What happens if things go wrong ?

Sometimes other photographers would ask me (when I tell them that I only ask my clients beforehand, to pay me for the Rights to use my work, rather than for my time & expenses to do the work) what happens if after you spend a lot of time and money producing a set of images, the client then turns around and says that they do not want to use ​them or pay you for the use of them?

Or what if they are not prepared to pay as much?
Or what if they want a lot more work done to the images first, etc, etc?

Well thankfully that doesn’t happen very often, mainly because I would usually try to put everything down in writing beforehand – as well as ask lots of questions about things like:

Who is your target market?
What do​ the images need to say to your target market?
Which media are you planning on using the images in?
How long are you needing to use them in those media?
Plus where in the World are you going to be advertising in those media?

In other words, it’s a bit like the 5Ws.

Because their answers to those type of questions would then help me understand what it is I need to do to meet their needs.

So it is therefore important that they tell me what they need upfront, and if there is anything specific that they require – be it a look or a style or some retouching done, etc, etc – then that would also need to be put in writing beforehand too.

Because the price that I would be quoting them beforehand…

.. would be for the Rights to use the images after they had created – so naturally ​the price could change if the information changed.

But still, I hear you say: “What happens if it all goes wrong” – for whatever reason – and they end up not wanting to pay or they don’t want to pay as much, etc, etc?​

Well first off, I’d probably want to find out why that was – for example, was it something that I did wrong or didn’t get right or misunderstood?
Or are they now just trying to pull a fast one ?

As a rule of thumb, if someone has invested a lot of their own time & money in a shoot – then it’s highly unlikely that they wouldn’t want to use the images afterwards.

So, therefore, ​I would say, that 99% of the time if the client did say afterward​s that they did not want to pay for the use the images, the fault would lie at my end.
Which I would then naturally want to learn from – as ‘The Goal’ beforehand would have been, to try and produce some images that they (and possibly others too) would actually want to use – and hopefully want to use a lot too – rather than just see if I could take some pictures… which I know I could probably do with my iPhone

Anyway, if I was to say it has never happened or was to say that I have never failed to produce the type of images that a client would want to pay for the use of, that would be a lie – because it has happened and it did actually happen very recently too.

So the question I have to ask myself, is obviously “Why did it happen ?” – because that was not ‘The Goal’ beforehand.

Not always an easy one to answer, because there may, in fact, be a number of reasons as to why it happened – but the bottom-line is: There are no winners when it does happen.
Because they don’t get what they want and I naturally don’t get what I want neither

And when that happens, then below you can see some examples of what that this lose-lose type of deal ends up looking like:

This is what this page currently looks like on their website…

.. of the Ocean View Double Room – versus what it could have looked like…

.. if I had been prepared to remove the building outside the window, for the same price as I had quoted them before they asked for that.

Which obviously I wasn’t prepared to do, because to do that well – so as one could not tell that it had been retouched, even when viewed at billboard size or in any media at any size – that would probably double​ the amount of time that I would need to spend on creating the image.

And it was the same here…

.. as a result, this is how that same Atlantic View Suite currently looks on their website…

.. and this is how their Family room looks…

.. which once again, could have looked like this instead…

.. had I been prepared to replace the view outside the window.

“Forest for the trees” springs to mind – but there you have it – there are no winners is the answer

Still, we did all really enjoy our stay in their hotel for a few days – which I talk about here: A lot more to it – and I did end-up with some lovely images for my own portfolio

Plus it has given me something to blog about here for the​ second time – so all is not lost, because I at least have been able to put my work to good use

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Warmth Beyond The Smile.

The Library: “The room is quite dark to suit the reader so a lot of flashes will be needed I think” – was what John wrote when he sent me this image…

.. to let me see what he was talking about.

And yes, when I took the first picture of this room, my system clearly showed that too…

.. but with Claudio on hand and enough light gear to light-up Blackpool tower, it wasn’t long before he had it lit-up like a Christmas tree…

.. while Dianne did her thing – and I had a cup of tea…

.. as I looked at the image on the screen.

Anyway, we had lots of fun with this one – as you can see from all these behind the scene images, which tells the story of what all happen next, a lot better than I could do using a thousand words…

.. and so this was the final result…

.. which John himself clearly liked the look of too – because a few days later he was on the Home page…

.. to welcome you all to the Killarney Park Hotel in County Kerry – to join him in the Library, in front of that nice warm fire.

And so that was it – until the next time – which just leaves me to say a big thank you to everyone involved, as “Warmth Beyond The Smile” was truly felt over those few days

Reception/Guest Relations Desks.

“If we can get two together then great. We’d also like one showing the Guest Relations with our new Guest Relations Manager if the two desks shot doesn’t work. Hope this makes sense!” – was the brief that was sent along with this image…

.. to show their new Guest Relations Desk, which had only recently been completed.

So that was next on the list – and so off to work we went – starting as usual by taking a picture to let everyone see what the camera sees…

.. followed by lots of discussions about what they wanted to image to say and how best to going about saying that…

.. until Alan and his wife arrived to assumed their positions – and then this was the final result…

.. which a few days later was on their Homepage…​

.. to welcome you to the Killarney Park Hotel.

So that was four in the bag and one to go.

Deluxe Family Room.

“Could include breakfast tray on the bed? This image is to show off that we have family rooms (two doubles)” is what John wrote – along with these 2 pictures…

.. which he sent, to let us see what it looked like.

The 2nd image begin the one that I liked the look of the most, as I felt the window and seating area were important to show – and Dianne agreed. So on arrival that is where I first set up the camera, to see how looked – which surprisingly looked very good, as you can see here…

.. and so we were almost done

Well not quite – and so once again I will let the pictures which Claudio took, tell what all happened next – because when it comes to creating an image that they will want to use, rather than taking a picture that they could use if they wanted to, it usually means having to do a lot more than just pressing the bottom once or twice

Anyway, we were at least off to a good start – so this actually didn’t take very long…

.. for us to end up with this…

.. which they once again weren’t long on putting to good use…

.. a few days later.

So just want to say a big thanks to Alan and his family here – as they were The Stars of the show – and so that was it for that day, as it was time for a pint of Guinness… or was it 2 or maybe it was 3, as we did produce three images that day after all

I’ve attach a photo below that you kindly sent on.

“It would be perfect for the Restaurant image that we wish to create.” – was basically the brief and this was that image…

.. which we produced in the Deerfield restaurant at the Clare Inn Hotel in County Clare – which I talked about here: Clare Inn & George, back in 2010.

Anyway, once again I will let the pictures tell the story – starting with the first picture taken…

.. in the Park Restaurant – which as you can see, looked nothing like Deerfield restaurant – but nevertheless, to create that ‘type of image’ was our goal here, so the images below will give you some idea of what followed…

.. until this image appeared on the screen…

.. and I knew that was it – which once again was on their website page for all the World to see…

.. before the end of the week.

So that was two in the bag and it was time for a spot of lunch – as next up was the Deluxe family bedroom.

There is taking a picture…

.. that someone could use if they wanted to – and then there is creating an image that they would want to use – which is something that I would often say to a new client, who would be looking to hire a photographer for a few days, to take a bunch of pictures of their place.

Because if what you want, is just for someone to come along and take a load of pictures, then anyone with a decent camera should be able to do that for you – so just go with whoever is the cheapest.

However, if what you want instead, is for someone to come along and produce & then provide you with some images that you would want to use afterwards, then first we would need to talk about what all you needed to use them for, etc, etc – because there are more than 100 different ways to shoot any subject.

And since each of those ways could greatly affect the outcome as to whether you would want to use them or not, then “spray & prey” as it’s sometimes called, is not really the ideal way to go about it, as you could end up with nothing that would really say what it is you are wanting the images to say.

A picture being worth a 1000 words and all that

Common Law of Business Balance:

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.”

So on that note, I’ll now let the pictures tell the story of what we were doing this week down in County Kerry, at the Killarney Park Hotel, with John and his team – who we have worked with before, which I talked about here: Keeping it real.

So like a well-oiled machine, everyone (pretty much) knew what they needed to do this time – and so I will now let the pictures speak for themselves, starting with the first taken…

.. and so it beings…

.. through to the final result…

.. which in less than 48 hours, was on their Homepage for the World to see…

.. what we had created for them to use to tell their story.

So that was one – next up was the dining room – which once again I will let the pictures tell the story, as there were lots taking by both myself & Claudio here… who I have got to say, has really become very good at the old lighting – as you can see – because this was indeed a tricky enough one to light, even though that is (hopefully) not what anyone will ever see, as that is not what we want you to even notice