Responses to rude behavior pop up everyday this summer: escaping flight attendant, rude boss outed for playing Farmville and an intern feeling mistreated by a photographer.

Recently a very frustrated photographer, let’s call her Susie, bcc’d me on an explosive email she sent to a prominent assignment client who she felt had caused her money and time needlessly.  Her reaction? She didn’t simply burn a bridge, she nuked it. A law in physics states that for every reaction there is an opposite and equal reaction. Does that rule apply to business? Not usually but sometimes.

© Dmitriy Shironosov | Dreamstime.com

During the first visit to an art buyer who didn’t see enough fashion work in the book (Susie is a lifestyle photographer with terrific ad work using models), the prospective client asked her to do a test shoot…on her dollar.

She was jazzed. Hired a stylist, make-up, scouted for the perfect location, spent a few days in prep and a day shooting. Susie sent the work to me and I picked my favorites. She sent the best of the lot to the client and then waited. And waited. And waited. After 2 weeks, she called. Left a message. Did that a few times. Tried email. Nothing. Maybe the art buyer was fired? Maybe she died?

Finally she left a message, “I understand if you are avoiding me for personal reasons or something else. But if you don’t want to work with me, please email or call so that I will stop wasting both of our time.”

Art buyer responded, “Sorry but there simply isn’t enough fashion work in your book.” Remember she asked Susie to do a fashion test, as there wasn’t enough fashion in the book. When I looked at what the client uses, Susie’s work was spot on. The match that burned the bridge was lit.

How to handle an impossible client for your photographic services?

Should you try to work it out with a client? Sometimes it works and the fact that you are willing to bend a little…(not completely over) can sometimes help even the coldest heart and rudest jerk. Suggestions:

©Yuri Arcurs/Dreamstime.com

• Eat crow. “So sorry the shoot didn’t work for you. I’ll redo it at cost. (Only if you truly did screw up in a major way or if the client is a regular)
• Talk over the situation with someone that can give the issue perspective. Maybe YOU are the jerk. (Exclude significant others: you have a right to exaggerate the a-hole’s behavior to them for maximum sympathy.)
• Offer to discuss the issue with the client…in a non-defensive manner. “Could you spare a few minutes to help me to understand what went wrong, so I can avoid this situation in the future?”
• Ask yourself what could I have done differently? Then DON’T do it again
• All else fails, dump the client. Don’t nuke them. You never know where they’ll show up again.
• Nuke the worst of them anyway as you don’t want to work for them ever again even from the poor house and no matter where they show up or what they say about you, people will soon come to consider the source of the negative remarks and discredit them.

Big names can get by with being prima donnas…but you better be better than damn good if you intend to act like one.

Shannon Fagan is seemingly everywhere that  stock photography is discussed. (See John Lund’s interview). This isn’t because Shannon is a shameless self-promoter but because he works hard at his craft, gives back to the community of photographers and is an articulate and forward thinking guy. Like many in the business today Shannon is spending a lot of time thinking about the future of stock photography in general and, more specifically, his place in it.

Consequently Shannon is able to identify specific and positive steps that photographers can take to step up and refine their game  to survive the  rolling changes taking place in the photo business.   I met with Shannon  last week as he was returning to NYC from Tennessee with a quick side trip to Seattle where we chatted for a couple of hours.  A week later we concluded the conversation via phone as he was leaving the Atlanta airport. We spoke mostly about advice he has for emerging photographers that are considering stock photography.

His premise is that you’ll do better work (be more successful) if you craft your stock photo business around your lifestyle. To do that, you need to lead an examined life. Being what you think you should be/do, isn’t the same as finding yourself and your life’s work.  Nor is heading into the photographic business with unrealistic assumptions about instant success going to be a good starting point. Shannon’s insights are especially key for emerging photographers.

Shannon Fagan - President of The Stock Artists Alliance

“It’s obvious’, Shannon says, “people do better work, if they are happy doing it’. Below are Shannon’s thoughts on the internal research required:

Personality. Are you introverted or extroverted? If you’re shy, then don’t get yourself into a career where you have to deal with lots of people as happens for a  lifestyle shooter.  If  you want to do shoots with multiple models…hire an extroverted assistant to put them at ease. Perhaps architectural or food photography might better suit your style.

Time: Prefer 9-5 or night owl? If you have family obligations or plan on having them, consider that you might want to build your personal stock brand around subjects that are best shown in daylight and close to home.  If you intend to shoot stock images that require a business or retail location, you may find that you are able to use these locations only at night. Will that fit with your lifestyle?

Financial: Budget Tolerance/Return on investment. Consider that you will need money to invest in self-financed shoots…also consider how long you can wait for a return on your investment. Don’t count on a six month return anymore.  To hasten the time between when you pay shoot expenses and when the shoots go into the black think about cost of production. Can you use free sources or is your time worth more than it will take to find those free props, wardrobes, sets etc? Can you afford to use your savings on stock productions?

Communication: Can you turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes’? Personality has a lot to do with being a successful stock photographer. Not only do you have to round up talent but you have to be a boss…part of your job is training freelance or occasional  staff. Do you have the stomach for it?

Equipment: Gear hound or point & shoot? Not likely you’ll get too far with a simple point and shoot, even in microstock today. But more importantly do you love Photoshop? If you would rather be set on by fire ants than sit in front of a computer,  can you afford to hire your post work out to others? Remember to calculate the cost of your time if you do the work yourself.

Style: Fashionista or Jeans & T-Shirt? A tongue in cheek comment as Shannon indicates that his wardrobe has either been the result of a photo shoot or will someday be in one.

Fagan's stock image used in a bank advert

Vision Portfolio? Bright and cheery or Dark and Moody? Bright and cheery is the name of the game currently in stock photography. If your style is otherwise, can you hold on to your darker vision while showing a sunny side in a majority of your stock images? Be wary that formulaic shooting could deprive you of the creative jolt you get from being a photographer.

I’ll add to Shannon’s words a quote by Steve Jobs from a commencement address at Stanford a few years back: “Your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

Or Sting’s advice to young musicians, “…they say ‘how do I make it?’ And I say to them “it’s not important to make it, just keep playing music and its its own reward. And if you’re meant to be a big star or not-that’s just fate. But a love of music and a passion for music is always going to be a gift for you”.