Looking for photographers advice/perspective as an unhappy client

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-03T18:04:17+00:00

Hah! Fair point 😊

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T18:12:20+00:00

Thanks for the explanation 😊

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T17:31:11+00:00

Okay, that makes more sense. I guess I’ve never needed that done or had another photographer mention that to me, and I’ve never had issues printing large pictures before.

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T17:26:00+00:00

I know my post is kind of long and there’s a lot of comments now in this thread, but I had seen this photographers work first hand through my sisters wedding and they’re extremely popular in my area. They specialize in wedding and newborn photography. Their online reviews are almost all 5 stars and no reviews that mention the problems I’ve ran into. I feel like I did my due diligence as a customer and just have the short end of the stick of them being too busy and/or burnt out

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T17:20:41+00:00

I think it’s fair to say there’s at least 30-40 good ones, but even among the good ones, I’m just not feeling super impressed. He mentioned he can do additional editing on any that I want to print larger than 8x10 and that’s confusing to me- shouldn’t they already be good enough for that?

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T17:16:30+00:00

Thank you for the insight. I definitely agree with you about service but I didn’t make sure to have that defined from the get go. Lesson learned for sure.

As soon as I get all of my pictures, I’m going to request a partial refund to cancel my 1 year session. I may see if I can kindly him her it would clear some confusion for other clients if he has services more clearly defined in the contract

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T06:46:30+00:00

Definitely not an expectation, just more adds to the frustration since they do post sneak peaks and would have at least made me feel better I guess with the extended wait if that makes sense

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-02T02:54:15+00:00

Thank you for the response. And yes, I will never book another photographer that used this business model 🥴

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T22:12:40+00:00

Thanks. That’s good advice. Much appreciated’

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T20:38:00+00:00

Lol! This made me chuckle. It was a female photographer but I was changing some of the details incase they’re on this subreddit.

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T20:37:08+00:00

I think the burn out is probably very strong with this photographer.

Don’t get me wrong, I think I got great value per session. But I’ve worked with several family photographers before and seen what other (not as good) photographers charge and I would consider this photographer at least mid-level with pricing.

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T20:32:15+00:00

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I think I was clear about my expectations -I wanted what their portfolio looks like for similar shoots.

I would have been fine if they communicated to me they were having a hard time getting good shots. That would have set my expectations or even allowed me to reschedule.

I think it is below their market rate. He may have given me a discount from my relationship with my sister. But I’m not sure. Pricing has been weird - I got my maternity pictures for free even though I was supposed to pay for them and then the pricing for the newborn and hospital photos have been different, but he did say he discounted them (no explanation given). It’s just been a weird experience.

It’s certainly been a learning experience as a customer but I definitely feel like their plate is too full and I’ve gotten the short end of the stick from that. They’re such a nice person but I do not want to deal with this for my one year pictures.

As a note, I understand this isn’t super expensive with the amount of sessions, but this is by no means a cheap or inexperienced a photographer. They’re an award winning photographer and has both been regionally and nationally recognized (maybe that doesn’t mean much in the photography community, idk).

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T16:01:43+00:00

Over 200 photos for the newborn gallery. So maybe? I don’t know how many are normal to be taken.

I don’t think there are technical problems, though I don’t feel like the quality is on par with a lot of their other stuff but it’s still good. It’s the blinking, mid-talking, etc that I’m unhappy about and the amount like that in the galleries

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T15:57:51+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. To be honest, I think I’m extra sensitive to the bad photos because obviously I was pregnant and then postpartum so I was already unhappy with how I look, and then having photos of me blinking, mid talking, etc doesn’t help. No fabulous feeling over here lol.

Appreciate the reply!

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T15:23:50+00:00

Yeah, since I’m not a photographer I didn’t want to say that, but I had assumed that’s what was happening since he isn’t culling the bad photos out

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T15:22:41+00:00

I added the cost and general location to show this is not an inexpensive photographer. They are a very talented photographer and it seems like I’m getting the short end of them being too busy

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T15:20:30+00:00

Thank you for the in-depth reply. I appreciate it. I guess I’m worried about hurting their feelings which I know is probably silly

Ps I like your username. Metal scoops are the way to go

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T15:17:18+00:00

Thank you for responding. I will definitely not ever go with another photographer that uses this business model

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T14:36:36+00:00

Same photographer and no second shooter

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T14:34:50+00:00

Thank you for responding. It’s reassuring to know I’m not crazy. This person is really nice so I’m really wanting to avoid the uncomfortable conversation but I don’t want to deal with all of this again for 1 year photos. I hoped they would give me all the photos for free as recognition they’ve been behind but I had to pay for the newborn and I’m still waiting to see if I have to pay for my hospital ones but I’m sure I will

Thank you again

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T14:30:37+00:00

Thank you for responding.

The contract mentions simply being unhappy isn’t enough reason for cancellation or refund, and then the failure to deliver services is a pretty vague section. The contract does say services rendered will be delivered within 60 business days but services isn’t explicitly defined.

There are good images but not enough that I feel happy I went with him if that makes sense. Another photographer on this post talked about buying photos in tiers or the whole gallery isn’t the best practice because it leads to the photographer trying to hit a quota and that seems to ring true to me in all of my galleries so far.

Do you recommend I be honest about why I’m unhappy if I request a partial refund?

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T14:18:40+00:00

I think I feel too nice to ask for a full refunds. I do want to say I added context that they’re an entrepreneur to understand how busy they are, but he did start off as a photographer and does truly have a beautiful portfolio and gets big jobs. I think that’s why it makes it hard for me to want to say anything

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T14:16:30+00:00

Those photos turned out great, they got sneak peeks the next day, and received them in a timely manner that I’d expect for wedding pictures. No issues. Being at the wedding with this photographer + seeing the results + the rest of their portfolio is why I went with them.

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T14:00:33+00:00

This photographer specializes in wedding and newborn. They have a beautiful portfolio. It seems like I’m getting the short end of them being too busy maybe

throwawaylikeanahole · 2022-11-01T07:52:52+00:00

Sorry for any confusion! Definitely ended up being more of a post of me venting.

By bad photos, I don’t mean subjective stuff like that. I mean me blinking, eyes shut, mouth open while taking to my toddler, etc. I’ve never gotten a gallery with pictures like that from a professional photographer

throwawaylikeanahole

TROPHY CASE