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I need to know if I expected too much from my wedding photographer? I was an August 2010 bride. I planned every detail of our wedding. Unfortunately, I am very disappointed with our pictures. Our photographer's package consisted of 5 hours of wedding coverage which wasn't enough so we paid for an extra hour of shooting time for her and the 2nd shooter. We received a total of 257 pictures from the 6 hours of shooting time. Some of which are duplicates just edited differently. I expected more like 500+ pictures for that amount of time.
To top it off, our photographer did not capture my father giving me away, my husband's face seeing me for the first time, our first kiss, or exchanging our rings. She claimed it was because she couldn't change her lens out fast enough from the wide angle to the zoom lens. I understand there were limitations because it was a Catholic ceremony, but this wasn't their first "rodeo" and this is exactly why I wanted a 2nd shooter. They knew it was a Catholic ceremony and they should have come prepared.
I e-mailed her shortly after receiving the pictures to see if she had more to send me and told her they didn't need to be edited, I just wanted more pictures to remember my once in a lifetime event. She added a whopping 15 more (of our guests at the reception).
@Lucky80710: Those are must have shots! I would be so upset if they didn't get them.
i'd be disappointed too - that's a terrible excuse about switching lenses if you had a second shooter, because at least one of them should have been prepared with a zoom lens - but on the other hand, what's done is done and stewing about this is probably making it worse. it doesn't sound like she did a bad enough job to be asking for money back, so at this point i would enjoy the pictures you have, and ask around from guests to see if they have any more photos of the moments your photographer missed.
I don't think you were expecting too much. Any veteran wedding photographer knows that those shots are must haves, and with TWO shooters, it shouldn't have been a problem. One should've had wide angle and one should've had zoom, or however they coordinate it to get the shot.
Photographers should have given you at least 500 pics....we are going to have 8 hours of photography with two shooters and they said we should expect 900-1200 photos. I would definately call her again and tell her you want all the pictures that she has.
I'm sorry you are disappointed. I don't know what the average number of photos is and I had two photographers, but I ended up with nearly 1000 pictures for my 6 hours of coverage.
I was very happy with my pictures, but there were particular poses and moments that my friends and family had better pictures of than the photographers. Maybe because they are more familar the my friends and family and the people that I would have wanted special poses of. I'm sure it must be terribly disappointing, but maybe you can compile friends and family pictures with the professional ones to have a wonderful collection from your beautiful wedding.
I know I shouldn't be stewing about it, as it won't change anything. My photographers have made me feel like I'm crazy for asking for more pictures. I've probably e-mailed them 4 times trying to get a better understanding of why we didn't get the important pictures and if there were more pictures they could send me. They've been polite in all their correspondence but come to find out they've deleted my husband and I as friends on Facebook. I thought that was a bit strange since we've never exchanged words on FB. I don't need them as friends, I just find it immature.
To be honest I feel the same way. For the most part I love our photographs but there is no picture of my husbands face seeing me for the first time (a must) and there is only one good picture of my dad and I. All the pictures of our first kiss are from far away and I wish we had some close ups. It really sucks but its just something I am going to have to get over. There are a few small details that didnt get shot either (my own fault, I should have provided a detailed shot list) and I received almost 3000 photos. Just goes to show that you get what you pay for. I really wish I had spent more on photography because of these things. I LOVED my photographers, working with them was great and they did a really wonderful job and did get a lot of shots that I am incredibly happy with...but just a few small complaints. I know how you feel :-(
I'd be irritated. We got over 200 shots for our engagement pics alone and that was like an hour and a half! So you had two photographers, for 6 hours and you got less than 300 photos? That means they each took 25 pictures an hour on average?!?! That's absurd!
I don't think you are expecting too much and I feel really sad for you! How disappointing!!!
It makes me very nervous hearing that even with TWO photographers they missed so many crucial shots! I think we are having 2 at our wedding as well, but we didn't give them much direction. I wonder if having a concrete list of "must have shots" would have helped? Maybe other brides have done this?
@Miss Iowa: We did have a "Must Have Shots" list that our photographer gave us. We checked off the photos we wanted and added some. They obviously didn't follow the list on our wedding day.
I'd recommend talking it out with your photographers beforehand. I took for granted that they would for sure capture all those must have important moments because they had the "Must Have Shots" list and especially because they are photographers who have photographed many wedding.
Ok-that seems like total Crap! I am sure it will do NO good to argue the point after-the-fact, but can you use the must have shot list as a bargaining chip for some sort of discount? That seems pretty inexcusable to me!
Not expecting too much at all. Our church had similar restrictions and the photographers didn't get any of the guys in the church, including the groom seeing me for the first time. IMO that is the best part of the entire ceremony. I unfortunately did not specify what I wanted so therefore they didn't worry about it. However, I think those kinds of shots should be standard. If you have a camera with a memory stick that can hold thousands of shots, take pictures of the (*&*^(*& floor, pews and walls for all I care. You can always delete aftewards. I hope the pictures you did receive will help you remember your very special day!
I am so sorry this happened to you! In my opinion, you should review your contract and ask for at least some money back. If they were supposed to guarantee you a certain amount of shots, following a list and didn't, etc, then you are entitled to what you paid for. It's one thing just not be happy with how pictures came out, or even a few missed shots, but to have only 200 shots from an entire wedding is unacceptable. I don't think you should stew in it either, however I do think you should fight for what you paid for.
I would be so upset :( It doesnt sound like you got very many pictures either, but this should have been discussed in the contract. Usually photographers will say they take 60 photos an hour, for example, or give a general idea like 500 pics total...
I hope some other people took some candids with their cameras so you can still have those special moments captured, how sad that your photog missed those!!! Did they seem ok when you researched them?? It's kind of hard now if it wasn't detailed in writing, besides, I don't know if any money back would make you feel better with something as important as this, you can't get that time back.
Oh no! I'm so sorry. You didn't expect too much. I have realized now while I am hunting down photographers...that I need to ask about a lot of things. I have been asking how many photos do they expect to be taking in general. Because I want all photos on a disc in the end.
If I were you right now like others said I would review my contract for sure. But make sure to find out who was taking photos at your wedding and get copies of all photos from family and friends. I was at a wedding of a friends and for some reason.. I got 5 photos of their kiss but the photographer didn't get any...but she was so happy I was able to get those and give them to her.
The lens issue never should have been an issue. A true pro would have had two camera backs loaded with the two lenses, and they should have just been able to move between them. Was this an established person? The number of pictures delivered and the fumble mistakes show that they are not that experienced. I hope you didn't pay a ton only to receive that service?!?
I photographed a wedding this past weekend and charged $500 for 8 hours + two dvds + two 8x10s + all of the editing. I shot the wedding alone and it was my first time EVER doing it. I captured all of those moments. I did a miss a few (less important) shots and I still feel horrible. IMHO, I would have to request some money back (all dependent on what you paid of course).
Photographers can't afford to edit every good shot they take during the day (800-1200 photos- we'd be editing forever:) so maybe she picked the best ones? Does your package include the unedited versions of everything they took that day?With two shooters there should be a TON- though 200 edited photos seems about right.
I would email her and try to negotiate a price reduction if you asked for these important photos and she did not deliver. If she's shot a wedding before she should A. Have a second camera with the correct lens on her (during ceremonies I hold two cameras) or B the second shooter should be in position to capture the important moments. If you didn't ask for these images you may be out of luck. The situation sucks, it sounds like she was inexperienced.
As a side note: I would never ask a photographer "how many photos do you take an hour" because it's a tricky question. I can take 1000 photos per hour- are they good photos? Maybe 20-50 of them. THe rest are doubles/unimportant things. A better thing to do is make a Must Have list.
I think 257 is a very low number of shots for a 6 hour wedding with a 2nd shooter.
I got about 700 shots from 1 photog & 800 from the other (photogs were there almost 4 hours, but I had 2 seperate photogs, not a 2nd shooter). Not everyone will give you that many pics & doing a "# of pics by hour" is really hard. Some people will get 450 shots for 8 hours, some get 1000... really depends on the photog.
Do you mean they didn't capture your dad walking you down the isle at all? Or just at the end, when he gives you away? The 1st kiss, it could have been a bad angle or looked awkward, that can be missed. The rings take awhile, I couldn't imagine them missing that, but maybe the low lighting made things blurry & they didn't want to give you a blurry pic.
What does your contract say reguarding the photos? Does it say you get all photos or do they have a number on there or anything?
We had 11 hours of coverage, so i cant really compare our number of pictures, but my best friend just got married and had only 6 hours. her pictures were just posted on Pictage and there were just over 1000 of them - ALL edited. I agree with PP, most photogs carry two cameras so they dont have to switch lenses, and thats what a second shooter is for. poor form on their part.
Was any of this anticipated from meeting with them before hand?? I would say these is no excuses if you have a second shooter a. and b. if they are only going to take 300 pics and as someone pointed out 25 pics an hour they better be the best damn pictures Ive ever seen. Was there a specific amount of pictures you agreed to or anything like that?? Im sorry youre disappointed, this is my biggest fear thats really aweful.
257 images is outrageously LOW! We had a two shooters for a total of 7 hours and received 2,100! Granted, some of them were the same image, just in black and white, but for 6 hours of coverage?!?!? Unacceptable! Does the contract give any number of photos to be provided? I was so shocked when I read the number after hearing the hours...That sucks!! I think you are within your right to point out your disappointment to them and see if they will compensate by doing an album for free or something...I'm so sorry tho!
I agree with @trailmix that is very low! I would speak with them again and see if you can even get some lower quality shots they may have gotten just because you want to see your first kiss! That is unacceptalbe if they missed it with 2 shooters! What was the 2nd one doing?
We got over 3000 from our 8 hr 2 shooters. Even though you don't use like 75% of them it's still nice to have if you want! Sounds like you don't even have that!
Yes, they were established photographers. Two of my friends had used them for their Summer 2009 weddings and they did our engagement and my bridal pictures. I truely believe their heart was not in wedding photography when they were shooting our wedding because (at the time) they were 5 weeks away from moving to a small island to do underwater photography. Which I think is totally unfair to us because I booked them 8 months prior to our wedding.
Unfortunately, the contract does not state anything about number of pictures nor did I think to ask beforehand. Huge mistake on my part! My husband and I have both asked to see all pictures from our wedding day, no matter the quality, but she says she doesn't have anymore. We don't even have pictures of just my mom and I together, none of my mom at the reception, only one of me walking down the isle with my dad (it's not a good one either), and she only got a picture of the window of our get away classic car that we paid a lot of money to use at the wedding! It's just frustrating that we paid all that money for wedding photography to receive only 257 pictures and have so many important moments missed!!!
Thanks for letting me vent and for all your posts!
I am meeting with photographers right now and I was told that it should be at least 100-150 photos an hour. I think what they did was completely unfair to you and you have every right to feel cheated. Unfortunately, like you said, it can't be changed. Do you have video of the day at least?
I had my photographer for about 9 hours and got around 650 pictures all edited. I honestly think I just got lucky b/c I was a total dumb/uninformed consumer. I never looked at the contract or even thought for a second what might go wrong with a wedding photographer. I just figured, "He's a wedding photographer, he knows what he's doing better than I do". Luckily, he captured every moment and did it beautifully and we can frame any one of our images as-is. But it could have gone horribly wrong.
If I were you, I would try to ask for some $ back based on how much you paid them. HOnestly that's not enough pictures and they clearly missed important moments, I would definitely say they acted in bad faith as professionals.
@quirkyparsnip: No video 
. It was out of our budget. We were going to have a family member do it, but with all the excitment from the day before and day of, everyone totally forgot. Really wish I had done it though.
All this has triggered a desire to pick up photography as a hobby. I know there are so many more important moments to be captured of my husband and I's life together - I def want to be prepared...Ha!
There really is no standard in the photography industry- that's why it's important to ask questions and read your contract. Most photographers I know 200 edited images is normal, but these same photographers also provide digital negatives (500+ unedited photos).
The more I think about the posters situation, I think she's out of luck with getting a refund. Most photographers give you clear expectations of what to expect I.E. "Package includes X amount hours of coverage and minimally X edited photos" If your photographer never did this and you never asked (or agreed to her terms) you don't have a case. She can argue quantity doesn't equal quality.
However, the photographer made a rookie mistake and both her and the second shooter missed a very important moment. Does 2 missing moments nconstitute a 100 percent refund? Probably not- but you should be able to get some money back and the digital negatives. If she's a real professional she'll prefer to make you happy so you don't tell you friends and family about the negative experience.
Does anyone know of a good photo editing program that isn't crazy expensive like Photoshop? I did find some pictures friends took but they need some touchups.
i'd be heartbroken. i'm so sorry!! hopefully some of teh guests pulled through and have pictures to share with you.
Woah we had a 4 hour photo package and got 1500 pictures edited. That is just ridiculous, I'm really sorry.
A lot of times on these boards I play photographers advocate to keep brides grounded, and I say that in the nicest way possible, haha. It is next to impossible to successfully capture EVERY moment on your wedding day, but missing important ones like kiss, rings, AND husband's face looking down the aisle is just plain unexceptable.
Just a word of advice to all the ladies who are paranoid by this story. Hold your first kiss for at least 5 seconds and ask your pastor to step off to the side after he or she says "kiss the bride." If you peck, you risk the photog missing the shot (catching a split second moment is much more difficult), especially if the church is dim and the photog is using flash. The pastor stepping aside just helps make the shot they do get a better shot ;-)
Rings, can't always be captured in a way that you can SEE the ACTUAL RINGS. If you are facing each other at an angle up on the altar (as in someones back is turned slightly more into the aisle), your photog shooting from the aisle can only move so far to each side to try get a view of the actual rings. I'm curious if you just mean your ring shots dont have rings in them or that the photogs missed the moment all together? Again, ladies, it helps if you and the groom are careful not to stand at an angle at the top of the aisle to help your photog get the best view for rings.
The other crazy thing is you had TWO photogs! I don't know how all these shots were missed entirely. As for the number of images, yes, that's ridiculously low. I usually deliver about 100 images per hour, SOLO. With a second shooter the number goes up by about 25-30% because I don't typically use as many of their images as I do mine, just the best ofs or moments where I liked their shots better than mine, which are still worth it to have them there.
Anyway, I'm so sorry this happened to you, and though there isn't much I can say to make you feel btter, I just wanted to jump in to help future brides avoid your situation :)
I agree with alot of the posts here and totally understand why you are upset.
For the amount of time 257 photos seems about right BUT the shots that they missed...that isnt right, My photogs didnt get pics of me with the boys, orDH with the girls or the back of my dress...and i am still sad about that....your shots were very important and I would explain that to them. All the money in the world (aka a refund) wont bring thos pics back.
Im so sorry to hear this!! :(
Hi there! I'm so sorry to here about your photos :/. It sounds to me like what may have happened since they had two shooters, is that one of the memory cards was lost or corrupted, and maybe they don't want to fess up to that. If this was a team, they mostly likely split coverage and the missing photos were probably destroyed somehow.
Again, this is all speculation, but this would make sense based on what you have described. If they have been in the business for awhile they KNOW the shots that are important (kiss, etc.). I think if they had the photos, they would have given them to you.
I always use smaller memory cards at weddings (2G or 4G). This way, if some freak accidend should occur and something happens to one of the cards, the entire wedding will not be lost.
How much did you pay these guys? You should be able to get your money back at least :/. It's a shame they are not offereing that already.
I'd like to chime in my saying whole heartedly- NO. You did NOT expect too much from your photographer. I'm a professional photographer and I can tell you that changing lenses does not take that much time. Maybe 10 seconds at most, and, most photographers start shooting with a zoom lens as to not miss any shots (you walking down the isle, him seeing you the first time, your dad giving you away. etc). Not only that- but with 2 photographers, you should have gotten each of those shots (we work together, what I'm not shooting, the 2nd shooter is shooting)
I tell my brides to expect 80-100 images for each hour of photography. If I'm reading this right, you should have about 600 photos. Minimum.
I'm really sorry that you had this experience, I would be willing to help you edit any photos your friends took from your wedding. Please let me know if I can help.
@Lucky80710: You can purchase Paint Shop Pro for much less money than photoshop. I have several friends who use PSP and are quite happy with it!
I know of a few truly brilliant photographers who wind up with about 200-300 total amazing shots. They almost anticipate the perfect shot, wait for it, and get it. So less is, really, sometimes, more. However, I'm guessing if you had one of these guys, you wouldn't be disappointed with the work. (This is just more to counter the argument that more always = better.)
Overall, though, big ditto to LBPhotography. Speak directly to the photographer about your concerns, as nicely and calmly as you can. Think about, realistically, what would make you happy at this point, and see if there's anything she can do.
I truely appreciate everyones advise and comments. It's nice to know that I'm not THAT crazy client who expects way too much. Good luck to all the future brides!!!
I sent you a P.M. with some possible solutions :)
If anyone is looking for some free photoshop software, check out www.gimp.org
With practice and combating a little learning curve, you should be able to use this software and make your photos snap.
Good luck!
-Christopher
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