Thanks again for all of the replies. I appreciate the support and constructive criticism/feedback. I have reworked the two she was unhappy with and reordered them at my cost, of course. I have offered her the option of either the reprints, or a refund for the two 8x10s that she is unhappy with. That is still not good enough for her. Without going into all the details, it ended tonight with her sending me a email full on insults, name calling, and pure hatefulness. I was floored by it. She said all the pictures are horrible and she has nothing to display on her walls and she is sickened by it. And that was the "nicest" part of the email.
The funny thing is she continues to request a CD of the images.
I have her address, so I am going to mail the canvas along with the reprints to her and then we are done. I have tried to make her happy, but I do not think it is possible.
Again, thank you for your assistance.
I think I was in the minority on here, but I believe my first instinct was right. You've done everything you could, just run from this one, it sounds like she might be dealing with other issues that are not your fault.
Nikon D700, 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 60mm f/2.8, SB-900 Site Blog
Thanks again for all of the replies. I appreciate the support and constructive criticism/feedback. I have reworked the two she was unhappy with and reordered them at my cost, of course. I have offered her the option of either the reprints, or a refund for the two 8x10s that she is unhappy with. That is still not good enough for her. Without going into all the details, it ended tonight with her sending me a email full on insults, name calling, and pure hatefulness. I was floored by it. She said all the pictures are horrible and she has nothing to display on her walls and she is sickened by it. And that was the "nicest" part of the email.
My best guess? Her husband didn't like whatever it was of their money she spent on the prints. She'll do anything to get out of it and get her money back 'cause he's mad. Could be the best pics in the world, but she's in the doghouse and trying to get out. No way to fix this problem, it's between the two of them, not you and her.
Thanks again for all of the replies. I appreciate the support and constructive criticism/feedback. I have reworked the two she was unhappy with and reordered them at my cost, of course. I have offered her the option of either the reprints, or a refund for the two 8x10s that she is unhappy with. That is still not good enough for her. Without going into all the details, it ended tonight with her sending me a email full on insults, name calling, and pure hatefulness. I was floored by it. She said all the pictures are horrible and she has nothing to display on her walls and she is sickened by it. And that was the "nicest" part of the email.
The funny thing is she continues to request a CD of the images.
I have her address, so I am going to mail the canvas along with the reprints to her and then we are done. I have tried to make her happy, but I do not think it is possible.
Again, thank you for your assistance.
Deliver the canvas only if she's already paid for it. Otherwise, I would hang it in my space as a reminder of the lessons learned on this one.
But, yes, I agree - you should be done with this. Throw your cards in, push back from the table, and quietly just walk away.
The funny thing is she continues to request a CD of the images.
My guess would be she still wants this other photographer to re-process the pics and try to salvage something.
And, you know, from what I've seen so far, I think the client's got a point. While I love the overall composition, as others have already written, the technical aspects are significantly off - and to me that's a show-stopper.
For instance, I took a screen cap of the following pic, and showed it to someone who works for me, and her first response was that the kid looked like she had a fever.
I spent some time on it in LR, and came up with this:
The flushed cheeks and over-saturated forehead colors are more subdued, the excessive contrast is reduced, the dark areas around the eyes are lightened up, and the white balance adjusted. I also did some adjustments in curves, color saturation, and color luminance, as well as some brushing with exposure, contrast, and saturation.
The downside is now her face looks pale, and her forehead doesn't look right. However, with only a screen cap to work with, I don't think there's much more that can be done with this.
----
Anyway - what to do now? Others have made some good comments about your options with respect the client, but for your ongoing development I'd recommend using this as a learning experience and taking one of these (or a similar image if you don't want to use a client's pics), and posting it to either "The Refinery" or "Finishing School" forums to get some more detailed and constructively honest critique. You've got a good eye, it's just a matter of bringing your technical abilities to up to the same level.
I'd also recommend getting a copy of Lightroom - it makes post-processing and managing pics a lot easier so you can work over a wider variety of images as you practice, and then use Elements to do the more detailed work where required.
Keep shooting and working the pics, then taking the results to some place where you can get constructively honest feedback on what you've done right and what you can do better. Given time, I expect some good things to come out.
Good luck!
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Kind of an off-topic suggestion, but I think it's time you step up from the D40. There are image quality issues with several of your shots that made me want to look at your profile to see what you're shooting. As I suspected, a CCD Nikon. I would suggest nothing less than the D90 to match your talents and aspirations.
-Jack
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
Kind of an off-topic suggestion, but I think it's time you step up from the D40. There are image quality issues with several of your shots that made me want to look at your profile to see what you're shooting. As I suspected, a CCD Nikon. I would suggest nothing less than the D90 to match your talents and aspirations.
Used a couple of Neutral Density Gradients to lower the brightness of just the background (if you look close, you'll see the soft termination line of the effect)
I agree with others that your compositions are good, but you need to work on technical and processing. Stick around here, and you'll learn a lot:) I know I have. I would recommend the D300 if you plan to make money. It's worth the investment.
I use Smugmug's print service. I set custom print prices, and have selected Bay Photo with color correction (for most galleries). I have been very satisfied with the quality.
Next time, charge a sitting fee. When I was starting, I charged a fee that included the sitting and the files. That way, the client already knew how much they would be shelling out and I was sure to be payed for my time. If anyone had been unhappy, I would have offered to reshoot.
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I think I was in the minority on here, but I believe my first instinct was right. You've done everything you could, just run from this one, it sounds like she might be dealing with other issues that are not your fault.
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My best guess? Her husband didn't like whatever it was of their money she spent on the prints. She'll do anything to get out of it and get her money back 'cause he's mad. Could be the best pics in the world, but she's in the doghouse and trying to get out. No way to fix this problem, it's between the two of them, not you and her.
But, yes, I agree - you should be done with this. Throw your cards in, push back from the table, and quietly just walk away.
My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
Equipment List - Check my profile
And, you know, from what I've seen so far, I think the client's got a point. While I love the overall composition, as others have already written, the technical aspects are significantly off - and to me that's a show-stopper.
For instance, I took a screen cap of the following pic, and showed it to someone who works for me, and her first response was that the kid looked like she had a fever.
I spent some time on it in LR, and came up with this:
The flushed cheeks and over-saturated forehead colors are more subdued, the excessive contrast is reduced, the dark areas around the eyes are lightened up, and the white balance adjusted. I also did some adjustments in curves, color saturation, and color luminance, as well as some brushing with exposure, contrast, and saturation.
The downside is now her face looks pale, and her forehead doesn't look right. However, with only a screen cap to work with, I don't think there's much more that can be done with this.
----
Anyway - what to do now? Others have made some good comments about your options with respect the client, but for your ongoing development I'd recommend using this as a learning experience and taking one of these (or a similar image if you don't want to use a client's pics), and posting it to either "The Refinery" or "Finishing School" forums to get some more detailed and constructively honest critique. You've got a good eye, it's just a matter of bringing your technical abilities to up to the same level.
I'd also recommend getting a copy of Lightroom - it makes post-processing and managing pics a lot easier so you can work over a wider variety of images as you practice, and then use Elements to do the more detailed work where required.
Keep shooting and working the pics, then taking the results to some place where you can get constructively honest feedback on what you've done right and what you can do better. Given time, I expect some good things to come out.
Good luck!
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Yes, in LR 2 and later, there's the GND - called the graduated filter in the development module. Play with it ... it's pretty cool.
My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
Equipment List - Check my profile
Without reading all five pages..............
http://www.knippixels.com
I agree with others that your compositions are good, but you need to work on technical and processing. Stick around here, and you'll learn a lot:) I know I have. I would recommend the D300 if you plan to make money. It's worth the investment.
I use Smugmug's print service. I set custom print prices, and have selected Bay Photo with color correction (for most galleries). I have been very satisfied with the quality.
Next time, charge a sitting fee. When I was starting, I charged a fee that included the sitting and the files. That way, the client already knew how much they would be shelling out and I was sure to be payed for my time. If anyone had been unhappy, I would have offered to reshoot.
Caroline