REBECCA MUSAYEV

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Overcoming “Photographer’s Guilt”

Overcoming “Photographer’s Guilt”

Doing Your Personal Best Under Pressure

We’ve all been there, you know, that moment when you deliver a gallery to a client and they don’t get back to you right away, but when they do, they are unhappy with their images. From something like the way they look to the editing, something is bugging them. And then it happens, that gut-wrenching feeling I like to call “photographer’s guilt.”

As photographers, we pour our heart and soul into our art. From the actual session with our clients, we serve and love on them while multitasking to search for the best lighting and locations to shoot their portraits. From directions to poses, our goal is to make them look and feel there very best.

Then we go home, clean our gear, upload, and back up their images, and begin the editing process. It’s not a one-click wonder, we spend countless hours editing and perfecting their images and bring our artform to life.

We upload them and nervously deliver the gallery. Our photography becomes so personal to us, we want our clients to love their images. But sometimes that isn’t always the case. And 99.9% of the time it’s because people are unhappy with “the way they look.” As photographers, it gives us that “photographer’s guilt,” like we did something wrong like we didn’t do enough.

But what I’ve come to realize is when we see the entire image, the gorgeous lighting to the romanticly posed couple, our clients immediately look at themselves. And there’s nothing wrong with that! I do the same thing when a photo is taken to me. I want to make sure, by my standards, that I look good. If I feel like I look good, I then think the image as a whole looks good. It’s a human instinct, we all do it!

It’s important to not get caught up in “photographer’s guilt.” It is nothing about you personally or your skill as a professional photographer. Here are some helpful tips to avoid the photographer’s guilt!

 

Ask your client if they have a preferred side

I always like to ask my clients if they have a preferred side when taking photos. This is a great way to learn if there’s something your clients don’t particularly like about themselves. It’s useful to know this when directing and posing your clients. You can then pick poses or angles that flatter their good side!

 

Educate your clients on makeup

Makeup. Something that can enhance someone’s natural beauty can also be so frustrating in the camera. HERE are some of the biggest mistakes I like to educate my clients on.

 

Show your clients the back of your camera

By showing your clients the back of your camera during your session, you can get a feel if your client feels good about the way they look during their time with you. This also educates your client that you are doing everything in your power to make sure they look and feel there very best.

 

Have a good contract

Always have a good contract. We do our personal best as photographers and we serve our clients to the best of our abilities, but always have a good contract stating your editing techniques/styles/and boundaries.

 

Work with your clients to fix any fixable flaws

Sometimes there can be something so small that bugs your client. See if you can work with them to edit out any reasonable flaws they see. It could be something from a pimple to a flyaway strand of hair!

 

Don’t get discouraged

Most of all, don’t get discouraged or pulled into “photographer’s guilt.” It is easier said than done, I know, but if you do your personal best serving and loving on your client, in the end, that is all we can do!

Doing Your Personal Best Under Pressure

We’ve all been there, you know, that moment when you deliver a gallery to a client and they don’t get back to you right away, but when they do, they are unhappy with their images. From something like the way they look to the editing, something is bugging them. And then it happens, that gut-wrenching feeling I like to call “photographer’s guilt.”

As photographers, we pour our heart and soul into our art. From the actual session with our clients, we serve and love on them while multitasking to search for the best lighting and locations to shoot their portraits. From directions to poses, our goal is to make them look and feel there very best.

Then we go home, clean our gear, upload, and back up their images, and begin the editing process. It’s not a one-click wonder, we spend countless hours editing and perfecting their images and bring our artform to life.

We upload them and nervously deliver the gallery. Our photography becomes so personal to us, we want our clients to love their images. But sometimes that isn’t always the case. And 99.9% of the time it’s because people are unhappy with “the way they look.” As photographers, it gives us that “photographer’s guilt,” like we did something wrong like we didn’t do enough.

But what I’ve come to realize is when we see the entire image, the gorgeous lighting to the romanticly posed couple, our clients immediately look at themselves. And there’s nothing wrong with that! I do the same thing when a photo is taken to me. I want to make sure, by my standards, that I look good. If I feel like I look good, I then think the image as a whole looks good. It’s a human instinct, we all do it!

It’s important to not get caught up in “photographer’s guilt.” It is nothing about you personally or your skill as a professional photographer. Here are some helpful tips to avoid the photographer’s guilt!

 

Ask your client if they have a preferred side

I always like to ask my clients if they have a preferred side when taking photos. This is a great way to learn if there’s something your clients don’t particularly like about themselves. It’s useful to know this when directing and posing your clients. You can then pick poses or angles that flatter their good side!

 

Educate your clients on makeup

Makeup. Something that can enhance someone’s natural beauty can also be so frustrating in the camera. HERE are some of the biggest mistakes I like to educate my clients on.

 

Show your clients the back of your camera

By showing your clients the back of your camera during your session, you can get a feel if your client feels good about the way they look during their time with you. This also educates your client that you are doing everything in your power to make sure they look and feel there very best.

 

Have a good contract

Always have a good contract. We do our personal best as photographers and we serve our clients to the best of our abilities, but always have a good contract stating your editing techniques/styles/and boundaries.

 

Work with your clients to fix any fixable flaws

Sometimes there can be something so small that bugs your client. See if you can work with them to edit out any reasonable flaws they see. It could be something from a pimple to a flyaway strand of hair!

 

Don’t get discouraged

Most of all, don’t get discouraged or pulled into “photographer’s guilt.” It is easier said than done, I know, but if you do your personal best serving and loving on your client, in the end, that is all we can do!

Photographers