Emmiq wrote:
Have this ever happen to you? You are excited about pictures from a shoot, then you see the edited pictures from the photographer...

I don't want to sound unappreciative, I know the photographer puts a lot of energy and time into editing the photos. But pretty much every single picture he edited is worse than the original one! I really want to tell him to just give me the raw films and put his logo on it, but I know that he doesn't give out unedited photos (I have access to a spreadsheet of the originals, but they are too small for MM and have giant logos over them), and I don't want to sound rude.

Have this ever happen to you? what should I do?

Thanks

Since you already told him you didn't like his retouching, this may not work:

Say that you would like his permission to try your hand at retouching or hire another retoucher and/or don't want to waste his time with an alternate retouching, and would he permit you to do so on one or more of your images. Let him know that you will show him the finished and get his approval before posting it/them anywhere.

Frankly, I suggest chalking it up to Saturn being in alignment with Mars and move on. And don't recommend him to other llamas.

MyrnaByrna wrote:
It depends on your relationship with the photographer. Most I would recommend is asking if you may have one without the editing for your own use. However, the photograph belongs to the artist/photographer who took the shot. If you didn't like what he/she did with their work before you shot with him/her or had a specific idea in mind of how you did want them edited then prior to the shoot would have been the time to discuss it.

Once again, SPOT ON!

As Jen mentioned, most photographers will work with you (after the shoot) if you approach the subject with some respect...(and perhaps Tequila, in my case )

I would be interested in knowing what type of shoot this was:
1.) a "trade" shoot for a set watermarked "finished product"?

2.) or did you HIRE the photographer to provide you with a multitude of "unfinished" images for YOU to play with?

What was the agreement of "finished product" ahead of time?
Did the photographer AGREE to give you files that you could "edit" if you didn't like his work? Probably NOT.

Ordinarily, a model PAYS a professional photographer well for the right to "own" and "retouch" originals. It's often called a "work-for-hire" agreement.

But, you may get "FREE" files to play with if you approach the subject with some respect.

Samantha Emme wrote:
A lot of the photographer's I've worked with, like taking photos, not so much editing fine details for eight hours.

Exactly!

I hope to get them close to "right" in the camera.

As the OP states (in her case)..."the originals were better"...so it sounds like a good photographer, but not-so-good "editor".

Samantha Emme wrote:
I offer to pay a retoucher to contact them and have them fix up the raw images.

This means I never have to touch the raw images, and add that to the deal of both of us getting really good quality images, its a win win deal. Most accept, because the images come out good.

I would love to have this win-win situation.

And it's nice to occasionally find such a model that wants more than just QUICK "facebook" quality images (as-fast-as-they-can-get-'em)...And is willing to pay the price of someone professional, instead of the typical their "boyfriend-does-photochop".

GM Photography wrote:
Sometimes a model shows up and doesn't look much like she did in her portfolio and despite my best efforts to make her and the images look their best, they aren't going to help my portfolio.

Should I complain to the model about the way she looked?  Send her home and not shoot her?  Or just do my best, chalk it up as a learning experience and get on with my life?

I agree here too !

Emmiq wrote:
Have this ever happen to you? You are excited about pictures from a shoot, then you see the edited pictures from the photographer...

I don't want to sound unappreciative, I know the photographer puts a lot of energy and time into editing the photos. But pretty much every single picture he edited is worse than the original one! I really want to tell him to just give me the raw films and put his logo on it, but I know that he doesn't give out unedited photos (I have access to a spreadsheet of the originals, but they are too small for MM and have giant logos over them), and I don't want to sound rude.

Have this ever happen to you? what should I do?

Thanks

It's happened to me before. Just talk to him and tell him you appreciate the work he did on those shots but would really like to get some "mild retouching" done on some of the others. Tell him you don't need raw images, just hi-res jpegs and tell him he can put his logo on them.

He might say yes, he might say no, doesn't hurt to ask.