These are the worst 20 things you can say to a photographer [NSFW]
Aug 28, 2018
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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All photographers have gone through awkward and unpleasant situations throughout their career. And I believe we all have some of the sentences we find especially annoying when we hear them from clients, friends or even family members. Mathieu Stern asked his Instagram followers what are the worst things someone can say to a photographer? And in this fun short video, he shares the answers he got.
- “Can you make me look skinny?”
- “Can you send me the RAW files?”
- “Can I see your camera screen?”
- “My new iPhone is better than your big camera?”
- “Come to my wedding, I can’t afford a photographer.”
- “Your lens is not big enough.”
- “You ask for too much money, all you do is click a button.”
- “Can you make it warmer but with more blue?
- “Why is it all blurry in the background?”
- “Tripods are forbidden here.”
- “I hate having my photo taken.”
- “Can I have all the reject photos too?”
- “You don’t even have to edit them, it’s fine.”
- “What do you do the rest of the week?”
- “I only need one photo, will it be cheaper?”
- “Would you edit my selfie I shot with a phone?”
- “Sony or Canon, shat should I buy?”
- “You don’t have a degree, so you’re not really a professional.
- “Shoot for free, I’ll promote your work.”
- “Your camera makes every photo easier to take.”
Although I’m not a professional photographer (but I’ve done a couple of paid gigs here and there), I’ve heard some of these as well. When I did paid photo shoots, there were always poor attempts of “negotiating” such as the one under point 15. Or people wanted to “promote my work,” asking me to, naturally, shoot for free. There was one time when I heard this: “But the [other guy] would charge me the same, and he is a professional, he has a degree.” And then people ask me why I don’t want to turn photography into a business.
I still occasionally hear some other things from Mathieu’s list. Some of them are funny and a bit awkward, and the others are annoying or uncomfortable. Most commonly, people ask me which camera to buy, but I find it kinda cute that they trust my judgment and knowledge. And one of those annoying things I keep hearing is “well it’s easy to take photos that good with your professional camera.” And I have a Nikon D7000, for god’s sake.
What are the worst things that you hear as a photographer? And how do you deal with them?
[20 Worst Things to Say to a Photographer | Mathieu Stern]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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21 responses to “These are the worst 20 things you can say to a photographer [NSFW]”
I agree with this 100%
I showed up with my “big camera” and “big lens” to a work [sporting] event and they asked me to be the photographer at all future events, before they even saw a single photo. How do these people function
And “you have such a nice camera/your camera takes such amazing photos”
My friend gets really good photos and she uses her cell phone. ?
I have a camera on my phone that takes nice photos too. I return with a well how well do they print a 24 x36 print?
Okay, while I get your point, here’s a really weird thing. I have a Canon 5Ds and absolutely love it. However, recently we needed super fast product shots of one of our machines and I didn’t have any lighting. Not even a small strobe and no tripod. I thought “fuck it! It’s only for the web-shop” and used my iPhone 8+ in portrait mode plus two cell phone flashlights as lights and honestly the results totally surprised me. It’s kinda crazy how good those little things are meanwhile.
why not Canon 5D + “two cell phone flashlights” :/ ?
Looking for an affordable professional photographer. Good luck with that!
“We have a budget of $100.” “We have no budget but will give you photo credit” “We want to own the rights to the photos and don’t want to pay for it”
Sony or Canon number 17….dont buy either of that shat ;-)
I had an early 1D 4.1MP but a real sensor and real glass. People would tell me thier phone was better because it would shoot 6MP. As usual I would reply ‘that’s nice’.
“When are you going to get a real job”
Dave Bradshaw you’re just jealous
All of the above/below (depending how this shows up on your screen)…
my phone has 3 lenses, why your camera only one?
A funny thing is when I’m shooting an event and drunk girls jump in and ask for a photo. They don’t know why I’m there and never see the pic.
“I can see by the size of your camera that you can only shoot one song” “Which song?” “THIS song”
“Professional cameras are not allowed” been to a couple of locations that if you have a camera with removable lenses you are a professional photographer and have to pay a pro photographer fee.
“That’s a beautiful picture, you must have a great camera”
Riddled with spelling mistakes and a bit of a God complex. I’m not sure why photographers think they are such amazing creatures (not all to be fair). All professions have annoying aspects to them but it’s about educating people, not belittling them.
Number 17? The correct answer is Canon.