Bad wedding photo's

blondali

So sorry to hear about your awful experience, I was just wondering if your photographer belongs to any associations such as the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers), if so perhaps you could report his bad practice to them. In terms of compensation I would certainly write a letter to the photographer itemising all the problems with the photographs, what your expectations were based upon the contract and how he has failed to meet these expectations, I would then decide how many photos are useable, if only 30% are useable I would ask for 70% of your money back! If this fails to work I would contact trading standards and follow their advice.

Sambucus_Nigra

MrsVS wrote: »

Thank you, I know I've got to do that if I want this sorting out & I do need to say something as it is genuinely stressing me out but I just can't bear the thought of having to come face to face with him.
The outdoor ones of me & hubby are beautiful but there aren't many of them & the rest is filled with rubbish pointless unedited crap & not of the things we asked for.
Thanks so much for your advice. Will see if I can pluck up the courage or just send the hubby when he's home at the weekend! lol.

You need to think of it as a business transaction - have you got a chum who is a bit savvy about these things - get them round, go through each photo and get them to draw up a list of what was less than expected by each.

iamana1ias

sandraann wrote: »

I'm a N Ireland based wedding photographer and it's pretty shocking that your photographer didn't have insurance. He really was taking a risk and it really doesn't bode well for his overall professionalism..

where did the OP say that?!

To be honest, £600 for 150 pics with copyright transferred would have rung alarm bells for me. At £4 a pic you'd never make any money!! I know several photographers who would want several times that to release the copyright.

(if you pay peanuts..........)

blue_monkey_2

OP, if it was me I would send a letter. by special Delivery, asking for the amount of money you want back.

Tell him he was given the chance to rectify the matter and he has still not done this and the photos are not of acceptable quality. Then say you would like a refund of xx (pro rata amount) and that if he does not refund this money within 14 days then you will take legal action to recover the money. The court will want to see the photos so do not edit them all without having the originals. It is so easy to do, have a look at the moneyclaim online website: https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

If he has a website and exmaple of his work is on there - print it all out now so you can use this as evidence.

And then get online and name and shame so if anyone googles him they will find out that his work is sub-standard and the same does not happen to them.

Send all correspondance by Special Delivery. He has had his chance, I'd be moving now to get my money back.

Ask friends and family to email you pictures of the day as you have had a disaster with the photographer and then you can use photoshop to edit them and get the pictures that you want.

My sister had a photographer too - he took some dreadful pictures too, they were really, really bad. And as for the professional wedding album he supplied her, I could have knocked up something better myself. It was one of the photobook types and it was not aligned so the pictures were skewiff, plus there were spelling mistakes on the album and he had not left a gap between their names and the date. Dreadful, dreadful. But the album was a 'gift' from a friend so she left it as it and got some made instead. I am sure loads of them only go for the food!!

twirlypinky

I think i would ask for all the originals, every single shot he took, then draw a line under that and walk away.

I would then go through all those pics, and all those taken by family and friends, and choose your absolute favourites and then get a professional to edit out anything you don't like (e.g the tatoo etc).

Try not to worry, this whole thing was about your wedding day, this hasn't spoiled that.

Also, most people rarely look at their wedding albums after the first year. They sit in boxes and cupboards. It's only the few pics up on the wall that get looked at remember - as long as you've got a few great shots to put up, that's the important thing.

LEJC

has your photographer taken bad photos or the wrong photos?
Perhaps before you contact him you should get someone independant with some photographic knowledge to have a look through them to see if they agree that you have been mis sold a package.

Its devestating for you not to have lovely pictures to look at to remind you of the wedding.

I would get another professional view of the photos to make sure that it is bad photographs that have been taken and not just mis communication between yourselves and the photographer about the types of photos you wanted...

you still have your memories of what was a lovely day...dont let this ruin it for you.

ians5

Theres lots of good avive on the note of insurance ..... unfortunately I have to say your wedding insurance and certainly the photographer's own insurance are unlikely to payout for poor photo quality.

That said, I think you might be surprised what can be salvaged from 'bad' images...... perhaps you should collate all your images, digitally, from your 'pro' and you family and approach another friendly photographer, one who takes pitty on situations like these (me) and see what they can do for you. you may be pleasantly surprised what is possible ......

Pm on its way shortly

hock79

Did he only take 150 photos or has he given you his edit of 150? As twirlypinky said, I would ask for all the originals and see where to go from there. Also you said there's a black and white one you don't like, did he shoot it in b/w or has he got the original colour version? Have you still got your list of the photos you requested so you can show him what he's missed?

I have to agree with iamana1ias that £600 is cheap for full copyright:(

tod123

You could check if you photographer is a member of the http://www.swpp.co.uk/ (or another professional group), they will often adjudicate in matters like this and decide if there are technical fundamentals that are wrong with the images and , if so, try to find an outcome that suits you. , or if its just "I don't like them" which is altogether different thing.

People often say professional groups like the SWPP have little worth , but its easy to see in situations like this how much they can be of a help when you are up against a brick wall wondering what to do next, like the OP.

blue_monkey_2

It's a bit ironic that we are telling the OP, on MSE, that he was too cheap!!

I think in hindsight she probably knows this but she didn't just go on price, she saw his work too.