Photo editing etiquette
August 7, 2022 6:51 PM Subscribe
I recently had a Big Event and hired a professional photographer to take pictures. The photo-shoot was great and fun, but the photographer has only offered to edit/touch up a very small number of photos (10-15). Is this typical? If not, how can I ask for her to edit more?
Actually, my mom hired & paid for the professional photographer as a very kind and generous gift. The photographer was great, she's a friend of a friend of a friend and works as a fashion photographer but doesn't typically do events of this kind, so she kind of agreed to do this as a favor to my family (though she is also getting paid). She was super fun to hang out with, and we had a fun day/photo-shoot. A few days after the event, she sent me most of the photos from the shoot, in jpeg format, but unedited. She then called me and asked me to send her my favorites for her to touch up/edit. I asked how many to choose, and she said 10.
This seems like a very low number to me, and I'm wondering if this is typical, and, if not, how to ask her to edit more? In theory, I could play around with photoshop or Lightroom and try to edit the photos myself, but I'd rather have her do the editing since she's a professional. Ideally, I would like her to do some basic/minor editing (color correction, cropping, etc.) for most of the photos, and some more significant touch-ups (removing background objects, adjusting the lighting/exposure) for about 40-50 photos. I have no idea what was discussed with my mom and what kind of agreement they came to regarding payment, and I feel awkward asking. So, my questions are:
1. Is it typical for a photographer to only edit 10-15 photos from a shoot (out of approximately 500)?
2. What's the etiquette around asking her to edit more photos?
3. Should I get my mom involved in the conversation (I'd rather not because it will stress her out)?
Actually, my mom hired & paid for the professional photographer as a very kind and generous gift. The photographer was great, she's a friend of a friend of a friend and works as a fashion photographer but doesn't typically do events of this kind, so she kind of agreed to do this as a favor to my family (though she is also getting paid). She was super fun to hang out with, and we had a fun day/photo-shoot. A few days after the event, she sent me most of the photos from the shoot, in jpeg format, but unedited. She then called me and asked me to send her my favorites for her to touch up/edit. I asked how many to choose, and she said 10.
This seems like a very low number to me, and I'm wondering if this is typical, and, if not, how to ask her to edit more? In theory, I could play around with photoshop or Lightroom and try to edit the photos myself, but I'd rather have her do the editing since she's a professional. Ideally, I would like her to do some basic/minor editing (color correction, cropping, etc.) for most of the photos, and some more significant touch-ups (removing background objects, adjusting the lighting/exposure) for about 40-50 photos. I have no idea what was discussed with my mom and what kind of agreement they came to regarding payment, and I feel awkward asking. So, my questions are:
1. Is it typical for a photographer to only edit 10-15 photos from a shoot (out of approximately 500)?
2. What's the etiquette around asking her to edit more photos?
3. Should I get my mom involved in the conversation (I'd rather not because it will stress her out)?
Best answer: I had professional "head shot" photos, about 100 were taken, the photographer edited 5 of the best ones. So, I think this is reasonable.
Time is money, editing takes time, this is both a professional skill and artistic endeavour - I would just ask her how much for another batch and pay it yourself and not involve your mother.
posted by rozcakj at 6:59 PM on August 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
Time is money, editing takes time, this is both a professional skill and artistic endeavour - I would just ask her how much for another batch and pay it yourself and not involve your mother.
posted by rozcakj at 6:59 PM on August 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
Best answer: 1. Is it typical for a photographer to only edit 10-15 photos from a shoot (out of approximately 500)?
Yes, if that's what the paid-for package stated would be provided.
2. What's the etiquette around asking her to edit more photos?
Tell the photographer how much you appreciate their work and then ask the photographer how much it would cost to edit more photos
3. Should I get my mom involved in the conversation (I'd rather not because it will stress her out)?
I don't see why you would; your mom paid for a package and you want more from the photographer, so anything else is between you and the photographer.
posted by erst at 7:00 PM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
2. What's the etiquette around asking her to edit more photos?
3. Should I get my mom involved in the conversation (I'd rather not because it will stress her out)?
posted by erst at 7:00 PM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Did your mom sign a contract with the photographer? It should have specified details like this. If she didn't sign a contract, or if it didn't specify what you'd be getting, well, that's a life lesson.
We recently had some family photos taken, and I think the package was something like a dozen photos. I don't know how many actual photos our photographer took, but we knew going in that we would only be getting a dozen, unless we paid for more, which we did. It's a pretty common upsell. We had about 18 that we really loved, and we didn't want to narrow down, so we just asked the photographer what it would cost for more. It doesn't have to be any more awkward than asking for a refill on your soft drink at a restaurant that doesn't offer free refills.
Speaking of awkward... Involving your mother seems, um... a bit childish. I'm 100% sure you don't intend it this way, but it comes off as "Mommy the photographer didn't give me as many photos as I wanted DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT". Just reach out to the photographer yourself and buy more directly.
Also note that you got the jpegs, which is actually not very common. If the photographer doesn't want to edit any more, or is just too busy with her real job, you can take the unedited files and find someone else to edit them for you.
posted by kevinbelt at 7:08 PM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
We recently had some family photos taken, and I think the package was something like a dozen photos. I don't know how many actual photos our photographer took, but we knew going in that we would only be getting a dozen, unless we paid for more, which we did. It's a pretty common upsell. We had about 18 that we really loved, and we didn't want to narrow down, so we just asked the photographer what it would cost for more. It doesn't have to be any more awkward than asking for a refill on your soft drink at a restaurant that doesn't offer free refills.
Speaking of awkward... Involving your mother seems, um... a bit childish. I'm 100% sure you don't intend it this way, but it comes off as "Mommy the photographer didn't give me as many photos as I wanted DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT". Just reach out to the photographer yourself and buy more directly.
Also note that you got the jpegs, which is actually not very common. If the photographer doesn't want to edit any more, or is just too busy with her real job, you can take the unedited files and find someone else to edit them for you.
posted by kevinbelt at 7:08 PM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yes, this is typical.
posted by stray at 7:41 PM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by stray at 7:41 PM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also note that you got the jpegs, which is actually not very common.
Yes it is. It's very, very uncommon for professional photographers to give it RAW files. High quality jpg is the standard format for stuff like this (and is fine for the purpose).
posted by Candleman at 8:17 PM on August 7, 2022 [11 favorites]
Yes it is. It's very, very uncommon for professional photographers to give it RAW files. High quality jpg is the standard format for stuff like this (and is fine for the purpose).
posted by Candleman at 8:17 PM on August 7, 2022 [11 favorites]
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