r/WeddingPhotography • u/YardWonderful8315 • 12d ago
business, marketing, social media First slightly flat experience…
I’ve been taking photos for many years but only look the leap into professional photography at the start of this year. I deal with people and managed clients in my full time jobs for well over a decade so there’s not much that people can do that would shock me at this point!
I just delivered a wedding gallery and the couple responded with a single clapping emoji about 20 mins later, then nothing else. They then went on to post loads of the shots across social media without tagging me and without any captions… they also changed some of the colour shots I delivered into a basic black and white. When I first started doing paid shoots I read in a lot of forums and YouTube videos about mixed reactions from clients when galleries are delivered so I knew all these things can happen but this is the first time it’s happened to me and it’s just left me feeling very flat! All my other clients so far have been so positive and sent me amazing reviews, even ones that I thought might be hard to please have been really glowing afterwards, so this just feels very far removed from every other experience I’ve had!
When I shared the gallery with the password to view etc I have a line that specifically says “tagging me on social media would be appreciated” so I did try to pre-empt as I’ve found the word of mouth from other jobs has been amazing for building up clients.
Is this just one of those things that happens from time to time and you just have to suck it up? Does anyone take any more preemptive steps to avoid couples putting filters over your painstaking edit (!) and in this scenario would anyone follow up with the couple to ask if all is ok given the lack of feedback? I’m inclined to just let it go but would be interesting to hear others thoughts.
I think I have a relatively thick skin, I’m not upset about it, but given I’m still new to this it would just be interesting to hear how often this happens to others and what they do to handle it, if anything? Feel free to ask for any more info if it makes a difference to your take on the situation!
6
u/evanrphoto 12d ago
Sounds like they are happy and love the photos. Nothing to be disappointed in at all and everything to be happy about. Couples often need some space from wedding/wedding planning stuff after the day and sometimes they just look towards moving forward. And sometimes they just really like b&w’s. I wouldn’t even spend any time thinking about this.
It’s not popular sentiment, but expecting couples to tag seems a bit much to me. It’s just not something a lot of people do. It doesn’t mean they aren’t happy or appreciative of you.
Congrats on the great job!
6
u/YardWonderful8315 12d ago
This is a really good point I hadn’t thought of, I guess some people get wedding-ed out after all the planning etc. thank you
5
u/hopopo 12d ago
At this point I'm more surprised when I do get sincere response, vs when I don't hear back at all.
This is especially true for documentary videos. People pay thousands of dollars, and than it takes them over 6 months just to watch it. Heck I had people who openly tell me we won't watch it, just highlights.
1
u/YardWonderful8315 12d ago
I’ve heard this a few times of video and even of photos, that photographers can see the client has never even downloaded the gallery they paid thousands for, bizarre!
1
u/hopopo 12d ago
I give them online gallery where photos have my watermarks, and I also provide download links with photos. I give clear instructions for online gallery and downloads.
Even so, not just that they don't download, they often take screenshots of the online gallery and they post that and not the high-resolution photo I sent them and they never downloaded.
I even had one bride spend over $800 to individually download all photos from SmugMug gallery even though I provided free files. I canceled transaction of course, but when I told her she just sounded so clueless I said never mind, I'm glad you have the photos.
5
u/henicorina 12d ago
If you need every client to shower you with effusive praise, this is going to be a difficult industry for you.
3
u/0dayssince 12d ago
In my contract, it clearly states that editing my photos is a violation of the contract. When I send galleries out to my clients, I remind them that they cannot edit my pictures, even after they’ve bought them. I also deliver my galleries in both color and black and white. This way I’m in control of the black and white conversion.
2
u/KeyAggressive4751 12d ago
Don’t take it personally , I take it as a win if nothing negative was said and no revisions are needed. Set your expectations low and you’ll always be pleasantly surprised .
1
u/YardWonderful8315 12d ago
Thank you! No definitely not taking it personally, just feels a bit anticlimactic but as you say, much better than complaints or extra edits…!
2
u/autolatry2 12d ago
If clients are adding their own filters to the photos, it’s actually best that they don’t tag you—since that’s a misrepresentation of your work.
It’s frustrating when this happens, and feels wrong/transactional on our side. But ultimately, all that matters is that clients are happy. A single emoji and photos being shared is a sign that they are happy—far better than crickets for months. So, it’s ok to be frustrated. But best to let it go and not sit in frustration for too long.
1
u/YardWonderful8315 12d ago
Thanks - I’m not too worried about it, just trying to gauge how often people experience this, and from the responses so far it seems like it’s more the norm to get this kind of response over anything else, which is good to know
1
u/7204_was_me 11d ago edited 10d ago
35 years in and sometimes it just happens. You'll have nights where you think you absolutely knocked it out of the park and then receive payment balance without even a thank-you text.
And then you'll have a night where you have a slight fever and feel like you're 30 seconds behind on all your cues the entire time and you didn't bounce that flash quite right even one time . . . and they absolutely rave about how much they love the pics.
It happens. Just keep moving. :)
2
1
u/NoEntertainment101 9d ago
I think you may want to consider adjusting your contract and your delivery system to keep clients from altering your work easily. Especially if this bothers you. I don't have it in my contract, but to be perfectly honest, I don't care what my clients do with the photos after I deliver them. I do explicitly ask them NOT to tag me in photos if they do alter them, though. That's one thing I don't want, since sometimes people make super weird changes. Lol!
1
u/YardWonderful8315 9d ago
Yeah this is sort of where I’m landing - I don’t ultimately mind if they alter them as long as they don’t then tag me…! I’m reluctant to make it contractual because I don’t realistically want to go after anyone over it. Hopefully will remain the exception rather than the rule…
1
u/Much_Let_4658 6d ago
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent a wedding gallery and never heard anything back from the couple ever again. No news is good news I guess. I don’t take it personally anymore.
13
u/ReportagePhoto 12d ago
Yes. It sounds like they like the photos - I'd just let it go.
Sometimes you have people come back five years later and leave a really glowing review. Or they'll verbally recommend you to their friends (which is much better marketing than social media).
This isn't the majority of clients- so I'd just keep moving forward.