Quick question about weddings

  • If you paid out $300 an hour for a wedding photographer and out of 500 images only about 20 are any good, i.e. WB is off, focus is 99% soft, composition sucks, etc...

    Would any of ya'll ask for your money back?

    I'm posing this for a friend of mine after I went through the wedding album. And quite frankly I'm appalled at the work. It's beginner amatuer at best and she charged entirely too much. :grumpy:


  • I didn't have to tell them what to look for. They thought the pictures were sub-par to begin with and I agreed. They did bring it up with her, but she just acted surprised that someone would say something like that about her photography.

    They had met with her in person and the portfolio she had brought was apparently the cream of the crop. They had asked around and the people they talked to had really liked the work she had done. So they were confident in her abilities but now are not very happy. Out of 500 only about 20 were keepers.

    The groom has also brought up the subject of refunding but so far she has just ignored him, which has gotten him rather mad.

    They paid $700 for 2.5 hours of work, to which I had to just give them a blank stare. And didn't have a signed contract, just verbal.


  • What's the photographer? Do they have a website?


  • URL removed.


  • well yeah you should look at photographers portfolio's first. for me paying a huge amount for my wedding picture should be a must, who wants there picture to be ugly and remembered forever.


  • shouldn't you simply be having this discussion with the photographer? If I was in her position I would defend my photography because I have had clients who didn't 'get' it until I explained it to them. Some people get disappointed because they expect to suddenly look like Brad Pitt & Angelina on their wedding photos but the reality is that they are who they are. So this really depends on whether or not the photography skills really were bad or if maybe the expectations were unrealistic, is what I mean.


  • http://www.photographybyjas.com/

    That's the website.

    I don't think that the customer looked at the web site very carefully.

    skieur


  • Not enough lookin' before the leapin'.

    But it can't hurt to ask.


  • Odd... the website has a complete price listing and NOWHERE does it list $300/hr. They have packages and what not... what, were there special rates or special requests?

    As it stands right now:
    - we don't know if it was "jas" that took the pics
    - we don't know how much they paid total, for how long and what they got
    - we don't know how the pictures came out (they may suck, they may be incredible!)

    I will say this much... based on the pictures on the wedding portion of the website, I am not particularly impressed with the results. I am NOT saying they suck, but I am saying that this really looks like the work of a beginner wedding photographer, someone with little experience.

    That alone should have been a bit of a warning. I am almost tempted to say that the client likely got what they paid for, but $300/hr is too much for the quality displayed in the wedding section.


  • This isn't going to end well.

    Has the photographer been TOLD that the customer is not satisfied? Did the customer even KNOW they were unsatisfied until you sat down with them?

    Generally speaking, I keep my mouth shut about other photographers' images unless specifically asked to critique their work by another customer. Even then I refuse to be quoted. Why? Flame wars, etc., that just doesn't need to happen.

    If the customer isn't happy, they need to bring it up with the photographer and look at what options he/she can present them. Involving the whole flippin' world isn't going to be good for anyone, especially if...WHEN the search engines start picking it up.

    That's a good call. Sometimes customers are happy with what they got until someone told them they shouldn't be. Now, obviously that cheapens the industry for everyone. But, it can also get pretty bloody when one photographer openly slanders another, or worse, turns his clients against him.

    All I'm sayin' is for the sake of your own business (if you run one), it might be wise to take down that link and keep it anonymous for when the goog-bot shows up sniffing around. Then, if you really feel your friends got jipped, advise them to go and talk to the photographer themselves.

    Two measely cents. That's all.


  • That's the website.

    This isn't going to end well.

    Has the photographer been TOLD that the customer is not satisfied? Did the customer even KNOW they were unsatisfied until you sat down with them?

    Generally speaking, I keep my mouth shut about other photographers' images unless specifically asked to critique their work by another customer. Even then I refuse to be quoted. Why? Flame wars, etc., that just doesn't need to happen.

    If the customer isn't happy, they need to bring it up with the photographer and look at what options he/she can present them. Involving the whole flippin' world isn't going to be good for anyone, especially if...WHEN the search engines start picking it up.


  • They paid $700 for 2.5 hours of work, to which I had to just give them a blank stare. And didn't have a signed contract, just verbal.

    2.5 hours on SITE is a lot different than 2.5 hours of work. Generally speaking, my wedding work is roughly twice what my on-site time is, including processing and ordering.

    Depending on where they are in the country, $700 is really cheap for a wedding photographer. And no signed contract? Good luck getting that to work out. The bride & groom are just as much at fault at this point. That should have been a big warning flag. Legally, it's a he said/she said contest and unlikely to work out.

    It amazes me that people dump thousands and thousands of dollars into a wedding and cheap up on the photography. Think about it. In a year, what are you going to have LEFT from the wedding?

    You've got a dress you can't wear again. The food is gone by the next morning. Gifts don't show the memories. The hall isn't your's. Flowers are gone. And you're left with the images from the cheapest photographer you could find.

    You get what you pay for.


  • The portfolio was pretty good. But the finished product is total crap. Looked like it was done with a P&S and very little skill.


  • Did they look at the photographer's portfolio before the shoot? Did they speak to other couples who used this person as a wedding photographer?


  • 300 bucks an hour? Geez, I need to rethink my rates :D


  • If they signed a contract, it is going to be challenging to get anything back. They may have some luck asking for a reshoot... but if the results were crap before, they will be crap again.

    Small claims court may be the best, I'll bet.

    IF struck home the main point... someone didn't do their home work properly.


  • If you paid out $300 an hour for a wedding photographer and out of 500 images only about 20 are any good, i.e. WB is off, focus is 99% soft, composition sucks, etc...

    Would any of ya'll ask for your money back?

    I'm posing this for a friend of mine after I went through the wedding album. And quite frankly I'm appalled at the work. It's beginner amatuer at best and she charged entirely too much. :grumpy:


    300 an hour for how many hours, what was the total they paid.
    how many total keepers ?
    Anything else included in the package ?
    Contract ?

    Also, how different are they from the portfolio ? I mean your sure the guy didnt steal shots from anyone else for the portfolio right ? If its a night and day difference then thats probably what happened.

    Not taking any sides, just trying to get an accurate picture.


  • Also, how different are they from the portfolio ? I mean your sure the guy didnt steal shots from anyone else for the portfolio right ? If its a night and day difference then thats probably what happened.

    Some photographers farm out double bookings to contractors. Might be two complete different people running through the same company.







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