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Sounds like bad business. If her prices were lower strictly because she is a newer photographer in the area trying to attract a customer base then I don't think it's a case of "you get what you pay for" because she should be trying to earn herself a good reputation and out-performing her price (so to speak).
I had a similar problem with editing expectation with a previous photographer (long story) but I think it would be worth a try to talk to her about editing additional photos in ways that you request... she might say no because you've paid in full but if that's the case then you have all the rights in the world to write bad reviews... and she should realize that too.
try getting her on the know, It is a busy time of year for most people. End of summer/ getting kids off to school. Not to justify her not calling back but to ease your nerves a little. Im the same way with the e-mail, but try and get her on the phone and just express your concerns. Give her a chance to respond before assuming shes written you off completey. If it continues then sink your teeth in and make some waves. (though im never really good at the first part of that!) Best of luck, I can only imagine how you feel. Ive learned from experience... everything else can be a discounted price, my photos are the one thing i will pay an arm and a leg for... Im currently trying to explain that the $8000 price tag for my photographer isnt exactly excessive...
I totally agree that she might legit be busy and that's why she hasn't responded yet - but I probably would give her like a few days and then email follow up. I would like to think that she would listen/read your concerns, take them into account, burn the rest of your pics, and then perhaps re-select/re-edit your "top 100" pics.
-Good Luck!
One of the things that I learned about shopping for a photographer was not to be romanced by the fabulous photos in their portfolio or website. Of course those are going to be spectacular! The photog has hand picked their best work to use to entice people.
One of the things that we insisted on when meeting a photographer was to see an entire wedding's worth of pictures. This helped us to see how they tell the story of the day, the quality of the photos and how the product would be delivered.
I think your biggest dilemma here is getting the other half of the photographs. It should be simple - she needs to reburn them. She shouldn't be ignoring you for that fact, since you already have the 100-"retouched" pictures.
Sounds like bad business - if she's young and starting, you can include how you wanted to leave her a review (perhaps on Weddingbee) and that you want to talk about the work that she did.
Don't threaten anything!! Just be nice. I'm sure she didn't mean to give you cds that won't work. Just let her know that they won't open & she'll get you ones that work.
As to her 100 editing, those may have been her favorites. Everyone's going to have different opinions as to what photo is "better". She probably chose one from each category so you'd have an edited pic for each part of your wedding. Now, it could be possible that she didn't take enough good ones to make the 400 minimum pics she quoted you, so had to include ones that weren't very good & may have edited them so they didn't look as bad. Or, it could be a style of "soft focus" & just a style you don't like. Could you post a few of the pics on here?
Sometimes photographers will drastically edit the photos on their website to attract people. They'll spend extra time editing them & go all out for their site but not for their clients. Most photographers DON'T do this! The only editing I do putting the pics on my site is to make the file size smaller. If she led you to beleive that the quality you'd be getting is what's shown on her website & yours are no where near that, than that's a bad photographer. Sometimes people are more picky when it comes to pics of themselves though. My advice is don't make a big deal about this til you get your other cd back.
If she's not contacting you back right now, don't jump to conclusions. Maybe she's out of town or is really busy. If she doesn't reply by Tuesday, I'd email her again (it could have even gone to spam). If you send an email every day, it actually does take longer to respond to you.
I also recommend you to not post the photographer's name on here, at least until everything's cleared up.
thats a total bummer. As far as good news: you can probably edit them better yourself or get a friend to help. Used flickr or picnik? Also since one of the disks is formatted correctly it must be a mix up with the 2nd.
I'd say as of now give her the benefit of the doubt in terms of her getting back to you. You never know what could be going on in her life that is more important than her business. Let her know honestly of your thoughts of the photos and let her know you'd like to be able to write a honest good review of her online. Tell her you need some addtional edits (of your choice) before being able to do that.
Thanks guys for the responses
serabell: I have no intentions of mentioning the photographer on here until the issue is resolved. Regarding the number of pictures she took, The total number is over 1800, I have only been able to look at 400 though because of the disc mess up. Also, I don't expect over-the-board editing, but not fixing red eye?
Rgeddy: I have already had an offer from a good friend of mine who does photography to touch-up and handful of my favs so I'm pretty excited :) Will probably play around with some on my own as well!
I know that some people take a bit of time to get back to you, but out of the 20 odd transactions we've had before, she has replied with hours everytime. I will probably wait until tomorrow and then just call her. I haven't decided if I should say anything about the pictures yet either... since I still have a trash the dress session with her too and that could be akward:(
I think your first post here could provide a very strong basis for points to bring up.
1. Non-working discs.
2. Disappointment in the 100 "edited" photos.
3. Of those 100, bad edits.
Stick to the top 3 concerns and break them down for her. You don't have to be scared - you paid for a service and you definitely can do reviews and caution locals not to use her if she turns out to be bad. Alternately, nobody wants to leave a client with a bad taste in their mouths. This woman is trying to start a business, which is why you got good pricing, but the work she did should be above and beyond what you paid for so she can build her portfolio.
Don't be shy. You would take a bad carton of milk back to the supermarket, so why would you not speak up about a much more expensive investment?
Don't feel bad about calling her (so long as you're not doing it, like, 12 times a day)--that's just business. You're a client and she's ignoring you. Continue to be nice, but make it clear that she can't avoid you forever (and really she can't--she's doing another shoot!)
And I think that you should be up front. If you don't like the product, then it's up to you to explain to her what you don't like--that gives her a chance to fix things. Be specific with what you dislike and what you would prefer and keep things focused on the product--obviously, don't say "I felt like you chose pictures at random," just say, "there were a few shots I was disappointed you didn't choose and I was hoping that you wouldn't mind retouching them." And know which shots those are (I doubt it's going to be a huge number).
I think it's unprofessional that she hasn't returned your calls, but it IS a busy time (high holy days and whatnot) so don't panic.
Two things that stand out, to me at least:
She sent you the RAW files? Wow. and Secondly 90 page album? If this is a flush mount album, that is going to be one thick album. And the cost to print that album is probably really expensive too.
Just continue to be persistent, but polite, when trying to get in touch with the photographer.
TedNghiem:Sorry about that...that is a typo- it is a 90 picture album
my bad!
Have you tried searching for a website/program that will allow you to view .nef files?
I found this website on a google search. http://nefviewer.com/ Please make sure you have a virus scan running just in case...you can never be too careful, but the website looks ok. I can definitely see why she left them in .nef because they are a lot better quality than .jpeg or .tiff but you really shouldn't have to go out of your way to view your photos.
You should call her and maybe write down some things to say before hand so you can stay on track during the phone call.
Also, I'm glad you have a friend who offered to touch up your photos! That's awesome.
NEF is the file type used for Raw files from a Nikon camera. Perhaps that might be part of the problem as well. Those are typically unedited images. Maybe she burned the wrong folder and your edited images did not get burned?
The definition of edited might be important here as well. I do retouching. It takes me 30-45 mintes to retouch 1 image. So you are looking at 50-75 hours in just retouching if she was supposed to do 100 images? Maybe by editing, she means doing some crops, color profile changes, etc which would take far less time.
I said the don't threaten thing because I've read a few stories on WB where the bride threatened to write a bad review or something & the photographer wouldn't do anything for them after that. I know you didn't say you would.
& I totally read the number wrong, I thought you said you were supposed to get 400 & could only see 1/2 that. Sorry, you said that very clearly in your post, I think I just got a little confused replying. Getting 1800 pics is very good!
She should have fixed red eye in all the photos she gave you. I think she should have done basic editing/retouched every photo she gave you (including converting it to the right format, getting rid of any redeye & lightening/darkening if needed). As far as editing 100 pics go, she should have put much more time into it than just changing to b&w. If you got back ones that are out of focus, I'd ask her to edit a photo similar, but that's clearer (& give her the file name). No one wants to be given a blurry picture.
Legally, no other photographer can edit the photographer's photos unless you have permission. You can ask your photographer if its ok (get it in writing). Some photographers won't care, most will.
Serabell: I mean no harm to the photographer, she (and her partner) took some really great shots. I just felt that the package and delivery were a bit rushed, haphazard and perhaps not really completed as our contract said. I wonder if her self-imposed 2 week deadline to return the pictures was too much for her? I would have been fine waiting a couple more weeks so she could actually spend time choosing.
Bill Potts: Yes, I'm sure the NEF files are raw, but the edited 100 are on their own separate disc and the files are all JPEG and the folder is actually labelled "edited pictures". I can't speak to the quality of the NEF ones since I can't see them :)
I guess I was trying to get a feel about what "editing" meant to see what other bees received. This is my first time hiring a photographer so I wasn't sure if I had a right to be a bit upset.
I wasn't upset about the 2 discs not working since stuff happens, but I am starting to feel really anxious about it now.
Oh I don't think you are being rude or saying you don't like your photographer at all! I get that your photographer was very nice & is a genuine person. I wasn't sure about the quality since you said the edited pics were blurry & had red eye in them. But, if you got 1800 pics, you'll probably get a range of great, good & ok shots.
2 weeks is probably too fast. Yes, I know most people don't want to wait weeks & weeks for the wedding pics, but it does take time to edit them. I think 4 weeks is a good amount of time.
I totally understand about the being anxious! I'm waiting for lab results for a kitten & it will come in 1st thing tomorrow & I'm already tired of waiting...
I'm sure she'll get back to you. It would be wierd to have her always get back to you within about an hour & the time you are having issues is the time she didn't get back to you like she always has. She might have a wedding this weekend & is organizing for that? Doesn't hurt to call tomorrow or to send another email.
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This is my first post, but I have been reading for a long time.
(For my first post, I apologize if it's long)
A bit of background on the photographer we chose: I found our photographer last winter, and loved her style. Coincidentally, she was a relatively new photographer, so her prices where half of what we were expecting to pay (Bonus!, but wasn't why we went with her). Her profile was beautiful, artistic and non-traditional and I loved it.
So my husband and I met with her in person, looked at more of her pictures and signed the contract.
So fast forward to now. We recieved 4 DVDs with all of our pictures on Monday, and now I'm am starting to feel uncomfortable. 2 of the DVDs don't work. Yup, she never converted the files on approximately 800 of the pictures from the NEF extension files to something our computers can open like JPEG. Simple enough of a problem right? Not upset at all, because she just needs to reburn them Well I emailed her the night we received them (email has been our primary mode of communication all year) and for the first time she has not responded. I know, still not a big deal because I will end up calling her tonight....just makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
So now that I have the pictures back, our contract included 100 "edited" pictures chosen by the photographer, as well as a 90 page album and one enlargement.
The 100 "edited" pictures that she chose (and I honestly trusted her to choose the most flattering and killer shot pictures) Don't seem to have been edited at all with the exception of maybe 3 or 4, and only then, it seems like all she did was turn them black and white. Approximately half of the "edited" pictures have people with red eye. A lot of them are bad lighting or even out of focus pictures. Another thing that makes me sad about our "edited" pictures are the 100 she chose as the top photos. Since I have been able to look at about only 400 (again sad) of my pictures, I get the impression she chose them at random. I can find more artistic, clearer pictures of almost all the same shots she chose.
Now, I want to clarify- I don't expect perfection. I know that she is newer
However my pictures make me feel like a was tricked. He weddings in her profile are so magical(and obviously touched up), and mine aren't. It makes me feel sad.
So back to the point (if there is one)
We are coming up to the end of the week, and I obviously need to email her again or phone about half the missing pictures (since I feel she is avoiding me now). I'm a sucker, because I absolutely hate bein rude and mean, and she is honestly a nice person so I would rather email...that way I can choose my words carefully, and possibly include my doubts about the editing.
Plus we have officially now paid her in full, and I'm worried anything I say to her won't be taken as seriously anymore.
Any ideas about this?
I mean, am I way off about what editing means (haha I thought she would also touch up my stubborn tans lines too, but I think that's out of the question now)
Did I get what I paid for? or is this just bad business?