There are many stories of wedding photographers not living up to the promise.
Its never easy to select the right person, particularly if you don’t really know them. You need to be comfortable with the photographer’s personality but also aware that they will have the technical and creative skills to do the job.
Experience is also a very big factor, along with technical ability to be able to handle lighting in difficult situations. In the end you really just need to ask yourself ‘is it worth skimping on the photography to save a few dollars? But in general, if the photographer is not charging you very much, you can likely expect to receive not very much. When the day is over, the opportunity for great shots and memories is gone for ever.
Here are just a few horror stories:
Richard:
Upon receipt of the DVDs, my wife looked at the photos. She then immediately called me at work to let me know they were there. I asked how they were and she, sobbing slightly, said I needed to see for myself. When I got home, I immediately looked through the 2 DVDs, my blood pressure increasing with each passing photo. I was appalled…there were nearly 800 photos and not one was even close to the product she advertised. Out of focus, too dark, too light, shadows in the faces of the formals, formals with eyes closed…poor composition, poor lighting, etc, etc. In a word, it was bad photography. There is no other way to put it.
Anneka & Thomas
A newlywed couple whose big day was ruined by bungling wedding photographers who took ‘horrific’ pictures have rewritten history after recreating the entire event – including their first dance.
Anneka andThomas were distraught when they received their badly framed and out-of-focus wedding photos. The couple had paid a UK photographer £750 to cover their special day last August. But when their wedding album did not feature a single usable shot, they immediately complained. The original collection of shockingly poor photography included the back of guests’ heads and a snap of the bride’s mother whose face was completely obscured by her hat.
The photographer failed to take a single frame of the groom’s parents at both the church and the reception. One picture of the couple signing the marriage register appeared to feature a ghostly hand clutching a toy motorbike where the photographer tried to edit out Mrs Geary’s three-year-old nephew Harry, who was standing in the background.
The images of the evening reception, which hosted 120 guests, were taken without a flash because one of the photographers complained about being epileptic. The couple, from Warwick, demanded a full refund for the ‘nightmare’ wedding album but received less than half after the photography firm went bust.
But now they finally have a perfect wedding album after photographers from all over the country inundated the couple with offers to recreate their special day for free.
Mathew & Jazmine
The chosen photographer showed up for both their engagement photo shoot and their wedding day. While Mathew and Jazmine received what they paid for from their engagement session, they say the photographer never sent them their wedding photos after they paid her $1,500 for her services.
A few months after the wedding, the couple was horrified to find that their photographer had begun disappearing from the Internet (and the world) — the website no longer existed, the business’ social media accounts could no longer be accessed, and even the phone number had been passed on to a new owner (who now receives calls from former clients and debt collectors).
And after doing some digging, Mathew learned that other former clients of the photograher’s had experienced similar nightmares —allegedly failing to show up at weddings they were booked for and only offered couples credit toward future services instead of refunds.
Katie
Ohio based bride-to-be Katie Liepold turned to Facebook in search of a wedding photographer to capture her wedding day. Responding to the enquiry, Tower Photography offered two hours of photography at the reception, in addition to an engagement shoot with her husband-to-be, for $600. However, when the blushing bride reviewed the shots from her engagement shoot, she was upset to see that she and her partner had been photoshopped to make the couple look slimmer.
Hurt by the ordeal, Katie complained to the photographer. She was offered a cancellation on the rest of the contract, including the wedding day, but was told her $150 deposit wouldn’t be refunded. To make matters worse, Katie later discovered an offensive post about her and her fiancé on a local Facebook group
Paul and Chareen
The photographer showed up 45 minutes late, delivered only 15 pictures of the evening reception, muddied up the bride’s dress, was obviously out of her depth skill wise, and spent time taking selfies in the photo booth her clients set up for their guests.
The couple were stunned when the photographer, arrived without any lighting equipment and are furious that instead of romantic mementoes of their special day they are left with just a handful of grainy prints in which their faces can barely be seen.
For all of this and more she was sued successfully by the couple, Paul and Chareen Wheatley, in small claims court.
It also seems that the photographer in question is also stealing other photographers’ work to feature on her website as her own.
The photographer has now taken down her Facebook page and website for now, but her old site is still up. Fortunately, the extensive press coverage this horror story has gotten all but ensures that no current or prospective clients are planning to work with or continue working with her.