Do you give a professional honest feedback?

Jtiki

My regular photographer of many years moved out of state, so I hired some one new for Christmas, based on a friends recommendation. She took beautiful photos and was easy to work with during the photo shoot. I was very disapointed with her interactions before and after the Session. As a professional, would you want to know? Or is enough that I let my money do the talking and just not hire her again ? She is in the mid to high end price scale and is not a newbie to the business. She was very hard to get a hold off, slow to return phone calls or emails, even after multiple attempts on my part. Im also angry that she posted 25+ photos on her website without telling me ahead of time - is that the norm? My previous photographer always asked which images would be okay to showcase in her gallery. I understand photographers need to show their work, but I'm very careful with images of my child. I think it's creepy that she highlighted him like that.

FaeryStarGazer

Well, speaking as someone who works as a photographer-- this time of year (really, from early fall through the new year) is one of our busiest times of year so it is very hard for us to be in touch immediately. If the person you were working with is full-time, then she was probably incredibly busy- which is the only reason I can think of for not being right on top of correspondence. You don't need to tell her-- she already knows but there's likely nothing she could have done about it short of creating an auto response in her email that said she'd be in touch in X hours. I don't even give out my cell phone number because I can't take calls at all while I'm shooting or "after hours" when I'm back on mom-duty.

The photos she shot are her property so they're hers to do with as she likes- she can post the entire session if she chooses. It IS common for us to post teaser photos, and do a session recap on our blogs; those are both tools we use to grow and develop business. I've only ever had one client ask to not be featured on my biz FB page because they were announcing a surprise in a card. My clients know from researching my work that I share photos on both FB and my blog/website. I don't post full sessions, but I do pick my top favorites

Did you look at the photogs work or website? Did she not post many photos of her other clients? It's critically important to know as much as you can about the photographer you choose to work with. I can't speak for everyone, but I try really hard to assume my clients have done their leg work and know what to expect when they sign on with me. You're totally within your rights to not use her again, but really unless the photos were garbage I wouldn't do that. If you really loved the photos, and you DID want to work with her again, you'll know for next time to ask her not to do a massive feature post on her website, or at least not identify you or your kid in any way.