Should I ask for my money back?

[pisto1981]

We had a recent photo shoot done with our daughter, where the photographer took 80 odd pictures in an hour session. They asked us to pick 25-30 of our fav that they would edit and put on a cd with the unedited pictures. I thought this was a great deal as the price was good. They were recommended to us by my partners mother. BTW This was just prior to me getting a camera and understanding anything whatsoever.

Today we received our pictures. Stating that im unhappy with the results is a understatement! I'll link 3 of the pictures so you can see what im talking about;

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/pisto1981/IMG_6273.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/pisto1981/IMG_6340.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/pisto1981/IMG_6310.jpg

Would any of you pay for these? Am i blowing things out of proportion? I look at the EXIF and see they shot the whole shoot at f8 1/125. Many pictures even miss the focus point, i.e chin in focus but eyes blurry.

We are supposed to have another 3 shoots with them during our daughters 1st year.

Thanks for listening and for any feed back. I really feel i should be asking for my money back

 

[DanOstergren]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this. This forum is for posting your own photos of others. I think you would get an array of much better responses to your thread if you were to post it in a discussion forum instead.

And in my honest opinion, you get what you pay for when you hire a cheap photographer without making absolutely sure that their work is exactly what you want.

 

[pisto1981]

My bad, could a mod please move it?

 

[amolitor]

There's nothing wrong with a constant aperture and shutter speed when you're shooting with flash. They might have been adjusting flash power as needed, or using TTL flash which means the camera is doing that for them.

That said, these are not that great

 

[ronlane]

If you are unhappy with them, I would talk with the photog about it, as a customer. Bring to light the OOF and specific things that bother you about them. Only then would I determine if I wanted to continue with the other 3 sessions.

BTW, I can only see one of the links.

 

[tirediron]

Just for your own information, there are only two links, and only one of them (6273) works. Asking if you should request a refund is really akin to a new photographer asking how much they should charge; it's a question only you can answer, since there's only example image available at the moment, I'm hesitant to offer an opinion. I will say that the example image is not of a calibre I would consider to be 'professional' as the focus is off and the lighting is to say the least, uninspired.

I will say however that the "will edit 20-30 images and include all of the unedited images on a CD" should have been a really, really, REALLY big red flag about this photographer's level of experience. No working photographer I know would give you ANY unedited images, and if you wanted fully enhanced 20-30 images from a session with me, I'd be asking for $800+.

 

[tirediron]

Moved to General Shop Talk as it is business-related, albeit from the customer's aspect.

 

[sm4him]

A mod will be along to move it to the appropriate place. In the meantime...

I guess the main thing I have to wonder is this: Did you SEE this photographer's portfolio before you paid them to do a shoot (and evidently, based on your post, signed a contract for 3 more shoots)? I mean, they may have been recommended to you by someone, but before *I* paid them any money, I'd want to see their portfolio.

If you signed on for these shoots without ever seeing what they were producing, then I'd say you've just bought yourself a lesson.

If you DID see their portfolio, then my next questions are:
--Was the quality of the photos in the portfolio similar to what you received? If so, you have no absolutely no room for complaint.
--Was the quality of photos in the portfolio significantly better than what your received? If so, then yes, I would either ask for a reshoot or a refund.

EDIT: I was able to see pictures at both the links. But since nobody else can, maybe I broke one of them.

 

[pisto1981]

If you are unhappy with them, I would talk with the photog about it, as a customer. Bring to light the OOF and specific things that bother you about them. Only then would I determine if I wanted to continue with the other 3 sessions.

BTW, I can only see one of the links.

Links fixed

 

[imagemaker46]

How much did the "photographer" charge for this shoot?

 

[pisto1981]

Just for your own information, there are only two links, and only one of them (6273) works. Asking if you should request a refund is really akin to a new photographer asking how much they should charge; it's a question only you can answer, since there's only example image available at the moment, I'm hesitant to offer an opinion. I will say that the example image is not of a calibre I would consider to be 'professional' as the focus is off and the lighting is to say the least, uninspired.

I will say however that the "will edit 20-30 images and include all of the unedited images on a CD" should have been a really, really, REALLY big red flag about this photographer's level of experience. No working photographer I know would give you ANY unedited images, and if you wanted fully enhanced 20-30 images from a session with me, I'd be asking for $800+.

This is exactly what i thought today

A mod will be along to move it to the appropriate place. In the meantime...

I guess the main thing I have to wonder is this: Did you SEE this photographer's portfolio before you paid them to do a shoot (and evidently, based on your post, signed a contract for 3 more shoots)? I mean, they may have been recommended to you by someone, but before *I* paid them any money, I'd want to see their portfolio.

If you signed on for these shoots without ever seeing what they were producing, then I'd say you've just bought yourself a lesson.

If you DID see their portfolio, then my next questions are:
--Was the quality of the photos in the portfolio similar to what you received? If so, you have no absolutely no room for complaint.
--Was the quality of photos in the portfolio significantly better than what your received? If so, then yes, I would either ask for a reshoot or a refund.

EDIT: I was able to see pictures at both the links. But since nobody else can, maybe I broke one of them.

I think we brought ourselves a lesson well learnt. While, we have seen previous work of a higher standard, this was from work that they hung in their cafe. So it was nothing official

 

[pisto1981]

How much did the "photographer" charge for this shoot?

£125 for 4 shoots with free print from each and then £50 per shoot for CD.

We really had this coming. Thanks for letting me vent though everyone

 

[tecboy]

Next time ask a any photographer for an online portfolio. Then you decide.

 

[tirediron]

How much did the "photographer" charge for this shoot?

£125 for 4 shoots with free print from each and then £50 per shoot for CD.

We really had this coming. Thanks for letting me vent though everyone

Tell you what, for round-trip airfare, a few nights on your couch, meals and you-buy-the-beer, I can be on a plane tomorrow to reshoot for you!

 

[ronlane]

John's starting a bidding war. I"ll buy my own beer