belica said:What happened to all the girls on the forum?
I think it really comes down to the crew they send out. Some albums are total trash, while others are great, but honestly, if you compare his shots to someone else from this forum, there's just no comparison.
Here, I copied a comment, so just read it.
To my fellow brides, it looks like the organizers were a bit stingy when it came to planning the party... I can honestly say my big day was like a dream, but now that I've had time to breathe, I'm actually getting worked up—all because of the photographer.
Basically, some of you might have read about what went wrong, but here’s the breakdown of the details...
It goes like this, step by step:
- When we got to his place, I didn't want to say anything until I saw the DVD and the photos. I didn't want to judge based solely on the album, so I just paid the money and left. But once I got home and looked through everything, I was totally shocked because I realized an entire part of the party was completely ignored.
- The album is put together in such a weird way; the pictures don't match the memories or our actual celebration at all. The first half is just photos from the groom's house where he's hanging out with everyone, and the second half is the reception.
- The photographers were late arriving at the groom's place, and then instead of rushing over to my place, they just followed his guests around—standing in three spots and wandering into my apartment. They didn't even use those ten minutes to film my guests! My house was full of people too, and we were singing and dancing, food was on the tables, desserts were laid out, etc., not to mention my mom and sister who the videographer didn't even catch on film, let alone the photographer.
- They missed the bride's procession and the speech from my grandpa, who was welcoming the groom's guests—a sick man who could barely stand up or even make it there.
- They didn't film the bridesmaids acting as "fake brides."
- There isn't a single shot of the corsages being pinned, but instead, there's 15 annoying minutes of us just singing along to the accordion. The cameraman didn't even pan around; he didn't capture the decorated tables, the people around us, or even the balcony. Nothing.
- He didn't film or photograph the girls decorating the cars.
- He didn't film ABSOLUTELY any of my guests. It’s like they showed up just to pick me up from an empty house. That’s how the whole party was captured.
- He missed my godmother's boyfriend and her daughter too.
- Not a single photo or video of the church where we wed, nor a single shot of the guests looking at us as we walked into the service.
- During the mass, they mostly filmed us. For example, he couldn't even catch the moment two adults in the front pews started crying?!
- A beautiful reading of the Psalm was cut out entirely, and the lady who read it wasn't even photographed or filmed.
- The only thing they actually shot were staged photos; not one spontaneous moment was caught.
- When we were leaving, again, they didn't film or photograph the guests, or the girls throwing flower petals at us, or anything.
- In the hall, he barely made it past each table (which were empty at the time) and rushed through filming them without making sure everyone was in the frame.
- He didn't capture the waiters serving food or any shots of the actual dishes.
- Throughout the evening, he just stood in one spot filming the group in the center of the dance floor. He probably thought he was filming Live Aid rather than a party with 155 guests (you certainly wouldn't know it from the footage).
- There are older guests who can't dance but we really wanted them in the video. Regardless, he never walked through the tables; he just filmed the middle of the floor. And it's not like he couldn't reach them—he filmed every single song and every guitar solo in detail, like he was back at that "Live concert" illusion again.
- He missed every single funny, candid moment (think: when my cousin swiped my shoe, someone crashing hard on five chairs in a row, or the maid of honor spilling red wine on my dress—there were literally hundreds of hilarious things happening on the dance floor)
- The video editing looks like it was done by an amateur playing around with basic Windows software rather than professional gear—honestly, I could have whipped something better up in five minutes myself
- Why is the background just a plain black screen whenever they show our childhood photos?!?
- There isn't even a "best moments" highlight reel to summarize the whole party
- The songs are all mixed up
- We have about 600 photos from the entire reception
- There’s actually a shot on the DVD of him just sitting there doing absolutely nothing
Look, if you're selling yourself as a wedding photographer, you CANNOT be clueless about the fact that a wedding is a massive production with a specific flow. It’s not just us posing and shuffling around in San Francisco or rolling around on a bed. Every single guest was invited because we genuinely wanted them there to share our day, not just to act as background dancers while the band plays. He didn't catch a single spontaneous moment or any touching instances; everything feels shapeless and empty. Personally, I feel terrible and honestly pretty heartbroken over it. He didn't even film or photograph my grandparents—they don't appear once in the footage except for the brief moment my grandpa gives his speech.
All those people were there celebrating with us, and anyone professionally hired to film a party should know how to capture the soul of the event, not just people jumping around on the dance floor (don't get me wrong, that part matters too, but it needs more substance!). You're supposed to capture the food being served and the vibe of the room while everyone is eating (even if it means the prime rib gets a little cold!), not to mention there's my side of the party to document. It's just devastating; words can't even describe how huge this oversight is.
And just so we're clear: our wedding was a stunning day and everyone loved it, so his mediocre shots won't ruin our memories, but he wasn't there to hand out charity—he was paid top dollar. He didn't even do the job correctly, let alone well.
What hurts most is that I paid the full amount and then spent my energy trying to justify his work. The money I lost on this contract (which could have easily covered two different photo studios, giving us four photographers and two cameras at the reception?!) is something I can never get back. You only get married once. They are hired to be witnesses to that day and document it, not to bumble around and take pictures of cacti.
Sorry for the vent, girl, but I really needed a place to let this out, and I wanted to say it here to warn everyone else... I hope you guys have much better luck with your wedding photos and videos.
Unfortunately, the photographer's response to all of this wasn't an apology or an admission of fault. Instead, he threw out excuses like, "You should have told us what to shoot," "You should have mentioned we needed two cameras," or "Even a football game uses twelve cameras and still misses stuff"—just total nonsense. UGH, I get so mad just thinking about it! At least he promised us a new album that we can put together ourselves, so... maybe we can salvage whatever is left of
__________________
Sometimes it's easier to write it out than to read it.