TEN is an ongoing serial effort to highlight points of value within a topic without watering anything down or writing a full blown essay. Obviously there are more factors with some decisions and less with others. But in a nutshell creatives in general and the world on whole have a tendency to make processes more involved than they need to be.

The previous post in this series was on negotiation and more topics are forth coming. Now numbers not being my strong point I won’t lay down the law with only 10 items of contention but we’ll keep it right around there. If you have a few of your own chime in.

Today we’ll cover solid reasons for turning down work. Not really the point of the job but at times it’s necessary to promote business, maintain relationships or even keep one’s sanity. I’ve unfortunately had a few of these covered lately passing up work throughout the West and a plum travel story in Japan. But knowing that I had no choice is some solace. Hope your decisions are as clear cut.

Here then is a list of the very few reasons to happily say no to the work that’s been brought your way.

Industry – the job appears to bring down the photographic community (ex. rights grabbing contests)

Business – the work obviously goes against your business plan or vision

Finances – this shouldn’t really be a job breaker (see negotiations) but if the work is too far from your current standing and CODB then know it

Morality – shooting the project doesn’t jive with your high standards (think cigarettes, etc)

Reputation – the AD simply wants you to ‘copy’ the example they have in hand, negating any personality

Health – either the work is simply to risky or by taking on the job your recovery from a previous condition will only be exacerbated hampering future projects

Delivery – overlapping schedules or attempting to do too much with too little leaves you empty handed or in the very least bringing less than you need to to the table

Family – timing is everything (schedule vacations ahead of time & when junior’s due ….)

Without going into all the details, releases in all current formats (model, minor & property) are an integral part of photography today. If you