Post # 1
Member
936 posts
Busy bee
hey bees!
i finally got my pictures back from my October 5th wedding. i was so completely confused and hurt over what was given to me. i got back 447 photos. this was a reputable photographer that friends of mine used beforehand and loved so i trusted him. ill try to make this as short as possible
issue #1: he was late. he showed up at 4pm for a 5pm wedding. i didnt get any “getting ready” photos because of this. he did manage to take a photo of a flower arrangement that just happened to be in the room unrelated to my wedding but missed all of our bouquets lined up in vases that were RIGHT THERE. he also missed my moment with my mom when i gave her a gift (my cousin happened to get the shots though). no photos of my dress or any other details either.
issue #2: he stood at the wrong spot so a tree was blocking my dad completely on my way down the stairs to greet him. (luckily a guest managed to get the shot and sent it to me). he then stood behind the trellis so every single pic of us walking has one or the other cut off. not one photo where we are both in the shot. the ceremony shots have our heads cut off of many. not a single close up of our faces at all. he also missed my husbands parents walking down the aisle so we dont have that either.
issue #3:he didnt bring the shot list i emailed him prior so during the family photos, he took a pic then walked up to me and asked what i wanted next. every.sinlge.time. i obviously couldnt remember everything so ALOT got missed, including a pic of my husband with his best man. because he was so disorganized, the photos took way longer than they should have which leads me to issue number 4
issue #4: we only managed to get exactly 4 photos of my husband and i. 3 of which are far away. not one close up. we made it clear that we really wanted to utilize one specific room for our photos. we got ONE and its too dark.
issue #5: he never got a single pic of our seating arrangments (which were caramel apples all lined up right at the entrance), didnt take a pic of our center pieces or the bar area at all which had our amazing hand painted drink menu or the memorial we set up for our loved ones that had passed
issue#6:he never got a single photo of us sitting at our sweetheart table and didnt take any pictures of us going from table to table and greeting, hugging and laughing with our family. the speech photos are all wonky and off center as well. the cake cutting, he was on his knees so all the pics he took were cut off weird and you just see up our noses. not flattering in the least! the rest of the photos are people on the dance floor making ugly dance faces. not a single photo of people hanging out at tables or the amazing bar area at all.
when i brought this to his attention he had a number of excuses. he said the tables werent set up in time (they were. you can clearly see them in the background of a few photos he took of the dance floor). he also said that its not his job to put together the family for photos and that a shot list would have helped. i reminded him that i did in fact send him one and he responded to the email. he skirted right over that fact. he said the room we wanted to use was unrealistic because it would have needed a lighting set up and a walk through would have helped. well, he was supposed to do a walk through with us and on the day we were supposed to go he texted me and said he cant make it and that “its ok, ill just bring all my equipment the day of”. NUMEROUS people came to me and told me they saw him just standing around during the reception. heres the kicker. he actually asked me if he could leave early because his family was in the middle of vacation and he was getting on a plane to meet them. he admitted to me that he booked my wedding well before that vacation. he knew i was unhappy so he volunteered to not cash the check (for half the job) and i agreed to it. i could tell he was hoping id tell him to go ahead and cash it but screw that! i got a half ass job so he should get half ass paid! am i wrong?!
Post # 2
Member
474 posts
Helper bee
No! You’re not wrong. Leave a review if he has a website as well detailing all you have listed here. I’m really sorry this happened to you bee I would be livid that those memories and moments were not captured. I’d also send out and email to all guests asking for all their photos of the wedding. Hopefully between them you can find some of the shots you are looking for.
Post # 3
Member
2123 posts
Buzzing bee
alfalfasprout10518 : Sorry, that blows. My photographer was horrible also, although I didn’t realize it till I got the photos back and saw that I could have taken better photos with my iPhone. So frustrating, I should have said something but I didn’t, were going to pay someone else to re-edit our photos. I feel your pain!
Good for you for calling him out, and if he offered to not cash the check that would lead me to believe he knows he messed up. I don’t think you’re wrong at all.
Post # 4
Member
936 posts
Busy bee
sparklez11909 : i did ask. i got a few. but alot were low res so i cant really print them out.
futuremrs2020 : heres the thing. he told me he took 1600 photos (yet i got back 447). my husband is a graphic artist so i asked him for the raw footage so my husband can work his magic and he refused! he definitely knows he fucked up. or else why offer the money back?
Post # 5
Member
998 posts
Busy bee
alfalfasprout10518 : Did you sign a contract with him? Look it over and highlight all the points that the Photographer was responsible for that they did not do and decide if you need to take any more action.
Offering to not cash the last check was probably the best he could do in this situation. Leave an honest review and ask your friends if they have any pictures. Use the money you saved to take pictures with your husband for your anniversary <3
Post # 6
Member
171 posts
Blushing bee
Oh no girl I’m so sorry to hear about that. Let me just say I hope your wedding turned out amazing regardless of the photo aspect. Try and relax and enjoying you guys just getting married! I know you didn’t get great pictures for the wedding and it’s upsetting that’s one of my big fears as well. I would consider finding another photographer or a close family friend that can take good pictures, get into your dress makeup etc. your bridal party/ important people in the wedding. have a photo shoot in a nice spot. And get photos you will like better. Wishing you the best alfalfasprout10518 :
Post # 7
Member
2659 posts
Sugar bee
OMG, I’m so sorry 🙁
I think you are absolutely right to withhold payment. If he demands payment, talk to a lawyer because frankly he didn’t provide anything remotely close to the service you contracted him for so I honestly think that contract law is on your side on this but it’s best to get an opinion from someone trained in and familiar with the law in your jurisdiction.
I would be absolutely livid if I was in your shoes. My fiance and I aren’t huge picture people so one of the few times we go out of our way to pay for, plan and pose for high quality photos I expect to be happy with the results! And to have no quality images of the ceremony and reception is really disheartening. I hope guests were able to get you some of the shots you wanted most.
I am really, really sorry. That sucks. Hopefully you will eventually be able to move on from this but I’m sure as shit not going to tell you to just get over it .. your feelings are absolutely justified here. I opened this thread assuming it was gonna be a massive over-reaction but that is definintely not the impression I’m getting from you.
Post # 8
Member
936 posts
Busy bee
rockclimberbride : mama didnt raise no dummy. i have a contract. which i suspect is why he so easily agreed to not cash the check.
Post # 9
Member
242 posts
Helper bee
Oh Bee I am so sorry. I would do what the other Bee’s said. Leave a review. Don’t let him get away with it. If you saw a review of him that wasn’t so good, would you have used him? So your voice makes a differance. It was unfair to what he did to you guys. Hopefully your family and friends took some awesome pics so you can have those as beautiful memories.
Post # 10
Member
936 posts
Busy bee
iloveyou100 : i wish i could. my dress is currently being preserved though 🙁
sboom : we are also not big on picture taking. we actually laugh about how little photos we actually have of us. i was honestly so shocked. i dont have a problem only paying for half the job. he agreed to not cash the second check and im cool with that. we managed to get a couple that are nice. i would have just liked the whole package
Post # 11
Member
5566 posts
Bee Keeper
CANCEL that cheque asap. And then write a review. If you are comfortable, I would include some of the pictures in the review. Because reading/hearing “well the cake cutting picture wasn’t very flattering” might be putting it lightly when all you see is double chins and nose hairs!
I’m so sorry you don’t get all the beautiful pictures though. Hopefully you found a few that you love and can hang.
Post # 12
Member
4433 posts
Honey bee
alfalfasprout10518 : Wow that’s bad. Normally I wouldn’t advise asking for the raw shots but in this case, it is an exception! He should refund you and give uou what he has. Yikes.
Post # 13
Member
936 posts
Busy bee
jellybellynelly : i already did. i think there is one that id like to hang. so thats something at least
sweatergal007 : i know 🙁
Post # 14
Member
810 posts
Busy bee
alfalfasprout10518 : What time was he supposed to show up for your wedding? How many hours of coverage did you pay for? How much did he charge?
The stuff you describe makes it seem like you booked a very amateur photographer. I’m also surprised there was not a second shooter…every photographer I interviewed had one or two assistants. This allows the main photographer to stay with you, while the second shooter gets pictures of the venue. etc.
Post # 15
Member
3269 posts
Sugar bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
Awe bee, thats so crappy. I’m sorry! Hopefully more guest pics trickle in, but I completely understand your feelings! It’s so disappointing when you go through the effort of hiring someone because you’ve seen and like their work and they let you down like that. At least he offered to not cash the cheque. I wonder if highlighting areas of the contract where he messed up and sending him a copy would help you get the raw images he refused to send? best of luck to you, I hope he changes his tune about that.
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