Same dead horse, new beating

TrophyWife

My first post!

Been lurking for a while and have read with interest many threads dealing with "people who want photos for cheap or free." Thanks to you all for a lot of good advice when it comes to shooting Uncle Louie's wedding, or doing publicity for the local air show, or finding your pics on a friend's Facebook site...

What are your thoughts specifically on how this relates to TRAVEL?

My husband & I take several trips a year and gasp! occasionally end up on a group tour (though we prefer to go it alone). These travel companions who are strangers at the beginning of the tour usually end up as our mates after many meals together, bottles of wine, and shared experiences.

The problem is, as soon as I pull out my gear (which BTW is nothing flashy) everyone stops messing with their P/S and just assumes that I am their Official Trip Photographer. I do end up taking pics of a lot of the people we travel with (who usually are very willing subjects), but I’m not sure what to do both during & after the trip now that I’ve moved up to being a more serious photographer.

Thoughts? Do you oblige Thurston when he wants you to take a picture of him & Lovey in front of the Eiffel Tower even though the lighting is bad? How do you handle the conversation, “Hey everyone! Let’s all post our pictures on [photosharing].com!” Do you “tip” your guide with a nice print when you get home? What do you guys do with requests for CDs or emails of photos from fellow travelers?

johng

First question is easy - if Thurston wants a photo, simply ask him for his camera and tell him you'd be glad to take that photo.

As to sharing photos afterwards you have a couple choices:
1) just upload files res'd for small web use - say 400 pixels long. People aren't going to be printing 8x10s with that file.
2) post un-edited photos
3) don't include any photo which you could imagine being hung on a wall

2 & 3 require that you check your ego. Some people like the idea of others marveling at their photos and will want their best stuff on display.

Most people just want to look at the photos and share memories. Using their digicam on auto reduces the quality of the photo you're taking. And again, simply do the general tourist type shot without creative composition (remember if you don't let your ego into it you don't have to worry about them thinking - wow, anyone could have taken that shot). And with small, unedited photos posted on that share site you dont have to worry aout someone getting free 11x14 wall art.

JohnBiggs

You could just give them all cards with a URL to the pictures. The URL is of course a smugmug site where you have set prices. They will hopefully get the idea.

snaptie2002

I think the "don't do cheap or free photography" mantra applies more to mainstream paid gigs like weddings, sports and editorial work. If you would like to give your newly made friends copies of your travel shots I don't see a down side. If you decide to give them pictures I can't imagine why you would want to give them watered down, convoluted files........hit them with your best shots!

Marty

Wachel

JohnBiggs wrote:

You could just give them all cards with a URL to the pictures. The URL is of course a smugmug site where you have set prices. They will hopefully get the idea.

Maybe don't set the prices too high though...unless they were a pain!

Mox

To my mind, vacation = Not Work, so I don't mind sharing my stuff. As suggested, you can always cull the prize-winners before posting, and keep those for your galleries.

Cygnus Studios

Shooting friends/new friends on vacation for web sharing should be fun. If it appears to be turning into work, charge them...

Blaker

TrophyWife wrote:

Thoughts? Do you oblige Thurston when he wants you to take a picture of him & Lovey in front of the Eiffel Tower even though the lighting is bad? How do you handle the conversation, “Hey everyone! Let’s all post our pictures on [photosharing].com!” Do you “tip” your guide with a nice print when you get home? What do you guys do with requests for CDs or emails of photos from fellow travelers?

Are these friends or clients?

If you are friends, then by all means have fun with them and share your photos!!

bendruckerphoto

I make a conscious decision if I'm going on a trip with other people whether I will be the group photographer or not. If I decide to be the group photog, I shoot the trip like I'm being paid for it, although a little more relaxed. After we get back, I sell the photos on my SM site. I keep none of the profits. I donate it all to charities from the area where the trip was. By publicizing this fact, I get many more print sales, and also get people who actually hire me, making up for my loss. This has worked very well for me. After going to Israel this past winter, I donated $700 to charities in Israel. I also got 3 shoots from the fellow travelers which made me way more money than I would have on prints.

TrophyWife wrote:

“Hey everyone! Let’s all post our pictures on [photosharing].com!”

No. My response is that if you want to post my pictures somewhere, you can buy them first.

Do you oblige Thurston when he wants you to take a picture of him & Lovey in front of the Eiffel Tower even though the lighting is bad?

Yea. Bring fill flash and realize that when it comes to travel photos, people don't really care about the aesthetics as much as they would for a set portrait session.

TrophyWife

Thanks to you all for the comments. I am passionate about both travel & photography--which helps me stay balanced in my very stressful day job. This post gives me a game plan going into our next trip (Mont Blanc in September).

My husband & I do international medical missions work too, and I love the suggestion to donate any profits back to the local area.

To paraphrase a quote from another post, "with great equipment comes great responsibility."

Blaker

TrophyWife wrote:

To paraphrase a quote from another post, "with great equipment comes great responsibility."

Or more accurately, "With great talent comes great responsibility"!