Question About Weddings - Client is Unhappy and threatened to sue

[LMKPhotoFilm]

Makes sense. She calmed down and settled on a refund. She never once commented negatively on the quality or amount of images or the video. It's just disappointing that I couldn't make her satisfied at all though. Lesson learned.

 

[LMKPhotoFilm]

This one: IMG_0395.jpg has blown highlights and deep shadow on the face/head, and virtually no detail in the dress. There is way too much DoF and the background is extremely distracting. It looks to me like It was shot with a consumer lens and/or crop-sensor camera and without any off-camera lighting at all. An image like that should NEVER have been sent to the client.

Don't really understand what you're saying. The bride was running to the alter and we snapped her so no time for external lighting. Also used a Mark IV and an 85mm. Don't really get the DoF comment either. Not sure how it can have too much DoF and be distracting at the same time, especially since it was shot at f8.0.

Very confused about feedback.

Agree with the rest of your point as far as deadlines.

 

[tirediron]

There's always time for off-camera lighting; that's why you have it with you! Even a simple hand-held speedlight would have made a huge difference to the exposure here. As I said, the left side of her face, arm and dress are blown, and her right eye is in deep shadow. There's very little detail visible in the dress. A wedding dress is one of the highlights of the event; women can pay $5, 10 or 20K+ for them, and a bit part of your job is nail that dress.

I understand completely that you may have to "suffer" with the location, but WHY would you shoot this at f8? do the stairs and handrail and yellow whatever-it-is inside the house have special meaning to the bride? This should have been a 200mm at f4 shot, NOT an 85mm at f8 shot.

The problem with wedding photography is that there are no 'do-overs'. If you mess it up, it stays messed up. That's why good wedding photographers charge what they do; they have the skill to get it right the first time, [almost] every time. IMO, based on these points, this image is one that should have been left on the cutting room floor!

 

[Scoody]

The image with the blown out dress is begging for off camera lighting. Weddings and quinceaneras are a huge part of my business. I use off camera lighting on almost every shot. I know that you can't pose every shot and weddings are very fluid. You have to adapt and improvise. My assistant follows me around with a speedlight on a monopod. She knows how to read the shadows and sets up right where I need her. Thumbs up means increase the power on the light, thumbs down means decrease. Point to her means zoom in pointing to my self means zoom out.

What gets me also is the 1100 images. I promise my client 300 images. They usually get more but never less. My contract covers everything I can think including a meal for me and my assistant. I also provide them edited images for an album but they order that themselves. I shoot at most 900 images.

 

[ClickAddict]

I like that "meal for me and my assistant". I don't do weddings typically, but I've seen a few posts in various forums about photographers not being offered food or a quick break to eat and in some cases being billed afterwards for the meal they did eat.

 

[table1349]

Your best bet in any situation such as this is to consult someone like:

Lawyers don't photograph weddings for a living and photographers should not attempt to practice law.

 

[Dave442]

Good to hear you worked out the refund.

The album sounds like it was a bad idea from the start, especially if you did not have a good history with the service used.

You may find that bride is also upset with the food, her dress and her new husband so just consider that you are getting out easy.

 

[Kroneberger0408]

Either way she has no case. Thought it took you way to long to deliver the album you did offer a refund for her to go somewhere else to get it done and she said no. So since you delivered everything else in a timely matter, and that was a great price and a ton of photos, she has nothing to really sue you over... Sounds like shes just being a *****...

5 months is a long time but i just saw the part where you said she wanted 500 images in it? Thats crazy... You should have just picked the best out of em and sent it to her... No one wants to look thru a album with 2oo photos in it..