Vendor Issue- Need advice!

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TickledPeenk Posts : 175 Registered: 7/19/07
Vendor Issue- Need advice!
Posted: May 26, 2009 4:30 AM

So I finally got the disc of our pro wedding pics. And while they are beautiful, I am very disappointed.
There are several shots that were never taken and/or are missing from the disc.
My avatar is my FAVORITE shot and was in the teasers posted on the blog.. yet it is not on the disc???
There are ZERO wide shots of us at the altar. (IE view from the back of the church) There are ZERO shots of me walking down the aisle from the front. I know flash photography was not allowed and thus was a challenge, but there were TWO photographers...so why there were not multiple angles of the same thing, I'm not sure.
I have photographed weddings myself, so I know how challenging they can be. But I was able to manage multiple angles by myself as the ONLY photographer. So I just don't get it. These were on my must take list and yet are not there.
Secondly, I am a little disappointed by how few of them they are. They have a wedding they did just before ours that has almost twice as many. (I can see the number in their album on client access, just can't view the albums themselves without the password) One of the photographers completely ran out of space on all of his memory cards. He told my MOH that he literally took 800 pictures of just the ceremony... so where are all of them?
As a photographer, I understand that not all photos turn out but I am curious to see them.
There were several pictures taken of just DH and I after the reception in a few different locations. NONE of those are on the disc.
I did ask her right after the wedding if I could be able to have ALL of them. I know it is daunting to edit hundreds of photos and suspected that could be the reason why many of them wouldn't get to me, so I was more than willing to edit those myself to help lighten the load. She told me they don't give unedited photos to their clients.
I am just so disappointed, I cried about it.
I don't know how to approach them about it. I don't know why my avatar photo was left out as clearly it wasn't due to it not having turned out. So why?
After doing 3 shoots with them (Engagement, boudoir then wedding) I consider them to be more like friends than vendors. I found them through a local bridal forum and one of them is a very popular member there so I am afraid to be honest in my review of them for fear of backlash.
I don't know how to approach them about it without it ending up burning a bridge. Their work was pro bono because they were just starting out when I booked them, but they had done several weddings before mine (including the one with almost twice as many photos mentioned earlier) so they had had quite a bit of practice. (They had since raised their prices twice now that they have lots of experience under their belt) And the other 2 shoots had gone very well, especially the boudoir (which I did pay for) So while I feel bad for being upset about something I got for free, I have also done all of my photography pro bono so far but still wanted to do a good job, you know?
They are both married as well so I figured as former brides, they would understand how important it is. Photography is an important part of the wedding as there is no do-over. It is priceless.
Yes I realize it is wise to spend the most money on the parts of the wedding most important to you, but we only had a $6000 budget including rings and we just did not have $2000-$3000 to spend on photography. I was looking into hiring someone off of craigslist.. I had found 2 different photographers who would charge $50 an hour. The one on the bridal forum approached me and offered their services, and it just seemed like the best solution, and from seeing their work leading up to our wedding, I had full confidence.
And they did do a good job. The photos are gorgeous. I just want to know why so many of them are missing from the disc without causing a bunch of hurt feelings??

Edited by: TickledPeenk on May 26, 2009 4:32 AM


auntofthebride Posts : 9,354 Registered: 4/2/06
Re: Vendor Issue- Need advice!
Posted: May 26, 2009 10:39 AM Go to message in response to: TickledPeenk

Dear TP,

" Their work was pro bono because they were just starting out when I booked them"

In other words, free. You got what you paid for, I'm afraid.

Obviously as paid work started coming in their door, your "free" job took on less and less importance. I can't see there is much you can do about it, as you can't even ask for your money back.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. You must be devestated.


MagicalMomentsP... Posts : 742 Registered: 3/6/06
Re: Vendor Issue- Need advice!
Posted: May 26, 2009 12:47 PM Go to message in response to: TickledPeenk

As AOTB mentioned, you did get what you paid for. Just because somebody took over 800 shots of the ceremony, does not mean that ANY of them turned out. Since you are a photographer you know that taking the photo is the first step in a long process to provide a finished product. There are several things which could have occurred. The focus was off and the photos were soft, the card was corrupted, they shot RAW and messed up the .jpg conversion, they forgot to down load some cards, or they could have had a computer virus that deleted images that were not backed up. Then again, they could have just put the photos in another directory and forgotten to put them on the disk. You will never know unless you talk to the photographer.

You should also be aware that it is our job to make you feel comfortable. That means developing a relationship where we do become like friends. However, in the end, there is another wedding next week. In all of the weddings I've shot, there are only 4-5 couples that I continue to keep in touch with. You can play your part in maintaining your relationship with your photographer after the wedding. But relationships, take two people.

There are ways to complain that will not disturb a friendship. Given what I've said, you can approach your photographer and say:

"I love your work especially the one on your blog. For some reason, I can't find that image on the disk I received. In addition, it seems the photos from only one angle were provided. I'm wondering if perhaps some files were inadvertantly left off the disk or something else happened."

After you say that, be quiet and wait for your photographer to respond. Hopefully, it was just an oversight and you will have the photos you are missing.

Howard Kier, Certified Professional Wedding Photographer

Magical Moments Photography


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