Small Rant

[jcdeboever]

I thought to post this in here so I could get it out of my system. Yesterday, I was going over my call reports with my sales assistant who recently got married. She showed me her wedding pictures that cost her $1500.00. Oh my Lord! These were so bad.... it took me a great deal of restraint not to say a word. FINALLY, the words came out of her mouth at her displeasure with them. The professional photographer blamed the poor church lighting, now correct me if I am wrong but if your a pro, is it not your job to overcome this? 14 in the wedding party and she brought in two speedlight w/umbrella's? Really? You could clearly see in the photo's the people on the ends were dark, and the shadows... oh my. All the faces in the photo sittings were blown out and WB was way off. I felt bad for her and I did not say to much. She signed a contract and I told her she should go and take her to small claims court and should win easily. I wish I could show you some of the pics, just awful. People like this need to be stopped.

 

[goooner]

Difficult to comment without knowing both sides. How many pics did she get, did she have a chance to pick the best from a set? It sounds like the photographer was not very professional, but many would say that $1500 is not very expensive for a wedding.

 

[pixmedic]

the price of the wedding is irrelevant.
did they see pics of other weddings the photographer shot? a portfolio?
have they spoken with the photographer about the picture quality?
most churches are lit poorly...i think ive only shot in ONE that was actually well lit. most have high ceilings with sparse lighting.
no flash during ceremonies most of the time, so you just have to deal with fast lenses.

if they used lighting and got blown out faces and bad shadows, it sounds like they didn't know how to use OCF.
really cant tell much without seeing the pictures though, so everything is really just speculation on my part.
either way, it will be between the photographer and the customer to figure it out. I sure wouldn't keep quiet over $1500 though. especially my wedding photos.

 

[Didereaux]

Can't stop them. AND you can't overcome lazy or stupid. yes, the bride was excited, but when you go tossing around $1500 bucks you don't have to be Einstein to figure that you might want to check out the merchandise first? Like references, portfolio? No, the older I get the less tolerant of dumb I am becoming.

 

[jcdeboever]

She did say she looked at her work prior but what she seen there was way different than what she got. She met with her and picked out about 75 photo's and anymore than that would be extra. She claimed there was very little, if any post work done on the 75. She did not buy any prints because of her displeasure with them and voiced this to the Pro. Again, the Pro blamed poor lighting. She asked me if I could do some post work and I told her I could not do that and would not feel comfortable doing so. The photos are clearly the property of the photographer as spelled out in the generic contract. She basically paid $1500 for a CD full of crappy, unedited photos. The xif data was absent from them as well. I think she did everything she could to select the photographer and got taken advantage of.

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[pixmedic]

She did say she looked at her work prior but what she seen there was way different than what she got. She met with her and picked out about 75 photo's and anymore than that would be extra. She claimed there was very little, if any post work done on the 75. She did not buy any prints because of her displeasure with them and voiced this to the Pro. Again, the Pro blamed poor lighting. She asked me if I could do some post work and I told her I could not do that and would not feel comfortable doing so. The photos are clearly the property of the photographer as spelled out in the generic contract. She basically paid $1500 for a CD full of crappy, unedited photos. The xif data was absent from them as well. I think she did everything she could to select the photographer and got taken advantage of.

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if what she got doesn't match the photographers portfolio quality, then I would ask for a refund or go to court.
a photographer cant blame standard church lighting on poor quality photos...
the threat of court is also trouble for the photographer if they don't have all their business aspects legal in accordance with their state laws.
its all irrelevant though if your assistant isn't willing to actually follow through with doing something about it.
first step would be to contact an attorney that deals with this sort of thing. they will be able to tell her what options she has, and find out if the photographer legally shot the wedding or not.

 

[sscarmack]

First step is to ask/demand a refund. More likely than not, the photographer will settle because 90% (made up number), are probably not even licensed and follow the laws.

 

[jcdeboever]

She did say she looked at her work prior but what she seen there was way different than what she got. She met with her and picked out about 75 photo's and anymore than that would be extra. She claimed there was very little, if any post work done on the 75. She did not buy any prints because of her displeasure with them and voiced this to the Pro. Again, the Pro blamed poor lighting. She asked me if I could do some post work and I told her I could not do that and would not feel comfortable doing so. The photos are clearly the property of the photographer as spelled out in the generic contract. She basically paid $1500 for a CD full of crappy, unedited photos. The xif data was absent from them as well. I think she did everything she could to select the photographer and got taken advantage of.

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if what she got doesn't match the photographers portfolio quality, then I would ask for a refund or go to court.
a photographer cant blame standard church lighting on poor quality photos...
the threat of court is also trouble for the photographer if they don't have all their business aspects legal in accordance with their state laws.
its all irrelevant though if your assistant isn't willing to actually follow through with doing something about it.
first step would be to contact an attorney that deals with this sort of thing. they will be able to tell her what options she has, and find out if the photographer legally shot the wedding or not.

I called my lawyer friend who lives in Ohio and he said she should file a claim in small claims court. He said all it will take is for the judge to look at the photos and she would win. He mentioned that very same thing that if the quality is poor, chances are their business setup is the same. This girl is young and rather timid so I suspect she will let it pass. Real reason for my rant I guess. I explained she has an opportunity to prevent this from happening to someone else but her body language told me she was very uncomfortable with the idea of suing.

The lawyer did say she should not have accepted the CD .

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[Didereaux]

She did say she looked at her work prior but what she seen there was way different than what she got. She met with her and picked out about 75 photo's and anymore than that would be extra. She claimed there was very little, if any post work done on the 75. She did not buy any prints because of her displeasure with them and voiced this to the Pro. Again, the Pro blamed poor lighting. She asked me if I could do some post work and I told her I could not do that and would not feel comfortable doing so. The photos are clearly the property of the photographer as spelled out in the generic contract. She basically paid $1500 for a CD full of crappy, unedited photos. The xif data was absent from them as well. I think she did everything she could to select the photographer and got taken advantage of.

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In that case it is time for her to call her Cousin Vinny!

 

[jcdeboever]

She did say she looked at her work prior but what she seen there was way different than what she got. She met with her and picked out about 75 photo's and anymore than that would be extra. She claimed there was very little, if any post work done on the 75. She did not buy any prints because of her displeasure with them and voiced this to the Pro. Again, the Pro blamed poor lighting. She asked me if I could do some post work and I told her I could not do that and would not feel comfortable doing so. The photos are clearly the property of the photographer as spelled out in the generic contract. She basically paid $1500 for a CD full of crappy, unedited photos. The xif data was absent from them as well. I think she did everything she could to select the photographer and got taken advantage of.

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In that case it is time for her to call her Cousin Vinny!

I know, right? I just wanted to rant because I was appalled. I will call her today and see if she has them posted somewhere for you guys to see what I am talking about. I don't do facebook but maybe she does. Will see.

 

[jcdeboever]

First step is to ask/demand a refund. More likely than not, the photographer will settle because 90% (made up number), are probably not even licensed and follow the laws.

She did ask for one but the pro denied her request. I asked her why she took the CD and she started getting teary eyed, so I left it alone. She is a very gentle, sweet girl with a good upbringing, reason I hired her to assist me. She does a fantastic job and is very organized and my customers love her. Her husband has no fight in him either, he is just as gentle. I told her I would be willing to talk with the photographer and she said she would discuss with her husband... LET ME AT HER!

 

[Designer]

No, the older I get the less tolerant of dumb I am becoming.

Me too, but we should keep in mind that some photographers (or any person selling services) excel at selling their services. Way better at selling than actually providing a quality service.

 

[Designer]

She is a very gentle, sweet girl with a good upbringing,

That makes me want to start taking up a collection to give their money back to them.

 

[jcdeboever]

Difficult to comment without knowing both sides. How many pics did she get, did she have a chance to pick the best from a set? It sounds like the photographer was not very professional, but many would say that $1500 is not very expensive for a wedding.

Respectfully, there is no other side as the contract is spelled out. The photographer did not perform all the actions spelled out in the contract. Here is a link to the contract, it is real close to this if not the same as I recall.

Contract for Wedding Photography Services

 

[jcdeboever]

She is a very gentle, sweet girl with a good upbringing,

That makes me want to start taking up a collection to give their money back to them.

I know, right? However, I would like to see a little fight in her. I hope they at least let me talk with the photographer, I am a pretty good negotiator except when it comes to the wife.