Response #2 from the photographer. Wow.

jena.n.ross · January 2011

So I wrote up a firm but still polite email last night, stating that I'd asked 56 brides how many photos they received, and reported those numbers to her. I reminded her that her package states "all" the photos taken on the day. And just said we didn't have anything bad to say (not strictly true), and to please not make this the sticking point.

Copied and pasted from my email this morning, the font, size, and spelling have not been altered.

Firsty, I wont get to much into the "professionalizm" of my job and other photographers and how they do their businees " In this digital age". My business states "(her name) Photography" which means i run my own business, how I deem fit...The law states I can do that!! You go to many PROFESSIONAL photographers, not just an ameture who offers over 1000 photos and they by no means offer that many photos. Im a member of the professional photographers association and the handing out over 1000 photos to their client that are unedited is not a common practice. Id be happy to supply you with a list of those professionals, so you can ask or 'poll' them! You've already stated you were happy with my work, if you prefer to bad mouth me...thats your right however keep in mind a few law that cover a professional providing services. Its clear i wont be getting any business sent my way by reference of you anyway~ The statement "to use as youd like", applies to the DISK with the photos on it....To avoid any further contact and before I contact my reps, ill supply you with your disk in the near future with all the photos (the ones I have not deleted completely). and thanks for making my business only stronger, i will be changing my contract so that I can run my business in a professional way...

Anabeth420 · January 2011

How the hell does she figure she can jump in your sh!t b/c you called her on her own contract??? What a moron, who the hell p!ssed in her cheerios?

chelley599 · January 2011

Ouch...she has a stick up her bum! If the contract states all photos taken then she really shouldn't have deleted any of them in the first place because doing so break the all photos taken part of the contract right?

jena.n.ross · January 2011

I think, with the way she kept mentioning her "professionalizm," she must have forgotten that she was the one that pulled the "I'm the professional" and therefore the sole decider on what's a good picture card.

Sigh. I want to argue with her, just to try to make her see where she's wrong. She completely ignored that my issue was that her package says "all" the photos.

Needless to say, I won't be pressing for that photo shoot I won (for breast cancer awareness month).

Anyone that "Like"d her on FB is free to unlike her :P

christieep · January 2011

Regardless of what any photography practice is....I feel like we all have the right to all of the photos taken on that day, good or bad. Our photographers interact with us for a very short period of time and have no idea who or what may have been important to us that day. I guess I just don't understand why some photogs are so against giving all the images. If anyone on this board is a professional photographer or knows one well, can you explain this policy? I feel because it is such a common practice to only give part of the pictures taken there must be a good reason. I don't buy the reason that some of the pictures are bad, if they really are bad, I'm not going to be sharing them either so it won't look bad for the photographer.

nfp147 · January 2011

First, if she thinks she's a professional, she should portray herself as one and turn on the spell and grammar check on her email.

Second, a real professional would never take that tone with a customer.

Lilac++ · January 2011

Her response is INCREDIBLY unprofessional. I am astounded. We noticed that our photographers missed a significant number of photos on our "must take" list, plus they sent us about 40% of the photos in black and white (to be "artistic") AND we were not pleased with some of their photo editing. We had previously asked to have the raw files, so that we could touch them up ourselves and also have color versions of all the photos at the same time. They came back saying "raw files are property of our company, but let us know what pictures you want in color and we will send them to you."

I recently sent them a rather long email outlining all the missing photos from our list and about 160 photos I wanted the color version of. We got a phone call the next day with one of the photogs apologizing and they are now going to send us ALL our photos in raw format (~1800 instead of ~700 they had sent originally), so we can do whatever we want. That seems far more reasonable for a professional photog than that crappy-@ass email yours sent back to you.

alecat9 · January 2011

It always seems the ones that protest too much and state they are being something (in this case, professional) are often not. That was an incredibly unprofessional response, but it does sound like she is going to send you another disc with what she hasn't deleted. I'm sorry you have had to deal with this and I would put out a review of your experience (written in the most professional

terms possible) to provide a service/warning to other brides. It sucks that this experience with her has been so crummy.

Mia2700 · January 2011

nfp147:

First, if she thinks she's a professional, she should portray herself as one and turn on the spell and grammar check on her email.

Second, a real professional would never take that tone with a customer.

This. WTF!

EmDizzle · January 2011

Jena,

I am so sorry. I don't even know where to start. Apparently she's 16?

Gah.

A smart, professional photographer reserves the rights to all the photos to protect their name as an artist**. Wedding photography is not easy (I've had much photography experience, but after my first wedding, I seriously started to question whether I or not I wanted to continue. I got my butt kicked. there is so much pressure to get the best photo of so many moments, there really is a science to it that takes training, experience and general artistic ability).

Depending on the region, standards in the local wedding photography world can vary, and it can often be difficult to make a name for yourself. With that, a photographer may be very concerned with what photos they release. It is all to easy for an angry bride to post only worst photos onto a local board and kill the photographers business. At that point it becomes very difficult for the photographer to defend themselves, whether or not they deserved harshest criticism.

**However a good photographer also understands the emotional attachment someone will have to photos taken of them or of their big wedding day, even if they've never seen them yet. There is usually a professional compromise/middle ground that can be met so that both parties are content. The number one goal for any photographer is (or should be) to get the client to recommend their business.

In Jena's case, this woman is not making any attempt towards finding a middle ground. There are simple ways this photographer could at least show Jena the remaining photos, without such a fuss, either inviting Jena over to view proofs on her computer (which used to be extremely common), or making a strongly protected photo viewing site with heavy watermarks. It's upsetting that she just immediately threw up her defenses, without one small step toward a middle ground. Ugh.

Xan921 · January 2011

I don't really know what to say that hasn't already been said, but man, what a biatch.

christieep · January 2011

EmDizzle- Thanks for speaking from a photographer's POV, I guess I didn't think of how a vindictive bride could really ruin someone's business. I do like the ideas of making pictures password protected and with a big "PROOF" mark across them to at least give the brides access to all of their pictures good or bad.

OceanHutt · January 2011

wow....Jena I dont even have words for this...I read it in the laundromat earlier and was freaking out.....

I'm apalled at the childish, bratty, beeyotchy way she replied to you. I'm sorry you had to go through this, and that she wont honor her contract the way its written.

ugh....

kjhharris · January 2011

My feedback (to her, not you, Jena):

1. Did you REALLY spell professionalism with a "Z"??? In an e-mail about your professional credentials?

2. Do you not understand anything about contracts? The signed document where you stated the bride would receive ALL images shot on the day is the definition of "not running your business as you deem fit" - you run it in accordance with contracts that are legally binding. Deviance from said contract opens you to litigation.

3. Jena's explained why she was looking for the additional, unedited images. This is due to missing images and moments.

4. I'm glad you've made your business run in a more professional way. That will be quite the sight to behold, as you don't seem to know where spell check is located on your e-mail client, have poor syntax, and have absolutely no skills in customer service. This is truly impressive, as you are in a SERVICE-based job.

5. I've UNLIKED you on Facebook, so take that, biatch!

Much love to you, Jena, for not throttling her. You show tremendous restraint.

jena.n.ross · January 2011

Thanks for all the support, ladies. I haven't wanted to get nasty with her for a few reasons, the first being that I'm just not that person. I'm a b!tch, but not in a mean way, if that makes any sense (at least imo). I've been extremely polite to her, and had Ross (my English major, and is just over all more patient than I am) read and tweak it.

Her professionalizm is amazing. I went at this from a painfully non-aggressive, non-confrontational tone, so her tone and response were just completely unwarranted. Like Kenna said, this is a service based job. And the swaying power of one bride to another can be staggering either positive or negative. I completely understand Em's point about vindictive brides ruining a business. All she's done with her response is ensure that I will never recommend her to another bride.

I would really like to write up a nice long email (or call) with a list of the things she, the professional, should have done, and tell her exactly what I think about her service and communication skills. Just logic the crap out of her. But I'm going to wait until she sends this next disk. I'm curious how long this is going to take her. Then I'm going to turn her over to Ross. He might be the patient one, but he's also a helluva lot meaner than I am, and is willing to tell someone all about it.

PS - thanks for unliking her, Kenna! I know some of my friends liked her when I was trying to win that photo shoot. I wonder if she's smart enough to tie the unliking to this (I know for a fact she stalks her fan number like I stalk my post count

ETA: She unfriended me immediately after she sent her email.

pondering_gal · January 2011

The first thing that came to mind was Oh no she di'innnt!

All these girls basically summed up everything.
Like, I CAN'T STAND when someone sends a resume and doesn't proof it. It makes you look TERRIBLE! So along the same lines, when you are representing YOURSELF, you better make damn sure you are spelling things correctly, capitalizing where needed, coming off as an adult, etc...

That's fan-f'ing-tastic that she's going to revise all future contracts, but guess what? Yours is still valid, whether or not she agrees with it.

I say, smack a b*tch.

Response #2 from the photographer. Wow.

Re: Response #2 from the photographer. Wow.

Choose Another Board

Search Boards