Some photo assignments can be challenging in one way or another. But a professional photographer should welcome such assignments as an opportunity to build customer trust and enhance the photographer’s reputation.
Any photographer can show up, shoot a few business portraits, and deliver photos a few days later. However the photographer didn’t really prove anything to the customer except that the photographer was competent.
But if. . .
— a company needs an extreme rush (e.g. pictures shot, edited and delivered on the same day so the company can meet its last-minute deadline), or
— an organization needs photography shot within a very brief time span, (e.g. posed portraits of visiting diplomats done during a short break in a conference), or
— a retail business wants pictures of its new store for this weekend’s newspaper ad but the parking lot isn’t paved, the landscaping isn’t finished done, and the sign hasn’t been installed, or
— a corporate sponsor needs pictures of a celebrity in front of the company’s logo but the celebrity is well-known for always being uncooperative,
. . .then if the photographer can successfully complete this work, it will be like hitting the game-winning home run in the bottom the ninth inning.
In the eyes of the client, this “hero” photographer has set themselves apart from other photographers and has earned that customer’s trust and, hopefully, their repeat business.
The next time a challenging or high-pressure assignment comes along, the photographer might see it as an opportunity to bat in the bottom of the ninth.