Listening to client feedback! How taking constructive criticism well can help improve your overall brand

Have you ever been on a roll so much that you thought you had gotten to a point of routine that seemed to work perfectly well, until someone gave you constructive criticism? What If I told you that it didn’t have to be a negative experience, and that it could serve to help make your brand that much more impactful? I experienced that last year, and it was a real game changing experience!

Back in early mid 2022, I went and shot a baby shower, nothing out of the ordinary. Now at this point in my career, I had been growing a bit complacent in my editing workflow, I had a system that seemed to work, clients were happy, photos looked good, so I never really felt a need to really deep dive into color tones and color correction more than what I already had. I trusted the camera to have accurate skin tones, and I basically felt like I had that area covered. After shooting the baby shower and editing the photos, I delivered to my client, expecting the same old same old amazing work you are so good, so on and so forth.But I was surprised when I got that, but also got some constructive criticism in regards to my skin tones: she told me that her skin looked a bit lighter than what it actually was! At this moment, I had a choice. I could either get mad about it and say this is how I edit, and what MY artistic vision is, or I could see the value in what she was telling me, and see how I could use that feedback in order to improve my work.

Notice how in this photo, the subject’s skin tones are a bit right and slightly yellow

After color correction for skin tones, the image looks closer to the correct tone

I decided to accept the feedback and I asked her to give me some time so I could go back and fix the images, and I thanked her graciously for her feedback. After a few tries, I got the skin tones right here they needed to be! But I learned a valuable lesson that day, one that I have tried to incorporate into every shoot ever since, especially since I mostly have client with darker skin tones. I never regretted hearing that my skin tones were off, since all it did was make me into a better photographer. Did it take some extra work? You better believe it! But it was worth every minute of learning and coming out of my pride. Perhaps the most surprising thing I learned after making this change was that learning how to correct for black skin tones also helped make for better light skin tones as well!

Notice how the model’s skin looks more rich and healthy in the second image compared to the first image

Since changing up the way I edit for skin tones, my workflow has not only gotten faster, but I have had more success with magazine submissions as well. IT taught me a valuable lesson in listening to my clients. When a client really values your brand, they will let you know, and they will point out small (or big) ways that you can use tohelp you get more clients. It’s clients like these that I am super appreciative of, because they voiced their concerns in a respectful manner that also affirmed my skills. So next time a client leaves feedback, actually take some time to digest what they are saying, don’t immediately think oh they aren’t happy with you, take a step back and realize that more likely, they are trying to tell you something that might just actually benefits you.