Photographer won't give me my pictures

tracey01

I got married in August of this year. It was a very casual wedding. One of the guests is a photographer so I asked if she would mind taking a few family photos for us. No ceremony pictures were needed. She then offered to take photos of the afters also. I paid her the day after and she said she would have them in a week or two. I told her no rush and send them when she can.

Because it wasn't a normal wedding I told her we just wanted some photos not full wedding professional photos so edits weren't required unless she felt she would prefer to do so. She was just to provide us with the usb with the photos and I was going to arrange an album myself.

So at this stage on three different occasions she has told me the photos will be in the post tomorrow. I should have received them this morning. Each time she ignores my messages asking for a tracking number until at least two weeks later when she has every excuse under the sun why she didn't post them. The last email I received said how sorry she was for the delay and that she thought they were sent but still she has ignored my calls since. She only got in touch as I had messaged her partner when I hadn't heard from her in two weeks.

I am just so annoyed at this stage. I keep telling my family 'oh I will have the photos this week' only to go back and say I never got them. I am just getting so frustrated at her telling me they are going to be posted and then never bothering to do it.

I have sent texts, emails, facebook messages and voice mails. All of which are ignored. Even though she is clearly on facebook after I left messages. She claims her phone is broken but if I ring with no answer it is always switched off when I try again. All texts I send to her I have received a delivery report for but she says she doesn't get them.

It is my mothers birthday next week so when she told me two weeks ago she would be posting them the next day I told her that was great that we would give my mother an album of the photos for her birthday. So obviously we can't do that now.

So I am not sure what to do at this stage. I think I just needed to post this to vent. I am sorry I asked her to take them at all now.

howamidifferent

Threaten to Name & shame.

Lisha

Post a a statuson her fb wall asking for photos and saying it's a pity I can't contact you
Something like
Hi x, thanks agaonfor taking pics at our wedding date and it's a pity I can't contact you lately.
My mom is so looking forward to seeing pics and is calling next week. I don't want to let her down again.
Please send me on pics as agreed so we can show off your great work
Talk soon

Edmond_Dantes

when we got married we refused payment until we got all the digital copies as well as we had heard horror stories about not getting photos after weddings

tracey01

Lisha wrote: »

Post a a statuson her fb wall asking for photos and saying it's a pity I can't contact you
Something like
Hi x, thanks agaonfor taking pics at our wedding date and it's a pity I can't contact you lately.
My mom is so looking forward to seeing pics and is calling next week. I don't want to let her down again.
Please send me on pics as agreed so we can show off your great work
Talk soon

Already did that. It was completely ignored even though she has commented on posts on her page since.

I did have a casual wedding but it was still a wedding so I don't understand how she can't see how I would obviously be looking forward to getting the pictures!

Lisha

tracey01 wrote: »

Already did that. It was completely ignored even though she has commented on posts on her page since.

I did have a casual wedding but it was still a wedding so I don't understand how she can't see how I would obviously be looking forward to getting the pictures!

How heartbreaking for you

Well them you have to go nasty, name and shame, solicitors letter, small claims court.

Such a pity and I hope you get it sorted

endacl

You sure she hadn't forgotten to put an SD card in the camera on the day? And is now mortified that there are no photos? Stranger things have happened. Should still contact you of course...

tracey01

She is a friend so I don't want to get too nasty about it too quickly. And the only reason we didn't take a load of pictures of the afters ourselves was because she offered to do it for us to save us the hassle.

Berty

€25 fee to Small Claims Court. Basically Light a Fire under her and see what happens.

I read this so often on this and another wedding forum. It boggles the mind that people will take your photos and just switch off from reality when it comes to finishing the job.

I'd have no pity but I'd get the digitals off her, including a refund and then shame the person from a height. Do it the other way around and you might never see the photos. Go too far and they could just "lose" the photos.

tracey01

endacl wrote: »

You sure she hadn't forgotten to put an SD card in the camera on the day? And is now mortified that there are no photos? Stranger things have happened. Should still contact you of course...

This is what I was afraid of but she has told me the photos turned out great and that she did edit a few. She also showed me a few on the day so I think its just down to her laziness.

endacl

TBH, if she's a friend, I'd call around and tell her how it's causing you so much upset. I'd be direct.

sonny jim bob jones

Sounds like she either lost the photos or discovered the ones she took weren't usable and she just can't work up the nerve to tell you.

sweetie

face to face is the only way. I suspect she has either lost or ruined them. I hope not though. Never a good idea to use a friend or family for weddings. My brother in law videotaped ours and we have twenty mins of footage and an hour of floor!

tracey01

sweetie wrote: »

face to face is the only way. I suspect she has either lost or ruined them. I hope not though. Never a good idea to use a friend or family for weddings. My brother in law videotaped ours and we have twenty mins of footage and an hour of floor!

I am completely regretting asking her now. I got a few great ones from my godfather a few days after the wedding. So atleast I have them. She also took polaroid pictures on the day so I should be getting them too. I would even be happy enough now just to only get them.

She lives a few hours away so face to face isn't that easy. Might be the last resort but I can see her just not turning up and ignoring my calls then too.

sweetie

I'm presuming she is a plus one of someone you invited, ie. you or your partner are friends with her partner? I think you need to get on to that person and explain what you need from her and what you will do if it it comes to it. She has put you in this awkward predicament so I wouldn't worry about losing her (or their) friendship as yours isn't valued by them obviously.

pwurple

tracey01 wrote: »

I am completely regretting asking her now. I got a few great ones from my godfather a few days after the wedding. So atleast I have them. She also took polaroid pictures on the day so I should be getting them too. I would even be happy enough now just to only get them.

She lives a few hours away so face to face isn't that easy. Might be the last resort but I can see her just not turning up and ignoring my calls then too.

Phone her from another number?

byronbay2

Forget this Name and Shame/Small Claims Court/Kill Her With Fire BS that is being recommended. This person is your friend and will remain so if you handle the situation properly. Send her a text message that you will be visiting her area (for a completely unrelated reason) this weekend or early next week and will call to see her. Tell her you NEED to collect the pics then. At that stage the truth will be revealed and you will see if the pictures exist or not.

An increasing number of people are so engrossed in their own lives that they don't think about anyone else and this is probably what is happening here. You need to make it easy for her by calling in person and collecting the pics. Hopefully it will all work out for you.

Red Nissan

Hindsight as they say!

There is noting really official you can do, it was an ad hoc arrangement and not a contracted arrangement, though verbal contracts can be accepted.

Like others in this thread, I suspect something befell your photos, she admitted seeing them and liking them, then she probably lost them and had no backups yet made.

If she suffered a HD crash she might have hundreds of customers on her HD that she finds she has to try and recover from, that can take weeks, and one can end up with a big muddle of images as files names over the entire body of files are not unique.

As already said, she is a friend, do call around and see her, you've now been armed with many possible scenarios so you can be prepared for the worst.

tracey01

How can you arrange to call and see someone who is completely ignoring you? I can't drive for three hours not knowing if she will be there.

She was the guest and her partner was the plus one. I don't know him very we'll but added him on Facebook last week so I could message him asking her to get in contact. I think I just have to wait at this stage.

Since I have written this and was reminded of the pictures I received from my godfather I think I will ask him for a copy of all the pictures he took.

Fionn

sorry to hear this happened to you.

This is one of the many problems of having friends/family handle parts of the wedding for you. I presume there was no written contract, so in a small claims court it it's difficult to prove what the arrangement was, it all goes down to who the judge will believe, even if you win you may still not get any photographs.
The only advice I can give is to email all the other guests that attended and ask for any photographs that might have been taken, even mobile phone ones can be pretty good these days, you could make a slide show from them with some music etc. better than having no record of the day.

To anyone hiring - make sure you get a contract signed by the vendor!!

Teyla Emmagan

That is bizarre. Why would someone who was an invited guest at your wedding act this way? Surely she knows her behaviour must be hurting you?! I'd say she lost them as well to be honest and is too much of a coward to tell you.

I would confront her though, even if it meant driving 3 hours and camping out on her door till she turned up. Because she's clearly planning on ignoring you forever. At the very least I would be leaving with my money if not the photographs.

Either way I'd be cutting her out of my life from now on in. No one who is supposed to be a friend could act like this. And no one who is a professional photographer would act so badly. Horrible situation for you

tracey01

Got my pictures finally!! I sent her a few messages on Friday morning asking for the tracking number because I had a half day and wanted to see if it was on the way but got no reply. Then on Saturday I sent her a message asking to be kept in the loop as I had everyone asking me when I was getting them for the last month. I first told them they were in the post at the end of September. Basically told her I was getting a bit annoyed at being told they were posted and then not hearing from her for weeks.

So they were actually posted on Friday (not Thursday like she told me she def would) I was given a tracking number and then got the prints today. Very happy with them it is just a pity it was such an ordeal to find out what was happening. I do believe they were ready to be posted since last month so it was just laziness or forgetfulness. Either way now I am happy I got them. So will be able to order my album this week.

sweetie

happy days! At least your relationship with her isn't destroyed totally now but her actions or lack off were very poor.

another question

So glad to hear you got them and you're happy, really thought this one was going to have a bad ending.

thebaz

if you did pay her a good rate - you have a right to be annoyed - as someone who has photographed a few weddings, I would usually be a bit late where its a favour, and feck all readies , if you get me - in my world you get what you pay for - glad its sorted and you happy.

tracey01

thebaz wrote: »

if you did pay her a good rate - you have a right to be annoyed - as someone who has photographed a few weddings, I would usually be a bit late where its a favour, and feck all readies , if you get me - in my world you get what you pay for - glad its sorted and you happy.

Yes I agree. But the quality of the pictures was never the issue. Telling someone everything is ready and you are posting them and then being completely out of contact for two weeks and then doing the exact same thing again that was the issue. If she had told me they would be ready in December I would have been fine with that.

another question

tracey01 wrote: »

Yes I agree. But the quality of the pictures was never the issue. Telling someone everything is ready and you are posting them and then being completely out of contact for two weeks and then doing the exact same thing again that was the issue. If he had told me they would be ready in December I would have been fine with that.

This is a pointless point but I thought your friend was a she! When I was reading the posts, I was thinking to myself, such a cow she won't give her her wedding pics...now I realise she is a man!

tracey01

another question wrote: »

This is a pointless point but I thought your friend was a she! When I was reading the posts, I was thinking to myself, such a cow she won't give her her wedding pics...now I realise she is a man!

No my mistake. It is a she I fixed it now.

splashthecash

She won't have much of a career in professional photography dealing with people like that.

johndoe99

She strung you along with promises that they would be posted on different occasions and then ignored email and text messages. You keep referring to her as a friend. Wow some friend.