Post Wedding Nightmare

[iyiola_solanke]

Hi,

I have a very difficult situation which I am hoping somebody may be

able to help me with.

 

I got married last year in September. We decided to ask a friend to

do the photos for us. We discussed our requirements - pretty

informal - set a price (but sadly not what it covered), and did not

bother with a contract. The day went well. The problems began

thereafter.

 

As he was an amateur, we did not pressurise him to receive prints. He

was however, quite unreliable and we would travel to his home

expecting to collect pictures only to be told that they were not done

yet. It is now April, and we still do not have a full set of all the

prints.

 

Unfortunately we did not discuss what would be included in his price

of ?200 (yes, I hear you: you get what you pay for!). I assumed that

would cover taking the pictures on the day, and that prints would be

extra, but afterwards he said it was for the prints as well. (He has

sent them away to be printed rather than do it himself, and I gather

that was part of the reason they took so long).

 

Anyway, as it was taking him so long, we asked for the negatives. He

refused point blank, saying that photographers never give out their

negatives. Is this true? We asked him to sell them to us, but again

he refused. I am so frustrated and dissappointed. I think we have

been very patient with him, but he is being very unfair. What can I

do? All I want are our wedding pictures. What value are the negatives

to him if he cannot use them in any way?

 

I would appreciate any guidance you can give.

 

Thanks,

 

Iyiola Solanke

[jack_fisher1]

Looks like you have lost a friend.

[phule]

<< saying that photographers never give out their negatives >>

 

That's nonsense. Otherwise, I wouldn't have the negatives from my own wedding. My wife and I met a specific price-point set by the photographer, and the negs were ours.

[blueworldstudios]

You get what you pay for.

 

After six months it is safe to say that the images are probably horrific and he doesn't want

to show them to you. Or he was doing something wrong, and the images don't even exist.

 

No lab anywhere takes that long. He could have shipped them half way around the world

via camel express and he would have had them back.

 

I'm truly sorry that you are going through this.

 

Please send a copy of your story to stephi@fireyourweddingplanner.com and let her know

your experience.

[mark_jacoby___raleigh__nc]

It's not unheard of for a photographer (especially an amateur) to be paid a small fee for shooting a wedding and hand over the rolls of film to the B&G to get processed. Not normal but some photographers start off that way.

 

At this point I think you have to assume that either the photos are not very good and he is embarassed to hand them over or that he is just a lazy jerk.

 

As a last resort you could threaten to take him to small claims court to recover either the money or the negs. What judge would rule against a bride in tears?

 

Regardless, I suggest that you get all dressed up again just like your wedding day and hire a professional to take some posed shots that you can be proud of when you get old.

[stacy]

Wow- that is a nightmare. If he was/is a friend though it seems like you should be able to calmly sit down with him. Be like the FBI: "I'm not mad at you, we just want to see them- if you messed up- we might be able to find some help for them- It was not fair of me to put this responsibility in the hands of an friend- I'm sorry"...say whatever you have to say to put his mind at ease enough to get your photos and negatives then see if you can do some damage control. Good Luck!

[jmichaelc]

If he is not willing to even sell you the negatives, then i think all here can conclude that he is embarressed of his work or something happened to them and he doesn't know how to confrot you about it. My guess is that you will never get them......sooner or later he will be confronting you with an unbelievable story as to why he can't deliver your pictures. ie...lab destroyed them, lost in the mail, etc. All this to probably to cover up his bad work. Let me ask you......had you seen any of his general photography before hand?

[edward_h]

> Please send a copy of your story to stephi@fireyourweddingplanner.com and let her know your experience.

 

Will Stephi pay Iyiola for her story? Stephi is a completely commercial entity that sells a book about how to plan a wedding and GIVING her a story is like working for free.

 

> What judge would rule against a bride in tears?

 

Hopefully a judge whose actions are not dominated by emotion instead of justice and laws. No contract, amateur photographer... can she even prove that the photographer was there at all?

 

Anyways, back to the subject at hand: did you check out any of his previous work? If he shot mostly landscapes or under controlled circumstances it would be a fair guess that he can't handle the hustle and changing conditions of wedding, assuming it was shot more documentary style. If he was used to documentary photography then I don't see why he wouldn't hand over some prints. 6 months is quite a bit of time.

 

The couple of my latest wedding had prints in their hands 2 days after the wedding. Six months is a criminally long time. SOMETHING must have happened.

[tana_minnick]

I 2nd the idea of getting dressed as if for your wedding and getting some professional shots done. My husband and I eloped, and while I do not regret eloping I regret not having any pretty bridal type photos. If that idea seems funny at least get a photographer to get some shots of you together as a couple.

[todd_k.]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Your frustration and disappointment is perfectly natural. Unfortunately this seems to be happening more and more often as people who don?t have a clue decide that they can be professional photographers. I hope that others are able to learn for your (and numerous others) experiences with this amateur/hack. The moral of the story: hire someone with a lot of experience, references and a portfolio. My advice: ask him to let you rent the negatives for two weeks and then return them. Make sure he provides you with a copy write release. Take them/mail them to a good lab and them have them scanned and burned onto a CD. Return the negs and let it go. After all, the only one being hurt buy your frustration and disappointment is you. Good Luck ;-)

[blueworldstudios]

<p><b><i> Will Stephi pay Iyiola for her story? Stephi is a completely commercial entity

that sells a book about how to plan a wedding and GIVING her a story is like working for

free.</i></b></p>

<p>I'm sorry my <b><SATIRE><IRONY></IRONY></

SATIRE></b> tags weren't more obvious.</p>

[fotografz]

I've heard worse stories from brides who DID hire a professional... and waited over a year

for their photos.

 

That aside, something doesn't sound right here.

 

 

"... we would travel to his home expecting to collect pictures only to be told that they were

not done yet."

 

Did he call you and say they were done? Or did you just pop in?

 

 

"It is now April, and we still do not have a full set of all the prints."

 

 

That statement makes it sound like some photos DO exist. Did you get some of the work?

 

 

The fact is some photographers DO keep the negs, in fact many do. It's only been more

recently that people have been getting the negs as part of the job. But it certainly isn't the

rule, it's an exception to the rule which is becoming more popular due to digital.

[gary_woodard]

What does it say on your contract? Two hundred dollars for wedding

photography, what am I missing here, sounds like the images didnt come out

so hot, no the negatives are the photographers, unless you contracted

differently. Twooooo hundred dollars, what a deal.

[todd frederick]

For a full wedding of 300 plus images, using film, a fee of $200 wouldn't even cover the film and proofing.

 

I regularly include the negative (now CD's) as a part of the basic fee of about $1000+ for an average wedding. that is not unusual nowdays. I don't have a production unit to make display albums, so I make a very nice proof album and include negs/CD's, after I make some copies for advertising display uses.

 

If he does have some photos, what do those look like?

 

Try kindness and empathy. Tell him that you are concerned he may have had some problems with the photography or the lab, and encourage him to show you what he does have and what he considers good. You might be able to get some photos you can use. Give him an opportunity to be honest with you.

 

You did know that he was an amateur and the fee was extremely low, so I think you should try to get any good photos you can from him.

 

The suggestion about getting redressed in wedding attire is a good idea, and have a professional do some portraits. I've done this as a part of a post wedding portrait session, and once I injured my back during the outdoor wedding (a very big gopher hole!), and I could not walk the mile to the beach comfortably to take the formal B/G portraits, which we did a few weeks later. Doing that is not unusual.

 

He is probably very anxious about this as well, and you might try to give him an opportunity to tell the truth and to do something about it without losing your friendship.

[c_d5]

I would say the photographer doing this wedding at a loss, and has more expenses than the income. The photographer do have the right to the negatives.

[scott_lewis3]

Every time I have photographed friends wedding it has been my wedding present. I then give them the digitals or film (depending on what they wanted) for processing. End of story. Sounds to me like you (ex) friend has made a mistake somewhere along the line and is too ashamed to tell you. What I would do is explain you know something must have gone wrong but you still want the pictures. Maybe they aren?t so bad or can be saved with some Photoshop.

[ecarter]

I have to agree - something must have gone wrong, either with him or with whatever lab he decided to use (if it is the latter, there may very well be no negatives if the lab trashed them or lost them - it doesn't happen often with most places, but it does happen).

 

On the issue of "photographers never give out their negatives" - this depends on the photographer. Some give 'em over, some sell them and some do hang onto the negatives in order to make sure they do any reprints rather than have you take the negs to the local lab for reprints. For established pros, there's more to this than just wanting to make the money on the reprint - if you take wedding negatives to a local Ritz or CVS to get reprints, the print quality could be quite different than what the photographer and his lab would provide. Doesn't sound like that's the situation in this case, though.

 

Aside from trying to get the photographer to tell you what's really going on I don't have much advice to add to what you've already received here, but I wanted to thank you for posting your story for others to see - hopefully it can help prevent other couples from going through this kind of nightmare.

[afs760bf]

I notice we haven't had any answers from the original poster to all the questions asked. Have you seen SOME of the prints? NONE of the prints? This, unfortunately, is not an unusual circumstance. I know a lady who paid over two grand for a "pro" who used digital and the photos were all dark and fuzzy. She was more than disappointed. Negatives implies this was done with film. You should be able to get the negatives. What good are they doing him? This could be something as simple as someone forgetting to set the shutter speed to flash synch, and none of the photos were printable - or he's just lazy, or he just doesn't care. Sad story, but not uncommon.

[ar_fonseca]

yikes ...a bad situation, to say the least...by now you can pretty much guess he's afraid of what you'll think, when you see the photos.

but he should at least cough them up....make a last ditch effort,if that fails..... them take him to small claims court, 200 bucks is enough to take him to court over.

 

this guy sounds like (I could be wrong here) a liar and a cheat, so even if he says "I'll destroy the negatives", its really of no ultimate consequence, since he won't sell them, nor will he make prints frmo them, he'd only be burning his own money

 

I truly hope you can come to peaceful resolution

[jeremiah_johnston]

I shot a wedding for my sister in law, as an amature, I gave them their negatives, what would I need them for?

[StuartMoxham]

Well you should sit down with your friend and let him explain what has happened. It may be hard for him to admit if something has gone wrong. It could just be a case of him being rather lazy and not actualy getting round to collecting the prints or actually sending them to the lab yet. There are many reasons and we can only guess what may have happened but only he really knows. For others reading this it is important to remember that though hiring a pro is often the best option not everyone can afford that option, sometimes the only way to get pictures is to have a friend or family member shoot the wedding instead. It is also important to remember also that these photo friends are often not professionals and may have never shot a wedding in their lives so you need to keep your expectations and demands reasonable they do not have years of experience to draw upon and the results may not be as good as the wedding photos you have been looking at in bridel magazines or photographers websites and shop fronts. These photo friends and family members usually try their very best to do a decent job and in many cases produce a good set of shots from the day.

 

Even that I am understanding of photo friends and family members helping out others and believe that they do a valuable job I still believe that photographers that want to start up a photographic business and offer services as a professional should be up to the job and would be best advised to gain some real experience before going it alone.

[ronke_bamgbose]

Hi Aunty,

found this online while googling you to find out what u've been up to, Just wanted to say a big hi, and let u'all know, you're always on our minds, we miss you and love you,

 

Ronke.

[kbreak]

sheez, when I shoot a wedding, I ask if anyone wants to bring a laptop so I can upload the pix WHILE I'M THERE...<BR><BR>Otherwise my only concern is sending the pix while the B/G are on their honeymoon.<BR><BR>The photos either don't exist or they're so bad, you wish they didn't.<BR>Hire someone else to shoot you in your wedding apparel and/or get on with your lives...