Time Taken Over Editing Image

Shazland79

Shazland79

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Lise
Edit My Images
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Hi there, I wonder if anyone can help me. I have a client who is constantly querying how long it takes me to edit images (I am currently using photoshop). The client in question is extremely particular about every image I produce for her and quite rightly so, but simply doesn't understand why I need to take the time editing each one. The images are for a website and so need re sizing e.t.c. She has asked me why I can't set my camera to the exact size she needs for her website, that took some explaining. Has anybody else experinced anything like this, and if so any advice on how to handle this situaiton would be very much appreciated!!! Thank you.:)
 
Hi, and welcome to the forum! How long I spend depends on the image, some just need a quick straighten, others require playing with levels, contrast, etc. It depends how good I was on the day really! Some people will spend hours though on each one, and it usually shows when they do!

Just explain to her that actually taking the photo is only half the work! No photo she sees anywhere in advertising, websites, galleries etc will have come off the camera like that. Without knowing more details of the client and what you're taking the photos for, it's hard to come up with the right approach, but if it's for a website, she should want the shots to look as appealing as possible, and that takes time!
 
Thanks Chris. It's good to know other photographers also need to edit their work!! The photographs I'm taking for her are of clothing and accessories, which are of very high quality, so she will make alot of money back on each one when they sell, and so you would imagine that she wouldn't mind me taking a little more time over the images to make sure they look as good as possible.
 
O.K, go for the flattery approach then! Tell her that her products are of a very high quality, however if the appropriate amount of time is not taken over the photos, they won't reflect this quality and her sales could take a hit as a result!

Chris
 
or you could just invite her to have a go for herself and see how long it takes her lol
 
Do you tell her how to do her job? I bet you don't!! Just tell her that in order to produce the correct image you have a process to go through just like every job in the world!
 
Working for as a photographer would be great without the clients :)

I find that making sure people know up front how long it'll take (not saying you didn't!) and then explaining that a) you have other clients too b) you want to do the best job you can for them, does help.

...But not always. Clients always want things as soon as possible, you just need to find a way to explain (nicely) that if photography was easy they would do it themselves....
 
Let's take a step back.

Why is the client asking this? Are you underestimating the time it needs? Are you doing more images than you expected? Are they querying the time on invoices? Are you late presenting the finished images?

What's the underlying reason for the query?
 
The problem is that my client wants to pay for a day in the studio then have perfect images presented to her asap with little or no editing time. It's basically the hours of editing after the shoot that she is querying. I've provided a pretty quick turn around for her so far.
 
Explain that the shoot is only half the time that is required to do the job properly. That each image need to be processed differently and individually.

I had one client who loved an image and wanted to know "exactly" what I had done to it. I think I lost him at about step 13! :) Often I use actions that are that length but each image is often optimised for that action before I even hit the run button. Exposure and WB are checked on each image before I even start.

Show them the list of the process, most people don't understand photoshop language and if you show them a huge list of all the adjustments it usually hits home just what goes into each one. :)
 
AliB said:
Show them the list of the process, most people don't understand photoshop language and if you show them a huge list of all the adjustments it usually hits home just what goes into each one. :)
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Spot on, I think. I was selling some of my (non-photo) work once when the client queried the price given the apparent simplicity of the product. So I opened up the code needed to run the thing and scrolled down page after page (of extremely inefficiently written code). He immediately backed off and paid up.

I'd have thought showing a simple straight from the camera shot followed by the edited one would help reveal the importance of the PP.

Of course, it might be that you are pretty inefficient at PP. Have you tried letting another photog see what you are doing and how long it takes, just in case they can help you speed it up a bit?
 
AliB said:
That each image need to be processed differently and individually.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to start anything here but it's a studio shoot. The lighting, subject placement etc is all controlled. Why does every shot need to be processed differently?

Surely this is a situation where processing should be minimal? Honestly though, I haven't done any studio work so could be speaking out of the wrong orifice :D
 
I get that Dod. :) Being controllable then yes it should be minimal but it is also highly dependant on the look that the client wants. How many model shoots end up in mags with little or no PP? :D

Product can be tricky too. Something as simple as a tomato and the client says it's the wrong colour, they want it redder! :shrug:
 
That's exactly it! I could be photographing a shiny gold bracelet one minute, which the client wants to "sparkle" and a jet black jumper the next, which the client wants to be able to see the detail without the thing losing it's depth of colour. They also want different colour backgrounds e.t.c.
 
If you are invoicing her separately for post production editing to her instruction, She should not need to know how long it takes to do, that will vary shot to shot and photographer to photographer. You should however be able to give her an estimate.

You should be able to give an accurate estimate for the processing of a standard shot to a given quality and size suitable for her purpose. I would expect these to be part of the per shot cost, if additional to studio time.

Re sizing is fairly instant and I would not dream of making a separate charge for it.

If you show her the raw original and the finished article she should be able to see the result of your hard work.

If the difference can not be seen ... What are you charging for?
 
I charge an hourly fee at the moment and the client wants a break down of hours spent photographing and editing. I'm quite new to this freelance stuff, and so I don't charge anywhere near as much as a lot of photographers would for my time as I know I am lacking in experience. There is a big difference in the raw shot to the edited one, and so I think I will send an example of each to the client to show how much work goes in to each picture.
 
Hi and welcome to TP!

I've been in a couple of very similar situations mate.

What are the average processes that your having to apply to these images for your client?

Also have you given the client a choice? Faster turn around and less presentation etc?
 
Shazland79 said:
I charge an hourly fee at the moment and the client wants a break down of hours spent photographing and editing. I'm quite new to this freelance stuff, and so I don't charge anywhere near as much as a lot of photographers would for my time as I know I am lacking in experience. There is a big difference in the raw shot to the edited one, and so I think I will send an example of each to the client to show how much work goes in to each picture.
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I am retired now.. But I never liked Hourly fees.

I charged Studio time Half day or full day or week.
Then a per shot charge to cover materials and basic costs and I proof print.

Today the per shot charge would include all but "special" post processing to customer instructions.

Basic getting the shot post processed should be part of the per shot charge.
If it is correctly arranged and lit. It should be little work per shot.

Additional costs for props. models. set building. and other expenses were charged per item.

Retouching or other special customer requirements were charged to estimate.

Prints were charge per my price list.
 
Email her an edited pic and an un edited pic so she can see the difference. Then tell her if she wants them all un edited then she can lol
 
Hi Tomas,

Well, I like to increase the contrast a bit and depending on the item I like to increase the saturation of the colour. Often things need straightening up a bit, then cropping and I like to zoom right in and get rid of specks of dust or whatever is there. If the item is on a white background I would get rid of all the shadow so the background is completely white. Then I would re size the item to one of the sizes they have given me depending on what they want to use the image for. :) As much as they dont like the time spent on each one, I don't think they would be happy with a faster turn around as each item is so expensive and needs to look as good as poss.
 
Shazland79 said:
Hi Tomas,

Well, I like to increase the contrast a bit and depending on the item I like to increase the saturation of the colour. Often things need straightening up a bit, then cropping and I like to zoom right in and get rid of specks of dust or whatever is there. If the item is on a white background I would get rid of all the shadow so the background is completely white. Then I would re size the item to one of the sizes they have given me depending on what they want to use the image for. :) As much as they dont like the time spent on each one, I don't think they would be happy with a faster turn around as each item is so expensive and needs to look as good as poss.
Click to expand...

I completely understand, sounds like your applying the necessary basics too.

How many products are there altogether?

I've done around three jobs like this, one of which was an extremely large computer company that provides industrial computers to Nokia.
The job was very difficult as the machines had so many scratches and blemishes, all had to be healed and cloned. One of the examples was the size of a refrigerator!
 
Wow that does sound fiddley!

Well, I get through around 30 items at a time with 2 or 3 images of each.
 
dod said:
I'm not trying to start anything here but it's a studio shoot. The lighting, subject placement etc is all controlled. Why does every shot need to be processed differently?

Surely this is a situation where processing should be minimal? Honestly though, I haven't done any studio work so could be speaking out of the wrong orifice :D
Click to expand...

That will work to a certain extent for a family portrait shoot, but product shots are a different animal, the finished item often looks nothing like the original. It's fairly common to cut out the product, to add or change the backgrounds, add reflections or shadows, even adding people is not uncommon, the colours are often ajusted or even created (sometimes your working with a mocked up product as the real thing isn't finished yet) it's usually not just a quick levels and sharpen.
 
Would it not have been better to have given the client a fixed sum price setting out number of images to be provided and timescale for shoot and completion?

Hourly rates is always queried by a client, they'll always feel you are dragging your heels.
 
Sounds like she may be looking for an angle to haggle the price down.
 
swanseamale47 said:
That will work to a certain extent for a family portrait shoot, but product shots are a different animal, the finished item often looks nothing like the original. It's fairly common to cut out the product, to add or change the backgrounds, add reflections or shadows, even adding people is not uncommon, the colours are often ajusted or even created (sometimes your working with a mocked up product as the real thing isn't finished yet) it's usually not just a quick levels and sharpen.
Click to expand...

Beginning to see that now, I thought that sort of stuff (Backgrounds etc) was controlled at the shoot, not in processing :)

Is it more cost effective to do it in processing then? That might be an explanation the OP could use as well? :shrug:
 
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