Bad Photog?

Alright, so I'm not the type of person that likes to do a lot of writing, or blogging in general. But with the heartbreak of yesterday, I have to get it out. I had my heart broken by a very well known pinup photographer. I won't say his name, as I would still work with him, but the whole situation just really hurt, especially since I was having a bad day in general.


I saw that said photographer was coming here, well to Panama, so I made it known to him that I would like to work with him. I knew I would have to pay for his services, and I was willing to, 100%. I was expecting somewhere around $300 for a short session with him. When I got the email back, he wanted three payments of $150, but since this shoot was only one month off, payment 1 and 2 would have to be made together. So, I did what any quick thinking photographer would do and I emailed him back. I explained that I didn't have that much money laying around at one time right now because 1. we are a military family and its short notice, and 2. we just moved for the second time in two months. I did not ask him for a discount. I simply explained I knew the exact shot that I wanted to produce, and asked him if I could come in, pay full price for hair and makeup, but use less of his time, thus paying less money. Its something that at that rate, I would have done for a military family (though I would have extended a military discount instead really, but he has different policies than I do and that's fine). He emailed me back saying two payments of 150, which completely broke my heart when he responded again saying that it was a typo, but I could break the payments into three, or knock $100 by not using MUAH.


Really man? If I would have misquoted a price by more than $100, I would have honored it, or at least let the poor girl come in for less time, or do a less elaborate set up, or something. Sadly, I know that I am not every photographer, and I tried to handle the whole situation with as much grace as I could muster. I would also like to encourage photogs to be careful about the way they handle their business. If this had been anyone else, I would have plastered this guy's name all one the web. Remember, you are a business that represents yourself. You can say you'll work with anyone until the cows come home, but if you can't work with people and make deals once and a while, they'll start saying you're discriminating against poor people that just want less of your time for less money.


#sadpanda


PS. Thanks to a couple great Emerald Coast photographers, I'll be getting this shot for my husband elsewhere, for a fraction of the cost.