If you are a photographer, especially if you are a professional or have practiced as such on occasion, it is more than likely that you had to listen to some things that did not make you very funny. Phrases that are said by someone who has little (or no) idea of photography and that can be annoying but there is no other choice but to endure stoically.
They have to do with a some disregard for the profession, but also with photographer hobbies, the strange things that we usually do, which often implies that they see us as strange beings, with normally enormous cameras that, they think, they take the photos alone and on top of that we have a “magic weapon” called Photoshop that can almost everything…
But no, we are just photographers, we love this art and we don’t like to be told the following:
What a cool camera, surely it makes great photos!
We start with one of the most repeated topics, that surely we have all heard (even if we are not professionals) if we have a “fairly apparent” camera. A myth, that a good camera takes good photos, which is totally wrong.
¿A good oven makes a delicious roast on its own? ¿Good scissors ensure a good haircut? Well that, a good camera it will only be if you have a good photographer behind. So if we hear that from a client we can ask them about their profession and if the tools they use would be able to guarantee, on their own, that their work would be successful.
Do you mind bringing your camera and taking some photos?
Another very common topic, “Since you are a photographer, you could bring the camera tomorrow to take some photos of my event that does not cost you anything” We could? Sure we want? No necessarily. Maybe if the person is very close we will do the favor (offering it as our gift, for example) but that of taking some photos “as you come” …
Being a photographer is a profession, and therefore we cannot give away our time or money (We have expenses and taxes to pay). Therefore, as in the previous case, we could respond by turning the subject around and asking the interlocutor if it would be good for them to invite him to a wedding and make him cook, “since he’s a cook“, for example. Like everyone, if we are invited to an event (wedding, communion, baptism, party …) we also have the right to enjoy it without being working.
Then you change this with Photoshop, right?
Another very common topic, which attributes practically unlimited properties to the well-known photo retouching program. It is true that with Adobe Photoshop you can do incredible things, but not everything is possibleAnd, in addition, there are things that require a lot of time and knowledge, something that clients in general do not usually consider (in part, it is true, because they are not aware of the time that a complicated touch-up can take).
The same thing happens, following the previous examples, that with the time you can have behind that delicious dish that they have put in a luxury restaurant. Therefore, our response should be make you understand that photo retouching is very time consuming, and that we cannot lose it in things without importance or, in the worst case, in something that perhaps would be good if they had followed our instructions to the letter.
Can you send me all the photos?
A common question this time and it is strictly associated with professional photographers, who after a photo session receive the request from the client to send them all the photos, either in JPEG or even in RAW format. Something we should flatly refuse, and deliver only the finished photos.
Our work must be understood as a whole, a finished product that represents us. Therefore, we are not interested in having unfinished photos that can be associated with our name. More if they want them raw, on top of what that could mean if they want to edit them on their own … Therefore, following the gastronomic simile, we can argue that giving them the photos in RAW would be as if they delivered all the ingredients in a restaurant of a dish before making it, isn’t that what you want, right?
Can you flip the entire black and white image minus this?
It is called selective desaturating, and although it can be a very attractive technique, it is part of those gimmicky touches that we should avoid as much as possible and refuse to do so.
We can argue that we were hired for our personal styleThat if they let us work, they will surely love the result … If they insist we can tell them that if we do it, the image will have nothing to do with the rest, and that in the long run they will regret it … But if there is no way, perhaps we will have to give in (eye, with a single photo) to try to get them out of the error.
I have a good camera, would you give me a discount for using mine?
It is not a very common thing, but surely someone has happened that they have offered to use their own camera as a means so that a report is cheaper. It seems like a joke, but it can happen, so we should be prepared and refuse outright.
As we said at the beginning regarding the appearance and / or size of our camera, what a customer buys is a service that includes our style and skills They will end up in good photos, not a more or less good camera.
I have seen this on Instagram, can we do it?
It can be annoying, because basically it is possible that they are asking us to put aside our creative vision to copy what others do, which is probably a trend of social networks (which, perhaps, we do not like at all).
However, we have to be flexible as much as possible, making it clear to them that we cannot do certain things (for example some that need enormous resources) and convincing them that we can do even better. Of course we can also give in and incorporate some of the ideas into the images, making them feel like they are participating in the creative process.
Do you mind if I take some photos too?
This is very common especially in social events, where everyone wants to capture what happens or some amateur photographer appears with their mobile phone that can hinder us. So we must make it clear to our clients that we need to work freely (and priority), and that at certain times we cannot stop the process so that no one else takes photos.
Keep in mind that in ceremonies time is usually limited and that it has very clear marked phases. We can remind you that later, at the banquet, you will surely have time to take all the photos you want with everyone and, if it is a wedding, suggest the possibility of unpluging, that is, without mobiles.
How many megapixels does your camera have? My phone has …
We finish with a topic that both professionals and amateurs can listen to, and that it may be repeated a lot Now that the Xiaomi phone with a 108 Mpixel sensor from Samsung is already on the market.
As photographers, we know that cameras are better than mobile phones and always will be, buthow to explain it to a layman? If we feel like we can try to tell you that the pixels of your mobile do not have much to do with those of our camera but is it worth it?
Ultimately, there are a number of issues that we will probably continue to hear, especially if we are professionals, and they may continue to bother us. Why we should be firm in our response, to think that it is in human nature to underestimate the complexity of things that are not known and try to don’t take it to heart, Do not you think? Is there anything else you usually hear that bothers you especially?
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