When to say “No.” to a job

It’s a hard thing to do in this economy, but yesterday I turned down $3,000. This was photography for a cookbook being produced by an author who mainly pitches to restaurants and sells them a vanity book.

The author wanted a lifestyle photographer to take images of customers dining, waitstaff pouring wine at tables, close-ups of pots and pans in the kitchen, etc. He also wanted several images of Hilton Head: lighthouses, dunes, and other local scenes. In addition, he wanted pictures of a cooking class which is held in a classroom on the second floor of the restaurant, and shots of a wine and cheese gathering on a sailboat. In total there were 5 separate shoots (many of them involving people) totaling 75 selected images and I would have to do all of the production work, styling and retouching as well.

Initially, I thought this would be a fun project that would bring me some recognition, but after I met with the author and did a little more research, I realized that it was way too much work for the $3000. There would need to be at least 30 hours spent on the production work alone, and the potential for problems and re-shoots was high. I also realized, on a personal level, that my working relationship with the author would not be a happy one. It’s one thing to be demanding if you are paying me $20,000 for a two day advertising shoot, but I will walk away from a smaller project if you do not treat me well from the beginning.

Admittedly, if the author had been a famous chef I would have done the project, as I am working on my food and resort portfolio and wouldn’t mind that feather in my cap. However, this author had no real name recognition.

If the location was truly special I might have taken the job to gain access and images in my portfolio that I did not have. (But I have access to fine dining restaurants, so this is not the case.) For example, if I was just starting out as an architectural photographer and for some reason I.M. Pei called me to ask if I would shoot his building for free, I probably would. I’d even do it twice, or maybe even three times. After that, I could probably get business from other architects who saw that I had worked with Pei (as long as the images looked professional.) Note that this happens all the time in our business: if you are a wedding photographer and you shoot Angelina Jolie’s wedding, and she allows you to use it for your own self promotion of your wedding photography, instantly you can probably double or triple your prices and get lots and lots of hits on your website.

So I’m not happy about the loss of the $3000, but I think I’ll be a much happier person without this project.

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