# Just a few questions.



## halloweenlover21 (Dec 13, 2011)

Our wedding photographer used a digital camera. No, I have no idea what kind. She had a second person with the same camera. Our pictures came out like any other digital camera did. We have a cd of all prints she took. Out of the over 1000 pictures, around 100 were edited. About 90% of those are just flipped from side ways to right side up. Our package included 6 hours of wedding coverage and an engagement photo sitting. We opted out of the engagement sitting for an extra hour of wedding coverage. It was over a month after our wedding when we finally got the cd of pictures. Once again, very little editing done. We only have 2 pictures of me walking down the aisle with both of my parents. One was so far away that it isn't usable. The other one is very unflattering because my father was talking. I understand bad pictures are to be expected but only 2 to choose from? The rest of the pictures of us walking down the aisle are from behind. The back of my head does not show my happiness or my parent's, why would I choose these? For our package, we also got 2 parents books and a book for us. She told us she was the only photographer in the area that did flush mounting. We saw her portfolio before we signed a contract and it looked fabulous. We thought we were making a good choice. So, we paid the deposit and several weeks later paid the remaining balance. She charged us an addition $100 for travel about 45 minutes away. I was fine with that and still am. So, now our total to her is $2,100. We got our parent's books in the mail the other day and they are made by shutterfly. She did very little work at all. Half of the pictures are in the middle of the book with our faces cut out. She used pages 1 and 2 as the front and back cover. We were not aware of this. Most of our contact was through email because she rarely answered her phone or took days to respond but emailed within hours. In one of her emails she asked if we wanted black, brown, or grey leatherette as our cover and that the other book would have image wrap. I am not a photographer nor do I make photo albums on shutterfly. So, I assumed a wrapped image had something to do with her flushed mounting. It was never specifically said that page 1 and 2 would be used. One the album it has our name, a picture of me, a picture of me with my parents, and a picture of our ring bearer. Why would I choose to make a parent's book album cover with me but not with husband? Not to mention, the last page was cut off of the first book. It was in the second album as page one, some more blank pages, and then it started the same book over again. I have asked her for an itemized list of charges. I want to know exactly where my money went to. She is far from a professional as her work has shown. The pictures are very basic as if someone in the audience took them. My first question is what is a typical hourly wage for a photographer? Or better yet, based off of the package I got with her, what would you charge? We are just trying to get some info because if these new books are not done in the manner we want them to be, we plan on filing in small claims. I am not a fan of suing someone but this isn't just any pictures. This is my wedding day. The memories that are going to last forever are going to be in those photo albums. What do you guys think?


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## Derrel (Dec 13, 2011)

halloweenlover21 said:
			
		

> Our wedding photographer used a digital camera.>SNIP>What do you guys think?



I think the return key is the single most under-utilized key on the keyboard...

As to the photographer's services...caveat emptor...let the buyer beware...I'd go to court, and let the judge decide what's fair and equitable, based on the wedding albums. Get a court date. Then, see if you can resolve the issue with tact and some pressure. Good luck.


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## JClishe (Dec 14, 2011)

Derrel said:


> I think the return key is the single most under-utilized key on the keyboard...



ROTFLMAO!!

I worked with a guy that had Capitalization Disease, he would literally capitalize every word. Was just as frustrating as no return key usage. But I digress.


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## Big Mike (Dec 14, 2011)

Welcome to the forum.

A Wedding photographer, is (some would say) unfortunately one of those things that most people hire once, maybe twice in their lifetime.  So it's hard to draw on personal experience about how to choose a good one.  So if you want to avoid this type of situation, you really have to do your research.  More than just looking at websites, you should ask for (and check) references etc.  

I'm sorry to hear that you're unhappy with what you received.  $2100 is not chump change, but with that including two photographers & three albums, that sounds like a 'inexpensive' photographer to me.  And unfortunately, we often get what we pay for.  

As for going to court, I suppose that could lead to you getting some of the money back...but it won't help you get any better photos or a better memory of your wedding day.  And I'd guess that the legal sticking point, will be if you were somehow deceived.  In other words, what lead you to believe that you would get something better from this photographer?  Is this substantially worse that the other photos/albums that you've seen from her?

And yes, please make better use of the return key.  I couldn't read all the way through that mess of a 'paragraph'.


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## tirediron (Dec 14, 2011)

To answer your question regarding price. I charge $100/hr for both shooting and editing time. I charge $50/for travel. Including product, my fee would be fairly close to $2000 for that job. Yes, by all means, hire a lawyer, but I doubt it will get you much besides a bill. 

It sounds to me like your photographer delivered as promised. What does your contract say about customer input and delivery time?  I tell clients six weeks, not including delivery time for prints/albums etc. 

Based on your post it doesn't sound like the photographer delivered the best product, but there are two sides to every story, and without seeing the work, it's impossible to judge. 

Where I do sympathize is with your lack of opportunity to proof/approve the work. Many photographers want sole creative control and only preset a finished product. I firmly believe that the client should have some input, and always show then mock-ups and get approval before things are sent to print. One change is free, additional changes are billed at my hourly rate. 

I'm sorry to hear of your experience and I hope you can make it better, but sadly, I'm not sure you will.


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## MLeeK (Dec 14, 2011)

In my experience you would see a "proof" of your album before it gets ordered and you would have to sign off to approve or change it before printing. 
I would say that if she asked the color of the leatherette cover she was NOT ordering a book, but an album. 
WHat does your contract say regarding your albums specifically? Does it say ZxZ", flush mount album or does it say something else entirely? Specifics in that contract are extremely important. 
One month after the wedding is a relatively short time frame to receive your proofing/pictures in. Assuming the photographer shot in raw it takes anywhere from 40 to ??? hours to process those raw images-let alone any editing. It is  very reasonable to expect it to take up to 3 months and if the photographer is shooting a wedding every weekend in the busy months 4 to 6 months to get the finished images is not unreasonable. Most of us are probably pushing out in a month's time, but you have no idea the amount of work culling and processing takes up-it's substantial. 
As for what images you got or did not get-that is the way things flow in a journalistic type shoot like a wedding. It's impossible to be in every place at one time and there are shots that you may have been wanting that your photographer was getting another shot when it happened. It's not a controlled shoot where you can stop! Back up! Re-do! There are moments that pass by un-captured for whatever reason. I am not making excuses for the photog, but you do need to understand how this works. 

I do think that probably you are not in posession of what you expected to receive out of this deal. You need to pull the contract out and read it carefully. Then word a very polite, professional letter to your photographer or make the call to speak with him/her regarding the inconsistencies. What are your options at this point? Well, are the images something that you could pay someone to edit and fix if the photographer would agree to pay the bill? The albums are NOT what was promised and you need to address that and give the examples as to why you feel they are far less than expected. Is there anywhere that you may be at fault? Did you not outline everything you expected to your photographer or state it clearly? I know that's a hard one because you instantly say NO, but is there anything you could have done to make this clearer/easier for the photographer? Make notes and have everything organized and prepared so you can discuss it professionally and rationally. If that doesn't work, contact an attorney. You are out of the scope of small claims court if you are asking for the $2100 and you are probably out of the small claims court if you are asking for the price of paying someone to edit/fix-unless you choose your favorites and limit the number of images edited. 
I wish you luck!
1000 images from a wedding is a LOT of images.


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## KmH (Dec 14, 2011)

Derrel said:


> I think the return key is the single most under-utilized key on the keyboard...


I vote for the shift key as the single most under-utilized key on the keyboard. 

But, big blocks of continuous text are a pain to read on a computer display, unless the kerning is adjusted accordingly. :thumbdown:

Which is the main reason why I didn't even bother to read more than "Our wedding photographer used a digital camera."


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## photo guy (Dec 14, 2011)

I would sue that person immediately for those problems and also turn into the better business bureau if your area has one.  Furthermore, I would tell everyone you know not to use this person for photography as that person is definattely not a professional and is a cheat.


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## tirediron (Dec 14, 2011)

photo guy said:


> I would sue that person immediately for those problems and also turn into the better business bureau if your area has one. Furthermore, I would tell everyone you know not to use this person for photography as that person is definattely not a professional and is a cheat.


You may want to brush up on this definition before you go running off at the mouth too much more!


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