Note: Photo tips are answers to questions asked on our Facebook page. If you would like to submit a question, please click here to submit your question. We will then post them on our Facebook page and let our fans respond to the question. We will then transfer the question over to our blog so we can keep them in an organized way for others to see.
Question from Tia: “What’s the best way to handle it when the shots don’t come out the way you think they should? Do you offer a re-do? Do you show them and then if unsatisfied, offer a re-do or money back?”
Dena: You can always offer a reshoot. I’ve never had to do it before, but if I did, I would do the reshoot & just discard the images from the first session. Reshoots are covered in my contract.
Amanda: It would depend on how poorly the shoot turned out. If it was just me being nit-picky at my own work, I would say it would probably be fine to just go on amd show the client. If there were major issues with technical things that couldnt be fixed, I would offer a reshoot.
A Vinyard Image: I would say reshoot. And honestly it depends on how bad they were. Me? I REALLY want to get better so I am contantly thinking my work should be better, but just yesterday I got a call from a grandma who did a shoot of her family to say how wonderful the images were. Now if I just said, ” i’ll reshoot” they’d miss out on the pictures that they truly love. If they are ok in your eyes, let them see their images, if they are happy you’re good. If they are unhappy you reshoot. Its a judgement call, and totally up to you tho! Best of luck. ~ Ashley Vinyard of A Vinyard Image
Renae: I offered to give them all the pics for free and I didn’t want to be attached to them. If they dont match my portfolio i offer them fir free. But they insisted on paying me anyway
Carla: say its not up to your standards and offer them a re shoor if they want one
Jen: I would ask yourself why did it turn out poorly- in my contract I state that the clients must cooperate with the photographer – if they don’t or they have a kid that is screaming the whole time that’s not my mistakes or errors and I wouldn’t do a retake for free. Chances are if they don’t cooperate the first time they won’t do it the second time either
Melissa: If the entire session is something I am disappointed in, I would offer a reshoot. I’ve never had that happen, though. If it’s just a handful of shots that didn’t come out right, then just exclude them from the client’s gallery.
Colleen: I just had a situation where they closed a park on us….due to a special event…and we ended up going somewhere much less scenic (neither of us knew the area and it was recommended by someone at the first park). It was getting dark and I just didn’t feel I captured the ‘fall look’ they wanted (the greens at location 2 were still green). I personally was not happy and told them that if they don’t have want they need, let me know and happy to meet at the original location for a quick mini-session free of charge. Just to get some additional. I wouldn’t put down your work….figure out another reason to offer it for free…
Meghan: I was talking to my best friend the other day about this very thing. I personally think we are our own worst critics. We are hardest on ourselves. I agree, if it’s a matter of small details that most people overlook, show the client the photo and let them decide. People are generally picky about their portraits. They are paying good money and want a good product. So they will let you know if it’s not up to their standard. And if that does happen, I’d definitely offer to reshoot. Just an example…I did a family/1 year shoot the other day. The pictures turned out great! There were so many fun, clear shots of the kids. But when it came to the family pictures, I don’t know what happened. My camera suddenly, for about 200 frames, did not want to focus at all. I’m so upset. So when I meet with them to give them their photo cd I’ll let them know ahead of time, because it’s obvious to anyone, that the pictures just aren’t in good focus. And when they can, I’d love to do a reshoot of just the family photos.
Heather: This is the scariest situation. I was at a wedding in September and in between the ceremony and reception I uploaded to my laptop and wiped them off the card as I did and I went into the folders to make sure everything was there and it said error and wouldn’t let me look at anything. Over 700 pictures. I seriously just about had a panic attack. I was able to pull them into Lightroom edit and save at full size. And I calmed down. How do you even fix a screw up like that? I couldn’t even imagine losing the entire day, some of my best wedding images to date happened that day.
Heather: And in a more related response. My wedding images from August…I thought I messed up the posed family photos, pretty bad. I was really embarrassed to share the photos with the couple. I finally did and I received an email back later that day saying the images were fantastic and were really great. Most relieving moment ever.
Tia: Thanks everyone! Much appreciated
JLE Photography: I just did this tonight, I’m new but between a 4 month old who wasn’t into it and some lighting quirks I just wasn’t happy with them. I feel horrible, like I should give their money back but i offered to try another day and maybe we can work a better time of day for the little guy!
Feel free to keep responding to this question using our comment section below.