Wedding photographer advice please

donnapuppy

Our wedding was almost 3 years ago and we never received our album from the photographer. We paid him €2000 for a package that included a photo book album 2 parent albums a framed print and non watermarked disc. We recieved the disc and have been fighting for the rest since.
We went through the small claism court but he didn't respond to them. We signed an affidavit and then the sheriff got involved. He agreed with the sheriff to pay us back the full sum in monthly instalments over a year ago, he paid the first month and we have recieved nothing since. The sheriff has told us we are not the first couple and there is a que of others behind us also waiting for money off him. He fobbed off the sheriff for months and now he says he has cancer and has no source of income at the moment.
I feel sorry for him and don't want to cause upset to him or his family if this is true but on the other hand he has previously told us before the small claims court that he had a heart attack and at another stage that his brother was terminally ill.

Grateful for any advice or opinions on this matter.
Thanks

Homer

Hey really sorry to hear that. I can't offer any advice from a legal perspective but am a photographer and would like to help any way I can. If you got the disc of images and are happy with the quality of the images I'd be happy to try get you an album or prints at cost. Drop me a PM if I can be of any help.

goz83

Helpful offer from homer.

I did not use a wedding photographer for 2 reasons.

1) They charge extortionate rates for what is the easiest type of photography.

2) I heard too many stories similar to yours.

I had a friend take the photos and was quite happy with that. Got some excellent pictures and was able to print what we wanted at home. Plenty if places can do larger prints with the cd too.

Legal advice can't be offered here, but I don't suppose the photographer could finish the job he was paid to do?

melekalikimaka

goz83 wrote: »

1) They charge extortionate rates for what is the easiest type of photography.

it is by FAR the hardest photography to take

goz83

melekalikimaka wrote: »

it is by FAR the hardest photography to take

And what makes is by FAR the hardest? Speaking photographically of course and not from dealing with customers.

Are you a wedding photographer?

Losty Dublin

goz83 wrote: »

And what makes is by FAR the hardest? Speaking photographically of course and not from dealing with customers.

Are you a wedding photographer?

I've worked around weddings for a number of years now in the entertainment side of things. Weddings are the hardest events of all to work with by miles. More than any other event, everything has to be 100% right 100% of the time, from the waitresses in the hotel to the DJ, the band, the priest, dressmakers, stationary and yes, the photographer.

Of all the roles the photographer and video man are the only one's at a wedding who's job continues long after the big day, selecting and editing and preparing albums and prints of an event that is literally a once in a lifetime. As well, their eye for what makes a photo on the day is something that most of us just do not have, nor will they have ten's of thousands of € of cameras and softwares or access to high end printing and album books to pass on to the couple afterwards.

Many folks consider it a saving to get a mate to do the photos on the day. As many brides can tell you afterwards why it isn't a good idea when the photo's come back. Fair play to you if your day worked out well on this end but all too often even a semi pro hasn't the ability for even an easy going wedding.

melekalikimaka

I have worked as one in the past yes. I studied photography as a degree so trust me on this

donnapuppy

Homer wrote: »

Hey really sorry to hear that. I can't offer any advice from a legal perspective but am a photographer and would like to help any way I can. If you got the disc of images and are happy with the quality of the images I'd be happy to try get you an album or prints at cost. Drop me a PM if I can be of any help.

Thanks Homer for your generous offer but just really looking for legal advice at the moment.

the_syco

donnapuppy wrote: »

but just really looking for legal advice at the moment.

Looking for legal advice is not allowed on here.

=-=

Have you ever thought to getting a private detective to find out if his bro had a terminal illness, or if he ever had whatever disease he claimed to have had?

donnapuppy

the_syco wrote: »

Looking for legal advice is not allowed on here.

=-=

Have you ever thought to getting a private detective to find out if his bro had a terminal illness, or if he ever had whatever disease he claimed to have had?

I don't know if it would help in getting me my money back and would just cost me more.

Losty Dublin

donnapuppy wrote: »

I don't know if it would help in getting me my money back and would just cost me more.

All you can practically expect to do is to hound hound hound him until he firms up with you. Make house visits to his premises, make heaps of phone calls to him and and contact those who he works with if you can to see if he is there so you can call into him. In the scheme of things whatever he owes you is a small debt in fiscal terms so chasing the debt legally is going to cost you a lot so it's going to be done on your own bat.

goz83

melekalikimaka wrote: »

I have worked as one in the past yes. I studied photography as a degree so trust me on this

I also studied photography, including videography. Maybe it is difficult for some people, but I think wedding photography is about the easiest type of photography any half decent photographer can do. In some cases, several thousand is earned for 2 days of work. Most of the organising of people is done throught best man, maid if honor and hotel staff. There is a relatively small number of posed shots necessary and some of these can be done off location, after the church/registry office.

I would argue that any other event photography is more difficult than wedding photography. Yes, the bride must be kept happy....and with enough compliments and winks, she will be. Once the photos are picked from the cd, you just print the work and deliver on a promise. The OP can do very little. It's a very common story that a photographer hasn't produced paid for work in years. They would be much quicker if payment was on delivery, after a reasonable deposit.

Paulw

goz83 wrote: »

I also studied photography, including videography. Maybe it is difficult for some people, but I think wedding photography is about the easiest type of photography any half decent photographer can do.

Just curious - how many weddings have you done?

As for the OP - why are you feeling sorry for someone who has clearly doing all they can to avoid paying you? Time to put emotions aside and do what is needed. Chase and hound this person and chase the sheriff to reclaim your money.

goz83

Paulw wrote: »

Just curious - how many weddings have you done?

I kept photography as a hobbie. I did 2 weddings as favours. Half of the work was pre-planning a certain number of shots a few days before the wedding. I even managed to be best man at one of them and had the shots organised, using an assistant, paid for in food :pac:

I only produced a disc and a couple of A4 prints on both occasions, because I wasn't taking money. The wedding I was best man at; the photographer had let the groom down a few days before the wedding. She was kind enough to "recommend" someone who would be available on short notice. That's also common enough. I made an inquiry with the photographer when she cancelled, claiming she was very unwell. She said to me, she had another wedding and she needed several months notice for bookings. Looked like she dropped her client for a better paid gig.

I genuinely can't see why anyone would say wedding photgraphy is the hardest (unless they had vested interests). The truth is that its just about the most lucrative. Brides and Grooms are spending about 20k and above on the average wedding, so it's not such a big deal to charge over 2k for the day, or two that goes into it. One of my fellow classmates was doing a wedding as part of his final project. He was getting €1500 to take photos from 10am to 4pm and was only producing a disc. The guy hadn't even finished his photography course. The photos were pretty good, but I think he was well out of order charging that much for what was actually part of his final project!

the_syco

goz83 wrote: »

I did 2 weddings as favours

When a friend is doing it for free, there's not much the B&G can say.

When it's for cash, and the photographer is a stranger, there'll be more stress involved. Add a very stressed out groom, and a bride where everything has to be perfect, you're paying for the work done on the photo's afterwards as well as the what they do on the day. A lot of people think it's one days work, but it's usually one days work plus another days work or two doing the photos, the frames, paper, ink, etc. You'll probably be using a decent printer, and this ain't free; it's another overhead.

Most photographers doing a wedding in their locality should know somewhere close by that they can take photographs in (if the wedding is done in a hotel), and the small tricks of knowing how to place everyone helps.

donnapuppy wrote: »

We recieved the disc and have been fighting for the rest since.

Where the photos in JPG format, and if so, what size were they?