Burning bridges

Sgtchavez · Jun 21, 2010

So I couple of weeks ago, I was given the day off of work when fellow photographer asked me to assist him for a wedding shoot. Here is where things start to bug me a little, since this guy is also a co-worker of mine, and you could say somewhat of a friend, I'm not too sure on that yet.

Previously, I had let him borrow my 24-70 for a shoot, to which he replies: "Oh, that lens sucks, it's not as good as my 80 mm 1.8"...........I said, "okay, a simple thank you would have done it". The wedding day came up and he, again, approached me about assisting him, only he couldn't pay me anything since he's doing this as a freebie for a really nice couple and I could use any shots I wanted for my book. I finally said, yes, and offered to help for a few hours, I would bring my own gear, I would hand over memory cards to him for back up the end of the night. He would later have to return them to me with all my shots.

A week goes by and nothing, he comes up to tell me that a got a few good shots but the rest are ****ty. He then tells me that I he's going to have to use my cake shots since his didn't come out right. I just went along, and said okay, just give me my cards back. I finally get my cards back, and notice that half the shots are missing from each cards, that's somewhere around 300 shots in raw off a 5DMII. I later found out, through him, that in fact, it was a paid wedding, and I was basically conned into helping him for free, and not only that, he took half of my shots, claimed them as his, and pretended like he didn't delete anything off my cards.

Somewhat of a long read, and perhaps an isolated incident as I've never experienced such lack of ethics from a fellow photographer. He's my co-worker, so I've basically cut ties with and now keep relationship strictly work related. All I can say is, burning bridges and stepping is not good business.

kkphotos · Jun 21, 2010

Sgtchavez said:
So I couple of weeks ago, I was given the day off of work when fellow photographer asked me to assist him for a wedding shoot. Here is where things start to bug me a little, since this guy is also a co-worker of mine, and you could say somewhat of a friend, I'm not too sure on that yet.

Previously, I had let him borrow my 24-70 for a shoot, to which he replies: "Oh, that lens sucks, it's not as good as my 80 mm 1.8"...........I said, "okay, a simple thank you would have done it". The wedding day came up and he, again, approached me about assisting him, only he couldn't pay me anything since he's doing this as a freebie for a really nice couple and I could use any shots I wanted for my book. I finally said, yes, and offered to help for a few hours, I would bring my own gear, I would hand over memory cards to him for back up the end of the night. He would later have to return them to me with all my shots.

A week goes by and nothing, he comes up to tell me that a got a few good shots but the rest are ****ty. He then tells me that I he's going to have to use my cake shots since his didn't come out right. I just went along, and said okay, just give me my cards back. I finally get my cards back, and notice that half the shots are missing from each cards, that's somewhere around 300 shots in raw off a 5DMII. I later found out, through him, that in fact, it was a paid wedding, and I was basically conned into helping him for free, and not only that, he took half of my shots, claimed them as his, and pretended like he didn't delete anything off my cards.

Somewhat of a long read, and perhaps an isolated incident as I've never experienced such lack of ethics from a fellow photographer. He's my co-worker, so I've basically cut ties with and now keep relationship strictly work related. All I can say is, burning bridges and stepping is not good business.

That really sucks... part of me that would be very inclined not to let it slide and keep pushing until I can get a fair resolution from him... keeping in mind you can probably make a pretty good case that you still have ownership of those photos and could, in theory, go to the couple and ask for them back...

Derrel · Jun 21, 2010

Run recovery software...he probably just erased the shots he stole, and they are still actually on the cards, available for recovery software to locate. The guy has proven himself to be a world-class A-hole. It might be nice the next time he asks to borrow something for you to loan him a sabotaged beater lens, like one filled with flour inside a rear element that is not secured...

Sgtchavez · Jun 22, 2010

Yeah, I'm just going to ignore him like everyone else at work. I work at a Costco in the photo department by the way. I run into him here and there. I've never come across anyone like him, but I guess it's something I should look out for.

Dominantly · Jun 22, 2010

I would be pissed and I would make it my goal to make sure he got what he deserved.

Derrel makes a good point with the mention of recovery software. I would give that a go for sure.

dancingsphinx22 · Jun 22, 2010

Yeah, recover the shots then sue him.

I'm not a sue-happy kind of person, but this is utter BS. And hey, that's Karma baby!! (sometimes it needs a hand.)

pbelarge · Jun 22, 2010

Before suing anyone, we live in such a litigious society, take one step at a time.

As the others mentioned, try the recovery program. Download all of your shots to your hard drive - if you should decide to pursue anything, they will become evidence.

First, is this guy an employee on the same level as you, could he hurt your standing at work? think about any stupid rash ideas.

Hopefully you will recover the shots. If you do, here is how you could approach this. (you may want to get some real legal advice if you pursue this any further)

Once you recover the shots, show a couple to him. Suggest to him, that if he used your photos for the final sale, you have the copyright to them and should be compensated or you may have to pursue other means.

Do not use derogatory terms or get into a fight, keep it simple and walk away.

OR

Forget about it, chaulk it up to experience and a lesson learned.

P.S.
I tend to get aggressive when someone tries this kind of stunt. But...I have become very good friends with my attorney, so I have access to help make better decisions. I have walked away from more of these situations since working with this attorney.

iRay808 · Jun 22, 2010

Sorry to hear that man..There's always gotta be people out there just like him... do what you have to do, but just know that karma's gonna bite him right back 10x worst. I'm sure you can find recovery software online and if not, take it to a professional camera shop. Im sure there is somewhere near where you live, that can do the job. Good luck on getting those pictures back and again, sorry to hear about your situation. People can be such money-hungry assholes now-a-days :grumpy:

Flash Harry · Jun 22, 2010

Recover the shots, call a brief, sue the bas*ard, show/tell him nothing about it or this snake will be prepared. H

Petraio Prime · Jun 22, 2010

Sgtchavez said:
So I couple of weeks ago, I was given the day off of work when fellow photographer asked me to assist him for a wedding shoot. Here is where things start to bug me a little, since this guy is also a co-worker of mine, and you could say somewhat of a friend, I'm not too sure on that yet.

Previously, I had let him borrow my 24-70 for a shoot, to which he replies: "Oh, that lens sucks, it's not as good as my 80 mm 1.8"...........I said, "okay, a simple thank you would have done it". The wedding day came up and he, again, approached me about assisting him, only he couldn't pay me anything since he's doing this as a freebie for a really nice couple and I could use any shots I wanted for my book. I finally said, yes, and offered to help for a few hours, I would bring my own gear, I would hand over memory cards to him for back up the end of the night. He would later have to return them to me with all my shots.

A week goes by and nothing, he comes up to tell me that a got a few good shots but the rest are ****ty. He then tells me that I he's going to have to use my cake shots since his didn't come out right. I just went along, and said okay, just give me my cards back. I finally get my cards back, and notice that half the shots are missing from each cards, that's somewhere around 300 shots in raw off a 5DMII. I later found out, through him, that in fact, it was a paid wedding, and I was basically conned into helping him for free, and not only that, he took half of my shots, claimed them as his, and pretended like he didn't delete anything off my cards.

Somewhat of a long read, and perhaps an isolated incident as I've never experienced such lack of ethics from a fellow photographer. He's my co-worker, so I've basically cut ties with and now keep relationship strictly work related. All I can say is, burning bridges and stepping is not good business.

Why are you surprised? I'm not. This is one of the reasons I don't associate with 'photographers'.

ghache · Jun 22, 2010

If i were you, i would say nothing, recover the files from your card. register the image for copyrights. and wait untill he shows you the final sale images. then sue the bastard.

Christie Photo · Jun 22, 2010

pbelarge said:
Before suing anyone, we live in such a litigious society, take one step at a time.

As the others mentioned, try the recovery program. Download all of your shots to your hard drive - if you should decide to pursue anything, they will become evidence.

First, is this guy an employee on the same level as you, could he hurt your standing at work? think about any stupid rash ideas.

Hopefully you will recover the shots. If you do, here is how you could approach this. (you may want to get some real legal advice if you pursue this any further)

Once you recover the shots, show a couple to him. Suggest to him, that if he used your photos for the final sale, you have the copyright to them and should be compensated or you may have to pursue other means.

Do not use derogatory terms or get into a fight, keep it simple and walk away.

OR

Forget about it, chaulk it up to experience and a lesson learned.

P.S.
I tend to get aggressive when someone tries this kind of stunt. But...I have become very good friends with my attorney, so I have access to help make better decisions. I have walked away from more of these situations since working with this attorney.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This all sounds about right to me.

I would try to recover the files if for no other reason to KNOW (and perhaps prove) just what you shot... for your own peace of mind.

And, you'll likely have to just chalk this one up. I doubt you'd have much luck with any sort of legal action, and it's clear you can't expect this guy to do the right thing when he realizes he's busted.

I glad you found out what a snake this guy is before he takes further advantage of you.

Hang in there.

-Pete

AlexL · Jun 22, 2010

Sgtchavez said:
So I couple of weeks ago, I was given the day off of work when fellow photographer asked me to assist him for a wedding shoot. Here is where things start to bug me a little, since this guy is also a co-worker of mine, and you could say somewhat of a friend, I'm not too sure on that yet.

Previously, I had let him borrow my 24-70 for a shoot, to which he replies: "Oh, that lens sucks, it's not as good as my 80 mm 1.8"...........I said, "okay, a simple thank you would have done it". The wedding day came up and he, again, approached me about assisting him, only he couldn't pay me anything since he's doing this as a freebie for a really nice couple and I could use any shots I wanted for my book. I finally said, yes, and offered to help for a few hours, I would bring my own gear, I would hand over memory cards to him for back up the end of the night. He would later have to return them to me with all my shots.

A week goes by and nothing, he comes up to tell me that a got a few good shots but the rest are ****ty. He then tells me that I he's going to have to use my cake shots since his didn't come out right. I just went along, and said okay, just give me my cards back. I finally get my cards back, and notice that half the shots are missing from each cards, that's somewhere around 300 shots in raw off a 5DMII. I later found out, through him, that in fact, it was a paid wedding, and I was basically conned into helping him for free, and not only that, he took half of my shots, claimed them as his, and pretended like he didn't delete anything off my cards.

Somewhat of a long read, and perhaps an isolated incident as I've never experienced such lack of ethics from a fellow photographer. He's my co-worker, so I've basically cut ties with and now keep relationship strictly work related. All I can say is, burning bridges and stepping is not good business.

The worst thing and the thing i'm most mad about if that has happened to me is that he is taking me like a dumbass. I don't let people go easily if they do that.

Sgtchavez · Jun 22, 2010

Well, I'm not planning on pursuing a lawsuit or anything like that. We were never really good friends to begin with, so I'm definitely done with him. I've talked to him since, and he's offered to give me the raws claiming he didn't realize he'd deleted them. He seemed pretty embarrassed when I ripped him a new one. At the end of the day, I learned from this and I will just move on. We work in different departments at work so he can't really affect me in any way.