Photographer Lost our Wedding Photos - Advice?

<p>Hi - looking for advice here.. if any is availbale.. since I don't know how hard drives work or if she is lying..<br /> <br />My husband and I got married in December 2013 - destination wedding in St Thomas, USVI. We booked with a highly recommended wedding planner - They had 5 of 5 stars on multiple websites and hundreds of great reviews. The package we picked included their photographer which is what it appeared most couples did. They did have a list of other recommended photographers for an extra fee but we went with the included one - which turned out to be the owner of the company.<br /> The wedding itself went great - everyone was very professional. It was just my husband and I there as well as one of our mothers who just took a video on her cell phone..<br /> Since then.. the photographer/owner stated that the hard drive failed and she has sent it off twice for recovery but that OUR photos haven't been recovered. She said all December photos were gone. I noticed that other December 2013 brides rated them saying everything was great which I doubt they would do if they also hadn't received their photos. She keeps saying that they are working on it.. she refunded me for what she claimed was the 'photography portion' of our wedding package.. which amounted to a couple hundred dollars..obviously not what I want and not worth these priceless memories.. our family and friends who were unable to be with us are still hoping to see our wedding photos.. as are we. Also - she had said she would send more money at one point (as well as a gift) and never did.<br /> I want to know what to do at this point.. Do I continue to wait..? Do I post bad reviews..? Do I request a full refund for the entire wedding package? I'm at a loss.. and I just want our photos - do you think there is a chance we will still get them or are they gone for good at this point..? Below is a transcript of our emails back and forth:</p>

<p><strong>Sent:</strong> Tuesday, January 14, 2014 7:58 PM<br /> Hi (Photographer)</p>

<p>I was just touching base regarding the pictures from our wedding. We haven't received them yet and I know you said you had them finished before December 31st.. Any idea on how long they usually take to come? Could they be lost?<br>

Regards, Laura<br>

<br />On Jan 15, 2014 4:34 AM,</p>

<p>Hi Laura,<br /> They are actually all ready to go but stuck in our external storage unit – they are all safe and sound but the connection from the unit to the computer is not working, making it difficult to transfer the files to the jump drive. L We’re working on getting this fixed. Do you have a reception at home that you needed the photos by? I think I remember you saying something about a reception at the end of January?<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p><strong>Sent:</strong> Wednesday, January 15, 2014 9:07 AM<br /> Hi (Photographer),<br /> Yes, our reception is this Saturday.. Is there any way to email us some of them? I'm glad they aren't lost in the mail but our family was really looking forward to seeing pictures of the wedding at the reception.. If not i understand.<br /> Thanks, Laura</p>

<p>On Jan 15, 2014 10:33 AM,</p>

<p>Darn, I was thinking it was the weekend of the 25^th. The storage device is at the computer shop now being fixed – I’ll try to get some images emailed as soon as I can.<br /> (photographer)</p>

<p>On Jan 20, 2014 6:03 PM</p>

<p>Hi Laura,<br /> I’m so sorry we didn’t have your pictures ready for your reception at home. The local computer experts are sending the storage device to the manufacturer to recover the data so it may be another few weeks before we have it ready. My deepest apologies.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p>(<strong>Asked for update</strong>):<br /> Date: Feb 3, 2014 6:58 AM<br />Yes, they are still under repair – we had to send them to the mainland (the device at least) but the good news is, they are able to fix it. It’ll probably be a week before the device is returned to us though.</p>

<p>Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p>Date: Feb 20, 2014<br /> Hi Laura,<br /> Just wanted to give you an update on the photos. The company that is working on them said that the drive should be back to us by the end of next week – there was a delay as they had to order some parts.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p>Date: March 15, 2014</p>

<p dir="ltr">Any news on our photos yet?</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thanks, Laura</p>

<p dir="ltr"> </p>

<p dir="ltr">Date: March 15, 2014<br /> Yes! They are being sent to us and should be here by Monday. Everything had to be put on a CD so once it arrives, I’ll have to find the photos on the correct CD (there will be about 15 CDs to go through) and I’m hoping they have them well organized. Once I have it ready, where should I send it to? I’ll also be sending you a gift for being so patient during this incredibly long wait!<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p>Date: April 12, 2014</p>

<p dir="ltr">Hi (Photographer),</p>

<p dir="ltr">Hope you are all well. Nick and I were wondering if you have an update on the pictures since its been a month. Please let us know!</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thanks, Laura</p>

<p dir="ltr"> </p>

<p dir="ltr">Date: April 14, 2014<br /> Hi Laura,<br /> They should have been received by now. Let me check into it.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p dir="ltr">Date: April 24, 2014<br /> Laura,<br /> I have some bad news and I feel just awful. The drive came back with the recovered data but the images from December 2013 weren’t on there. My husband was in charge of getting this fixed and the photos off the device. He has sent it off to another company to see what they can do to recover the data. He is confident that they will be able to recoup what the last company couldn’t. We’re trying very hard to get your photos to you but in the meantime, I would like to offer you a refund for the photography. Please know that we are still doing everything we can to get the photos. Photography is very special to me and you deserve your wedding photos! We won’t stop trying to retrieve them but it’s been over four months since your wedding and you deserve your money back at the very least. Should I send a check or do you have a PayPal account I can send it to?<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p dir="ltr">Hi (Photographer),</p>

<p dir="ltr">That really stinks.. but I really really appreciate that you guys haven't given up on trying to get our pictures.. I hope they are able to get some.. Any of them would be awesome. Our family and friends ask us constantly for them.. But we really wanted to see them too.. It all went so fast.. Some things are just out of our control..</p>

<p dir="ltr">Nick said you can send money to his PayPal.. I guess you only need the email address? Its: xxx</p>

<p dir="ltr">I still have hope that this new company can get the pictures from December.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thanks,</p>

<p dir="ltr">Laura</p>

<p dir="ltr"> </p>

<p dir="ltr">Date: April 24, 2014<br /> Laura you are awesome. I feel just sick over this situation but you are handling it with such kindness (some brides I’m sure would be calling for my head!). We will work very hard to get these to you. I’m going to refund the $275 to Nick now but will send more at the end of this month.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p><strong>Me to Photographer:</strong><br /> Date: April 24, 2014</p>

<p dir="ltr">I feel sick about it too..its not like we can re-do them.. And money is obviously not what we would prefer..lol. But I know you didn't do it to us.. .. Getting mad at you wouldn't solve anything. It just sucks.</p>

<p dir="ltr">I just really appreciate that you haven't given up on getting them and hope that this attempt works</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thanks,</p>

<p dir="ltr">Laura</p>

<p dir="ltr"> </p>

<p dir="ltr">Date: July 7, 2014<br>

Hi (photographer), I haven't heard from you lately and am following up to see if you have any news about our pictures... I have a feeling no news is bad news in this case.. Please let me know.<br />Thanks, Laura Date: July 9, 2014<br>

Hi Laura,<br /> No, unfortunately we haven’t had any luck. I need to go through the CDs that another company sent us. We went through them once and nothing from December was recovered but I’m hoping that when they transferred some data, things may have gone out of order and at least some were recovered.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>

<p>Wow. While it seems unlikely in the extreme that a recovery company would be able to recover everything EXCEPT your images, it is hypothetically possible. I've got to admit, I get the feeling that there is another cause, other than a failed external drive. Especially since you note the inconsistency in the story (ie. other December brides recieved their images).</p>

<p>The fact that YOU initiated the conversation requesting the images after the photog failed to deliver them in a timely manner speaks volumes.</p>

<p>In short, I get the feeling that they are being less than absolutely truthful with you. However it really doesn't matter. I highly doubt you'll receive any pictures. Whether it is because, as they've said, they had a failed HDD, or a failed memory card, or a lost one, or they just failed to upload the pics before writing over them, the end result is likely to be the same. That said, I would ABSOLUTELY post a TRUTHFUL review, in as many places as you can. If they CAN get you your pictures, that is the most likely avenue to motivate them to get them for you.</p>

<p>I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. It sucks! It's why most of us take backing up and file transfers, and keeping redundant copies until after delivery so seriously. The lack of backup reflects VERY poorly on their professionalism, and it may be that they for the first time experienced an equipment failure, but I've yet to loose a drive, and I still keep redundant copies of all deliverable wedding work (2 on site, 3rd in the cloud). Not having experienced a failure is NOT an excuse. </p>

<p> </p>

Will this "Event Wedding Planner," fly you both back to St Thomas to restage your wedding? This is of

course very uncommon, but it's worth asking about.

I hope your wedding day was still very special.

<p>Sorry to hear about your misfortune, Laura, and I apologize that I don't have any good advice to offer you. I'm writing not for your benefit so much as for the benefit of other newbie photographers that show up here from time to time.</p>

<p>What I want to say to the newbie is: YOU SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT YOU NEVER EVER SCREW UP LIKE LAURA'S PHOTOGRAPHER DID. It's something that shouldn't happen. </p>

<p>I just have difficulty understanding how ALL the photos got lost. About the only scenario I can think of that would explain this <em>without serious negligence on the photographer's part </em>would be if the photographer was driving home from the event with all his camera equipment (including the cards where the photos were stored) and he was in a horrible car accident that resulted in everything in the car being burned, including the cameras and the cards. </p>

<p>Other than that, how could it happen that the photos are all simply lost — all of them, forever? I can think of only two explanations, and neither one gets the photographer off the hook. One is that the photographer lost the card before the photos had been copied to a computer. The other is that the card was (accidentally) reformatted and reused (and thus written over) before the photos were copied to a computer. The first scenario is extremely unlikely. The second one simply shouldn't happen and if it does, well, <em>res ipsa loquitur</em>, but I can imagine it happening at a busy resort where the photographer is working under a lot of pressure and shooting three or four weddings a weekend.</p>

<p>Cards do fail. It's extremely rare and good photographers use high quality cards with very very low failure rates. BUT EVEN SO:</p>

<ul>

<li>If the card failed during the event the photographer should have been aware of it. Even those of us who don't "chimp" every shot, do take a look now and then to see what we're getting. I might take 10 or 20 photos without realizing that there was a problem writing them to the disk. It's inconceivable that somebody could shoot a whole wedding without realizing that the photos weren't being captured. </li>

<li>If the card didn't fail during the wedding but afterwards, there is recovery software that's very good. And if you can't do it yourself, there are services that will recover photos from cards and they have a terrific success rate.</li>

<li>And if the card failed <em>after</em> the photos were backed up to a hard disk or DVD, well, then there's the backup.</li>

</ul>

<p>If the photographer copied the photos to a hard disk, and then erased the card (and reused it) without backing up the hard disk, and then, the hard disk failed, well, in my opinion, that's profoundly unprofessional. We don't have a notion of malpractice here in Texas for wedding photographers but if we did, this mistake should be recognized as one of the clear proofs of malpractice, alongside failing to bring two cameras to a wedding (and then having one camera break). It should not happen. Ever.</p>

<p>•</p>

<p>What every professional photographer should do is, in my view, pretty simple:</p>

<ol>

<li>Never go to a wedding without at least bringing two fully competent cameras. </li>

<li>Don't use any camera that can't write to two cards simultaneously. (In my view, a "pro" camera is one that can do this. Any camera that can't is an amateur camera — no matter how wonderful it is.)</li>

<li>After the wedding the photographer should go straight to his computer and copy the cards to a hard disk.</li>

<li>As soon as possible after step 3, the photographer should back up the raw image files to another hard disk or to DVD — or (my preference) to both. </li>

<li>The storage cards from the cameras should be put in an envelope and placed in a folder in a drawer and not reused until the images are delivered to the client (weeks or a month later). </li>

</ol>

<p>The point is simply to create redundancy at the moment the photo is taken (by writing to two cards), and then create a couple more layers of redundancy a.s.a.p. NOTE: NONE OF THE ABOVE PROCEDURES is expensive or difficult. There's simply no excuse for not doing them.</p>

<p>I THINK EVERY BRIDE SHOULD DEMAND THAT THEIR PHOTOGRAPHER FOLLOW THE PRACTICES ABOVE. If "demand" is the wrong word, then at least demand in its other less pushy sense: "ask". These days, with the wedding business being what it is, a lot of questions may be a bit challenging. But I think it should be easy to ask your photographer before you sign the contract what safeguards he or she has in place to eliminate the possibility of all the photos being lost from the wedding. If the photograph doesn't respond with ALL FIVE of the practices above, find somebody else. This isn't rocket science.</p>

<p>•</p>

<p>Final note about my personal relationship to the advice that I'm giving.</p>

<p>First, the photographer at my wedding back in 1975 lost most of the photos. The photographer (God bless him) was my brother-in-law, a shutter bug who volunteered to do the job for us for free. We were grateful to have him as my wife and I were poor students. Our wedding cost less than $1000 <em>for everything.</em> My brother-in-law says that he dropped off something like 10 rolls of film for processing and got only three or four rolls back. The others were lost at the processor. My wife and I treasure the photos we do have all the more, although I wish we did have a couple photos from the chapel. And we're grateful to my brother-in-law for his efforts. And finally, we're still married (anniversary #40 this coming December). There are more important things than the photos!</p>

<p>And second, when I started shooting weddings I myself broke just ONE of the "rules" I laid down above: #2. My first cameras saved images to only 1 card at a time. But I have always worked with two (and occasionally three) cameras around my neck, so I've never shot an event where I was putting all my eggs in just one basket. I have always been a fanatic about handling the cards and backing up the images immediately after the event. I've been lucky: I never lost an image. But the procedures just seem like common sense to me. And if they're followed, you'll be okay even if you're not so lucky.<br>

<br>

Will</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It looks like YOU needed to initiate every single conversation with them - they never kept you in the loop without having been prodded to do so. Words ... just empty words. And I really don't believe a single one.<br>

<br />What does your contract state in case no photos are delivered? Before you pursue legal action (which I would at this point), can you ask all your friends & family, basically everybody who attended the wedding, to send you whatever they have? It might not be professional quality but the "pro" here really dropped the ball. There's no excuse for putting all eggs (files) into one basket. </p>

<p>I would ask who the companies were that were contacted and how it's possible that an entire drive had such as highly unlikely selective failure. Only backing them up to one device and such a piddly refund?</p>

<p>I am so sorry to hear this horrible story. Let's be perfectly clear here that this photographer failed to back up the files from this job. A backup means that there is two physical copies on two different drives therefore if one drive goes bad which WILL happen there is another physical copy (backup) of all the files.</p>

<p>Second problem...All cards are able to be recovered even after it has been reused and formatted several times. The card write in a linear fashion meaning it starts from front and writes to the end then at that point will start to overwrite from the oldest job first. This is a good reason to buy 64 gig cards.</p>

<p>I don't buy their story. Recovery by the way can be thousands of dollars as they charge for what was actually recovered. This is not in the best interest of a cheap photographer. They look at you as a foreigner and could care less if you complain or not as they will still continue to get work from other foreigners. You only option here is to sue them.</p>

<p>they lost your images. that is ridiculous.</p>

<p>stop waiting. post the review that kind of sloppiness deserves.</p>

Thanks for your input everyone!

Bob, I highly doubt that she would pay for us to fly back

down there and restage our photos at her expense hah

Unfortunately she is the only person who took pictures -

it was my mom, the officiant, and her - and my mom

took a video on her phone the whole time.

I can't find the original contract.. In fact I'm wondering if

there was one because it should be in my emails and its

not.

My problem with perusing legal action is that they are in

St Thomas so that sounds complicated.. I would

probably have to go there to do it.. And everything about

that sounds expensive and I doubt I would get much if

anything.

I can't find one bad review on this company.. Like I said

there are hundreds and hundreds. And they aren't on the

BBB. It's just my luck that something bad would happen

when she does our wedding..

<p>I am circumspect about their story. I think that they are probably being truthful in saying that they do not have the files of your wedding photos, but it occurs to me an unlikely tale as to how those files are now missing. I think that there are other parts of their version of the story which are also unlikely.</p>

<p>I don’t think that you will get the photos. I think that you should arrive at that view and make your choices now based at that viewpoint.</p>

<p>I think that you are in position of poor leverage without a contract to which you can refer; however (assuming that you reside in the USA) I suggest that you make an initial concerted effort to investigate the legal possibilities that you have: Virgin Islands is a Territory of the USA and as such there might be some (easy) US legal aegis in that Territory.</p>

<p>I understand your OP to mean that there were images from other’s weddings that were ‘recovered’: and (as already mentioned) the cost of data recovery is usually quite expensive, so if the main objective is to have Wedding Photographs then it seems that there is no loss in you pushing for a re-shoot, as the costs of that would likely be far less than all the data recovery costs, per wedding, thus far.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>I hope every wedding photographer wannabee or experienced pro has William Porter's excellent post tattooed on whatever the first thing they see everyday. </p>

<p>I am very sorry this happened to you. I also agree with others that their story sounds somewhat fishy. I hope you get your pictures but at this late date I would be very surprised. </p>

<p>William Porter's advice to: Newbee; Wannabee and Experincedbee Photographers is as usual is excellent advice.</p>

<p>What I (and a couple of others who have commented to me) have noticed is: we get quite a few first time posts from Brides and Grooms, AFTER the Wedding, asking for advice to assist with a problem.</p>

<p>Although Photonet is essentially and primarily about Photography for Photographers, I would hope that the word would be out there that there are many <strong>TENS of THOUSANDS of hours experience on this forum and I expect some members would be willing to answer a question here and there about Wedding Photography - for Brides and Groom BEFORE they even choose a Photographer.</strong></p>

<p>And I am sure that would be more pleasurable for the members to answer those types of questions, too.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>A card failure is not a plausible explanation for the photog's behavior, as well as the loss of only one person's imagery. If the card had failed, there is no reason the photog wouldn't have simply told the truth. Aside from the sheer improbability of a spontaneous complete card failure it (considerably less likely than being struck by lightning), if that is what had happened, the photog would have simply told you about the failure, expressed condolences and been done - instead it's dragged out for months... </p>

<p>No, I believe a much more plausible explanation is that the photog formatted then reused the card without ever copying the images. Most likely they didn't even notice for weeks - <em>maybe</em> they even ALSO had a HDD failure (from which everything on it was recovered - likely, given the initial description of the fault). Unfortunately <em>there is <strong>NO</strong> plausible way to recover images from an SD or CF card once they have been overwritten</em> (despite some assurances to the contrary). <br>

As William Porter said "<strong>I can imagine it happening at a busy resort where the photographer is working under a lot of pressure and shooting three or four weddings a weekend.</strong>" Of course even a dual card camera wouldn't save one from that failure ;) - only a rigidly adhered to and bulletproof work flow process prevents such blunders.</p>

<p>Aside from writing a truthful review, I think I would also ask them about the possibility of re-staging the event -at their expense (at least in large part). While I certainly wouldn't expect them to be like 'hows next weekend, ok, pick up your tickets at the airport', the bottom line is that the loss of your pictures is, especially in this context, their responsibility, and, especially in this context, those images are the only way to share your wedding with friends and family - and to retain the memories. You might find them reasonably amenable, especially with a 'disastereview' already posted. </p>

<p>Barring that, your only recourse is legal action. But of course, the most you can hope for from that is adequate compensation to re-stage the event - and it may be a considerable stressor. And that's really a best case... ...but it may be that consulting a local attorney, and paying them to 'discuss' your proposal with the planner/photog may be enough to convince them that such a re-staging is in THEIR best interests... </p>

<p>20 years ago, I worked with a photographer on weddings, and events (bar mitzvah, birthday, corporate). I loved it and we tried never to miss those moments of "Mary riding on grandpa's shoes on the dance floor." Those moments might be lost to you now, but the photographer should at least have offered to book the location for you for posed photography, and paid for any rentals required to dress people up again, paid for logistics, etc. However, that kind of cost can wipe them out if they're a one person operation, but not if they are insured against such a loss. If their brochure says "insured or bonded" it might be possible for them to survive it. </p>

<p>If they are a one person operation and they aren't insured in any way, then the best you might hope for is studio time (at your location) and you can work out if you will pay for rentals and hairdressers yourself or they will. These memories are important, and the new wedding photos can be sent out to the guests with a request for any pictures friends may have taken at the event. Eventually you can assemble an album, though not a traditional one.</p>

<p>Studio time would have to be at your location or it might get really expensive for her and annoying for you (taking time off from work), she might buy you time with a local photographer who has a studio setup, or who may book a local venue. In any case, she should make this right to reduce her online review from 1 star to 3 stars (out of 5, I'm assuming). </p>

<p>Since she was saying that it was her husband's job to do things for her, I assume this is a one person operation. Not to say it can't usually be professional, but I think that odd things happen if someone doesn't also have the skills with computers to retrieve data and is working digitally, or hasn't hired someone who does have those skills. Of course, my saying that now doesn't help one bit. But knowing what I know, I'd trust a one person operation more if they showed up with an old fashioned film camera than a digital one. </p>

<p>I haven't tried assisting for anyone now that everything is digital yet, but I second William Porter's advice as sounding like good advice to me. That advice can be turned into questions that can be asked (ie. does your camera write to two memory cards simultaneously?). Again, doesn't help you right now, but maybe she (the photographer) can help you recreate some of those photos locally with the help of a local photographer and venue. I know we would've bent over backward if we'd ruined someone's photos by accident and done anything possible to help. </p>

I normally don't offer this service. For some strange reason I'm upset and I want to get your photo's.

Can you request/demand that they loan you the hard drive? If they will, send it to me. You can of course

email me using this site for more information. Lets see how honest these people really are. I'll find your

wedding on their hard drive if they are being honest. Thats a promise...