Advice for a friend

[Scrumsrus]

A friend of mine got married in July and last night she got her wedding photos delivered on two CDs. She asked me to have a look at them for her, which I did, and to be honest they were total rubbish, poorly composed, no thought given to what was in the background, some shots over exposed, a number of the formal posed shots where the subjects were looking away from the photographer and most of the "candid" evening shots were of peoples backs.
There were a number of very special family group photos missing and apart from 3 - 4 photos which had been monochromed they were unedited. There were NO prints at all just these two disks with a total of 179 images. This was not what she had agreed to when she booked him.

Obviously she is distraught, my question is does she have any legal recourse against this "photographer" ?

How can someone like this call themselves a Wedding Photographer and produce junk like this, spoiling this Special day for couples and their families ?

[BuddhaPi]

Not being a pro, my guess is the more knowledgable users will say something along the lines of....
What she agreed to should be clearly stated in her contract with the photogrpapher, assuming there was a contract. Pretty sucky situation I'll admit...

[candleman]

WOW... July wedding with an October delivery... thats pretty shocking.

in terms of legal recourse.. you havn't exhausted your options yet so theres no point wasting money on lawyers. what do you mean by "This was not what she had agreed to when she booked him."

The courts should be a last resort.

1. tell the Fauxtographer that you are very disatisfied with the images
under most countries the consumer has rights, so read those rights as a consumer before contacting him the fauxtographer with a complaint.

2. what was in the contract defining "unsatisfactory quality", and how the Photographer would handle a complaint?
the defence a photographer in NZ has, is: is the work "commensurate with their portfolio"

3. did she look at this guys portfolio before hiring him?
dont expect Jerry Gihonis level of work from your neighbours Uncle Bob who has a camera.....

after those hurdles have been crossed, and after you have spoken to the individual in question.. find out what they are going to do about it.
If they presented an exceptional level of work as a portfolio, and the work on the day did not meet those standards, then, yes, she can probaly win a court case.

she will loose if she didnt ask for a portfolio, or if the work he produced is on par withthe portfolio he presented.
thts my opinion anyway, i'm no lawyer..

************************************************** ************************

in some defence of the formal shots..
no matter how hard you try some people just dont give a shit, and they will look away, and they will make gang signs and bunny ears..
i had that this weekend.. they look at another camera to your side instead of you as the photographer. i also had a pic where the groom was looking at a person to one side.. and didn't notice.

in an outdoor wedding in direct sunlight... you will blow highlights and have harsh shadows. dont expect studio quality.
************************************************** ************************

[Eastree]

Originally Posted by BuddhaPi

Not being a pro, my guess is the more knowledgable users will say something along the lines of....
What she agreed to should be clearly stated in her contract with the photogrpapher, assuming there was a contract. Pretty sucky situation I'll admit...

I agree. It really demonstrates the need for a signed contract. If she did not sign a contract, her options are severely limited.

[Photologyst]

I presume that she has paid him already?

We had a similar issue; got a DVD full of crappy, grainy, poorly composed TIFFs. I took a great many of the post wedding/reception shots and those were good.

The “photographer” went out of business, for obvious reasons, shortly after the wedding. No recourse.

I took the bull by the horns and did all the PS processing. The pathetic photos were salvaged into a beautiful collection.

Can you do the processing for your friend?

Post a few that she would like fixed and I'll do my best as an example. Make sure that they are the highest resolution, please.