WWYD -- Unhappy with pics from Christmas mini session

[redheadbaker]

So, we did that "merry mugshots" photo shoot that I posted about a month ago. The shoot was fun. She had him post with a photo frame and said she'd PhotoShop the mugshot info into the finished photos. 

I (finally, after emailing and texting her three times) got the "finished" photos back. They're not well-lit, and she didn't mask the PhotoShopped sign so it ... looks Photoshopped onto the photo. 

I'm a graphic designer, and could easily fix these myself with the raw photo. 

Would you ask for her to fix them? Or ask for the file if you could fix it yourself? Say fuck it and use the photos as-is, and never use the photographer again? 

[fortnightlily]

Unless you have a strong instinct that she'd react poorly, I'd always give a service provider a chance to know you're dissatisfied and give them the opportunity to fix it. And I think it's totally fine to also acknowledge that she might be busy and that you'd be happy to just have the raw photo to edit yourself.

[hermione]

I'd likely just chalk it up to a loss and never use her again. I don't have your skills though so in your case, I think you should ask for the raw photo - and still never use her again regardless of her answer.

[redheadbaker]

Dec 14, 2023 9:45:50 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Unless you have a strong instinct that she'd react poorly, I'd always give a service provider a chance to know you're dissatisfied and give them the opportunity to fix it. And I think it's totally fine to also acknowledge that she might be busy and that you'd be happy to just have the raw photo to edit yourself.

I don't really know her at all. I found her on Facebook and she has great reviews. I'm just not a confrontational person. 

[kath16]

I would politely ask for the raw photo without getting into the reasons. "Hi Jane! Would you be willing to share the raw photo file with me into my dropbox?"

There is always a risk in these situations of not liking the end result for myriad reasons, but it also can't hurt to ask.

I don't think it's confrontational.

[hermione]

I would just say, "I'm a graphic designer and want to make a few tweaks. Would you be willing to share the raw file?"

[waverly]

I don't mind emailing people and asking politely for things. I don't perceive it as confrontational if I am polite, and they can say no according to their policy. I like the wording above.

However, I am wondering if she would even respond since you have to email and text 3 times just to get a bad product? How much effort I am willing to put into it might depend on how much it cost me for the pictures.

[jinkies]

I don't think it's worth it to ask her to fix them-- presumably if she could have done better, she would have.

I agree with the suggestions above that it can't hurt to ask politely for the raw file. Otherwise, i'd just go with what you have.

I know it's disappointing, especially because you spent money on it. But presumably these are for a Christmas card, and not something that will hang in your home for the next 10 years or anything. If they aren't 100% perfect, I would try not to stress too much.

[wanderingback]

I’m Black and many times photographers don’t know how to make the lighting appropriate for Black people, so I would personally say something because I hate when that happens. I would say "these aren’t well lit, are you able to edit them to improve the lighting?" I don’t think it’s rude and the worse they can say is no. I don’t know how to photoshop but if you do and you want to edit it I think it’s also fine to ask for the original photos as well.

[redheadbaker]

I decided it's not worth it to try to contact her again to get the raw files. She did take a couple where he's not touching the sign, so I can edit one of those to use on the card, even though I think he's smiling less goofy in the other ones.

But definitely not using her again.