be the other side to the above one where you will not answer a question asked of you.  In this case you ask the same question seeking a different answer.  A business wants to make money so they are incentivized to offer a good answer.  If it’s not the one you want to hear asking it multiple times will not change the outcome.  Often this is because you are seeking to obtain something not offered and think the photographer must not have understood the request.  Asking again implies the photographer is not smart enough to understand.

7. Questions About Ones Style

We have seen questions related to style of shooting and style of editing. If you cannot figure this out from looking at their website then no words will be able to help.  Photography is a visual thing not a verbal descriptor.  It should be apparent and consistent otherwise how will you know if you are going to get what you think you bought?  We get the reason for blogs listing this question cause photographers are not consistent and barely show any images. For us we have over 30,000 images on our website.  If you ask this question the implication is that you have not looked at our website.  This can often lead to an expectation disconnect.  Our take is to shoot the best in camera in order to edit better on the backend.  Most people shoot poorly in camera and try to make up for it on the backend. As a result, if you want us to produce a different looking image then you should book someone who produces images to your preference. This will ensure a proper meeting of your expectation.

8. Theoretical What If Scenarios

We have literally been asked what if we get hit by a bus.  There are a ton of ‘what if’ kind of scenarios that you could never really be satisfied with as they are fear driven.  Rather than looking at a less probable but not 100% sure future look at the past.  Weigh the risk to the other risks and see if you find a benefit.  For the bus scenario you could get a huge company that just plugs someone in but then you have junk work not worth what you spend on it or the subcontracted photographer never even shows up.  Even still that company still could go under or have something happen the day off to them so you are never devoid of risk. There are things you can prepare for but then there are other things you could never prepare for normally referred to as Random Acts of God by insurance.

9. Comparison related questions

Photography is an artistic service not a commodity.  It is not a basic service that is interchangeable between people.  The perk for you is that with experience comes higher quality and more predictability. Asking questions with the assumption that this person you are talking to does the same thing as this other will lead you to disrespectful questions.  Look at what they offer and if you like it then hire them for what they do. If you want what this other person does then go get that other person.  There is this factor in the industry of people copying others to various levels.  This does lead to surface level similarities but try to avoid the direct comparison.

Takeaway to Questions

The kind of work we deal with are proposal to weddings.  Those are all critical must get type scenarios you cannot recreate.  We love this space as it is fun but it comes with its need for instinctive reactions.  Trust is a foundational thing built in respect.  If you are struggling on the front end in your questions to another you will likely struggle throughout.  We aim for everyone to have the best experience with us and we think that is reflected in the reviews of our service.