Bad wedding photo's

pinkteapot

The most important thing is getting photos together that you can cherish and that bring back all the smiles of the big day.

Far from being embarrassed I would say to your family and friends that your photographer's professional shots haven't turned out as planned, and ask everyone to email/send you on disc any pictures they took. They'll be sympathetic and happy to help. We were lucky and got good professional shots, but still some of my favourite photos are ones that friends and family took. Focus on improving the photos you do have and getting more from other people. Then on putting albums together, whether you're putting prints in traditional albums or ordering photobooks. If you're finding it too hard, do you have any creative friends/family who could put the albums together for you?

In terms of the photographer, I understand you not wanting a confrontation. It's not worth souring the wedding experience over. If you're comfortable doing it, then write a letter. Keep it factual and unemotional. If you want, draft it and then post it here and we'll help you keep it calm and professional. Explain why he hasn't delivered the service you expected and say that you feel a partial refund would be appropriate. At least that way, in the future when the upset has passed, you'll feel like you at least tried to get some money back.

MrsVS

iamana1ias wrote: »

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..........)

I don't know what its like in other parts of the country but where I come from, the price is pretty average & certainly not cheap.
There was one other local place that has been going years & produce outstanding photo's & have such a good reputation & they wanted £900 for the same but that was with 2 photographers & stopping from morning to evening but because of the way we wanted things (there were only 32 of us in total so didnt feel 2 photographers were needed, we didnt want anybody there in the morning & we didnt have a 'normal' reception with extra guests etc), we thought it would be adequate to have just him & we loved his photo's in the studio.

MrsVS

hock79 wrote: »

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:(

He gave us his edit choices. He took 2-3 of every shot (this is what he told us when we originally went to see him) then he picks the best of the 2-3 whch leaves him with about 300 - 400 photos of which he picks the best 150. So I cant believe that he took that many shots if those were the best!
I know he filled 2 memory sticks/cards on the day & was on the 3rd so goodness knows how many he actually took.
But when I told him about the black & white room shot which I hate, he didnt put the original colour version in the 'edited' disc so I can only assume that he perhaps deleted it?

Also please read my reply about £600 not really being cheap.
I have actually just thought of another place with an exceptional reputation that we looked at but they were already booked for the date we wanted but for the same, they wanted £700 & that was including their travel as it was quite a distance.

Thanks so much for your reply though

MrsVS

LEJC wrote: »

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.

I must stress, it isn't the picture quality.......its the photo's he missed & the random one's he put on the disc thats upsets me the most. They are high res & of the one's that are nice, Im sure theyre going to look fab in a photobook.

I dont know, maybe I expected too much? But of all the weddings I have been to & seen the photo's of, the photographer has made sure he's captured every special moment & took photo's of all the guests as they arrive as I wanted to give these out to people as a reminder (as I've said, there was only 32 of us altogether yet the only picks of most of our friends are on the couple of group shots). But missing my mum & bridesmaids arriving at the venue in the wedding car & missing my dad walking me down the aisle are unforgiveable. Also when I specifically asked for certain photo's to be taken, I expected them to be taken.

MrsVS

ians5 wrote: »

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

Ian thank you so much for your lovely PM. I have tried to reply 3 times so Im sorry if u have 3 similar messages lol, but I dont think they have sent so I will email u soon

MrsVS

tod123 wrote: »

You could check if you photographer is a member of the(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.

Thank u. How would I find this out though if it doesnt state on his website?

MrsVS

blue_monkey wrote: »

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.

Thank u! I agree! I spent months trawling through the wedding threads to try & make our day elegant, stylish, yet money saving & as you say, we loved his work.
Maybe he just picked the very best of his bunch for us to view but as I previously said, it wasnt just the wedding photo's, it was all the pics we saw, pets, modeling shoots etc.

MrsVS

I would just to say a massive thank you to each & every one of your for replying & offering all your advice & well wishes.
I really do appreciate it!
I must tell u, I had a nightmare with my wedding car on the day too.....
I had ordered a black & ivory vintage 7 seater open top daimler but whilst I was having my hair & make up done at the salon, the owners called me & said the heaters in the car wouldnt work so the driver refused to drive it for fear of his windows steaming up.
To cut a very very long story short, I had a choice of flagging down a local taxi!!!! or accepting their only other offer of a small brown & gold rolls royce. I was distraught as I specifically didnt want gold as my dress was champagne colour & i didnt want it to clash & I specifically wanted a 7 seater so that me, my dad, my mum & my bridesmaids could all travel together.
I had also pre arranged with the photographer to take a pic of my husband & I driving off waving with the open top down in the daimler but obviously that wasnt going to happen so I had called my photographer a couple of hours before our wedding to let him know of the change & that my mum & bridesmaids would be coming separately. Everybody knew they were on their way yet he still missed it.
We can dismiss the car, it wasnt THAT important but for us then to not have the photo's that we expected made it feel like all the effort we put in was tarnished.

Again, thank u. I really do appreciate every single one of u for taking the time to reply to me :-)

blue_monkey_2

You know MrsVS, these things happen so we remember our special day. I am pretty sure that not everyon's wedding run smoothly.

2 weeks before our wedding I ended up in hospital, 10 days before I got married I was having a huge cyst and my ovary removed. I could barely stand on the day, could not eat much of the food and had to leave early. Our Honeymoon was cancelled to later in the year too.

On the Wednesday night we turned up to get 4 suits and all they had in was just one 1 top hat..... I was in a wheelchair as I'd only been out of hospital a few days and I was LIVID. I made them deliver our suits indivually to each and every one that need one, by taxi, on the Friday morning.

Our wedding video disappeared and never made it to us.

But you know what, they are little things that make you remember and in 5 years time it'll be amusing. I am sure all the best weddings have hitches too.

Make the msot of the photos that you have, once you get to work and start cropping them and taking the bits you do want, it will be perfect.

Enjoy married life and don't let this get you down too much. Claim your money back if you want to, you have every right to.

MrsVS

Wow u certainly went through it blue_monkey!! Very pleased u are ok now though & still managed to get married on the day.
We had a honeymoon to envy all honeymoons (in our opinion of course ;-)) so it wasnt like it was all bad & we are stupidly in love & happy which is what its all about at the end of the day so I cant complain too much.
Just so people can see what I mean Ive posted the following pic.
It is of our name place cards & favours (the favours were handmade scrolls which contained a brief message about the 2 charities that we had donated to on everybodys behalf & the name cards were tied around these).
It would have been a beautiful picture if a) the whole thing was on like I'd asked for!!!!! and b) there wasn't a napkin taking over the left hand side! I mean come on, this is complete amateur stuff, not professional!

(I was going to add the photo but dont know how to do it! haha! Help please lol).

Then theres 2 photos of the guests button holes whilst still being on the cardboard boxes that the florist delivered them on.
How could he miss my dad walking me down the aisle yet remember to take buttonholes on cardboard & put them in our pro album?