Wedding Photographer dropped off the face of the earth ...
Agnieszka
Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,263 Major grins
I have a story ... and thought I could / should share ... :thumb
Not too long ago I had a shoot with a girl, we had a really fun time (she was great on front of the camera), we chatted about her wedding & her future plans and after the shoot we somewhat remained friends ...
2 weeks before her wedding she sends me this email, asking me about my opinion (I should probably say that I was not her wedding photographer). I knew she had troubles getting in touch with her photographer for ages, but she must have googled him and found a bunch of articles, about brides complaining that they never received ther wedding images ... well, what does one say to that? There was only *that* much advice I could give her. By that time she already paid the photogapher in full (should I mention that she spent ~ $8,000 on his photos?? Yeah ... BUT his work on his website did look AWESOME - I mean, really, really awesome!).
Well. the day came, and a week or so after her wedding she sends me an other email, telling me that she thinks everything went fine, and she / they had an awesome time ... and that she can't wait for the photos ... well .... she WAS waiting ... and waiting, and waiting ... months passed, and she found out that the photographer dropped off the face of the earth. Not even his family knew where he was. Later she found out that he was getting mental & anti-drug treatment .... sad, sad story. As sweet as she is (she's a doctor in that field anyway ... so I guess she mostly feels bad for him & wants to help), she NEVER gave him a hard time, as far as I know she just asked him to give her to untouched images ... which of course he never did, since he's not responding to any mail / nor emails ... she DID however find his 2nd shooter (who did not get paid - of course), but who was willing to give her HIS unretouched images, so at least she had some sort of photos of her day.
A couple of weeks later she asked me if there was any way I could touch them up .... which I of course was happy to do.
But let me tell you .... (and please, don't take it the wrong way + I guess things are a bit different in this case .... - AND I hope the original photographer will never read this post) BUT I am shocked, somebody would just take the $8,000, hire a really unexperienced 2nd shooter, not even pay him + have him shoot low resolution (!!) photos and just disappear like that! :bluduh
I'm a STRONG believer in having the 2nd shooter be a big part of the day and every once in a while either pose the couple, or have the couple look at him / her. In none of the ~150 photos she got is she, nor her husband / family (family pics!!), nor the wedding party looking at him, the lens was D-U-S-T-Y, he had no idea about flash nor composition, nor did he take any creative (detail) shots. Why would somebody "hire" a person like that?
Here's my plea to all you guys:
• Before you hire a 2nd shooter, look at his / her portfolio. Do not hire a person that could be replaced by uncle Joe ... it's ok, if this person wants to gain some experience (heck, all of us were there at some point), but please make sure this person has a creative bone in it's body! Experience is KEY WORD, it doesn't matter if this person shot weddings before, or if he / she only took photos of his friends. He / she has to have a portfolio with good quality photos!
• Have them pose the couple every once in a while. You NEVER know!! Your card might be / get broken, your camera might get dropped in the pool by the end of the night, and the couple will end up with NO photos looking into the camera! I always call my 2nd shooters my insurance on 2 legs .... they are really important to me, and the more fun they have, the more creative shots they will take the happier I am ... but even more important, THE HAPPIER my couple will be!
• Family photos ARE important. I hate taking them, you hate taking them, we all do, but at the end of the day, those are our memories. Make sure you get enough photos of people looking into the camera + do make sure & take the time to pose everybody right.
• A clean lens, synced cameras & knowing your settings (!!) is a MUST
• Stay on target with all your edits, albums and anything you promise to give your clients. Falling behind and having to catch up is no fun ... yet maybe at some point impossible!
• STAY SANE during the wedding season :deal
Well, I hope this doesn't happen a lot .... As I said, I did't take the pics below, I hope it's ok, to post some before and afters ... gonna skip the ceremony & family shots ... There were some really, really bad pics in the set ....
(btw I'm not saying that my pics are perfect when they come out of the camera ... heck it's not like *I* could have done anything against the people in the background, BUT blown skies / dresses and dust spots are really hard & annoying to fix .... all I wanted to say is that your 2nd shooter is REALLY important!)
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Not too long ago I had a shoot with a girl, we had a really fun time (she was great on front of the camera), we chatted about her wedding & her future plans and after the shoot we somewhat remained friends ...
2 weeks before her wedding she sends me this email, asking me about my opinion (I should probably say that I was not her wedding photographer). I knew she had troubles getting in touch with her photographer for ages, but she must have googled him and found a bunch of articles, about brides complaining that they never received ther wedding images ... well, what does one say to that? There was only *that* much advice I could give her. By that time she already paid the photogapher in full (should I mention that she spent ~ $8,000 on his photos?? Yeah ... BUT his work on his website did look AWESOME - I mean, really, really awesome!).
Well. the day came, and a week or so after her wedding she sends me an other email, telling me that she thinks everything went fine, and she / they had an awesome time ... and that she can't wait for the photos ... well .... she WAS waiting ... and waiting, and waiting ... months passed, and she found out that the photographer dropped off the face of the earth. Not even his family knew where he was. Later she found out that he was getting mental & anti-drug treatment .... sad, sad story. As sweet as she is (she's a doctor in that field anyway ... so I guess she mostly feels bad for him & wants to help), she NEVER gave him a hard time, as far as I know she just asked him to give her to untouched images ... which of course he never did, since he's not responding to any mail / nor emails ... she DID however find his 2nd shooter (who did not get paid - of course), but who was willing to give her HIS unretouched images, so at least she had some sort of photos of her day.
A couple of weeks later she asked me if there was any way I could touch them up .... which I of course was happy to do.
But let me tell you .... (and please, don't take it the wrong way + I guess things are a bit different in this case .... - AND I hope the original photographer will never read this post) BUT I am shocked, somebody would just take the $8,000, hire a really unexperienced 2nd shooter, not even pay him + have him shoot low resolution (!!) photos and just disappear like that! :bluduh
I'm a STRONG believer in having the 2nd shooter be a big part of the day and every once in a while either pose the couple, or have the couple look at him / her. In none of the ~150 photos she got is she, nor her husband / family (family pics!!), nor the wedding party looking at him, the lens was D-U-S-T-Y, he had no idea about flash nor composition, nor did he take any creative (detail) shots. Why would somebody "hire" a person like that?
Here's my plea to all you guys:
• Before you hire a 2nd shooter, look at his / her portfolio. Do not hire a person that could be replaced by uncle Joe ... it's ok, if this person wants to gain some experience (heck, all of us were there at some point), but please make sure this person has a creative bone in it's body! Experience is KEY WORD, it doesn't matter if this person shot weddings before, or if he / she only took photos of his friends. He / she has to have a portfolio with good quality photos!
• Have them pose the couple every once in a while. You NEVER know!! Your card might be / get broken, your camera might get dropped in the pool by the end of the night, and the couple will end up with NO photos looking into the camera! I always call my 2nd shooters my insurance on 2 legs .... they are really important to me, and the more fun they have, the more creative shots they will take the happier I am ... but even more important, THE HAPPIER my couple will be!
• Family photos ARE important. I hate taking them, you hate taking them, we all do, but at the end of the day, those are our memories. Make sure you get enough photos of people looking into the camera + do make sure & take the time to pose everybody right.
• A clean lens, synced cameras & knowing your settings (!!) is a MUST
• Stay on target with all your edits, albums and anything you promise to give your clients. Falling behind and having to catch up is no fun ... yet maybe at some point impossible!
• STAY SANE during the wedding season :deal
Well, I hope this doesn't happen a lot .... As I said, I did't take the pics below, I hope it's ok, to post some before and afters ... gonna skip the ceremony & family shots ... There were some really, really bad pics in the set ....
(btw I'm not saying that my pics are perfect when they come out of the camera ... heck it's not like *I* could have done anything against the people in the background, BUT blown skies / dresses and dust spots are really hard & annoying to fix .... all I wanted to say is that your 2nd shooter is REALLY important!)
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Comments
However, fabulous retouches!
You did a fantastic job on the
post work.....
Tell your friend that it may be time to seek the help of a lawyer to procure the images taken that day.....being nice can only go so far........it is time for the photog to either 1- give her the finished product 2- give up the "raw" files to be process by someone else or 3- give her a FULL refund plus 50% for the trouble.......IMHO
Well, I think he's so much in debt that there is not much hope ... besides she just cares about the pics, and hopes by not harassing much she'll get at least *some* of them. I read that other brides are already taking him to court, so I guess we'll see what happens. Guess there is no way he'll touch up wedding pics that he collected throughout at least 4 years, and I guess that's what the couples paid him to do. This won't come over the right way, but what money in the world would ever make up for that?
Yeah, I can only agree. He at least needs to give the couples the RAW images (but who knows what happened to those) ... + AT LEAST give her the money back ... which I'm sure he already spent.
The other thing that got nailed into my head while I was working on this set was: Do never promise more than you can realistically produce. Seems easy enough, BUT we're all humans and not photo-machines .... who knows, something *might* happen and you'll fall behind with your work. Make sure you always stay (and have enough time to stay) on top of things, do you don't fall into a big, biiig hole ....!
To be fair - assuming this guy would have touched up the pics in the same way like the pics on his website ... he would have done a LOT of GORGEOUS work to them ... which would have sure been worth the money .... but I'm *assuming* he fell behind with all the work, and at some point one thing lead to the other, and he didn't know a way out ...
Angie, you are so stellar to be doing this for her. What a pain in the behind... but neat that you are able to at least do something for her!
Gorgeous couple, though. Bummer they have to deal with all of this!
Live and learn, I guess.
1) Bride should have checked out the photographer's reputation online and with other clients more thoroughly before handing over $8k.
2) Bride should have hired you instead of the crazy guy.
3) Bride should have zero sympathy for crazy guy; he stole $8k from her and ruined her wedding photos.
4) Bride should be suing along with all the other brides who got ripped off by crazy guy. She probably won't ever see a dime, but if all she cares about are getting the unprocessed photos, then she might possibly get them, assuming that crazy guy hasn't lost or deleted them.
Fabulous retouches, Angie. I particularly like the sun flare effect in pic #2. Can you post a brief tutorial on how to do that?
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1) Yeah, but I think most brides will just assume the photographer will do his job. There aren't many places where you can check one's reputation. There is one place I know where brides write stuff about me, and luckily I have some good reviews, BUT if things would go down it would be easy enough for me to just close my account & maybe even start over with a new name
2) I wish, she was awesome in front of the camera. But to be fair, the other guys takes (well in theory) photography to a wayyyy higher level.
3) Don't get me wrong, I have no sympathy for this guy either ...
4) I know, BUT I do agree, I'm sure he has like 20-30 brides from only this year that are making his life to hell right now. Not being one of them is probably helping her case .... + she can always sue him later ....
Thanks for the comments. The fake sunflare is REALLY easy.
Photoshop > Filter > Render > Lens Flare (50-300mm zoom)
Ooops. Sorry ... + thanks for explaining Dan. I figured it would be nice to see the retouched pics next to each other
Regardless, that is a real bummer that she paid that much and the dude went AWOL because of his conditions.
It was a good thing you came in and saved the day with the retouches! That was really sweet of you!
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Hmm, no I have no idea ....
I am going to throw my 2 cents in ..........................Don't wait for the photographer to magically wake up and do the right thing. Waiting and hoping ain't gona work. The longer you wait the less chance you have of ever seeing those images.
If it were me I would locate him and pay a personal visit (take whoever you need with you, police etc.).
Simply explain your there to help him and make this real easy for him. Let him know all you want are the RAW images and your happy, wish him well etc.
If he is non cooperative then....well............I would exercise all options available to me. Court, criminal charges, etc.
Sam
She is very lucky you were willing to help her.
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Agreed. $8,000 is...well...$8,000. That's well beyond a "oh well, live and learn" amount (at least in my financial bracket it is!). It's polite and all to say you are sorry for the guy to, but in the end he is a stranger that took $8,000. No different than if it was taken from your home, except memories are at stake with this as well.
I agree here too, action is almost always the only way to get results. But of course she could do it nicely.
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Sucks what happened to your friend. Great processing, and like the others hope it all ends up well.
This kinda is happening to my friend right now. He got married in August and had a friend photograph his wedding. Photographer's Hard Drive crashes - loses all the pictures. My friend never got to see a single one. While the photographer isn't going through the same issues as this photographer (nor did he charge any money), he is being very lazy about trying to recover anything off the hard drive. My friend has been asking him to send him the hard drive, because - my friend's dad is a computer geek like myself and can salvage what he can from it. But, he has yet to send it. My friends mother in law is prepared to hire a hit-man.. haha (I literally laughed out loud when he said this)
Terrible situation; the friend is not only being lazy, but is a moron.
Even amateur photographers know that it's vital to back up your important photos ASAP. Most pros I know who shoot weddings use a multiple backup method, such as leaving the pics on the memory cards + copying untouched files to DVD + copying untouched photos to portable HDD + additional copy on main HDD for post-processing, and sometimes additional backups along with those. I've heard stories of pros who actually burn DVDs directly from their memory cards while still on-site at the event, just in case something happens to the cards before they can get back to the studio to download.
Even when I'm just snapping pics for fun or on vacation, I instantly copy my pics to two HDDs before post-processing, and make multiple copies after post-processing (typically three HDDs + an online copy).
Has the moron cleared his memory cards since August? If not, the pics might still be on the cards. Doubtful, but at least a possibility.
I always have multiple backups of my photos... like right now I have everything on 3 hard drives, and backed up to dvds... but agreed, he is a moron.
The sound of the story is that the photog is sick...mentally and from drug abuse....in rehab .......so moron...probably not as was stated his finished work looks fantastic.....but his business practices are well below what they should be.....it very well could be he put himself into rehab and is still there if the problem was super bad...may have even had a nervous breakdown from whatever stress he was battling......
Name throwing does no one any good........
I do not know nor am I actually taking his side for anything....just my 'umble thots.........now back to reciting my Med. Buddha Mantra before braving the elements and the not very alert drivers in this town....
Have a wonderful New Years Eve!!!
Good luck with the elements, and you as well have a wonderful New Years Eve!
If this were to happen the camera will be shot, but the flash card most likely will be fine. I haven't dropped one in the pool but I have had a flash card and a USB thumb drive go through both the washer and dryer with no harm.