Layla_B wrote:
How long do you think is 'so long'?
If it's taking months, without letting you know anything, perhaps that a busy schedule is delaying the editing.
Then maybe it's time to politely send a 'nudge' saying that you're "curious about the results, but haven't received anything yet, or that you've maybe missed an email?"

It's been about 3 weeks maybe now

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:

It's been about 3 weeks maybe now

Try 6 months.

Amadea T wrote:

Try 6 months.

Damn really 6 months

Gary Livingston wrote:
Did you pay the photographer?

Did the photographer pay you?

Was it a trade arrangement?

People need proper context to advise you better.

Sorry it was a trade but he told me I get them later this week and that was last week.

Shot By Adam wrote:
Was this a shoot you paid for? Was this a trade shoot? Were you paid for the shoot? Was there an agreement?

Way more information is needed before anyone can give you an honest answer.

I was a TF. He said I get them "later this week". But that was last week.

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:

It's been about 3 weeks maybe now

Three weeks is nothing...

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:

I was a TF. He said I get them "later this week". But that was last week.

If the photographer is not giving you any reason for the delay I would say wait one more week before asking again.  If you still don't get your images ask the photographer to give you the unedited images and then get your own retoucher to edit them for you.  In the absence of a written agreement that specifies how many images you were to get and in what time frame there is little you can other than be patient.  Realistically, many models get screwed by photographers and never get any images, it's just part of the learning process.

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:
I was a TF. He said I get them "later this week". But that was last week.

The way I run my life is to go on what people tell me. If you were told that, you could ask him if he has an estimated new delivery date.

BobBarford Photo wrote:
Though 2 weeks is about an average turn around time, it can take longer depending in many factors. Stay professional and offer a helpful suggestion such as " I know a good image retoucher ..."

I tried to call him and he ignored my phone call. Never texted me

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:

I tried to call him and he ignored my phone call. Never texted me

I think you're being a bit overly persistent, especially for a TF shoot.  Unless you had some prearranged deadline when you shot and/or he was aware of some deadline that you had to send them somewhere, etc., it's not unreasonable to take 4 weeks or more.  Delays happen in every business and there could be any number of factors.

Several bad results could come out of badgering - like not getting the best quality edits that the photographer can offer because of time constraints and/or frustration. Or, maybe even worse, that you get really great results from the shoot, but the photographer doesn't want to work together again.

Dean Johnson Photo wrote:
Whenever this issue comes up, I am always a bit surprised at how many people seem to want to make excuses for photographers.
I also don't understand why it would matter if the shoot was "TF" or not.

Every shoot involves a certain level of post-work, we all know this and we all know this when we're scheduling shoots (whether it's a TF of we're being paid) and if a photographer doesn't have the time to actually finish the shoot (do the post work) then they really shouldn't do the shoot at all.
They should schedule it for a time when they have the time to complete the work.

I don't understand the attitude of someone that has the time to do the shoot but then somehow can't seem to find the time to finish the images.

At the very least photographers should be upfront and tell the model prior to booking the shoot if they will be unable to finish the images for a long time. And to me, anything over 7-10 days is a long time.

Someone mentioned 6 months above...holy shit! That's ridiculous.

Simply put, when I'm being paid to do something, I am far more motivated to get the work done than when I am not being paid to do so.

If someone I did a trade shoot with gets upset because they don't get their pictures back in 2 weeks, the worst is they won't ask me to do another trade shoot.
If I'm not satisfying a paying client, they can either withhold final payment or never hire me again for more paid work.

So that's why.

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:
Any advice on what to do when a photographer is taking so long to edit your pictures?

You will find there is a large variation to the answer of what is "normal" because everyone's situation is different, and there are many people who are only aware of things from their perspective or their personal experience instead of observing when this subject is discussed weekly to see that yes, sometimes it does take 6 months.

The challenge, especially with trade work, is that most people are aware that paid work and paid clients often take precedent, and trade work will get sloughed off.   Just like as a model, if you had an offer of trade and an offer of a paid shoot, typically most people would place a higher priority on the paid work.

It is also worth considering that there are many people, especially on this site, for whom photography is not their full-time occupation.  Sometimes people work 9-5 jobs or other full-time jobs and do the photography on the side, which severely restricts the time they have available to process photos.

In other cases, people may outsource photos/send work out to retouchers, which opens another whole new situation, because even the photographer is waiting on the return of work that meets their standards, before they can send those images to you.  It often takes multiple retouchers to find one who completes a given photo as desired.  This can take way more time than people realize.  Personally, I have had photos going out to retouchers than have taken years (1.5-2 years) of trying different people before getting the desired and needed result.  This may not even cross the mind of those who do their own work, but it can be a problem when outsourcing work.

I do agree, that honest and open conversation should take place.  That is what probably disturbs me the most about these threads, not how long it takes, rather how often photographers just stop talking and stop communicating.   Whether that is the photographer being a jerk or the model being a pest by asking too often is going to vary from situation to situation, but either way people should act as mature adults and mature professionals to at least discuss if there are problems and trying to be both realistic and honest.

All the above said, yes, you will find photographers who return work in 1 week, others 2 weeks, some 1 month, others may take 3-6 months.   I've heard of 6 months surprisingly often, but ideally NOT when they promised a week. That is one time where there is value in checking references, you can ask other models and inquire how long it took with them.  It won't give you a guarantee but it may help... although, just because a photographer gets photos too one model in a week is no guarantee they will get them to all models in a week, nor even a month.

In the end, from what I've seen on this site a month is not unusual (even if someone promises a week or two), and images that may be submitted for publication could take significantly longer as most places do not want images out in public before they are published, so you may need to wait until after publication.   Hopefully you'd be aware of this in advance of your shoot, but in reality many people are not great at communication.

Dean Johnson Photo wrote:
At the very least photographers should be upfront and tell the model prior to booking the shoot if they will be unable to finish the images for a long time. And to me, anything over 7-10 days is a long time.

This is the key.  But, the reverse is also true - the models should be telling the photographers if they have a certain time frame in mind.  I think if you look over TF threads here, you will see many photographers take 2-4 weeks.  If there was no set delivery time agreed upon, I don't think anyone can be too upset about not having photos on week 3. 

Since we don't know what was agreed upon prior to the shoot, I don't think it's fair to say the photographer did anything wrong except perhaps misjudging by a week, thus far.

Dean Johnson Photo wrote:
Whenever this issue comes up, I am always a bit surprised at how many people seem to want to make excuses for photographers.
I also don't understand why it would matter if the shoot was "TF" or not.

Every shoot involves a certain level of post-work, we all know this and we all know this when we're scheduling shoots (whether it's a TF of we're being paid) and if a photographer doesn't have the time to actually finish the shoot (do the post work) then they really shouldn't do the shoot at all.
They should schedule it for a time when they have the time to complete the work.

I don't understand the attitude of someone that has the time to do the shoot but then somehow can't seem to find the time to finish the images.

At the very least photographers should be upfront and tell the model prior to booking the shoot if they will be unable to finish the images for a long time. And to me, anything over 7-10 days is a long time.

Someone mentioned 6 months above...holy shit! That's ridiculous.

This.

Cap Hayes wrote:

This is the key.  But, the reverse is also true - the models should be telling the photographers if they have a certain time frame in mind.  I think if you look over TF threads here, you will see many photographers take 2-4 weeks.  If there was no set delivery time agreed upon, I don't think anyone can be too upset about not having photos on week 3. 

Since we don't know what was agreed upon prior to the shoot, I don't think it's fair to say the photographer did anything wrong except perhaps misjudging by a week, thus far.

We did. He told me later this week. That was last week and this week is about over too. I called he ignored it and never returned it.

Good Egg Productions wrote:

Simply put, when I'm being paid to do something, I am far more motivated to get the work done than when I am not being paid to do so.

If someone I did a trade shoot with gets upset because they don't get their pictures back in 2 weeks, the worst is they won't ask me to do another trade shoot.
If I'm not satisfying a paying client, they can either withhold final payment or never hire me again for more paid work.


Also he said it was free and gave me some run around about a phone bill he needed help with so I also gave him money too for that so that counts in my eyes as paying. I just feel he tricked me. I got great shots tho they just need editing.

So that's why.

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:

We did. He told me later this week. That was last week and this week is about over too. I called he ignored it and never returned it.

If he told you "later this week" last week and you shot 3 weeks ago then you did not agree to a time frame before or during the shoot, which is what I suggested and was talking about.  You don't setup a shoot, complete a shoot and then tell people about your deadlines.  You do that ahead of the shoot so that they can make an intelligent decision and you can get your pictures on time.

I think no one here is getting the full picture of what was agreed upon -before- the shoot or what was or wasn't said in the conservations before, during and after the shoot.

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:
Also he said it was free and gave me some run around about a phone bill he needed help with so I also gave him money...

You are a good man!

Cap Hayes wrote:

If he told you "later this week" last week and you shot 3 weeks ago then you did not agree to a time frame before or during the shoot, which is what I suggested and was talking about.  You don't setup a shoot, complete a shoot and then tell people about your deadlines.  You do that ahead of the shoot so that they can make an intelligent decision and you can get your pictures on time.

I think no one here is getting the full picture of what was agreed upon -before- the shoot or what was or wasn't said in the conservations before, during and after the shoot.

Put yourself in a model shoes. A photographer tells you I will have your pics edited later this week and it's the next week and still no pics or texting saying I got backed up .. How you feel??

StefaniG wrote:
Maybe shoot an email or something. That seems like a long time and that person should've finished in the time they told you or should've just given you a heads up of what was going on.

Called today no answer .  Guess I'm not getting the pictures edited

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:

Put yourself in a model shoes. A photographer tells you I will have your pics edited later this week and it's the next week and still no pics or texting saying I got backed up .. How you feel??

I'm not saying that you have no right to be displeased.  If you look back, I have even said that the photographer is guilty of being late.  1 week and counting.  Have you never had anything run 1 week late in your life?  Have you considered that calling and emailing him repeatedly may be contributing to his lack of motivation to get back to you?

Putting myself in your shoes - Yes, I'm annoyed.  No, I don't want to hear that I also made mistakes.

Now, since I've done that, try putting yourself in his shoes.  Emails and phone calls start coming in at the end of week 2 and there was not an agreed upon time frame before that.  How you feel??

Jonathan Jones-Roberson wrote:
Put yourself in a model shoes. A photographer tells you I will have your pics edited later this week and it's the next week and still no pics or texting saying I got backed up .. How you feel??

From what I've heard from models, one of the toughest lessons to learn is to not hound photographers to get photos back.

I don't care what it is in life, but when someone bugs you trying to get you to hurry up to do something, a HUGE percentage of the time the person's response will be to do the exact OPPOSITE.

Put yourself in anyone's shoes, annoying a person trying to get what you want rarely works.

As others in this thread have shown, it is hard to see things from others perspectives, even photographers understanding other photographers, let alone photographers stopping to think about a model's situation.

Now, one thing I've frequently heard is that if a model really needs portfolio quality images within a specific time frame, they should consider actually hiring a photographer, because then if there is a breach of contract you have some actual legal recourse, and lets be honest, paying clients do get priority.

Did not notice above, did you check this photographer's references by talking to any other models the photographer worked with, and ask what their experiences were with regards to turn around?

Something else worth considering...  perhaps something went wrong with the shoot... maybe the photographer isn't happy with the photos, or maybe something happened during the shoot that has resulted in the photographer feeling uncooperative?

It does make sense to think of things from the other person's perspective (exactly as you indicated above), but I'm curious of you've thought of this from the photographer's perspective to see if there might be something you could have done differently or better such that you would not be at this point?

Remember, we only know one side of the story, and there are three sides to every story.

Cap Hayes wrote:

I'm not saying that you have no right to be displeased.  If you look back, I have even said that the photographer is guilty of being late.  1 week and counting.  Have you never had anything run 1 week late in your life?  Have you considered that calling and emailing him repeatedly may be contributing to his lack of motivation to get back to you?

Putting myself in your shoes - Yes, I'm annoyed.  No, I don't want to hear that I also made mistakes.

Now, since I've done that, try putting yourself in his shoes.  Emails and phone calls start coming in at the end of week 2 and there was not an agreed upon time frame before that.  How you feel??

I didn't harass him to be honest. In facts I texted 2x. And called him once. Within 2weeks if that's harassing then maybe I got it all wrong

ontherocks wrote:
maybe you'll get the photos some day. or maybe you won't. just how it goes. i'd say keep moving forward in life. looking back with frustration will only distract from the present and future. find some other (more reliable) photographers to work with and make some great pictures so you won't even miss the ones you didn't get. use the frustration as fuel, as motivation.

and, you are not alone. this is a very popular topic. sometimes i think the photographer just completely screwed up the shoot but doesn't want to say that and is hoping the model will just move on already.

Tbh the shots are actually good. I wish I could show you them just need good editing. But you are right