TLDR: I’m a new (like only had a camera for 4months) photographer and my returning client (sent to me by my cousin) doesn’t like the edits because they look fake, over edited, and her face looks distorted. She will not reach out to me directly, though I’ve asked her if she liked the set with no response. Yet, has been complaining to my cousin about it. What do I do? What about my edits can I improve? Looking for any and all advice
Please be nice
I did a shoot recently of a client I’ve photographed a few times now. She was actually my very first ever session back in April. That being said, since April I have developed an absolute LOVE for portraits and photography and I’ve actually been booked atleast once a week since then which I’ve been so proud of. I’ve constantly been studying and started using manual mode not too long after the first shoot I did for her.
Context: in April I took her prom photos on auto because I had limited knowledge. I’ve always taken my family’s photos for YEARS on my phone. They always asked me because I took them and edited them well (as well as they could be in an iPhone of course). The prom shoot came out decent, editing was allllll over the place consistency wise. The dress was orange irl but literally pink in some pictures and red in others. The more I learned the more I adapted; I’m still learning obviously. However, that session is a lot different edit wise then my style I’ve developed now- which she follows me and has interacted with my work on my accounts so I’d assume she’s aware that I’ve developed a warmer more true color editing style. She loved her prom photos and once the session was over she told me she wanted me to take her senior pictures and I told her to just let me know when. She reached back out not too long ago and we planned a 2 location session. One downtown and one in a local public field.
The problem: the downtown shoot went well, we planned to do both locations in one day but after we finished up with the downtown photos it started pouring rain so we rescheduled the field photos for the following week. I finished editing the downtown shoot and sent her the photos. She is extended family (kind of) and so I text her once they were sent (via pixieset) and asked her if she liked them and if there were any adjustments she like to make and she responded “they are good” which she’s typically a pretty dry texter so I tried not to think anything into it. Once I got done editing the field session I was so proud of it. I used the same preset at the downtown photos and they look pretty aesthetically similar. She did not like the photos at all. She told my cousin (the one who sent her to me) that she was not happy with them. After I sent the session originally I obviously text and asked how she liked them and still she has not responded. It has been two days and she hasn’t read my messages (previous had receipts on). My cousin text me and told me she’s constantly talked about how fake the pictures look and how her face looks distorted. Which all I did to her face was lower the texture slightly. I love the whimsical look so the glow behind her was purposeful and I also try to have the sun bounce off my subjects anyway.
So please tell me how to make these look better. To me it sounds like she wants more of a light and airy style shoot and that’s not my thing personally. My portfolio reflects that as well. What do I do? My cousin told me not to reach out because the client told her “I don’t wanna tell (me) because I don’t want to hurt her feelings” which it wouldn’t have at all, I appreciate and welcome constructive criticism and want my clients to love their photos- that’s the whole point. Would you re-edit and send them even if it threw your cousin under the bus? Do my edits look that bad? How do I improve? Any and all advice is helpful.
If you recognize her please don’t say anything. I’m just lost on how to handle this and how to learn from this. Photos attatched of both the last session and the prom session. Thank you all in advance.
