What's your worst/best photography experience

[Ben Jennings]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering what your best or worst experience in photography has been?

The reason I ask was after chatting to my dad the other day about a wedding he did recently, the story goes like this:

He was asked by friends to do the official photographs for their wedding as they were doing it on the cheap and didn't want to spend money on a "professional" photographer. So he agreed to do it (he's done a few in the past for friends) free of charge, explaining that he was not a professional photographer but he would do his best. So he went and did the wedding and I saw the photo's he took, your standard wedding group shots etc, nothing too fancy just what he felt comfortable doing. They were all good photo's (IMHO), no "wow that photo is absolutely amazing" but all decent pictures that were good enough to go in an album and remember the day, and to the standard that even some professionals would do. Job done.

But later after giving the couple some 300 odd photos, he asked whether they were happy, to his surprise (and mine) they basically said none of them were really that good and were far from complimentary about his work. So my dad has come away from the experience a little disheartened to say the least and actually said he's not going to do a wedding again.

I think the main problem with this is peoples expectations of what they will get. I feel bad for my dad because I know if this were to happen to me it would absolutely kill any confidence I had in photography (and also he's my dad ha ha).

So basically I was just wondering if anyone else had a similar experience, or from the other side of the scale where they had done something and not been happy with it themselves but the people it was for were really happy with what they had done.

Ben

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Doing stuff for friends has to be one of the toughest gigs - you're doing them a favor, but then it almost always ends up going pear-shaped in some way.

It's a really tough call to make.

I have only done a wedding for a friend once - and it did go well, but I vowed to never do it again - I think the expectation from 'The Big Day' is so huge, that you're setting yourself up for potential trouble.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I have had one wedding client where they claimed that the photos demonstrated a lack of skill
their argument was that much of the photo was out of focus
of course this was just me using large apertures to focus the attention to the subject ...
They demanded their money back, I wrote them a polite letter saying that i would consider thier complaint but required a written document of their issues ...
I knew that there was nothing wrong with the images i had taken for them, so stuck to my guns ... i even sought advice from trading standards who told me that as long as i had done my job to the same standard as i advertise he didnt have a leg to stand on.
suffice to say they never got back to me
I'm pretty certain he was just trying it on ... he was quite threatening when he rang me with his complaint
he said things like "you dont know who i am do you, you dont know what i could do" and then accused me of putting my middle finger up to him when i handed him the cd of images ... something that i clearly didnt do!

very odd, very uncomfortable thing to go through, and it certainly made me question my abilities ...

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Hats off to any of you who regularly shoot weddings - b@lls of steel!

 

[Kev Pugh]

I had a client bring some images in and said "I want them exactly like these" there were photos of artwork for reproduction, I explained that in order for me to that I would need to know exactly what settings were used, what equipment. lighting conditions etc. etc. and could I have the file to interrogate the exif data. Oh and they were prints so I had to add that also it would be useful if I could have the printer profiles etc etc etc. "I'm sorry you can't have them cos I don't know what you mean, if you are any good you can just do it exactly like this!"
After further explaining that if she wanted them exactly like that she should perhaps go back to the person who shot them in the first place, "oh I can't do that they were too expensive...................PAH! I'm sorry but I can't fit you in I'm far to busy......

 

[Thomas brookes]

I have just shot my second wedding as the " unofficial photog" for friends and explained to them that I will be doing my own thing. They both went down a storm and people loved them But during the pp I was stressed to hell that they were maybe too artistic and messed with. I will do it again for any friend for me fun and them getting extra shots for free. I can see how easy the mood would change tho if my friend said that I was there main photog...... I just wouldn't do it..... Good luck with mine Hamish!!! Haha

 

[Vic Shaw]

I'm so glad we're having this conversation as my first wedding is in two weeks! but don't mind me, just keep discussing your horror stories! It's not like I like people anyway.


Vic

 

[Kev Pugh]

I didn't mention the 'W' word but as we on it. I have done a few now and got one next year and just had an enquiry for another, but I hate 'em; didn't enjoy my own that much come to think of it either ;-) But when people ask and even though you say I don't normally do but they still want to look at what you've done and what you can offer it's a case of business man over conscience but I still don't like 'em.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Haha!! Nice one Ben, nothing better to get the nerves twitching about wedding horror stories! Haha!! Although, the post does state best experience as well, so I'll here's a bit of comfort Vic.
I'll be honest, the last wedding I done a few months back was the best one I'd did, (to date) it was for a friend of a friend and I didn't know how many songs of praise they were singing about me which I didn't know at the time! (although at the time I'd assisted as the second photog in 2 weddings and conducted only one before that, so, I had to put everything I knew and preparedfor on that pallet of delivery, it was the most nerve racking experience. But to my surprise, they loved them!!!!
I'd prepared more than I did for my exams, and it's such a relief that the preparation and planning had contributed to a great customer satisfied result. And from what I had learned it's always good to 'get to know' the client your doing the wedding for (if of course it's not a relative) Phew!!

On that note, I have a wedding this weekend!!!! Just remember the 6 P's ....... Planning and preparation prevents p** poor performance! Lol. I hope I've explained that right Hamish? :/

 

[Larry Bolch]

The Very Last Picture in B&W

For all the reasons listed, I don't do retail. I have always preferred to deal with people who buy and use photography on a daily basis. Interestingly, my best and worst experience were one and the same.

In the 1980s, much of my work was for the music industry. One day I got a call from the publicist of a top country music star. He had just changed a couple of members of his band and needed new B&W publicity pictures. Lighting was good in the club and I shot Tri-X. Once I had enough shots of him and his band, I finished off the last roll with some shots of just him and the microphone.

A couple of days later, the publicist called me again and ordered the band shots. She also said that the star declared that one of the solo shots was the best performance shot ever taken of him—his manager loved it, she loved it, his wife loved it and probably his horse and his dog did as well. They were considering it as his next album cover. This had changed the shoot from a three-hour gig to some significant money.

I got the call from the creative director of the worlds biggest record company, confirming the shot for the cover. Excellent conversation, accepting my suggestions for the overall design, making an offer that I could not refuse, and handing me a three day deadline. As we were about to hang up, he added "...in colour".

Tri-X is as close to monochrome as it gets. Not even the tiniest bit of colour about it. Here I have the biggest payoff in my life and can't find even a slight blush in the negatives. He wants colour. DRAT!!

I went to the biggest art supply company in the city and bought the finest airbrush. Printed a big stack of B&W prints and settled down to learning to airbrush. The learning curve on Photoshop is a breeze compared to an airbrush! It is now 48 hours without sleep and I finally have something that looks professional. Courier it to Los Angeles just under deadline.

The album shipped double-platinum and once out, set sales records. A large poster was made of the cover and it was plastered on the walls of every store that sold records. The Country Music Association, nominated it as "Country Music Album of the Year" and it won—with millions of people world-wide seeing my cover on television. Nice for the ego, but more importantly, everyone in the music industry also saw it, and life improved considerably. Many new clients.

I realized that I came this >—><—< close to blowing it, because I did a B&W shoot in B&W as requested. After that, everything was shot in colour. B&W was printed on panchromatic paper which produced excellent quality. This had the extra benefit when I handed prints to a client, and the client grieved that he should have asked for colour, I could say, "You can have that—I shot in colour." This would be followed by overly emotional client/photographer bonding.

It is very easy to take the colour out of any image. Whether in the fume-room or digital-darkroom, one has great control over the final image. However, putting colour back into an image that lacks it, is extremely challenging. Since then, I have shot exclusively in colour.

 

[Barry Keavney]

What a fantastic story and learning curve Larry! What year in the 80's was it? ;D
On a more serious note, I reckon I would've not had the balls or intuition to think about the airbrush job! I probably would've just had that as a "one who got away" story...due to lack of boldness and drive.
In the words of Del Boy "He who dare's, Rodders..."

 

[Brian Moore]

That's a great story Larry.

 

[Larry Bolch]

What a fantastic story and learning curve Larry! What year in the 80's was it? ;D

It was 1980 IIRC.

On a more serious note, I reckon I would've not had the balls or intuition to think about the airbrush job! I probably would've just had that as a "one who got away" story...due to lack of boldness and drive.
In the words of Del Boy "He who dare's, Rodders..."

It was worth a try. I had recently quite my job of 13 years as a staff photojournalist, and had gone on my own. Quite a bit of money was involved and I was still struggling at that time.

The subject, Don Williams, tended to dress in plain denim and wore a hat that had seen many years of use and sweat. No glitzy flash whatever. Very much a timeless appearance. I printed the picture with an oval mask and tried for an early 20th century, hand-tinted look. I suggested a rough burlap texture for most of the cover, and I think they scanned the back of a piece of carpet. In all, it made an appropriate cover.

 

[Brian Moore]

Larry I checked out your website. Great stuff! For that close up shot of Willie Nelson, what film did you use?

Thanks.

 

[Larry Bolch]

Larry I checked out your website. Great stuff! For that close up shot of Willie Nelson, what film did you use?

Thanks.

Probably Ektachrome 400.

 

[Paul Lange]

Holy **** Larry. That is a hell of a airbrush job you done there, especially when airbrush is far less forgiving than Photoshop.

 

[Darren Bradley]

Some great stories. I don't have any really bad photo stories. But I do find that friends and relatives tend to take for granted that I'm going to bring my camera and take good pictures of all of the events/holidays/birthdays/etc. So they never bring their own cameras or take any pictures. It's sort of like being the guy with the pickup truck - all your friends want you to help them move furniture. While I usually don't mind taking photos, I don't like for it to be taken for granted.

I was at the birthday party of a friend of my daughter's a while back and I intentionally left my camera equipment in the car. I figured I'd just relax and enjoy the party instead of running around with my camera for a change. But they were surprised and disappointed, and they only had an iPhone to take pictures of their daughter's birthday party. I tried to ignore it but eventually couldn't take it anymore and finally went out to my car for my kit. But when I came back with it, people started ordering me around like I was the hired photographer or something. I was having a conversation at one point with one of the other people at the party, drinking a beer, and the birthday kid's grandmother interrupted me to say that I needed to get outside now because the kids were doing some activity that she wanted photos of.

 

[Hamish Gill]

That would really get on my nerves!
2 words come to mind "heavy" "watermark"
Or maybe get a tshirt with "photographer for Hire" printed on it...


Unfortunately its just one of the "perks" of the hobby i think ... I quite like it a lot of the time, and when I don't I just give the camera to who ever thinks a photo is a good idea, safe in the knowledge that it's heavily insured!