Capturing photos of the quarter-life crisis birthday

Age 25, or often referred to as the quarter-life crisis, is a phase in which some people are busy searching for their identity, stressed about their job, or confused about their uncertain future. This post is still related to my previous post titled "Birthday Photo Session | Dealing with a client who is less concerned." I divided it into two parts because the resulting photos were different.

During the first photo session, I explained that the client I had this time wasn't punctual and although they wore nice outfits, they lacked attention to detail. For the second session, we did the photo shoot indoors, specifically in a hotel room. The client also provided reference photos, and when I saw the photos they provided, I agreed to it because they only wanted simple photos.

Before starting the photo session, I had to wait for almost an hour for them to get ready and change outfits. Since I was already there, we proceeded with the photo session. Honestly, I felt a bit discouraged getting a client like this. I wasted a lot of time waiting for them to prepare. Then I wondered to myself, could this be what they call a quarter-life crisis?

During the photo session, the client wasn't consistent with the reference photos they wanted. They complained that my photos turned out dark, even though I followed their desired reference. Moreover, this session took place in the evening, and the only source of lighting was the room's lamps. If they had mentioned staying at a hotel, I would have rescheduled the session to capture natural light from the window. But in reality, they didn't inform me about it. Instead, at first, the client wanted the photo shoot to be at a café for their second outfit. However, I explained that a photo session in a café usually incurs additional charges. Eventually, just before the day arrived, they said they wanted the photoshoot in the hotel room.

During the photo session, I used a vintage flash, perhaps some of you have heard of the Godox Lux Senior, one of Godox's vintage flash variants. And this aligned with the reference photos they provided. However, when they saw the results, they complained that my photos were dark. So, I had to increase the exposure and perform masking on the dark areas to lift excessive shadows. This clearly deviated from the concept they wanted.

As it turns out, this client obtained my contact information from a fellow photographer acquaintance. Those photographers had already blacklisted this client because they wanted many good photos but didn't want to pay extra and had issues with punctuality. So, they passed this client on to me. If I had known this beforehand, I would have considered accepting this job.

Anyway, these are the photos I produced during the second photo session.

Honestly, I really liked the results, but the client didn't. Oh, by the way, I still follow her social media accounts, but she don't follow me back. Before the photo session, I needed to see her social media feed as a reference for the photo angles. However, it seems the client has a different mindset. Well, since the photo session has taken place, and I have already sent them the photos, I believe my responsibility as a photographer is fulfilled. It seems I will be more cautious in selecting clients to avoid such situations in the future.

Thank you, warm regards from me.