Photgrapher/Family Photos WWYD?

[liverandonions]

We had family photos done about a month ago when my sister was visiting. I've used this photographer before for a mini valentine session for Julia, and a ton of my FB friends have used her. The photos I've seen on FB have been awesome-Cute props, great backgrounds, awesome editing. She posted 4 teaser pics-2 of J, and 1 of each of my nieces and they were adorable. So we finally get the CD last week and it was a huge dissappointment. There aren't a ton of pictures and the ones on the disc are meh. Bad editing, bad lighting at the site-as in sun was shining through the trees right on a few faces in the pictures. There are solo shots of Julia that look really good, but the background is awful-she's sitting on a dirty bridge over a creek but since they are so close up you just see the dirty bridge, not the total ambiance. She took several of the 3 little girls together and the only one that made the disc is AWFUL of my older niece-she's making the worst face and she is a very photogenic child.

The disc she sent me for my Mom is blank so I have to write her to tell her we need another copy. Would you express your disappointment in the photos? I feel like if I don't I'll get more annoyed having it bottled up. But, on the other hand we went to HS together (I didn't know her) so we have mutual friends, and there isn't an opportunity for us to redo most of them because my sister and her family live in Texas and we're in CA. Would you say something?

Also, sorry if half of this is rambly or doesn't make sense. I'm sick.

[tulip]

Yes, you didn't get what you paid for. This is her business, she needs to fix it.

[gretchenindisguise]

I need some examples.

[lime]

Yes, express that you were disappointed. Mention the specific examples above.

[ohiowan]

Can you ask to go through the pictures with her and choose what you like? I'd be ticked.

[liverandonions]

Aug 20, 2013 12:00:18 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

I need some examples.

The disc is at home, otherwise I would post some.

[liverandonions]

Aug 20, 2013 12:01:40 GMT -5 ohiowan said:

Can you ask to go through the pictures with her and choose what you like? I'd be ticked.

Hmm, maybe. I just can't believe if she took a bunch of each pose that these are the best of the bunch.

[speckledfrog]

Are they unedited? Hopefully that's the issue.

[liverandonions]

Aug 20, 2013 12:08:50 GMT -5 speckledfrog said:

Are they unedited? Hopefully that's the issue.

Nope. They are edited. There is one of J that is so softened it looks blurry.

[cheeseandcrackers]

What would you want the her to do if you expressed your disappointment? Give you a discount/take more photos,etc. I ask because the photographers we used for my wedding were basically false advertisers and their photos were meh for the price that we paid. Unfortunately, you can't photograph a wedding day again obviously.. but they weren't willing to reimburse us anything either.

[Deleted]

You paid for a service and were disappointed in the results. Even though you can't do them over, I definitely would say something and ask for some of your money back. I personally wouldn't want a re-do because I wouldn't be able to get comfortable with her after this.

[luckyval]

Yes - and if she's worth her salt, she'd want you to say something. And you paid for a service that wasn't up to par

[liverandonions]

Aug 20, 2013 12:34:43 GMT -5 cheeseandcrackers said:

What would you want the her to do if you expressed your disappointment? Give you a discount/take more photos,etc. I ask because the photographers we used for my wedding were basically false advertisers and their photos were meh for the price that we paid. Unfortunately, you can't photograph a wedding day again obviously.. but they weren't willing to reimburse us anything either.

I would hope she would at least offer to re-take the photos of our family of 3, or of just J. I know we can't redo all of them since my sister doesn't live here.

luckyval, that's sort of my thought too-I feel like not saying something is a disservice to her because she'll think everything is great. I'm pretty sure she can take awesome photos but that we go shafted.

Thanks everyone.

[Kit]

As a photographer myself, I would be mortified if I gave a client something that they didn't like. I would want them to tell me, and I'd absolutely make it right.

I'm sorry. I'd speak up, if I were you. You paid for a service you did not get.

[liverandonions]

Aug 20, 2013 14:43:31 GMT -5 luckydog said:

I just had another thought. Are most of her pics just kids? Or just parents and a child? Maybe a group of kids is not her specialty. I'm not trying to justify what she gave you but this could be the problem with the poses (not with the editing of course).

She took the pictures we wanted so that's not the issue (in reference to your prior post), and yes she does families, and groups of kids (there were only 3 of them and some of her family shots have that many kids so she can do it and the ones I've seen have been very good.

[TrudyCampbell]

If they're bad then she already knows it. I'd definitely say something.

[frlcb]

This happened to us. We used, on a recommendation of a photographer friend, someone at the beach. When we got the pictures everyone looked so washed out, and just really bad. We paid $500 for these pictures. I sent her an email and told her that while we liked a handful overall we were disappointed and I just wanted her to know. I never asked for money back. She sent back a check for the full amount, and I felt horrible and we sent her back $250, since she did spend time shooting the pictures and editing them. I think it was fair, and so did she.