Oh please help, I am so not ready!

[gaea106]

So I have to take lots of pictures of people for my homework and I am always pressed to find people. One day (about a six weeks ago) I was desperate and asked my neighbor if I could shoot some pictures of her family. Unfortunately it was a bad time as two members of the family were ill.

She remained interested wanting to help me out and several times asked about schedules and there was always a conflict for some reason. Well this weekend there wasn't a conflict and she asked if I still wanted to take photos of them. I said sure why not! I don't need it for the homework anymore but I want to build some portfolio so I did.

Well anyway they get all dressed up and we go outside and shoot pictures on Sunday. She starts seeing my equipment and how I am shooting and using my car screen to reflect light and she starts really getting into it. She later told me that she wants to pay me for the photos (even though she hasn't seen them). She said she wanted both color and black and white.

I am totally not prepared to be paid! I have been downloading contract forms and stuff all night. Anyway, I am scheduled to meet with her on Saturday at 4 pm to show her the pictures. I am having issues! My Photo Shop look isn't consistent yet, I am still developing a look. Then I cropped my photos for composition and now they are all different sizes!!! I am completely lost. I think I have some good photos but I don't know how to make them all look consistent and be ready to take and print. Any helpful suggestions on presentation would be awesome.

I have Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3 to work with. I am uploading my originals to my website in case you want to see what I have done as far as cropping etc. http://www.angelicapettie.com/Share/Hammit/

[janetg]

well, first of all - use LR to do your cropping - and keep the lock on. otherwise you will end up like you said - crops all over the place -

you stated your photoshop look is all over the place as you are still developing it? well...how about NOT developing it just yet. just deliver the photos for viewing - with proper exposure, white balance, color correction - etc. once you have that down you are ready to move on.

[J Eddington]

I agree with Janet. Show the color correct photo. If you have a couple of photos that are your fav's then go ahead and edit them. Then when she tells you what photos she wants and in what size, then you edit them. Think about frame size or mat size. I offer 4x5, 8x10, 16x20, 32x40 which are all the same scale for all. But then I also offer square 6x6, 8x8, 12x12 and 24x24. KISS makes your life easier.

[toverman]

As far as getting paid, there is an easier answer: say no, that you're not ready to be paid.

At the least for that, you need a Texas sales tax ID number, and then you'd need to collect sales tax and then remit it to the state when they send you a statement. Otherwise, collecting money for your services is illegal. Make it a gift to them; if you want to be in business, you can tell her that you'll be happy to photograph them in the future for a fee.

As for the shots, they are too small to critique in detail as far as focus and sharpness, but there do appear to be some exposure issues. At least with the one of the mom alone, she looks woefully underexposed, and then there will be parts of their white shirts blown out by sunlight. Possibly salvageable with post-processing, but that might become an issue as well if you've not got a lot of experience with it.

[corralup]

Just have the neighbor pay for what it cost to develop the pictures. That way she is not paying for a service but paying for the development.
That way there is no guilt and no legal issues. You'll know when your ready to start your own business. This makes good practice and I would be honored if someone asked me to do that. Congrats.

[gardener]

I think Todd and Sandy gave you good advice... You're still learning, your PS and camera skills are there but need lots of improvement, and you're probably getting some good face to face time for future client relationships.
Let this session be exactly what you intended... practice time and a homework assignment. Let the "client" pay for any prints that are ordered and if they feel like doing something a little extra, let them pay for your dinner some night. You've both gained something from the exercise and at times, that's worth more than the small monetary sum you might have gained otherwise.

Note that I'm not pro, I don't want to be a pro, I don't have a photography business, and don't intend to have a photography business any time within the next.... oh... 50 years or so. I do however, do some minimum amount of informal images for various friends and the grandbrat's sports teams on an occasional basis. I enjoy it, they have fun and pay the expenses of printing (if they actually want prints), and I get an occasional burger and fries out of the deal.
I'm posting this only because after cruising various photo forums on a regular basis for a few years now, I just see too many photography newbies that want to jump into the dollar fray long before they're ready. Their camera and PS skills may be ok at best and their equipment may be marginal but still, they let the idea of a few extra bucks taint their idea of providing excellent service and product after they have gained an acceptable level of skill. If you take the time and effort to learn your craft, then the money will come when your future business plan actually works like you thought it would. I wish you luck...
< stepping off soapbox now>

[gaea106]

Hmm, maybe I can solve this by asking for a new compact flash card instead of "payment". Someone stole one of mine!

[toverman]

Originally Posted by gaea106

Hmm, maybe I can solve this by asking for a new compact flash card instead of "payment". Someone stole one of mine!

That stinks! At least it wasn't in your camera at the time.

I reread my original post, stand by it, but want to temper my remarks with the fact that you are ahead of many would-be pros because you realize you're not quite ready. That is awesome, and with experience and hard work, you'll go far I have no doubt!

[gaea106]

I do have some experience with the photo business and I am already working on my legal paperwork. The issue is with this assignment I wasn't really treating it like a paying job. I hadn't gotten my workflow and everything set up like I need to.

You are correct on the exposures, because I wasn't treating it like a paying job I was shooting in Manual using full stops like required for school. My teachers keep telling me I am underexposed and that I need to go for overexposed if I can't be dead on with full stops.

Anyway, I think I will go back to the raw files and do like Janet said. I think the only one I want to keep is the baby black and white with the blue jeans. I think its super cute.

[gaea106]

Originally Posted by janetg

well, first of all - use LR to do your cropping - and keep the lock on. otherwise you will end up like you said - crops all over the place -

How do you "lock" the crop feature in LR?

[AndrewCCM]

One thing that will help you a lot is learning to read your histograms. LCD are notoriously bad for accurately determining proper exposure in the field. Also, do the shots look underexposed to you when your back home on your PC? The reason that I ask is that I suspect your monitor is not calibrated and is overly bright (as are most straight from the factory). This can make you post process too dark.

If you cannot afford a calibration tool, I would recommend getting a print done at a good lab like MPIX...Then compare that visually with your screen. This is far from accurate, but can get you in the ballpark.

Good luck!

[gaea106]

NVM I found it thanks for that tip!

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by gaea106

How do you "lock" the crop feature in LR?

There is a little icon next to crop factor - Probably says ORIGINAL by default. Just click that lock icon.

[gaea106]

Originally Posted by AndrewCCM

One thing that will help you a lot is learning to read your histograms. LCD are notoriously bad for accurately determining proper exposure in the field. Also, do the shots look underexposed to you when your back home on your PC? The reason that I ask is that I suspect your monitor is not calibrated and is overly bright (as are most straight from the factory). This can make you post process too dark.

If you cannot afford a calibration tool, I would recommend getting a print done at a good lab like MPIX...Then compare that visually with your screen. This is far from accurate, but can get you in the ballpark.

Good luck!

I need to calibrate, I see differences at home. I actually seem to like darker pictures to which makes it turn out super dark in the end. Good idea on printing a few and comparing to the screen.

[gaea106]

Originally Posted by AndrewCCM

There is a little icon next to crop factor - Probably says ORIGINAL by default. Just click that lock icon.

Thanks I found that. They don't teach LR at school (at least not that I know of so far). Some of the teachers use Bridge in class to view our pictures but they don't teach us how to use it. I am winging it in LR for now.