This has happened to me with my first commission - but not in the usual 'dissatisfied client' manner. To explain...
My first 'commission' was to take some photographs of Lupton House, a nearby stately home that is now being run by a volunteer group with charity status whose objective is to fund restoration. I attended a children’s WW1 commemoration event there organised by Brixham Museum where my grandsons got to dress up as soldiers and march around a bit. They loved it and I got some nice photographs of them having fun for the family album.
I was approached by a lady who, it transpired, was the manager in charge of the house, and had seen me wielding a camera a cut above the smart phones in the hands of the mums and dads and asked if I'd take some shots of the house for them to use in promotional material. I said I'd be delighted and willing to do it for nothing. I'd planned to take some snaps anyway to show my daughter how much it had changed since it was the school she attended.
While the little soldiers were refighting the Battle of Mons I wandered around photographing the house but the limitations of my kit soon became clear as the wide end of my 15-85 wasn’t wide enough on my 7D, the midday sun far too bright on the big white house and I didn’t have a tripod.
Back home I stitched images together but this had the inevitable result of converging verticals and bent rooflines (some of which I adjusted in Photoshop) that, combined with the overhead sun meant I was disappointed with the results and decided the best solution was to return with a WA lens and tripod.
Anyway, I put what I had on Flickr and sent the house a link explaining it was a work-in-progress to ensure they were happy with the compositions and that I'd return when the light was more sympathetic, there were fewer people around and do it again properly.
Yesterday was another WW1 day and I bumped into the lady who said that she and her staff were delighted with the pictures, that they were just what they needed to promote the place for weddings and there was no need to retake them. I said some were so distorted prospective punters may think the place is falling down but she was adamant they’re perfect as they are.
Obviously I’m happy they’re happy but I want them to be better for personal pride as much as anything. She has requested them on a CD so I’ll wait until I have my new lens and go well equipped when I drop it off.
Meanwhile I think I’ll get some more practise straightening crooked buildings in Photoshop (and out on the scaffolding around my house!)
There’s a link to the Flickr page:<here>
Cheers,
John
My first 'commission' was to take some photographs of Lupton House, a nearby stately home that is now being run by a volunteer group with charity status whose objective is to fund restoration. I attended a children’s WW1 commemoration event there organised by Brixham Museum where my grandsons got to dress up as soldiers and march around a bit. They loved it and I got some nice photographs of them having fun for the family album.
I was approached by a lady who, it transpired, was the manager in charge of the house, and had seen me wielding a camera a cut above the smart phones in the hands of the mums and dads and asked if I'd take some shots of the house for them to use in promotional material. I said I'd be delighted and willing to do it for nothing. I'd planned to take some snaps anyway to show my daughter how much it had changed since it was the school she attended.
While the little soldiers were refighting the Battle of Mons I wandered around photographing the house but the limitations of my kit soon became clear as the wide end of my 15-85 wasn’t wide enough on my 7D, the midday sun far too bright on the big white house and I didn’t have a tripod.
Back home I stitched images together but this had the inevitable result of converging verticals and bent rooflines (some of which I adjusted in Photoshop) that, combined with the overhead sun meant I was disappointed with the results and decided the best solution was to return with a WA lens and tripod.
Anyway, I put what I had on Flickr and sent the house a link explaining it was a work-in-progress to ensure they were happy with the compositions and that I'd return when the light was more sympathetic, there were fewer people around and do it again properly.
Yesterday was another WW1 day and I bumped into the lady who said that she and her staff were delighted with the pictures, that they were just what they needed to promote the place for weddings and there was no need to retake them. I said some were so distorted prospective punters may think the place is falling down but she was adamant they’re perfect as they are.
Obviously I’m happy they’re happy but I want them to be better for personal pride as much as anything. She has requested them on a CD so I’ll wait until I have my new lens and go well equipped when I drop it off.
Meanwhile I think I’ll get some more practise straightening crooked buildings in Photoshop (and out on the scaffolding around my house!)
There’s a link to the Flickr page:<here>
Cheers,
John
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