Bottom feeding wedding photographers should be flogged

sabbath999 · Dec 3, 2008

OK... perhaps a few actually can take pictures, but MAN it just turns my stomach to see the crap that some people are paying for.

I have a co-worker who hired a bottom feeder to shoot her wedding... the photographer told her it would be one of her first weddings, and only charged them $400... she gave the girl a CD with her pictures on it, and let the girl do her own prints.

My friend asked if I could "make a few a bit more spiffy" and gave me the CD.

I opened up a picture and my reaction was "wtf? WTF? WTF!"

Here's the EXIF of the first picture I opened:

Camera Model: KODAK Z650 ZOOM DIGITAL
1/15s f/3.0 ISO160 8mm (35mm eq:48mm)
Exposure Mode: Auto
White Balance: Auto
ISO Speed Rating: 160

There was zero post processing done.

I asked the friend of mine if this photographer was just a friend or something, and she said no... the person advertises, goes to bridal shows, etc... and that there are three or four others in the same price range in the area as well.

Wow. WOW.

Since this is a friend of mine, I am going to "spifify" some shots and print up a little album (4x6's) as a Christmas present... but it makes me sick to think that somebody is out there charging people money for this crap.

Battou · Dec 3, 2008

Bargain hunters...that is all there is to it.

I've been considering a few rather drastic things when searching for a photog for my wedding but.....that is for another time lol

stsinner · Dec 3, 2008

A Kodak EasyShare for a wedding... LOL I don't even see a hot shoe on it.

Big Mike · Dec 3, 2008

Some places have guys doing dentistry in the street.

Unfortunately, there will always be a market for cheap crap.

Battou · Dec 3, 2008

stsinner said:
Why not a point and shoot without a hot shoe for a wedding? Are you serious? Secondly, it's a Kodak. I've never heard of a serious photographer using a Kodak anything, except paper.

Other than the fact it happened to me, No I wasn't serious, that is why I deleted it, but I guess you beat me to the quote, no biggie :lmao:

stsinner · Dec 3, 2008

Battou said:
Other than the fact it happened to me, No I wasn't serious, that is why I deleted it, but I guess you beat me to the quote, no biggie :lmao:

I deleted it-felt it was only right, since your post was no longer there. I should have noticed your post count and known that you weren't serious.. No one with 5k posts would ask such a question seriously... Cheers.

Battou · Dec 3, 2008

stsinner said:
I deleted it-felt it was only right, since your post was no longer there. I should have noticed your post count and known that you weren't serious.. No one with 5k posts would ask such a question seriously... Cheers.

No probs

Monaco · Dec 3, 2008

That is pretty amazing.I don't understand why people wouldn't want to pay for a quality wedding photographer on a day that holds such great importance to the bride and groom.

I wouldn't even pay my little brother 5 dollars to take pictures of my cats first birthday with a kodak easyshare.

Tisk tisk.

eyeye · Dec 3, 2008

On the other hand, my brother and his wife hired the best in the area. Lots of credentials, big cameras, big portfolio. They paid big money and the photographer half arsed it and the photos are pretty so so. Sometimes you what you pay for and sometimes you dont.

UdubBadger · Dec 3, 2008

I was the best man in my buddies wedding this past summer. He (or I guess his wife) chose to do the cheap craigslist route. The lady wasn't horrible nor terribly expensive at about $300 for the entire day. However, I still brought my camera and did some posed shots for them, along side the craigslist lady in between the ceremony and reception. I can tell you the 30-something pics I took for them all ended up in their photo album, thank you cards and framed on their mantel and walls... I have still yet to see anything the woman shot that looks anything close to semi-professional. She was nice though, she took her CF card to Walmart immediately after the ceremony and had prints to show them during the reception... so much for post processing I guess :lol:

.

Alleh Lindquist · Dec 3, 2008

Yeah it sucks. Not because better photographers lose clients but because it is a huge disservice to someone. Just about anyone can go to a couple friends weddings in the summer outside and get a few nice shots so it can be hard to really shift through the mass number of photographers out their shooting weddings and be able to determine what is really a good deal. I understand that not everyone can afford to pay top dollar so they need to find a deal to even get a photographer but their is a huge difference in hiring say a 3rd year photography student who needs to make some extra cash but will produce good images vs. one of the many people that picked up their camera at Costco not long ago and now have this dream idea of working as a wedding photographer before they even learn how to take good images.

It just goes back to my old rant post about everyone wanting to be a pro. People with almost no skill or photographic knowledge are marketing themselves as professional photographers. I find it to be malicious. Many of them have less than a 10% success rate at creating a decent image putting their photographic skill level more along the lines of luck.

UdubBadger · Dec 3, 2008

its funny too... i've always strayed away from doing weddings because I'm still a photo student. I know I can make decent photos, but its like... this is someone's WEDDING, I don't want to be responsible for screwing something up and think they should get the best there possibly is. Maybe if they were saying its either me or their buddy who has a nice point and shoot... I'd know the expectations are low and thus less pressure on me but when it comes to my wedding, I'll be paying out some big bucks for the lucky guy/gal who I deem worthy to take the pics.

Chiller · Dec 3, 2008

My daughters wedding...we paid good coin, got a good photographer, and his work was brilliant. Best I have seen in a long time. :thumbup::thumbup: He started at 7am,showed up with an assistant and we had our final handshake at midnight. We have 2 complete printed proof books to go over.
At one point in the morning, he said...."so...when are you getting your camera out"(he knew I took snapshots, as it came up in conversation when we first met him)...and he proceeded to let me shoot with him, helping me out.

On another note...I have been asked to shoot 4 different weddings, and I have turned down everyone....not even going to touch it. :er: .......but I have considered changing my mind on one, when I heard I could be hooked up with a nice blond for the night. :lol:

abraxas · Dec 3, 2008

sabbath999 said:
OK... perhaps a few actually can take pictures, but MAN it just turns my stomach to see the crap that some people are paying for....
...

... somebody is out there charging people money for this crap.

I'd think you'd know about this;

What you're seeing is a niche that suffers from too little competition.

The way I see it, you have at least two choices.

1. Compete
2. Do nothing
2a. - Do nothing and ***** about it.

sabbath999 · Dec 3, 2008

abraxas said:
I'd think you'd know about this;

What you're seeing is a niche that suffers from too little competition.

The way I see it, you have at least two choices.

1. Compete
2. Do nothing
2a. - Do nothing and ***** about it.

I have no desire to compete with them, since I have no desire to get back into the photography business... to be perfectly clear, I don't care one whit whether these people "hurt" the business of good wedding photographers in my area... that is THEIR business problem, not mine.

I just hate seeing people paying hard earned money for crap pictures...