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Hi Mikala - I'm so sorry that you and your FH are frustrated. I would be, too - that seems really strange to me.
Our photographer told us up front that the e-session would be included in our package but we'd have to purchase any prints (or the full DVD) separately. We actually had our shoot last week. She and her assistant took us out for about 2 hours, took a ton of photos (mostly her, but he took some too), and dropped us off again. The next day, she sent two "teasers," and about 4 days later, she sent a link to the edited shoot on her site. I was surprised when she said it would be $350 for the full DVD (I thought it would be less), but I can't imagine what I would have done if she had asked us to buy it on the spot, or erase all the pics! I wanted to show my parents, friends, etc. before making final decisions... and of course talk about it with Mr.GV.
But enough about me... I just wanted to give you the background so you could get another perspective. But what gets me here is that a professional photographer should have enough memory cards that something like that shouldn't happen! And if she's short on memory cards for some reason, she should be able to transfer the files to her computer, an external, etc... especially if there are only 25 (not very many at ALL!). I think you guys need to talk to her about it further, because that seems really unprofessional to me. I don't know if there are pro photographers on here who would have another opinion. In any case, best of luck, and let us know what happens.
wow, talk about taking the "time pressure" tactic to a new level. she should def give you the courtesy of having some time to think about the pics, but it sounds like she is more concerned with getting the sale. she should find a way to keep files for at least 3 days, sheez. but i'm glad you like the pics, that's important!! :) honestly, i'm sure if u came back and said, "oh, if you still have our pictures, i'd like to order 5 more" she would all of a sudden still have them around.
*jaw drop* NO WAY is that normal! Our photographer gave us a CD of all the best images (about 80 from our 2 hour shot) at full resolution. They never once asked us to purchase prints. We have a release from them saying we can make prints for personal use anytime we want. You should definately ask if this is their policy for wedding photos too! You don't want to be missing your honeymoon to choose prints at 3 AM on your wedding night. Sheesh.
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Yikes.... to be honest, that sounds like a bunch of bull. First of all, no artist in their right mind just DELETES any of their work. At least I can't imagine they would!!!!! I don't ever delete any of my work, even the crappy stuff. I think she's kind of full of it. Any professional photographer should be equipped with plenty of storage space, even if that means burning discs of each couple's photos to store in a binder and removing them from her hard drive to free up memory.
I think she was pressuring you to buy buy buy and went about things in a really unprofessional way. I would make sure to get very clear terms about your wedding photos before the big day, and do your research and ask other brides who have used her what kind of experience they have had.
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That is DEFINITELY not normal! I HATE being pressured into buying things, so I can see why you felt uncomforatble. As a part of our package, we got an engagement shoot (1 hour, several locations, outdoors), a website that was "live" for 90 days with all of our proofs (200), a $50 reprint credit and a book of all of our proofs. I felt no pressure whatsoever to buy anything at any time and we got our pics in about 72 hours. I would go with your gut on this one.
My photographer, Cly Creation in New York, met us at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge (a place they suggested, although we had freedom to select any location) and shot us on a mutually-convenient time and date. We shot for approximately an hour (with Matthew, the main photographer, and a second shooter/assistant) and then went our separate ways.
The engagement photos were when whittled down by Matthew, at his studio, to the contracted number of shots (here, 100) and we received a DVD with the hi-res photos after a month. Since the engagement session was part of, or complimentary with, the wedding package, we did not have to pay per photo. Additionally, we had the option of printing with Matthew or independently.
It sounds like you were unfairly pressured to buy "on the spot." Even if you were contracted to pay for the photos upon selection, your photographer should have enough memory to save your engagement photos for at least the next few weeks. What if you changed your mind about wanting additional pictures?
A more worrying concern: Does your photographer feel the same way about storing wedding photos--you'll have a short time to pick the ones you want, otherwise you lose them all? It sounds unethical and unprofessional to me.
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Yes be concerned. Talk to her ASAP about how she stories wedding photos and how long you have etc. My e-pics (which our photographer threw in for free) were quickly posted online - all 200 or so of them!! It isn't that hard to store photos - she could put them all on a small thumb drive to store them. If she is a photographer and is going to use digital it is her job to figure this stuff out!!
Honestly, even if she swears she does weddings differently, I'm not sure if I'd trust her. That strikes me as totally shady and atypical. The last thing you want to do is put your wedding photos in the hands of somebody who uses such car salesman pressure tactics.
Major Pressure Sales.
Be very careful. If this happened for your engagement, this will happen for the wedding. Just as the other bee's said, talk to the photographer, tell her you want all details upfront.
Also, look at your contract ---- does it say anything about the Ephoto's needing to be decided on right then and there? (btw -- that's such crap I can't believe it).
She basically said she's a wedding photo factory, you should speak it back to her because she will probably change her tune.
Crazy madness! Rather than do the e-pics, we've agreed to do a shoot on our one-year anniversary, but our photographer was very clear about the shots (no limit, will be given to us on a disc at full-res for our personal use). She'll post all our pics to Pictage for us to sort through. We can share the link and others can even order after the wedding. No pressure on the individual prints and no time limit on storage space. Review your contract and see if there is any fine print in there mentioning the time limit for photos. If there is nothing there, it may be a good idea to negotiate terms in writing (you have x weeks to decide, all photos on a DVD, etc.).
mikala,
This is absolutely abnormal. Any photographer that is professional would WANT to save their pictures. If anything, especially for the portfolio!
This is a major turn off and this is ONLY the engagement session. I can't imagine what it would be like post-wedding!
Talk to them and express your concerns and your distaste. Make sure this won't be the same way post-wedding.
I have a wedding photography business AND I just got married so I have a bit of experience in this area :) .... I assure you that is a bunch of bologna. If she doesn't have the capability to store those photos, or simply for the fact that she's telling you that she doesn't, you should RUN RUN RUN. If she is lying to you now, how can you trust her work in the future on the most important day of your lives?
That's dishonest, pushy, and completely ridiculous. You are her clients, and she is supposed to be making you happy. It should not be you having to wait for her while you are both hungry and cranky.
Besides, editing shouldn't happen in 45 minutes. Realistically, editing should take a couple days at a minimum.
WOW. I know everyone else said the same thing, but seriously - wow. I am shocked that a professional photographer would say Fyou had to order prints immediately after shooting them. I am also shocked that none of the pictures were edited or anything. And that there were so few! I think a good engagement session is two hours, I have seen some on here lasting all day. OUrs was 2 or 3 hours, several hundred pictures, we got a CD with hi-res, low-res, and then about 100 or so images edited in hi-res as well. Then we could do whatever we wanted with them. The engagement session is not their main business - sometimes it seems like it gives them a chance to get to know you, how you photograph, and get you to know them so you are comfortable with them, etc. For her to say she can't store them is ridiculous. SHe can put them on a disc. They do not need to sit in her computer. And she should be providing you with something to view them at home and decide what you want. HOnestly, you should really think about having her continue as your wedding photographer. She may try to pull the same thing for those, and you really don't want that to happen with such important pictures. Has she told you what you will receive in your wedding package?
If storage was an issue then I would guess this photographer is new?? Needs some new equipment is what it sounds like to me! Is there a reason she couldn't pop them on a disk for you??? Storage problem taken care of!
Seriously wedding pictures are far too important and to be treated this way before your wedding only makes me wonder why you are still even thinking of using her for your big day.
If her work is that great then call and make an appointment to work out the details and let her know how unfair that was to you! maybe she needs some constructive critisim? You owe her that
Thanks for all of the comments, they have all been really helpful. We're reviewing our contract to make sure the terms around the wedding itself are okay and to try to avoid a similar issue then, still deciding whether and how to talk to the photographer about the really hard sell. To answer a few of the questions, the studio is well established and we found them through personal referrals from friends, including a few weddings we attended. I've spoken with a few friends and their engagement session experiences with the same studio were different than ours.
I am sorry that you had to work with someone like that! My photographer gave us 2 hours but told us that if it ran over, it was O.K. (it did by at least 30-40 minutes). We went to three locations that were all within walking distance of each other. We were told that our photos would take "about two weeks" and it took almost three. I was trying to be patient, but it was hard. When we got the pictures we were floored-they were so good! Worth the wait. In our contract it was stated very clearly that we were to be all the images and had rights to print them. That one condition was a major factor in determining our photographer. The great thing about having an engagement session, is that you can work with the photographer prior to the big day. You do still have time to change your mind. Yes, you may lose your deposit, but you still have a choice (even at T-60 days).
Just adding my voice to the chorus - that is NOT normal at all. Totally shady.
Any pro photographer should have plenty of storage. They should have external hard drives and they should back everything up on CDs or DVDs.
Additionally, why doesn't she use some kind of online proofing system like most photographers these days?
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I've never heard of this before. We just took our e-pics yesterday and were tired afterwards, so was our photographer. Later last night, he sent us a preview pic. We will receive a CD with the images and also a gallery to share with friends and family. I think that's the way it usually works.
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We had our complimentary engagement photo session yesterday with our wedding photographer and the pictures turned out great but our photographer's behavior and policies were not what we expected. I'm hoping the hive can give a bit of insight into how far from normal our experience was and what, if anything, you would do afterwards.
The photo session itself was about an hour outdoors from around 5-6pm. The photographer asked us to follow her back to her house/office afterwards to look at the pictures and mentions it will take "few minutes" for her to upload the pictures when we get there. She sits us on a couch in the office, gets us a soda and then leaves to the house part to upload the pictures. 40-45 minutes later she returns. She has sorted the pictures down to around 25 better ones and wants us to select the ones we'd like to purchase. The photos themselves are really good but it's already 7:30 at night and we're both hungry/cranky from the long wait without dinner. She explains that this is the only chance for us to purchase photos and that they do not save the proofs from any of the pictures we don't purchase today because "if we did that for everyone it would just take up too much space." We feel a bit trapped because we really do like the pictures and agree to buy a few, and I asked her if it was possible to hold the rest of the proofs for a few days/weeks for us to figure out where we'd use the prints, and possibly keep them for inclusion in our wedding album. (Our wedding is less than two months away so this wouldn't be storage for long.) We mentioned that we were pretty hungry and were having a hard time making decisions She still didn't want to keep the files for any of the pictures we didn't buy.
We left the studio feeling frustrated and confused. In the end we realized that we did get to know her a bit better and feel a lot more comfortable in front of the camera. We really like her work but wished she had told us in advance that this would be the one time opportunity to buy the pictures and how long uploading the files/editing out bad ones would really take.
Have you experienced anything similar? What would you do in our situation? Try to address it or just ignore it? Sorry for the long post, wanted to include enough detail to make sense. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!