You may have a friend who considers themselves a photographer. They’re either hoping to pursue photography as a career, or they just love it as a hobby. Either way, photography is an art form that many people dedicate years to learning and practicing. Photographers deserve a special kind of respect for all the time that goes into mastering their craft. Here are ten things you should never say to your photographer friend.

1. “I need a new insta post, can we have a photoshoot?”

Your friend is not your personal photographer. This is their job and their passion. The entire process of sorting, editing, and exporting the photos takes time. Unless you know your friend is cool with it, don’t assume they’ll want to shoot you for free just because you want photos of yourself. It’s always better if they offer first.

2. “Wow you have such a nice camera!” (after you see their pictures)

A good photographer isn’t measured by their gear. After years of learning and practice, a talented photographer can take a stunning image on a $100 point and shoot camera. Hand a Canon 1DX to someone who's never ever worked with photography, and I guarantee they’ll take an awful photo.

3. “Send me all of the pics! Even the bad ones!"

There’s a reason I didn’t send you all of them. That’s it. Sorry, I'm not gonna send you my blurry, underexposed RAW files. You really don't want them.

4. “You don’t even have to edit them, it’s fine!”

Uh, no. We actually do have to edit them. Editing a photo gives a specific style that is unique to each photographer. Without the edits that I personally do on my photos, my work isn’t “mine” anymore. So if you want us to take your photo because you love the way our photos look, then we have to edit them.

Plus, a lot of photographers shoot in RAW and will have to convert that to JPEG for you to use the photo anyway. A lot of the time, I will shoot with the editing in mind. This means that I will purposefully underexpose the photo to bring it up in photoshop afterward. So if I were to send you the photos without editing them, you'd get 20 dark photos that you can't even see.

In conclusion, yes, we do have to edit our photos. Editing is not a burden to us. It's what we do and we love it.

5. “I’m gonna run this through VSCO or throw a filter over it before posting.”

Absolutely never ever do this. Ever. Please.

Not only does this defeat all the photographer’s work in the editing process, it also misguides their image. Someone may not hire them upon seeing your photo because they didn’t like the editing you did after.

Plus, that photo is their art. If you apply a filter, it makes them think you didn’t like their work so you had to change it. You wouldn’t buy a chocolate cake from a baker then just add white frosting to the entire thing yourself, would you?

6. "They won't care if I don't give them photo credit!"

If there's anything you shouldn't forget, it's giving the photographer credit for taking the photo!

The business of photography is deeply rooted in word-of-mouth. By simply giving your friend photo credit, this could open up multiple doors for new jobs and opportunities. I once got hired by someone who was traveling to California from New York because they had seen the photos I took for someone they follow on Instagram. Once she tagged me, I got hired again by one of her followers! It's all a chain reaction!