When you are first starting out in your professional photography career it is easy to make mistakes that could end up costing you time, money, or even the loss of a client. And some of these mistakes you might not even be able to erase again so easily.
So following here is a quick list of 7 things you can avoid doing to help prevent problems from occurring when working with clients on photography assignments in the future:
1 – A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words – You have heard this phrase before I’m sure, but what I mean here is that when you take a brief from a client is it also best to ask your client for some visual guidance on the type of photos they actually want. Often you can discuss at length the style of the photos you plan to shoot, but, unless the client shows you the actual style of the photos they want, then you could end up totally missing the mark. In this case, if the client isn’t able to provide you with photo samples of what type of imagery they like, then you can perhaps also send/show them some sample photos that you gather up in order to better ascertain the style of what really appeals to your client. And don’t be shy to show them samples of other another photographer’s work too if this will help get you closer to a mutual understanding of what the required art direction is for the shoot you will be doing.
2 – Site Survey – It would always behoove you to perform a site survey of any client’s shooting location before the day of the actual shoot. This helps you to avoid any surprises and allows you to foresee any potential issues, limitations, or pitfalls with the location. I often go to the location and even do some test shots to help me make sure everything looks in order before the shoot. Sometimes I show test shots to the client as well in order to use them as a reference to discuss with them what types of angles they might like.
3 – Discuss Payment Terms – Often photographers feel shy about discussing how and when they want to be paid for their work. This can lead to problems and misunderstandings later as well as delays on expected payment dates. If you are not so comfortable to discuss these issues with your client directly then feel free to add these terms into your quote. This way, when it comes time for payment, there are no dashed expectations. Also, if there are going to be expenses that need to be paid in advance then you should discuss who will lay out the cost for these expenses and when they will be repaid if you agree to pay them in advance. If there are airfare costs involved then it would be best to see if the client can pay these upfront.
4 – What Will You Do If A Client Isn’t Happy With The Results? – You should be mentally prepared on what you will be willing to do in order to make a client happy if the pictures from the shoot don’t turn out as the client had expected. Are you going to reshoot? If so, who will cover any recurring expenses/costs? Things like this are good to consider in advance so that you are ready to resolve any problems later with a fast solution should they ever arise. A client will appreciate a photographer who is ready to quickly make good on his work if something doesn’t turn out exactly right.
5 – Retouching – You should discuss in advance how much retouching you are prepared to do on the final images. If this issue is not discussed then you could find yourself being expected to do a lot more retouching work than you were prepared to offer to begin with for your proposed fee. It is also good to discuss in advance the number of images that will be retouched and/or processed from the shoot in total. Again, this will help avoid being responsible for too much post processing work that you may not be wanting to do.
6 – Shooting Time – Inform a client up front how long you are prepared to shoot for in a day’s shoot. If you don’t, then you risk the client perhaps expecting you to shoot longer than you are prepared to shoot for if you are working on a daily rate.
7 – File Types To Be Delivered – You should discuss with the client what types of digital files you are planning to provide them with after a shoot. Some clients may want the RAW file itself and some photographers are not willing to hand over their RAW files for certain personal reasons. Other clients may expect you to create a variety of resolutions and file types for each shot. Some clients prefer TIF. Other clients prefer JPG. Some clients want both. So it is just good to agree upon what you will deliver to your client so there is no misunderstanding later, plus it avoids you from having to do a lot more work creating extra files that you hadn’t planned on.
The bottom line is that communication with a client about terms and expectations is essential with all clients prior to a shoot. Silence on any of these issues and others that might be specific to a shoot could open the door for misunderstandings between the photographer and a client later and quite often at the expense of the photographer.
I hope you find these tips useful and if you have any other important issues you think should be added to this list and discussed with a client in advance, and prior to a shoot, then please feel free to post them below.