Client wants to edit their own photos

[mistydawn]

I received a call from a potential client for some family portraits and her brother who is going to be included in the portrait is a professional photographer but does not want to have to be behind the camera. He asked that I take the photos and then give the RAW images to him on CD for him to edit himself. I agreed since I was put on the spot and have never been faced with that question before, so my question is how much should I charge them for the CD of prints since I am not doing any post processing? What should I say if faced with this question again?

[gturner]

Some will moan, I don't think it is a major issue. Just make sure that you keep it to a pro who you can trust is not going to do weird stuff.

Pricing - I would not discount yourself too much for it. The fact that they want to PP is their problem.

[John Hendry]

Originally Posted by gturner

Some will moan, I don't think it is a major issue. Just make sure that you keep it to a pro who you can trust is not going to do weird stuff.

Pricing - I would not discount yourself too much for it. The fact that they want to PP is their problem.

Yes I would charge my normal price + copyright as they will have the Raw files

All the best

[John Hendry]

Sorry I ment to say my average portrait order + hope this helps

All the best

[G'Hopper]

Originally Posted by mistydawn

so my question is how much should I charge them for the CD of prints since I am not doing any post processing? What should I say if faced with this question again?

To question nr.1, I would say charge your normal rate.
To question Nr. 2 It depends on whether you shoot only for the money or whether you ant to build up your portfolio and promote yourself as an artist.

The highest paid wedding photographers I know do not allow their photos to be edited by anyone but themselves so that they can then control what goes out there with their name attached to it.

If you allow someone else to edit your photos, they are, in a sense, no longer your own. We all know how much can be done with some pp.

I have only done one wedding and gave the couple the RAW images. I lived to regret it, as their post-processing was terrible and I hated what they put out there. They (unfortunately) gave me credit and I didn't have the heart to ask them to remove my name from their website.

Lesson learnt though. I will never again allow anyone to edit my images unless they work for me and I can control the output.

That being said, I don't make a living from photography, nor do I want to, so I guess my situation is different.

[andyw]

IF you do this then you could state that you want approval for any that are printed or displayed so you keep a certain amount of control.
OR
Just up your price accordingly and assign full copyright and ensure they do not credit you on any of the edited shots.

Up to you really.

[Brian Mullins]

My clients are more then welcome to edit anything I give them. Generally it doesn't happen but, occasionally, it will. I have three major "things" when it comes to this:

1 - Don't use my watermarked photos to edit. It sends a false message about my style and PP work (good or bad, it's not mine).
2 - Nothing ever leaves my studio without being "finished" in my eyes. Ever.
3 - Because of #2, there is no cost savings.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by Brian Mullins

My clients are more then welcome to edit anything I give them. Generally it doesn't happen but, occasionally, it will. I have three major "things" when it comes to this:

1 - Don't use my watermarked photos to edit. It sends a false message about my style and PP work (good or bad, it's not mine).
2 - Nothing ever leaves my studio without being "finished" in my eyes. Ever.
3 - Because of #2, there is no cost savings.

Good advice....you'll be remembered by your last photo taken.

[bkjerabek]

This is just me but to have someone "finish" my "art work" for me is just not OK with me. That's as bad as when people bring cameras to the shoots, I set up shots and they are in the background trying to shoot... ugh.

[mistydawn]

Thanks for the feedback! Lots of great advice. Since I already agreed to allow the client to edit their own photos, I can't really reneg now. I'm torn between telling him to credit me for the images taken and credit himself for the post processing. Either that or I just need to let this one go without any credit whatsover. I already told them I want to do some of my own edits for my own portfolio. I have asked for a link to his website because I want to see where he stands as a photographer. Maybe after I view his work I can decide if I want my name tied to the finished product at all.