Deadlines.....

In the commercial world meeting deadlines are for me a matter of professional practice. You simply can't maintain a professional reputation by blowing deadlines. Sometimes this leads to long days processing files etc., but you have to do what you have to do. Don't take on a job with a tight deadline if you aren't willing to jump through the hoops to get it done. It is common practice to charge more for jobs on tight deadlines to compensate you for the long hours. But...........what if quality gets compromised? If at all possible you don't want this to happen, but if that is a danger be upfront with your clients. I have on occasion (with the client in sync) delivered half  processed files to meet a clients deadline-for say a job proposal-and then continued the processing and delivered the finished images a few days later.

In the arts for me it is a different story. I still try like hell to meet deadlines-but there can be no compromise in the quality. The work is done when it is done. Period. I think I have the perfection disease. I've got a show coming up this fall. It is a high profile group show at a museum and will be up for a year. My contribution is 5 16x20 Piezography prints from drum scanned 4x5 negatives. 5 measly prints.......at this point I have almost 2.5 months in those 5 prints.....they need to be perfect......one of them is stiiiill---not quite right......I am now a fewf weeks past the hard deadline delivering them......but that one print still bugs me a little........

I finally delivered the prints yesterday-6 weeks beyond the hard deadline! I just couldn't let them go till I was satisfied. Last night I received this note from the curaor who I greatly respect: