Misunderstanding with my Photographer.....Ahhhh.

[AlexsBride]

Hey everyone I need some help on how to handle a situation....I believe there has been some sort of a misunderstanding between my photographer and me.

 

Here is a bit of background. We are paying for our photographers trip to Cuba with us. She is also bringing her Mom, Friend and friends mom. This will be a bit of a "working vacation" for her.

 

She is not a PRO photographer, but an amateur, with an amazing eye and great, beautiful work. However, like I said, she is not a professional and does not do this for a living, more as a hobby. She is currently building her portfolio and has never shot a destination wedding.

 

In the original email I sent her, I clearly stated what my expectations were for a photographer. I said that I wanted to have full day shooting for the day of the wedding as well as a TTD session. I wanted ALL of the shots put in high res format for me to go through and pick out my favourites for printing.

 

I had assumed that she was ok with all of that (not that that is a lot in my opinion) since she said that she wanted to do it! So we hired her, paid the deposit on her trip, her entourage has paid their deposits and that is where it is right now.

 

She also mentioned that she would be interested in finding another bride to shoot for while she was in Cuba that week and through Facebook, I found another bride that is getting married the day before me. I referred the other bride to my photographer and they chatted and the bride hired her to shoot HER wedding as well. She is getting paid $600 for that wedding. (Much less than what I am paying to bring her, which is close to $1200.) The other bride is not paying for any part of her trip, that is all on me, which again, I was fine with that, since that was the original deal.

 

Anyway, fast forward to today. I sent her an email last night just to clarify our expectations. I said that I wanted all of the photos taken from both the wedding and the TTD session, on a USB stick in high res.

 

And now today I get an email back from her saying that she goes through all of the photos herself, picks HER favourites, edits them and puts them on cd for us. She said in total we will get around 350 pics. That is NOT enough for me. When I was researching DW photographers, most offered packages with anywhere from 1500 and more!

 

I am just stunned right now and don't know what to do. I sent her back a message saying that I got her another job which she wouldn't have gotten without me. I also said for her to refer back to my original email which stated that I wanted a copy of all photos from the wedding and TTD. I told her that I would not be happy with her choosing her faves, because hers might not necessarily be mine.

 

I don't know what to do! Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Mandy Canada]

You did the right thing by reminding her that the agreement included all pictures, she may have said that she can give you 350 of the best picks of her choice to save you the trouble, therefore before you get too worried hee what her resoponse is. I do agree that if either you or her pick the best pics usually it is a lot more then 350 especially if you are doing a TTD as well.

 

I am sure she will provide you with what you are asking for, after all you are the client and it is her job to deliever what you are looking for. I am sure it will work out for you, let us know the outcome!

 

Amanda

[Barbaracopeland]

I'm sure you will get this all worked out after you sent her that email. Thank goodness you found all of this out now when all you have paid is the deposit!

 

If she still isn't willing to stick to the original agreement, I would remind her that you have only paid for her deposit and you can still easily cancel and she will have to have a working vacation with no work. She might even loose the other wedding if you had to let the other bride know that you are having problems. I doubt it will have to come to this though, but at least it means that you really do have the upper hand in all of this!

I would say though that since she's not a pro and has never done a DW, once you both agree on the terms, I would get some sort of contract in writing before you finish paying for her trip. 

Let us know how it works out!

[missgomes]

Scary.. I am doing the same thing.  Did you have her sign any contract?  Please let us know the results.

[L&J]

I would really like to know how this all turned out also. I hope she agreed to all the images.

[AlexsBride]

Nope, she held strong to only giving me 350 and this was just too little in my opinion for a full day of shooting my wedding and then a TTD as well. She also said she was having second thoughts because she had never shot a destination wedding before and was worried that my expectations might have exceeded her abilities. I thanked her for her honesty but long story short, she quit! I am in the process of going through several other photogs and will be happy when we find the right person(s) to shoot our wedding!

[missgomes]

Gosh....I'm off to upgrade my contract.  That is very scary and I cannot imagine coming close to my wedding with no photographer.. and NO budget for one!!  I am basically doing the same thing you did.  

[fallfromgrace]

Wow, that is heartbreaking, Aleksbride, I sent you a PM, that I hope helps. 

 

 

 

[jana297]

Hmmmm I'd be a littel bugged myself!!

[TLGnhci]

Oh no, so sorry to hear this!!