unwelcome edits :(

[hollybug]

So my sister-in-law asked me to take photos of her family. I did so and tweaked them a tiny bit in photoshop (I don't like a lot of editing) and told her that if she wanted any further edits done to let me know and I would edit the RAW version (because I knew she has plans to print them out). Well, the very next day after receiving the pictures, she posts one on facebook and she has saturated the colors and blurred the edges. It hurts my feelings because it is something I created and she goes and changes it. I wouldn't want anyone to paint something more into a painting I've done...why is it more acceptable for someone else to edit your photos...someone with no experience in photography (not that I have a lot, but I'm trying to learn). More than anything, it just hurt my feelings because I worried a lot over wanting the photos to look good for her. Now I feel like she thinks they were crappy (even though her edits were cheesy, in my opinion). I know I won't say anything to her, but just wanted to vent.

Anyone had a similar experience? What did you do? What would you do?

[nickbedford]

Originally Posted by hollybug

I know I won't say anything to her, but just wanted to vent.

You need to. If you already asked her not to change them and then she does, that's pretty rude and you should definitely talk to her. Ask her why she changed your images. It's not easy, but she'll never learn.

One of the clauses I put in my license is the "do not modify, as this does not represent my work." clause.

Good luck.

[zona5101]

yup - not the first time someone has posted that exact complaint... but, really, unless you tell her it will just continue to bug you... explain it just like you did...

[autofocus]

I've never had it happen to me, but I can understand your feelings about this. If you like your Sis in law, and don't want to create any bad feelings between you, her, and possibly your brother (in-law), maybe it's best to let it slide. ~OR~ you can tell her you think she overworked YOUR image, and maybe sit together with her and re-do it while "kind of" listening to her inputs...of course, doing it more to your liking. At the end of doing this, remind her that you'd be perfectly willing to sit with her again while "together" doing any subsequent edits.

[Phoenix_Jackson]

Happens to me a lot but not in photography.

If the person's opinion matters to me (like if I'll be working with him/her in the future), I'll kindly ask if that's his/her taste. At least next time, I could adjust my "editing" to it. If the person doesn't matter much, I'll just say "ah, apparently we have a different approach in this" and move on. There won't be a next time, though.

[Bruce A]

Originally Posted by hollybug

What would you do?

If it was my sister, first off I'd go to her facebook page and write something like the following:

"My sister asked me to do some family photographs and I happilly obliged. Somehow she believes she has the rights to my photographs because here they they are on her facebook page virtually destroyed by her trying her hand at processing. Obviously my sister and I need to have a chat about photographer's rights. I love you sis, but you really diappointed me by doing this."

or something to that effect

Secondly, I then pour a drink and wait for the phone to ring

[nickbedford]

Originally Posted by Bruce A

If it was my sister, first off I'd go to her facebook page and write something like the following:

Wham bam!

(10 characters)

[dlambert]

I'd recommend having a conversation with her. Explain that you feel like she's made a judgement about your work, and rather than talk it over with you so you could understand what she's looking for, she went in a pretty passive-aggressive direction by editing the photos herself behind your back. Let her know that you care about this because you take pride in your work, and that if there's something she wants to see in the photos, you'd like to help her (I know you told her that once already).

It's possible that she just wants to feel like she's contributing to the creative process and doesn't understand how this appears to you (if you really want to give her the benefit of the doubt), but it's important for her to understand how you feel.

I'm not sure that a passive-aggressive response on your part is going to help get a conversation started, unless you both find that clearing your lungs with a good screaming bout helps your conversational skills. It's not that I don't appreciate the appeal of the passive-aggressive approach, it's just that I find it just doesn't work very often.

[NgaiHill]

This happened with some photos I took for my mother. She edited them because they didn't look right on her really old CRT screen. She emailed them to friends of her which made me even less impressed. However because she was my mother I didn't really say anything about it, a can of worms I didn't want to open!
However my advice to you is to say some something to your sister - especially if it is likely that you may take photos for her again in the future. If you don't sort it out this time around it will happen again, and again. How you choose to deal with her depends on your relationship & personality but I definitely think you should say something, even if its just to explain how you feel.

[SwissJon]

LoL.. Photography isn't the only area where this kind of thing happens.. My wife asked me to write a website for a charity she manages. I did a really nice interactive site.. Really quite classy.. And then she goes into MS Publisher and creates some really crappy "stickers" that she wants plastered all over the front page, making the site feel cheap and nasty. Thankfully she's not got a clue about web editing, so I won the argument.

If it came down to photos I'd taken for her, then I'd just let her do what she wants. The thing is.. When you get something, no matter how nice, you want to personalise it so that it's yours. Whether that's sticking "Baby on board" stickers on the back of a brand new BMW, or writing on the inside of a book, putting a really shitty frame around my photos, or doing as you described.. Once the photos theirs, I tend to just forget about it.. It was a present, it's yours.. Now do whatever you like with it.

I really think that we can get too precious with our pictures.. Once the picture is out of my control, anything that happens to is is irrelevant. I have my tastes, they have theirs.. If their taste is crap, so what.

I would suggest you simply ask your sister "Didn't you like the edits I did on that photo?" The trouble is, since it takes someone 1 second to take a snapshot, and 10 seconds to add a crappy border, they assume that you took just as much time over it, and the reason it looks nice is 'cos you've got a nice camera. getting all uppity about it is likely to start a fight, one that nobody wins.