As photographers, we all get unrealistic project requests from time to time. Some clients are willing to learn more about your process to try and establish a partnership. Others are not. So, how do you handle unrealistic requests that make it to your inbox? Do you respond? Do you delete? This post shares how I handle unrealistic project requests and I think my advice might surprise you.
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Unrealistic Project Requests
I recently received an email from a company in the industry who wanted to do a dessert shoot featuring a big name chef and a special product that would be used in the recipe. Check out the email below.
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Hi Regan!
I hope all is well. I’m reaching out about a potential freelance shoot. We are a restaurant industry-facing media company and we’re doing a quick shoot of a Cheesecake Hand Pie that utilizes a special vanilla extract for one of our partners.
The shoot would take about 30 minutes and would require shots of the dish on its own, a few shots of the dish with the vanilla extract bottle, as well as a headshot of Chef. The rate would be flat $200.
Let us know if you’re interested/available and we can send through next steps, lock down a time and send through a more detailed shot list!
Have a great day!
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Why We Get Unrealistic Project Requests
All photographers get unrealistic project requests. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to the industry or an old pro. It’s inevitably going to happen from time to time. And, this email is a classic example.
I think there are a couple of possible reasons why clients send requests like this:
- They don’t know what goes into photography.
- They have always handled their photography needs this way.
How To Respond to Unrealistic Project Requests
When you get unrealistic requests, I can understand not wanting to respond, deleting the email and moving on with your day. We’re all busy and our time is valuable.
But, the truth is, these emails will continue to come if you don’t start speaking up. I always encourage my fellow photographers not to go silent on emails like this. These requests can be frustrating and laughable, but these requests are also an opportunity to educate.
My advice is to create a professional, templated email response that you can refer to and edit accordingly when you get these types of emails. It allows you to educate without sacrificing too much of your time.
Your educational email response has the power to do the following three things:
- Share your knowledge
- Demonstrate your expertise
- Weed out a potentially bad client
I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt in these situations. I mean, my closest friends don’t truly understand what I do, but I don’t hold it against them or take offense. It’s understandable that a lot of people simply don’t understand what is involved with food photography. And, why should they? I’m the photographer, not them.
Sharing your knowledge with people in a friendly and positive tone can be incredibly helpful. A good photographer isn’t just good with cameras, they have to be good with people too.
Share your knowledge by politely telling them that their timeline and budget are not in line with the project deliverables. You don’t have to get too detailed about this either. In fact, this is when you give them an opportunity to get more detailed with you.
Demonstrate Your Expertise
After you tell someone that their project isn’t in line with the time needed and potential costs, put the ball back in their court. Ask them specific questions about their project and see how they respond. Asking questions demonstrates your expertise – and believe it or not – their responses will demonstrate a lot about them.
I always ask these questions in the initial stages of all my photography projects and I will copy and paste them into my email responses. It’s a great way to shift the client’s thinking from “quickly finding a photographer” to thinking more critically about what they need.
Weed Out A Potentially Bad Client
Nothing may come from your professional, templated response. But, nothing comes from not responding either. You will weed out a potentially bad client either way.
However, the whole point of sending a professional (templated) response is to help educate and protect your boundaries as a photographer. We work in an industry that sometimes tries to take advantage of our talent. There’s more power in speaking up rather than going silent. Your response will be read by someone and you never know when someone may actually learn from it and change their approach when trying to hire a photographer.
READ MORE ABOUT: FINDING THE RIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY CLIENTS
My Email Response
Hello (name of person),
Thanks for reaching out about your photography needs!
The shot list you described includes food photography, product photography and headshots. All of which require different lighting and setups. The timeframe and budget you mentioned unfortunately don’t align with the work involved for this project.
However, please see my initial project questions below to help me understand your project a little better. After receiving your responses, I can recommend a fair timeline and estimate for us to discuss together.
Cheers,
Regan
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Their Response
Thanks for the quick response and appreciate your feedback!
As an industry-facing organization, we do hundreds of these types of shoots per year so our shot list, time allotment, and rates are pretty standardized at this point.
Photography has been an integral part of business for decades and we of course, respect and appreciate the time and effort needed to produce and edit the images.
That being said, our shoots are very minimal (no stylizing), and we’ve never had an issue with the 30-minute allotment in the past but completely understand if the project is not a fit.
Thanks again and hope you have a great weekend!
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I decided not to respond further. I shared a professional response along with my initial project questions and they told me this is how they’ve always done it. It’s not worth pursuing further since they sound pretty set in their ways. I do find it interesting that a 30 minute time slot and $200 is considered standard for everything they’re asking for… and I feel badly that they have photographers who try to accommodate this. I can only imagine that the quality of the images is significantly sacrificed in an effort to get things done quickly.
Anyway, when you respond professionally to these types of requests, it will catch people’s attention and you never know when it just might spark a change.
How do you handle unrealistic project requests? Share in the comments below.
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All images ©Regan Baroni 2021.
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