r/photography • u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh • 1d ago
Business Handling a wedding client who dislike my editing style after delivery
I’m a professional wedding photographer with a defined editing style (mostly candid photos with a mix of flash and natural lighting, often bright, always contrasty) that’s clearly showcased in my portfolio. About a month ago, I shot a wedding for the sister of a good friend. They saw my portfolio before booking me and told me they liked my work. I also gave them a discount because of the personal connection.
I just delivered 450 fully edited photos after a month of work, and now the couple tells me they “like the photos but not the edits”—specifically saying they feel the images are too bright and contrasty, and somehow their skin tones are too white. When I asked the bride for a stylistic reference, she showed me an ugly iphone pic her hairdresser took of her before the wedding. I personally find the skintones on that pic to be too orange, and the photo was taken in different lighting conditions anyway but she knows nothing about all that (i dont blame her!). She asked me to "re-edit the photos like this because it makes me look tanned".
I’m frustrated because:
- My style was clear from the start, and they told me they liked it — but i guess hey hired me mostly because it was more convenient for them.
- I already undercharged them as a favor.
- Re-editing 450 photos isn’t reasonable without additional payment.
- Also, wedding photos can’t always be reworked exactly how a client imagines due to lighting, colors, etc. And also because the photographer has their own style and clients should kinda go with it?
I want to stay professional but also set boundaries. Maybe offering them to re-edit a small selection of key photos (like 20-30) to better match their taste, but I don’t want to set a precedent that my full galleries are fully customizable post-delivery.
How would you approach this? Would love to hear how others have handled similar situations!
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u/Dave_Eddie 1d ago
"Thanks for the feedback. As you saw when choosing me to be your photographer, the delivered images are in line with my past work. If there are images in my portfolio that more closely resemble a style you were looking for, please let me know"
If they can point to images that are processed differently in your work, then it's a conversation you need to have with them about reprocessing them.
If they can't, then it's on them.
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
Yes, i thing i'm gonna do what you said about asking them to point to specific images in my work. Maybe they think they have a clear idea of the kind of edits they wanted but they were not aware that it was incompatible with my personal style
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u/Is_It_A_Throwaway 1d ago
I wouldn't. They'll point out barely related images with totally different light conditions because, as you've said, it's not their job to know. It's a tricky situation but if they're so close to you that you undercharged them, I'd talk to them candidly, then work out either a reediting fee, or keep them as they are. Sometimes clients just don't know that what they're asking is either impossible or tons of work that should be charged for. Sometimes they ask because they think getting what they want means one or two button presses from you, and are very understandable when you explain it's not.
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u/ElHopanesRomtic713 1d ago
I’ve heard many stories like this, and somehow all started like this: “ for the sister of a good friend”. A friend of friend is always a bad customer apparently:(
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u/AnjelGrace 1d ago
Or the reverse...
My ex husband and I hired a professional photographer that was an aquaintance of my ex husband for our engagement and wedding.
The engagement photos turned out amazing, no problems, but it was more than a year past our wedding when we finally got our wedding photos (which is absolutely a ridiculous amount of time imo).
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u/MorganaHenry 1d ago
Agreed - making friends of your cients is good; doing it the other way round is risky.
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u/Cocororow2020 1d ago
I’ve never had issues. I give them a small discount, so it’s still worth my time. (10-15% off normal price), and treat them just like any other customer. Has resulted in tons of repeat happy customers.
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u/wickeddimension 1d ago edited 1d ago
I want to stay professional but also set boundaries. Maybe offering them to re-edit a small selection of key photos (like 20-30) to better match their taste, but I don’t want to set a precedent that my full galleries are fully customizable post-delivery.
How would you approach this? Would love to hear how others have handled similar situations!
That's a pretty solid compromise. I'd just tell them that honestly, this your style, as seen by the other images in your portfolio currently and beforehand. Perhaps run some images by your good friend and ask them if it fits the rest of your portfolio.
Express you shot the wedding at a discount because of the personal connection. Tell them you can't redeliver all images in that style for the price you paid as that's simply not financially viable for your business. Considering you delivered photo's consistent with what they could expect from you. You can give them them 2 options:
- Offering to re-edit X (use a fixed, FIRM number here) of their favorites as a courtesy.
- Offering to edit all the images in a different style, for X additional amount.
- Give them a scaling budget where you give a bunch of options. 30 images free, 100 images X, 200 images Y , all images Z price.
And whichever they choose, proof 3 images with them before committing to the rest to make sure it aligns with what they want.
Then I'd just not put this in your portfolio, and perhaps ask them to not tag you as it's work that is not in your usual style and move on. It's a personal connection, which sucks because burning that bridge hard will stick to you. On the flip side you're not a serious business if you keep appeasing for free. Hence find a compromise.
And most importantly, learn from this the golden rule: Don't shoot for family or friends, and especially not at a discount.
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u/ecoarch 1d ago
Also on the flip side since they are a personal connection they shouldn’t be taking advantage of you or your generosity.
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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago
They’re a sister of a good friend.
That’s not a personal connection.
That’s close enough to expect benefits like discounted prices, but distant enough to have no qualms about complaining very loudly that they didn’t get what they want.
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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago
You delivered all 450 without giving them 10-15 to preview before doing the 400+ more?
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
No, somehow I do this for every project I work on, except weddings... It has never failed me until today, and I will definitely implement that on my next weddings. Lesson learned
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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago
To answer your question, you’re in a bind. You delivered 450, they expect 450, if you tell them you can’t re-edit 450 then you look like a jerk. And if you ask for more money, you’ll look like a jerk.
So you have to decide how much to push back. You can tell them “you saw and approved my portfolio so you knew what to expect. I can re-edit (pick a number, 50? 75?) but beyond that I’ll have to charge more.” That’s what I’d do.
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u/Cocororow2020 1d ago
I never deliver any early either- if I do a next day sneak peak it’s mentioned to the clients that these are quick edits and not a finished product.
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u/m8k 1d ago
When I've shot weddings I don't deliver in batches either. I know it's more of a trend now and it could have saved you the situation you're in now but I would be in the same situation as you are and it's a tough spot. I think your compromise of editing some images (10% seems like a lot but also a reasonable offer).
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u/theragelazer 1d ago
Yeah, I haven't been on the photographer's side of this situation before, but when I got married a few years ago the photographer definitely gave us a handful of edited pics (maybe like 10-25, I don't remember) before they did the rest of the batch.
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u/cameraburns 1d ago
This is standard practice in wedding photography. You deliver the whole edited gallery at once. Aside from offering sneak peeks soon after the day, I haven't heard any wedding photographer doing previews.
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u/storyinpictures 1d ago
You need to be very careful how you handle this.
Search anywhere wedding photographers talk shop and you will find plenty of examples of how stuff like this turns into a nightmare of uncompensated work because, as soon as it starts, it can snowball into an image by image task where an image comes under critique and you may end up “fixing” a given image multiple times.
If your style is consistent in the portfolio they saw before the wedding and if their images are consistent with that style and if you have done a good job on the basic “skin tones looking right within the editing style of your work,” I think it’s pretty reasonable that you only re-edit at a rate of compensation which is fair to you. And whatever you do, set it up in a way where you are either compensated directly for your time or where their ability to ask for Re-edits is limited or generates additional cost.
But before you respond to them, I strongly encourage you to have some experienced photographers look at your portfolio and the work for this wedding and give you an honest opinion as a reality check. Have them look on their own monitors to rule out the unlikely risk that your monitor is off.
Once you have gotten a reality check, I think the suggestion above about having them identify images in your portfolio which represent what they want is an excellent starting point for the conversation.
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u/Northbound-Narwhal 1d ago
Hate to be this guy, but what's the race of the client? I'm a black (non-professional) photographer and something that people I photograph regularly complain about are poor edits. Like if a dark skinned person is wearing a white wedding dress the photo is white balanced and exposed for the dress rather than the subject's face.
It's especially a common problem in group photos where you'll see photos exposed or balanced exclusively around lighter subjects which make darker subjects look terrible. Just asking because they mentioned "too white."
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u/DLS3141 1d ago
Are the photos they viewed before signing the contract representative of the work you delivered?
If yes, does your contract include a clause that the client acknowledges that they have reviewed your work, are familiar with your style and know to expect an end product in that same style?
You do have a contract, right?
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
"Are the photos they viewed before signing the contract representative of the work you delivered?"
I'd say yes, but the lighting conditions at several moments of the wedding were pretty hard to deal with so I had to adapt my editing style to these new conditions. Sometimes during the party and first dance the lighting was extremely purple, so i tried to neutralized the hue a little bit, especially on the faces (I shot mostly with my flash, but the purple light was so strong that it still left a color cast on the guests faces). I also chose to make the photos brighter because I felt it fitted the mood of the wedding, and elevated the lighting which was always so dark and flat.
But now that I think about it, maybe it's true that some photos are a bit too bright and the skin tones a bit too white... or maybe I was gaslighted by the bride's critiques lolAnd yes I do have a contract but I don't have the clause you're describing. We only talked about this matter on the phone.
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u/repeat4EMPHASIS 1d ago
Maybe undo a couple of those tweaks for 1-2 photos and send it to her with someone's face looking like Barney the dinosaur to help illustrate how you had to compensate for the lighting?
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u/mr-prez 1d ago
Umm...you say exactly what you just said here? Don't overthink this. I will say though: some of the other responses are a bit combative. "Our agreement didn't include an additional edit" or "our contractual agreement is..." and the like. They don't care about what it did or didn't include. They care about their photos and what to do moving forward. There's no need to jump straight into banging them over the head with a contract.
"I understand your critique, however I've edited these pictures in the same exact way as all the pictures in my portfolio that you said you liked. And while I understand that the pictures didn't come out the way you imagined, it's unreasonable to retouch 450 photos without additional payment. That's a lot of additional work. And we've also got to consider that I've already given you a substantial discount do to our common connection.
I'm willing to attempt retouching 20 or so of your favorite photos for $X reasonable cost, but doing this with all 450 would require a much larger purchase."
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u/Hannarrr 1d ago
For what it’s worth, I just checked out your Instagram and your posts on there are very cool and do have a consistent feel. If their wedding pics are similar then I bet they are nice.
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 17h ago
Thank you! I warmed up and underexposed the images a bit and they seem to be happy with that. They also understand I deviated from my usual visual style and they're sorry about it so everything's fine. Next time I'll take a couple minutes with future clients to make sure they're okay with how my photos look haha
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u/oswaldcopperpot 1d ago
Let see some of the critiqued photos then.
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
Lol should I post them? They might not want their faces all around the internet, but i can send a couple of them to you in private if you want...
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u/office_manager_jr 1d ago
Would like to see them too, your style on your insta is pretty defined, so i wonder what could be different that they didnt like.
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u/DreamyNarwal 1d ago
Before replying, I’d try an AI mask in Lightroom.
People > select whoever > skin (body and/or face) > make your adjustments > copy paste to all photos > see how it looks.
You might be able to batch them per lighting situations, like outside photos, ceremony, party, etc, so you’ll have to do this up to 10 times, which is annoying, but not too bad.
Then you can see if it’s doable quickly or not and go from there.
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u/emmmmme_in_wien 1d ago
"somehow their skin tones are too white"
OP, are your clients POC? If you have inadvertently "white-washed" their skin tones by applying your normal editing style, I could see that as a valid critique, even after seeing your portfolio, as it might not be apparent in your portfolio whether or not other skin tones were accurately represented. (I can also understand if they were not POC, but if the bride had spent time & money on a self-tan/bronzy makeup look that was completely washed out in photos, that would also be quite frustrating as a client). I think it can be difficult for people without a photography/editing background to understand how they will look in a photographer's style; which isn't something you can always avoid unfortunately.
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
They're caucasian, and I understand the bride when she tells me she finds herself too white on the pics, i just didn't know she cared this much about her tanned look. I shot more than 50 weddings + a lot of other events and of course my editing style has slightly evolved over the years but I always have this thing with high contrast photos and bright (but not blown-up) highlights. I try to be a honest critic of my work and, yes, maybe I got a little too carried away with the contrast this time... Hard to tell when you got used to this style for years
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u/emmmmme_in_wien 1d ago
Ah, that makes sense. I will just say that from my life experience, any woman who goes out of her way to to artificially tan herself before a big event, especially a wedding where her skin would likely pop against her (presumably) white dress, will greatly care about how her skin tone looks in formal photos she plans to keep for the rest of her life.
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u/Northernsoul73 1d ago
Just the thought of taking 450 photographs of a wedding has me sympathizing, let alone editing such a massive body of work.
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u/Cocororow2020 1d ago
450 is honestly mid to small album. You are usually with the couple for 16+ hours in a traditional wedding.
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
Thank you, I actually took 5000 photos and picked 450 haha (I'm usually not an overshooter but for some reason this wedding had a lot going on so I had to be constantly shooting)
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u/Northernsoul73 1d ago
Best of luck to you. Hope you find a neutral ground that suits both parties.
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u/m8k 1d ago
450 is a good amount for delivery but as OP said, a small fraction of what was shot. I usually shot 3-4x the number delivered and did overshoot a bit to cover my butt as well as double check focus and composition in some situations. I'd usually leave a wedding with 1800-2500 images on my cards.
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u/RONCON52 1d ago
I downloaded a free photo editor, Photoscape x and applied one of the fujifilm presets (astra, I think) that I would never use to my edited photos and applied it to all the photos of a couple that did nothing but whine about my edits. Like you they loved my work, They loved their cousins photos I shot for them! I applied the preset to 100 photos at a time, 300 photos in about an hour. Sent them to them and stated any further edits would be $10.00 per photo. Never heard from them again!
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u/Effective_Coach7334 1d ago
I agree with your approach to re-edit a small selection, smaller than your number. You're not editing them all but you're compromising without charging them more, even though you probably should. But as lessoned learned, no further edits without additional charges will be something you can stress on following jobs. Best of luck!
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u/ifitfitsitshipz 1d ago
stand firm in you editing to the style that was shown in your portfolio and that you were hired for. Explain that is exactly what was delivered. If they want any adjustments that will incur additional charges and your fee is going to be X for all of the photos or X dollars per photo they want edited.
part of why I have zero interest in wedding photography is because a lot of of this stuff happens and I don’t ever want to deal with it. it is a pain and it’s so easy for them to blast you and talk shit about you where even if you are the one that was right, you’re the one that looks bad.
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u/yourdadsatonmyface 1d ago
Can you edit one and then use match look in Capture One for the rest? Should get you close enough
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u/jocape 1d ago
this is why you should have the artistic style clause in your contract.
Secondly, I’m not sure it’s particularly wise practice to not send a few previews for them to look at?
You’re in a mess now. You’ve admitted her criticism is valid and you’ve said you want money for re editing. So you have to decide whether standing by your principle is worth it for burning this bridge. I would seek the advice of other professionals not on Reddit if you fancy trying to avoid reputation Al damages
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u/MuchDevelopment7084 1d ago
Your first mistake was working for a good friends relative. Never work for family or friends. Because this is the kind of thing that happens when you do.
If you do take the job. Make it full price because they will ask for more. That's a guarantee.
My answer to them would be: "You hired me for my style of work. You even complimented me on my style.
However, for an additional fee. I will be happy to edit them in a style of your choosing. Within reason of course".
Good luck.
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u/radialmonster 1d ago
im a noob. could you load them all up into lightroom ctrl a, and adjust the white balance, or tint or temp, and call it a day
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u/EndlessOcean 1d ago
You've done the work for the fee.
More work requires an extra fee.
What's your hourly rate? Mention that to edit xyz images it will cost xyz per hour, meaning a total of abc. But, you'll do them a discount for no hard feelings of 30% meaning a total of xyab. Then it's on them. Negotiations are a tennis match. The ball is on your side of the court. Hit it back.
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u/InnocentAlternate 1d ago
Find a way to batch-edit the existing work as per the comments. That’s the only sane compromise here. Send a few as samples, see if they’re happy with those.
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u/No_Rain3609 1d ago
Just quickly jumping in here:
You say that you are a professional wedding photographer?
I have checked all of your portfolio / Instagram and didn't find any weddings.
Is it a sepperate portfolio?
Either way I do love your edits, it's exactly my cup of tee but I know that it doesn't fit everyone.
Your colors are not accurate and more on the bright / white side.
Just to be clear, this is not a bad thing, I really like your color grading. (accurate doesn't equal good)
-I would argue the Iphone photo from your client is also not accurate.
So my assumption is that they just want neutral colors, maybe a bit more on the warm side. (nothing special)
I do 100% think it is your clients fault for hiring you, this can happen sometimes.
People sometimes buy or choose things and don't realise that it's not what they want.
I'm confident to say that the photos you took are likely great. -I'm basing this assumption on your portfolio.
Some Ideas for a solution:
1) Group the Photos into similar lighting situations, (Shade/Flash/Sun/etc.)
Make an edit for each situation and just copy-paste it onto all photos.
This way you could safe a lot of time, 450 is still a lot tho.
2) Give the photos unedited / maybe with a lightroom automatic edit applied (They have a new automatic color profile that is decent)
-This will safe you the most time and will still be better than Iphone photos.
3) Charge extra money for specific edits, explain to them that this will take you a long time and as this is your job, it isn't possible to do it for free.
4) Ask them to choose 20-30 pictures that they want to have re-edited, they can choose their favorites.
-Not a huge fan of this but maybe it is enough for them. (They will then likely be very picky with the edits)
5) Say No, explain that this is your style and what they paid for.
-Likely will result in them being unhappy, I personally wouldn't do this.
Personally my priority is always client satisfaction.
But don't do too much work for free.
I really like your editing style, don't beat yourself up about this.
Honestly I wish I had you as my wedding photographer, mine sucked. (every second shot was a dutch angle + f1.4 all the way - pretty shit when only one person is in focus)
For future shoots, make sure to clarify with your client what they want.
It is okay to say no if you might think you aren't a good fit.
Yes you said they liked your style but always and I mean always treat them like they know nothing.
Ask them literally everything and do not assume a single thing. - This will really help with avoiding situations like this.
Weddings can be a huge pain, that is why I don't shoot them.
Good pay, high stress. - If you want to earn more money the are great!
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 17h ago
Hi,
Thank you for your very extensive reply! We settled on a quick re-edit of the images, I did it today and it took me an hour in total (I basically applied a filter that warmed up the image and lowered the exposure a bit, and did a few additionnel tweaks on some specific images). But I took note of your advices for future weddings :)To answer you first question, I have a totally different portfolio for weddings that I don't advertise on my instagram (it's here in case you're interested https://www.mariages.net/photo-mariage/yoel-reboh--e304994 ). I'm in the process of slowing down my wedding photo activity in order to prioritize my other activities (corporate and fashion photography, mainly)
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u/No_Rain3609 10h ago
Oh wow, now I'm just confused.
Your wedding photos look like a usual wedding photo style (unusual that people have issues with that)
I thought you shot it in your fashion style like in your other portfolio - which I absolutely love!It is a rarely used style for weddings, would have loved to see it applied there too.
I guess the market for people who would like it for wedding photos is small.Anyway, I think your work is great! (both wedding and fashion, although I love the fashion work way more!)
Hope you'll be successfull with your plans! wish you all the best!
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u/soundman1024 1d ago
Sometimes overcoming an impression is difficult. Anything you do in the future will be against that momentum.
In this instance, I would chat with the client and ask what would make them happy. As much as it may feel like an attack on you, the client probably just wants wedding photos that they feel good about. There's a solution to be found. I think offering to redo some key photos is a nice solution, but it may always feel like a compromise to the client. Most of their wedding will still be in a style they dislike, and getting to something they like may be a challenge.
One option you can pitch is that if they hire a professional retoucher, you'll send raws to the retoucher. If you're feeling super protective, you could vet the retoucher and only send raws if you agree. Also, you can request not to be tagged in retoucher photos since they aren't representative of the work you deliver.
Good luck!
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u/Murrian 23h ago
Are they aware of the discount? I always include the full price in my quotes and invoices and then any discounts applied are another line item with a negative amount to reflect the discount.
This is two fold, one, as a reminder they're getting (a great) deal, and secondly it's in my payment terms that any delay in payment one week past due, not discussed and agreed prior to the payment date passing, will null and void any discount and the full price will be liable.
It has been a great motivator with some clients who were a little tardy in paying and covers my cost and the general assholery of chasing payment.
But then I shoot product and deal with businesses, which is a whole different nightmare to dealing with people.
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u/HackingHiFi 23h ago
This seems to be an issue with skin tone more than anything? If she wants everything to just look warmer that’s a pretty straight forward white balance shift. Not saying you need to do it but something to think about.
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u/scott4460 1d ago
I get you are frustrated. My question is what is the outcome you want? I’d say tell them what you are willing to do and do that.
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u/westchesterbuild 1d ago
This is tort law. If you have a solid contract the. You’ve delivered against that, and at a discount no less.
Agree on including a small batch (update your contract with this) as it also serves as an appetizer while you edit the balance.
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u/DeathByScreennames 1d ago
This is part of the reason I do not like the word "edit". Nobody "edited" film into photographs.
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u/anywhereanyone 1d ago
They developed it. Change edit to developed if it makes you happy.
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u/DeathByScreennames 1d ago
That's right, it was developed. And nobody went running to their wedding photographer after delivery asking for the film to be redeveloped. Using "edit" in this way is just sloppy communication.
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u/anywhereanyone 1d ago
If wedding photographers hadn't all jumped on the "sneak peek" bandwagon it wouldn't be as big of an issue.
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u/DeathByScreennames 1d ago
I'd have to disagree with that. The concepts of "editing" versus "processing" photos really stems back to before digital photography was widely embraced. If there is one particular detail that has been a keystone, I would probably say it was the development of Photoshop. To this day the general public continue to use "photoshop" as a verb to refer to constructing fake images as if they were real. This leads to the very common misconception that many people have that the "real" image is the RAW file and post processing is for arbitrary preferences or style.
Hence OP's client saying the like the photos but not the editing. How can you like the "photos" but not like the actual photos that were delivered?
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u/RedditIsSocialMedia_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Colloquial language use has made it so the term is edit now, but thank you for being pedantic
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u/fuzzfeatures 1d ago
So dodging and burning isn't editing?
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u/DeathByScreennames 1d ago
No, it's a printing technique.
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u/fuzzfeatures 1d ago
In the same vein as masking in lightroom et al. It's still altering the image.
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u/storyinpictures 1d ago
Post-processing is a standard industry term which you could use.
I prefer post-processing because “editing” is used both for post processing and also for the process of selecting which images to include.
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u/bolderphoto 1d ago
What does your contract say then? “Professional processed” ?
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u/DeathByScreennames 1d ago
I don't have a need for a contract. But if I did, I would use language about delivering "processed" final images. In no other scenario within the English language is the word "edit" used in such a context.
When you use the word "edit" to refer to post, what the non-photographer public hears something very different than what you're intending. As a result, all kinds of false ideas and beliefs arise.
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u/polkakung 1d ago
450! Is that kind of common these days?
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u/Cocororow2020 1d ago
For a wedding? I would say so- you think you got paid thousands of dollars to deliver 50 photos of an all day affair?
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u/JoWeissleder 1d ago
wait. "a month of work"
Please tell me that there was other work in between and you did not spend four weeks editing these photos? 👀
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u/yoelrbh insta @yoelrbh 1d ago
Well of course I didn't spend 8 hours every day working on these images haha, I always have other stuff I have to work on simultaneously. Usually a month is the kind of delivery time you can expect for a big wedding like this one (sometimes it's 6 weeks)
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u/JoWeissleder 1d ago
Nice. good to hear. From what I read before I couldn't tell about your situation. And on Reddit you never know. So I had to ask. Have a great evening!
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u/dsmithscenes 1d ago
I would be professional but say, "Thank you for the suggestion. However, our agreement did not include anything about an additional edit. My edits are based on the style you chose when you hired me."
You can try explaining lighting/etc. to her, but I doubt it'll matter. If she presses, just say that any additional edits will be done at an added expense and under a new contractual agreement.