A friend asks you to take baby photos then says they like the style of Anne Geddes!

[Andrea Taurisano]

I was quite frank with him and said (nicely) ... "Personally I find her work unappealing and chintzy but I'll do whatever you want!"

You are for sure a very good friend if you're willing to imitate work that's not yours and that you don't even like.

Someone already pointed out that a very good friend, on the other hand, would not ask you to forget YOUR style and personality and copy someone elses.

At least make sure you remind your friend that chances of getting very good results drop when one's forced to do things one normally wouldn't do.. That may help.

 

[rbsinto]

**** it. Say its not your cup of tea, but do it anyway. Look at them as a client. Try to convince them in another direction, but if they really want that, do it. Do the shots they want and then you say "I have another idea as well, could we try it out?". Do the shots you would have done if no strings attached, and hope that they will use them instead when they see them done. In the end your friend will be happy, and thats what matters right?

In my opinion, the best solution to the "problem".

 

[zauhar]

I hadn't seen her pictures before, but now that I do they look more like good work with photoshop than photography.

I think your cue from the Geddes reference is to be CREATIVE. You have posted shots on RFF that have spawned pages of commentary - I think you can give your friend more than he bargained for!

Randy

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/anne-geddes-starting-to-lose-it,8875/

 

[hipsterdufus]

Shoot it with Tmax 3200 for extra grit, wide open with a Noctilux. Have homeless people holding the baby. That's how a true street-shootin' RFFer would do it! 😛

 

[dave lackey]

A very good friend, who became a father for the first time three weeks ago, asked today if I could take some photos of the baby for him and his wife ... then mentioned that they really like the style of Anne Geddes and could I do something along those lines. 😱

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the cheesy work that she does so I've included an example below ... you get the idea I'm sure! 😀

I was quite frank with him and said (nicely) ... "Personally I find her work unappealing and chintzy but I'll do whatever you want!"


I'm curious ... who else here has been placed in a position where you have to trample all over your own photographic ethics to please a very good friend? 😛

Not me... 🙂

 

[jsrockit]

As a matter of interest this person has always been there when I've needed him and I would probably rate him as the closest male friend I've had in my life. He has bailed me out emotionally at some of my low points over the last few years.

You're a cold lot at times! 😛

Maybe just be honest and say that is "Anne Geddes' look" and that you cannot really mimmick it because it isn't what you've concentrated on, photography wise, in your life. Make them understand there are many different ways of photographing something and, since you hate her work, you've never bothered trying to emulate it. Tell them straight up that you'll try to make great photos of their kid, but you have your own style. A true friend will understand.

 

[FrankS]

Just do your best.

 

[helen.HH]

Knowing Your 'Imagination' Keith
I am sure You can come up with Something Quite Creative & Grand

on a side Note:
I don't mind her work, its 'Stylized' and granted it has Proved Successful for her... I mean theres alot of over the top Conceptualism ( not always Pleasing to me)
But All the More Power...I'm a tad Jealous that she can make her Money through Photography 😱 particularly in a Market that is Shrinking

 

[anjoca76]

Personally I feel that being a good friend is taking nice baby photos for him. He's excited to be a new dad, and quite honestly his knowledge of other examples of baby photography is limited, if not nil. Maybe take a few in the geddes style he thinks he wants but then take a bunch in your own style. Chances are he'll wind up liking yours better anyway.

I am a singer-songwriter who has fought the good fight and resisted wedding/cover band crap gigs for the same reasons as you not wanting to shoot cheesy baby pictures--because you don't ever want to "sell out." I completely understand. But at the same time, I have sucked it up, learned bad cover songs for specific occasions, and played a friend's wedding, my sister's birthday party one year, and a couple other things like that. At one time or another we've all had to bend our principles ever so slightly.

 

[semordnilap]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/anne-geddes-starting-to-lose-it,8875/

There it is.

 

[lynnb]

mabelsound - thanks for that link to The Onion (the only source of good journalism) - wonderful!

Keith, others have said it already; I try to give the client, or friend, what they want, while ever so gently and politely asking them to consider alternatives if I think those will work better - and giving them both at the end of the day. That way I know they will be happy, and possibly even pleasantly surprised and delighted.

 

[semordnilap]

Think of it as a challenge–how can you make something that satisfies both you and them? And if you can't, then make sure your friend is satisfied before you. I'm sure you'll make something good.

 

[alistair.o]

Tie it in with some promo' work for Redbacks. Put the boots on the baby and take a 'from the sole shot'

Sorted.

 

[Pherdinand]

Say you are pleased to do it, make a horrible shot and pretend you think it's great.
He will NEVER ask you this again.

 

[Mongo Park]

Man up and out-chintz Anne. You know you wanna do it. It's gonna be fun. With your friend's permission show us the results - you could start a new thread "Out chintzin Anne". Go help your friend get what he wants.

 

[shadowfox]

As a matter of interest this person has always been there when I've needed him and I would probably rate him as the closest male friend I've had in my life. He has bailed me out emotionally at some of my low points over the last few years.

You're a cold lot at times! 😛

Actually, every time I saw one of Ms. Geddess' baby photos, I always wonder how it would look like in B&W, as a series (different poses, same props), and instead of giant pumpkins, replace those with vintage/timeless items like a gramophone, vintage cameras, etc.

Keith, do your best, a friend worth having is worth putting some effort and thinking for.

 

[Aristophanes]

Anne Geddes wasn't cheesy a the time. She is a sentimentalist, but she shied away from traditional portraits and made her own aesthetic. Once you get over the cute factor, her photos are simply absurd, which is how many view the insertion of children into one's life!

She is probably one of the most financially successful photographers ever. Even if one doesn't like her work artistically, she has clearly made her case for raw commercialism and personal profit from behind the viewfinder. One has to admire any photographer trying to photograph babies. Incredibly difficult subject. It's all just fun, whimsy, and plain silliness. Try not to take it to seriously.

 

[paulfish4570]

the perfect answer is: i'll see what i can do ...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

A very good friend, who became a father for the first time three weeks ago, asked today if I could take some photos of the baby for him and his wife ... then mentioned that they really like the style of Anne Geddes and could I do something along those lines. 😱

Run.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the cheesy work that she does so I've included an example below ... you get the idea I'm sure! 😀

I don't know anybody who hasn't seen any of her photos.

I was quite frank with him and said (nicely) ... "Personally I find her work unappealing and chintzy but I'll do whatever you want!"

I suspect a cash reward of at least three figures.

I'm curious ... who else here has been placed in a position where you have to trample all over your own photographic ethics to please a very good friend? 😛

People get sick. Hint hint.



BTW, I'm not sure why Social Services didn't come knocking on Ms. Geddes's door; that doesn't seem like a very safe thing to do to a poor, helpless newborn.