'She definitely made our day 'unforgettable' in the worst possible way': Photographer allegedly refuses to deliver wedding photos with 'lighting issues' to bride
One distraught bride has taken to social media to ask for help getting back photos from one of the most special days of her life — her wedding. As she shared in a social media post, this bride alleges that her photographer is simply not giving her the photos from the ceremony. While the bride mentions that she has about 100 photos from other portions of the wedding, the actual ceremony itself is missing.
The photographer is quite beholden to her contract. Instead of trying to smooth things over and make it right, she keeps citing the contract, claiming harassment, and mentioning moving the proceedings to small claims courts. Maybe the photographer is new to the wedding photo game, but as many people in the comments pointed out: It would have helped a lot if the photographer was just honest about what happened and tried very hard to salvage the remaining photos for this couple's wedding.
Why would the photographer be clinging so tightly to the photos? Well, some people suggested that the SD card in the camera became corrupted, leading to deleted photos. Otherwise, what could possibly be so wrong with them? Now, the whole internet is dying to see this bride's photos…I really hope she gets them! She is truly so patient in a situation that is pretty hostile toward her, as the paying customer. Since the iPhone photos she posted are a bit hard to read, we have transcribed them in the description below each photo.
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The poster shared that this Georgia-based photographer has caused a ruckus over these missing wedding photos.
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The bride shared this on her social media...
Bride: My husband and I hired for as our wedding photographer on 11/12/22. She failed to deliver ANY ceremony images from our day, claiming that they were not up to her quality standards. This is a day we can't get back and a day we can't re-create, this is ALL we had. It was an unplugged ceremony and there was no second shooter. She's been the least bit empathetic towards us in this process & has used many excuses to avoid sending OUR wedding images. We even had another photographer reach out and offer to fix the images for her, for free. She ignored that too. She refuses to refund us anything. This whole experience has been a complete nightmare - many days have been spent crying since this happened knowing we may never see those images. Please read the screenshots for yourself & you can see how we've been treated for her own mistake. I would not recommend her to any bride or ANYONE for that matter. Save yourselves from making the mistake we did. I am just so heartbroken over this & I feel like I have nothing else I can do, except warn others so no one else has to go through this. She unfortunately has her reviews turned off so we can't share anything about our experience there so we are resorting to this. She definitely made our day "unforgettable" in the worst possible way.
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As she mentioned, here are the screenshots. The bride begins the conversation by asking for her deposit back.
Bride: If I don't receive my photos I want my deposit back.
Photographer: There are no more photos from the event. I can't provide what doesn't exist.
The depot is non-refundable, as also stated in the contract you received your gallery and that is all I can do for you. You signed the contract and if you want to try
and fight against what you signed. I will see you in small claims, as l have already taken necessary steps to ensure that the contents of the contract were met.Bride: Deposits are legally refundable. I would like my deposit if I do not receive my photos.
Photographer: The contact was signed stating that within if business the deposit is non refundable, as well as all other photographers require as well. You signed a legally
binding contract. You've threatened multiple times to not only harass and hurt my reputation but also to take this to claims, which is completely fine as l have contracts in my place like this for this reason. -
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Photographer: […] times that best quality photos would be sent over, but if environmental or other such things get in the way of that you would receive supplemental coverage. This is why I
took the time to explain it to you and then we spent all of the time doing photos beforehand. I made sure to get all of the family photos and ones of your children within their roles before it was pitch dark outside because I knew that these were very important.Bride: The lighting was fine if you got pictures after the ceremony. (The first dance & the shoe game.) It's not making any sense how you got photos after the ones I'm asking for & the reason is the lighting. If the photos at 6 weren't good then I don't understand how at 6:15 during the dance or shoe game it is fine.
Photographer: Nearly all of the photos of the shoe game, and the first dance were not up to par due to the lighting. I was able to get a few good ones, and those were the ones sent to you…still not completely in the best lighting. During the ceremony, lighting was completely blocked and so no good photos were able to come about. I had explained this to you and we discussed this prior to the event I made it very clear not only in person, but in messages that sun was going down and lighting is a key factor in quality photos.
I'm sorry you don't understand where I'm coming from, but I am ensuring that every piece of our interaction and my contract goes as follows.
Like I said, my contract covers every situation like this that could possibly occur. Due to this I don't offer refunds or anything like that, because the contract was signed by
both parties. Otherwise, there isn't much else I can do for you due to the fact that we had discussed all of this prior, I do thank you again for choosing me to be apart of
your day, and I truly appreciate your love for the photos.Bride: How was the lighting completely blocked? I told everyone it was an unplugged ceremony so I have no photos.
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Bride: I told everyone it was an unplugged ceremony so i have no photos. How was this taken but not 15 minutes beforehand in the same exact spot.
Photographer: Like I stated to you, with everyone standing in front of the little lighting provided during the ceremony, it was nearly impossible to get any good quality photos, considering the ceremony was after dark. I'm not sure else how to explain it, but like I stated to you, there's not much else I can do in this situation.
Bride: Everyone was sitting not standing. So im not really sure what you are talking about No one except for a handful of people sat on the right side. Everyone sat on the left side.
Photographer: Bridesmaids and the groomsmen that were alongside you. The contract states everything that I have went over with you, and was signed prior to the ceremony. I hope that it was evaluated and read over by you and your husband, so that you understand how I am following it.
Bride: They were diagonally behind us. Not in front of us. I had their spot marked on the ground.
Photographer: If you didn't agree with what was in the contract regarding failure to deliver, I would assume that you wouldn't work with me and I'd totally understand. This is why nearly all professional photographers do require contract signatures.
Bride: You also see contract the day of the wedding after you were paid in full prior to [.]
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Photographer: […] all professional photographers do require contract signatures.
Bride: You also sent the contract the day of the wedding after you were paid in full prior to the wedding day What's quality to you may be different to me. Why can't we look at them together and decide. I can't get my wedding day back. I would like photos from the ceremony.
Photographer: The contract was sent prior to you paying in full but wasn't signed. I had to send it again to you due to non answering on your behalf. I do not provide raw images, as stated in my contract. As also stated. I, the photographer, choose the best ones from the event and those are sent to you. Everything is stated within my contract. There isn't much more I can do in this situation, as these things were out of my control. I have explained multiple times, and repeated the contract that was willingly signed, but I feel as though no understanding is being reached. Quality over quantity is stated in my contract.
Bride: I understand this is your line of work and I really don't wanna go back-and-forth anymore of cause any extra trouble. I also need you to understand that this is my wedding day. Thousands were spent and I can't get these memories back. It will go much further for your reputation to give me these precious photos than it will to forever be missing huge chunks of my wedding.
Photographer:My contract is stated in place for multiple reasons. I made you fully aware that quality over quantity applies, as stated in the contract that you signed. I understand the importance of your day, as shown when I took extra time to ensure that all photos prior were as they needed to be taken. You did sign a contract, and chose to work with me. I feel as though insinuating threat is not the way to go about being disappointed with something that was already discussed with you. if you are suggesting that you are going to initiate harassment or "dents" on my reputation due to the fact that the contract wasn't read, then that is [illegible] decision.
Bride: I can't go back and forth any longer. I want my photos now or I will report it to the […]
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Here, the photographer just straight-up admits it: "There are no useable ceremony photos." Yikes.
Photographer: […] I understand that this is a huge day for you, as why I got all of the photos that we did. I can assure you that all of the photos have been sent to you that were as of quality.
Bride: There was plenty of lighting, I could see everyones face & what color they were wearing. I still have the lights up in my backyard. You can edit them to make them salvageable. At least a few from the ceremony. This is my wedding day.
Photographer: Over one hundred photos were sent to you, and I promise you that if any more were even slightly usable, those also would have been included. Like my contract states. I as the photographer choose the quality ones and those are sent to you. That was in the contract multiple times.
Bride: 100 isn't even that many when some were duplicates in black & white. I paid for 4 hours of coverage and you weren't here that long because I made it short & simple. I invested a lot of time, effort and money into this. So I'm asking for the ceremony photos again. I never received the contract before Nov 12th. Please show me where you've sent it beforehand.
Photographer: There are no useable ceremony photos, like I stated to you. You also paid for three hours. Like stated, if you'd like to take this to small claims, or insinuate threat through my reputation, that is your decision. I explained everything in the contract that was sent to you multiple times prior. Repeating the contract and repeating statements back and forth isn't going to get us anywhere. I'm sorry the contract wasn't read on your behalf. There isn't much more I can do for you.
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The bride even included what appears to be a social media message, trying again to get to the bottom of things with this photographer.
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People in the comments were pretty helpful with lots of suggestions for this unfortunate situation.
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Basically any photographer will cling tight to their raw photos, as they prefer to edit them. But if the photographer doesn't have the skillset to do so, maybe she can still hand them over.
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This person pointed out that the ceremony should ALWAYS have at least two photographers, just in case!
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I'm cringing thinking about the possibility of this woman's whole wedding ceremony being wiped from the card!
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Let's hope the OP updates us if she decides to take legal action!
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