How do you tell somebody "NO!"?

[Murph]

I bring some of my photos to work, and I get asked all the time: "Can you photograph my son/daughter/dog/car/whatever?" I have said no, but our Admin assistant, a wonderful lady, who has been a friend for 12 + years asked me very sincerely to photograph her son for some graduation type photos. She was practically pleading with me to do it, and I DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH people except family (I'm just not that good), and I don't want to do it, have them turn out less than she expects, and then have her get mad at me.

How do you tactfully tell someone no?

[evil4blue]

I say, this is an excellent opportunity to practice your people photographing skills. Let them know that you usually don't do people shots, but because of who she is, you'll give it a go. If you preface it with, "I suck at this type of shooting", what can she expect. Worst case, you get a little practice in.

...but if you really want to just say no, tell her you just aren't comfortable shooting people and you don't want to feel like you ruined an important event in her son's life by taking crappy shoots of him. If she's a true friend, she should back off nicely.

[Wes]

Simply tell her that you don't photograph people. However, by saying that you're "just not that good" I think you're selling yourself short. If you really don't want to photograph people, that's okay. If you really don't think you're good enough, tell her something like this: "I honestly don't think I'm good enough to produce what you want, but how 'bout we do a free photo shoot of your son? It'll be a great learning experience for me and we might get lucky and get some great shots. If we don't get what you want, feel free to go to another photographer."

That's pretty much the way that I approached my first couple of senior photo shoots. I knew the people very well but didn't feel like I had the skills to do the kind of job they wanted. We agreed to do it for free just so I could get the experience. If they didn't like what they got they were more than welcome to hire a pro. Fortunately, things went better than I had hoped. Most of the shots turned out great and I gained confidence and got a valuable learning experience along the way. I would have totally missed out on it if I had just said, "no".

[evil4blue]

I agree with Wes,

Don't charge for the sitting, only the photographs. That way she's not shelling out money for something you're uncomfortable with, but if you get some good shots, you'll get paid for your work.

[Sonny]

I've been in the same situation before but unfortanetly I did turn down the photoshoot for the same reasons as Murph.

Excellent piece of advise! Thanks guys!!

[Chief]

Maybe just make up a price list and show it at the same time ?

Gordon

[Bill]

Tell her you don't have any special knowledge about that, but if she wants the equivalent of a point-and-shoot shot, sure. Shoot it on Portrait program, show her the LCD, ask what she wants printed, get her money for the prints, print them, and don't worry about it.

[Cope]

You may do more harm to your friendship by refusing than by taking the pictures. At least with Senior pictures, unlike a wedding, if there is a problem, there is always a second chance. If she is upset with the result, tell her that since she was unhappy, you will either re-take the pictures, or not charge her for them. If she is happy with your work, tell her that the shoot is her son's graduation gift from you.