Wedding Day Disappointment (A cry for help)

[Pupator]

If you don't want to read this whole, long story - skip down to the last 3 paragraphs to see what I'm asking.
--------------------------

It's almost been six months since our wedding and almost everything was perfect. The ceremony and reception went off without a hitch and everyone had a good time. Six weeks later the photos came in...

But first some background. The MOTB found the photographer while working as a caterer at someone else's wedding. He was a really nice young man who seemed to know his stuff. When the proofs came in for that wedding we had a chance to see them and they were outstanding.

I did caution the MOTB that he was a bit too trendy for me (taking lots of photos at off-center angles, etc.) but she was convinced that he was the guy for us.

We were married in a rather large church with huge stained-glass windows. The wedding was in the later afternoon, so the light was a bit odd. Concerned about this, the MOTB called the photographer two weeks before the wedding and asked him about the lighting and expressed concern that it may be too dark if he didn't bring enough. He stated that there would be plenty of lighting and he did not need to bring any. She also went over with him the list of shots that were important to her.

The photographer called me and, having photographed one wedding myself (in other words, having done enough only to realize how difficult it is!) I expressed my concerns about the lighting and a few other things. He was able to address all of my fears (except that he was too trendy) to my satisfaction.

At the wedding everyone was impressed with the photographer. He was obviously very hard working and was all over the place - everywhere that anything was happening, he was there taking shots. He took 1100 pictures that afternoon (and he wasn't even allowed to shoot the parts between the Call to Worship and Benediction!).

Six weeks later the prints came in.

I was shocked. All of the formals taken in the church were far too dark. He had tried to compensate in photoshop and had blown out the whites of my brides dress. Blown out highlights and black shadows. There are hardly any usable formals. As expected he took tons of shots while "holding the camera crooked" and also shots that cut off the tops of people's heads.

The bride, MOTB, and MOTG were heartbroken, especially the MOTB who paid the bill ($2K). There were formal pictures with people with their eyes closed - he had done no work to fix closed eyes or sour expressions in photoshop. The ONLY picture he took of me and my mother as I walked her to her seat has her eyes closed. He had time to take several more if he had noticed that. Not to mention, he actually printed a proof of that and put it in our album!

I could (and have already) gone on and on about the disappointments. The MOTB spoke to him on the phone and he was shocked that we were unhappy. He, it seems, did not see anything wrong with the pictures. He was not willing to refund any money, but he did send me all of his original (unphotoshopped) files so that I could see if any could be salvaged.

Of course, he didn't print the filenames on the back of the proof prints, so the first thing I had to do was to spend several hours matching prints from the book (where the MOTB & MOTG marked which ones they wanted) with the files on my computer.

Now comes the process of trying to salvage as many as I can. This isn't so hard for me with some of them because I have a great deal of experience with PSP. The ones from the reception and the candid shots are relatively easy to fix.

What I'm not very good at, and worry about, are the formal shots. There are so many shadows and blown-out highlights that I don't know if I'm good enough with layers to make anything positive happen.

Are there any folks out there willing to perform an act of kindness for a stranger and take one or two of these pictures and see if you can help? Most of the poses have multiple shots, so I could send 2-3 images that (combined) should have everyone's eyes open and faces turned toward the camera. I certainly understand anyone who doesn't have time for this (especially this time of year), but I would really appreciate any help I could get.

[Andy]

Are there any folks out there willing to perform an act of kindness for a stranger and take one or two of these pictures and see if you can help? Most of the poses have multiple shots, so I could send 2-3 images that (combined) should have everyone's eyes open and faces turned toward the camera. I certainly understand anyone who doesn't have time for this (especially this time of year), but I would really appreciate any help I could get.

:wave Paul, Long Time No See :D

Congrats on the Nuptials. Bummer of a story. Sure, I'll help you.

First, it'll help if you can link me to an example of what's "too-dark" for you. IOW, show me the badness that faces me :lol3

Then, you can send me a DVD with all the files, and I'll fix them up for you. I'll load them onto a SmugMug Gallery, no charge for the account, and then you can order all the prints you like.

Of course, no charge for any of this service. We'd be happy to do it.

[jfriend]

Are there any folks out there willing to perform an act of kindness for a stranger and take one or two of these pictures and see if you can help? Most of the poses have multiple shots, so I could send 2-3 images that (combined) should have everyone's eyes open and faces turned toward the camera. I certainly understand anyone who doesn't have time for this (especially this time of year), but I would really appreciate any help I could get.

Andy's already offered to take care of you, so if that's all you need, then you can ignore the rest of my posting.

The way I've seen this forum (and other retouching forums) work is that you post a link to the originals of several photos that you want help/advice/retouches on and then people who like to do this stuff take a shot at their own retouches. In all cases, you get techniques for how to fix the photos yourself and in other cases, you can even ask the retoucher for the already retouched files.

You've piqued my curiousity for whether I can fix any of these, so I'd take a shot (when I had some time) if you posted some links to any originals.

[BinaryFx]

You've piqued my curiousity for whether I can fix any of these, so I'd take a shot (when I had some time) if you posted some links to any originals.

I second that.

[Andy]

You've piqued my curiousity for whether I can fix any of these, so I'd take a shot (when I had some time) if you posted some links to any originals.
Paul, by all means, you should take up John on his offer, and the others here, too. Put up a 1/2 dozen shots or so, for download, and let the forum go to work on them. You'll be amazed at what can be done :)

My offer still stands, too.

[Pupator]

Wow - you guys are amazing.

Andy - it's funny actually, the reason I haven't been around in so long is that I sold my 828 and all my gear to buy the engagement ring. It was certainly worth it, but I see a DSLR on the horizon.


JFriend & BinaryFX - I went through the images last night and labeled all of the ones each mother picked out. I'll put up some originals in a gallery that I'll come back and link to in a few hours.

Andy - Check your PM.

Thanks again to the amazing SumgMug community. :barb

[Pupator]

Here's a link to the gallery (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/ourwedding&page=all) with the pictures AS HE SENT THEM TO ME. In other words, these are the ones that the photographer post-processed, not the ones I'll ask you to work with. I just wanted to give you an idea of the problem.

Many of the shots are fine, except for the bizzare camera angles, but check out the formal poses - most are overexposed, oversaturated, and have shadows on faces. He cut off the tops of heads in many shots, etc. Note especially the shots of the bride with her bridesmaids and of me with my father. Also, we didn't ask for that many B&W, I think he just made them that way because he couldn't get the colors right.


I'm right now making a gallery of the non-post-processed images that I'm try to get prints of. Here's the link. (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/wedding2&page=all)

[Stustaff]

Wow he really loves cropping off the tops of peoples heads!
It seems to be an obsession!

Im sure your going to end up though with some great pictures, and the one thing he does seem to of captured is what a great day everyone had!

Congrats on your wedding.

[Pupator]

Wow he really loves cropping off the tops of peoples heads!
It seems to be an obsession!

Yeah, sadly, that's the one thing I specifically asked him not to do. I said something to the effect of: "I know that your style is photojournalism, and you're going to take some shots at odd angles, but please make sure that you don't cut off the tops of people's heads."

*sigh*

Lord willing, I'll never have to worry about a wedding photog again. :)

[Pupator]

Here's the gallery of unedited originals. (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/wedding2&page=all) These are the pictures that family members have indicated to me they want. I have put (in the caption of each image) the sizes they're looking for, just in case that influences anyone's cropping decisions. I've also put a note on 4-5 of them indicating any special requests they gave me.

I'm going to start working on some of the candids and non-formals myself tonight. I'm also sending Andy (an amazing man and friend, if you ask me) all of the images - so if you work on any and are really happy with your result, you might want to drop him a note so he doesn't work on one that you've already perfected!

I'll also create, and soon add a link to the end of this post, the gallery of unedited "rejects," in case you need someone's open eyes or anything else.

I should mention that my bride's dress is not pure white, but a light cream color. Don't read anything into that except that she has very pale skin!:D

[jfriend]

Here's the gallery of unedited originals. (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/wedding2&page=all) These are the pictures that family members have indicated to me they want.
Here's one I did. I did the basics of bringing the facial illumination into range (different correction on front row vs. back row) and then color correcting the skin. I also worked on removing a few skin blemishes and some of the shine from the flash.

I like the composition (except the cropped heads) and expressions in this photo. It has some other technical challenges (focus isn't spot on, depth of field is a bit shallow and the back left person is soft - probably an issue with his lens), but can still be treasured.

Here's the link to the full-size corrected one: http://jfriend.smugmug.com/photos/116812608-O.jpg

Corrected version:
http://jfriend.smugmug.com/photos/116812608-L.jpg

And the original:
http://jfriend.smugmug.com/photos/116809863-L.jpg

[Phyxius]

I don't really have much room too talk since I'm a total noob to PS editing/retouching, but I think your corrected version has just a touch too much Yellow.

[jfriend]

I don't really have much room too talk since I'm a total noob to PS editing/retouching, but I think your corrected version has just a touch too much Yellow.

That's a personal choice based on either how you remember the real subjects or how you want it to look (how sun-tanned you want them to look). Since I don't know what their skin color really was and I can't use other references in the photo because it's not an overall white balance issue, I have to guess.

You could be right. After dropping the illumination on the faces, it was way too magenta, so I had to rebalance that with the yellow. There was also an issue where the front row of guys was different than the back row of guys (presumably due to extra flash illumination in the front) so I had to apply additional corrections to the back row.

Fortunately, it's very easy to tweak the yellow to taste. In RGB, just pull the blue curve up a tiny bit to remove a little yellow (adds blue which is the complement of yellow). Set the curve adjustment layer to the color blend mode if you don't want to affect luminosity at all.

[Dee]

and the originals were too light and too pink... something inbetween perhaps?

It is interesting to see the number of photos taken and the number actually chosen by the relatives... I love this stuff!

I can't believe he didn't do some "burst" mode with your mom and you walking down the aisle, would have fixed the closed eye problem...

Overall, I don't think the photos are "that" bad, I've seen worse where people have paid even more.

Now is the time to ask your entire guest list to send you photos that they took!!! :D

Your bride's dress is very pretty, BTW and I love her wedding bouquet.

[Rando]

If it's exposure/shadow/highlights/wb any adjustments would be more effective if you had the raw images.

IMO, the highlights on the wedding don't seem to be blown out to me (I can see all the embroidery). The suits may seem a little dark. It could just be my monitor.

IMO, I don't think your photographer did a horrible job.

[Pupator]

Dee - It's funny isn't it, how relatively few they want! Thanks for the compliments on the bride and dress - the MOTB made the bouquet.

Rando - you should see the prints. He didn't take blown-out pictures, he took underexposed pictures and then blew out the highlights in photoshop trying to correct his errors. Find a picture of the MOTB and FOTB (obviously, you don't know who they are) - but you can't. Can you imagine? There is no picture of the two of them? There's no usable picture of me and my father. He didn't even take dozens of the shots we'd asked for and agreed upon before the day. I have no desire to hurt the guy's feelings or ruin his reputation, which is why I haven't posted his name or company; but the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is terrible. But as jfriend has shown, with proper processing, they can turn out quite well.

[Pupator]

Here's my stab at one that my wife wants to give her grandmother for Christmas. It wasn't a bad shot to begin with, so that helps.

I had to crop it for 8x10, so I used a clone brush to remove a distracting candle on the right. I used an adjustment layer to bring out the blues a bit and a correction layer to make the whites whiter.

Feedback?

http://upload.pbase.com/image/71674224.jpg

And the original (sadly, I don't see a big difference apart from the crop)
http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71661448/large.jpg


-----
This one, however, I'm having much more trouble getting right (#483). She asked for it at 5x7, but I don't think that works.
http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71662724/medium.jpg

[Tommyboy]

Hi, just stopping in and don't have really anything to offer but a hearty congratulations and sorry the pics are giving you fits.

There seems to be a great deal that can be salvaged from these pictures. As others have pointed out the wacky, fashion-photographer angles are maddening. . . .

FWIW, this guy is not a photographer, he's a guy with a camera, and he's got NO BUSINESS charging people 2K for anything.

Good luck with the kind offers from the cool people on this board.

[Dee]

Here's my stab at one that my wife wants to give her grandmother for Christmas. It wasn't a bad shot to begin with, so that helps.

That's some pretty strong side lighting there. If you "really" want a good photo you are going to have to make selections to the dark side of everyone's face, lighten the tone a little to match the "bright" side.

Have you tried shadow/highlight in Photoshop CS? That should help quite a bit. If not you can make a "contrast mask" (search in google) to do it the "old fashioned" way.

Since your wife is so fair (I have a very fair skinned daughter) I'd leave her alone, she looks fine, and work on the other people in the group.

Be interested to see what Andy comes up with! :-)

It is difficult, not knowing everyone's skin tone, how far to adjust. I noticed in one photo I looked at the ISO is rather high on the Canon 20D. That's one way, I guess to get around not having enough light.

I always tell my bride and groom (not that I do weddings anymore professionally) to get one or two people to act as photographer nags. They have the list of photos and follow the photographer around and make sure he/she is getting the shots the family wants. The Bride and Groom are too busy to be expected to do this on "their" day. I always ask who I can talk to if I have questions about photos, etc.

As I said, have your guest list send you their photos!

If I have some time I may try one photo. I'm actually working on a project this week so my time is limited.

[Andy]

Ok these won't be easy :D but here's a quick stab at one through I2E (http://www.colour-science.com/)

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/116871374-L.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/116871339-L.jpg

[Dee]

shadow/highlight, mask out the background (I like it darker) new layer pick up color of the black, paint over candles use darken mode. I then did a few hue/saturation layers, one separate mask for the older woman right of the bride. A few more things... In hue/saturation I took out all green and magenta, lighted the red and desaturated the red a little. Desaturated the yellow a little, and lightened it a tad.

[Zanotti]

Before: ((not all that bad))
http://zanotti.smugmug.com/photos/116876585-M.jpg

Improved (?):

http://zanotti.smugmug.com/photos/116876548-L.jpg


Before:

http://zanotti.smugmug.com/photos/116877618-L.jpg


After:

http://zanotti.smugmug.com/photos/116877682-L.jpg

http://zanotti.smugmug.com/photos/116878553-L.jpg

http://zanotti.smugmug.com/photos/116878580-L.jpg

[Rando]

Hi Pupator, I thought you meant he blew out the jpgs and that's what you had put on pbase. Mea culpa.

I still stand by my statement, it's not horrible, I've seen much worse $2K, but then again I've seen a whole lot better for free, check out some of the first timers at FM, http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/48

I think with a little creativity and pp, you can put together a very nice album with these shots.

Anyways on this photo, cropping seems a little tight to me, but it was tight to begin with. Maybe get a 8x12 instead of an 8x10?

Here's my stab at one that my wife wants to give her grandmother for Christmas. It wasn't a bad shot to begin with, so that helps.

I had to crop it for 8x10, so I used a clone brush to remove a distracting candle on the right. I used an adjustment layer to bring out the blues a bit and a correction layer to make the whites whiter.

Feedback?

http://upload.pbase.com/image/71674224.jpg

And the original (sadly, I don't see a big difference apart from the crop)
http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71661448/large.jpg


-----
This one, however, I'm having much more trouble getting right (#483). She asked for it at 5x7, but I don't think that works.
http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71662724/medium.jpg

[Pupator]

No worries Rando - I should have been more clear.

Thanks for the encouraging words and the advice about the crop. I'll give it a try!

[Jeffro]

Wow....that's too bad for you. I looked at quite a few of his shots, and I can't belive he thought he could shoot at 1/30 or even 1/15 sec and get clear shots. He was obviously chimping and thought the LCD was showing things in focus....not. There's a shot of the bridal bouquet that is totally missed...he didn't even get the flowers in focus.

The use of a 17mm lens to do up close full length poses...not good. Unless you guys really are all very tall, and very skinny.

Did he shoot the wedding in jpg? Or did he use RAW and give you the converted jpgs? Because if he shot in jpg only...he's a fool.

I hope the gang here can salvage some of the photos for you, even one really good one will be priceless in the end.

[Swartzy]

These are done on my laptop (a bit different display than the IMac) but here are a couple:

http://Swartzy.smugmug.com/photos/116902600-L.jpg

http://Swartzy.smugmug.com/photos/116898584-L.jpg

[Pupator]

I'm really thankful for the work that you all have done.

For those of you who have worked on images - would you be willing to e-mail me the original size version of your work?

paulsmail at gmail dot com


Thanks!

[leuallen]

Rule: use flash or racoon eyes.

[lynnesite]

Hard to work on 800x533, but here ya go. Or was there a way I could get to original size?
http://lynnesite.smugmug.com/photos/117337114-L.jpg

[Seneca]

I love this place...so many nice people...:clap

[Pupator]

I love this place...so many nice people...:clap

It's amazing, isn't it?


Blessings to all for your continued help!

[Andy]

OK Paul, 92 photos are here:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2276766/1/120334583

These were done with individual tweaks in I2E. Some improved greatly, some marginally. Others (few) didn't improve at all. None were harmed IMO.

Please go ahead and order a full set of these, 4x6 (I recommend Lustre). And When you have ordered them, send an email to ATTN: Andy at our help Desk with the order# and I'll void the charge. The first order is on us, Paul :D


:wave

[Pupator]

Thanks a bunch Andy. You, and the entire dgrin community, are the best!

[mmroden]

Wow, this is a humbling thread. I haven't seen this kind of generosity in a web community since, well, ever. If I hadn't signed up before, I would definitely do so now :)

[dmcreations]

Andy, great job with those photos. I'm pretty impressed with what I2E can do in the right hands. I'm sure the prints will look amazing.

So I'm trying to learn more from this particular thread, and I'm wondering if more of the issue with the photographer might have been his lack of post-processing skills rather than the photography itself? Obviously, based on Andy's work, the photographer could have saved himself big time by using something like I2E to help correct the images. Granted, I think he might have chosen a different lens and perhaps camera settings for this event. Perhaps better use of reflectors for more fill lighting would have helped?

So I'm wondering, In the opinion of the very skilled and talented folks on this discussion board, what could/should the photographer have done differently to come through for his client? In this situation, what suggestions might you have made were you in the position to give him some direction during the event? I'm really curious to find out if my own hunches are correct or if others have some different ideas...

[jfriend]

So I'm wondering, In the opinion of the very skilled and talented folks on this discussion board, what could/should the photographer have done differently to come through for his client? In this situation, what suggestions might you have made were you in the position to give him some direction during the event? I'm really curious to find out if my own hunches are correct or if others have some different ideas...
I don't count myself among the skilled and talented, but I'll offer my "whipping post style" opinions on a select few shots:

http://i5.pbase.com/t6/97/314397/4/71660669.IKr2nwsR.jpg
Camera shake blur in some photos. Photos like this one (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71660669/original) were taken at 1/15 and are not sharp anywhere. Assuming the equipment isn't this bad, it's probably motion blur from the handheld 1/15th exposure. Since he's already at ISO 800, he either needs steadier technique (tripod or monopod) or up his shutter speed and rely on the flash more and let the background go darker.

http://i5.pbase.com/t1/97/314397/4/65004616.sCNI45jq.jpg
Overexposed photos like tihs one (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/65004616). This is probably just a missed flash exposure and a similiarly missed white balance setting.


http://i5.pbase.com/t6/97/314397/4/71660714.iHHgkSED.jpg
In the original of this photo (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71660714) if you look at the gentleman in the back left, he's very, very blurry. That could either be subject motion blur (exif says 1/40th) or it could be his equipment isn't sharp in the upper left corner. I can't say for sure. I wouldn't even say the front center guys are all that sharp so this is probably a combination of camera shake motion blur and the guy in the back left moving some.


http://i5.pbase.com/t6/97/314397/4/71660720.IFvqjZtQ.jpg
Overexposed outdoor photos like this one (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71660720). The red channel is blown in parts of all the faces and the several channels are blown in the whites. A simple look at the histogram would show this to be true. The camera's meter was on some sort of averaging metering mode and it was probably fooled by the predominance of black in the shot and that caused the overexposure just like a predominance of white in a snowy scene causes an underexposure.


http://i5.pbase.com/t6/97/314397/4/71660723.fualNhny.jpg
Harsh lighting. Shots like this one (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71660723) just seem like the lighting isn't soft enough. The shot is also overexposed, but nothing is seriously blown and even when you try to bring it back in post processing, the shot just seems too harsh. Unless you are trying to do some kind of special effect with lighting, the point of lighting is to let you see the subject without calling attention to the lighting itself. This shot just seems like it cries out to me that it's a high intensity flash shot rather than it's a wonderfull shot of five beautifully dressed women. The fact that the bride has a very light complexion and is wearing a white dress makes this even more important to get right. I don't know the circumstances, but bounce lighting, diffusers, an assistant with a second diffused or bounced flash and a bias toward the underexposed side with such a fair skinned bride are all options.


http://i5.pbase.com/t6/97/314397/4/71660726.hRYbBf9E.jpg
Undesirable shadows. In a shot like this one (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71660726), there are deep shadows in the woman's eyes and nearly all the light seems to be coming from the side. I don't know exactly how this happened unless it's all natural light or all with a flash on the side, but there needs to be at least some light that can light up her eye sockets. This one is sharp so the camera/lens can take sharp shots at 1/60, f/4 with the right technique.


http://i5.pbase.com/t6/97/314397/4/71661440.XTiIK5pQ.jpg
Composition and wide angle distortion. In this one (http://www.pbase.com/pmphotos/image/71661440/large), it's got the same issue of overexposure and too much side lighting. But, it also shows a composition miss - the bride's dress is cut off at the bottom of the shot and there's extra background at the top. A little more care when aiming the camera would have solved that one. There's also some significant distortion for the people on the edges of this photo that stretches them and makes them look wide. You can see it clearly in the two people on the left of the photo and one on the right. The shot is at 20mm. I can't tell if this is a lens distortion issue or if you just can't take group shots at this wide angle with people at the edge and not get this kind of distortion. Back up and shoot at 25-35mm would certainly solve this if it's not just a bad lens.

[urbanaries]

Interesting thread...enough to scare off any just-getting-started wedding photographer such as myself.

The camera angles/style was well defined before you hired him. You can't expect someone to change their style dramatically for your event. If you didn't like his style, you shouldn't have hired him IMHO.

As far as the formals, what type of lighting did he use? Continuous set up on stands + umbrellas? Or on camera flash?

Would using a diffused speedlite on a bracket (with close attn to EV) have salvaged the formals significantly in anyone's opinion? Am I on the right track?

[Pupator]

Interesting thread...enough to scare off any just-getting-started wedding photographer such as myself.

You should be scared. This is the single most important photo-event of most people's lives. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do them. :D I don't mean this to say "don't ever do them." Just make sure that when you do, you have your stuff together.


The camera angles/style was well defined before you hired him. You can't expect someone to change their style dramatically for your event. If you didn't like his style, you shouldn't have hired him IMHO.

You're mostly correct here. I appealed to the bride-to-be and her mother that this was not the photographer for me, but they paid the bill. To their defense, he assured them that he would take an equal mix of traditional and "trendy" shots. He did not live up to this part of the deal.

As far as the formals, what type of lighting did he use? Continuous set up on stands + umbrellas? Or on camera flash?

This is what made the MOTB so angry. When he came to the rehearsal, he had no umbrellas, no external lighting. He had never mentioned that before. She told him that she was sure he needed more light and he said "Don't worry, there's plenty of light, this is what I do." Having hired a professional and paid him a professional's fee, she took his word for it. He used an on-camera flash for every picture. He had no off-camera lighting.

[urbanaries]

You should be scared. This is the single most important photo-event of most people's lives. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do them. :D I don't mean this to say "don't ever do them." Just make sure that when you do, you have your stuff together.

I totally agree...which is why I scored myself several assistant gigs before doing one on my own (again).


He used an on-camera flash for every picture. He had no off-camera lighting.

do you mean on camera as in the 30d's pop-up flash (holy moly, unforgiveable!!!)? or an on-camera speedlite?

[Andy]

Hi Paul :)

I've voided the charge on your print order. Enjoy them, on the house, from SmugMug with Love :lust

[Maestro]

A lot of class in this thread. I am glad that everything has worked out with the photos and I hope the beautiful new wife allows a new DSLR to join the family soon. :thumb

[Andy]

Thank you for the $50 Starbucks card - though that was totally unnecessary, it's just well, my job to make SmugMuggers prints look great :D

I'll bring the Starbucks card out to HQ in a few weeks on my next trip and buy drinks for all of SmugMug :ivar

Thanks again!

[Malte]

This is some gob-smackingly heartwarming stuff. :lust When whoever came up with the word community, I'm sure this is what they meant.

Andy - You da man.

Paul - Congratulations on your marriage and your lovely bride.

Smugmuggers - I love you all.

Malte

[Pindy]

I'm reading this and thinking this must be the coolest forum in existence. I participate in many fora on many subjects and this one shows the highest level of professionalism and experience while also being the nicest bunch of people. Bravo!

[Tanuki]

Andy, you are one classy guy! :clap

[Pamela]

Wow !
This has left me speachless-:clap

There is nothing like dgrin members and staff- Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way.

[Fishead]

......by everyone on this forum.

[jhilman]

I'm new to this board, and I'm thoroughly impressed with the people so far.

Andy, you are a class act. Your processing did improve the photos in most cases a great deal.

I have to say that the photographer's style wasn't undesirable to me...though some of the technique was questionable. I do like alot of the crops and angles he used though. I tend to take a more traditional approach myself so that could be why the "trendy" style appeals to me.

Like I said... his technique wasn't sound. He should have used more lighting. I saw quite a few photos where he used shutter speeds that were way too low. I'm guessing he had a 17-55 Canon lens which has IS, but I think that photographers rely too much on it and forget that IS is only good for taming camera motion at slow shutters.. and does nothing for subject motion. I also didn't see a single image where he went above ISO 800 though I didn't look through them all. I think ISO 1600 on the camera's he used are so good at noise control... he would have been better off bumping up. I mean the images are VERY noisey as is. No doubt from severe underexposure and being corrected in RAW conversion.

[Quitarita]

Ok these won't be easy :D but here's a quick stab at one through I2E (http://www.colour-science.com/)


Hi Andy!

You and the dgrin community are amazing. :) When I grow up, I wanna be just like you.

Am just starting to play with i2e, was wondering what defaults you generally use. I've only processed some photos using the 100% defaults and they are coming out better. Just wondering if you have other general defaults.

Gracias,

[20DNoob]

To the OP, I wouldn't worry to much about putting the word out about this guy. He's got no business shooting weddings IMO as they just happen to be one of lifes most important days. Maybe you'd save someone else the pain of going through this by doing so.

Your much more forgiving than I am, thankfully you've managed to find a great bunch here.

[Pupator]

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments about my (indeed) lovely bride and for the well wishes.

Thanks to Andy, Smugmug, and the entire dgrin community for their help.

[Andy]

Nice to be noticed :D

http://www.emilsit.net/blog/archives/excellent-customer-service-from-smugmug/

[photorelive]

wedding photographs , really needs a very professional photographer and experience ( not just professional ) he have to be expert in suddenly situations , cause the only thing lasts from this day is the wedding photos , drinks , food , every thing is about to be gone in the end of the day , but the photographs last for long time

[Spring]

Nice to be noticed :D

http://www.emilsit.net/blog/archives/excellent-customer-service-from-smugmug/

Awwwww. My heart just melted a little...

I just happened upon this thread while drinking my morning coffee. Wow. What started out as a terrible situation and plea, ended in an amazing, kind solution. Kudos to DG, Smugmug members and Andy for your willingness to help out with your knowledge and expertise.

I haven't been a member of this forum for long, but any questions I have had has been clearly and quicky answered by so many kind people.

Keep up the great work! :clap

[eur0ed]

I'm very glad this thread got resurrected. I've also only been here for a short amount of time..this just shows me I selected the right place to call home. This was an amazing story.

[zoomer]

Awesome job by the community :clap coming to the aid of a fellow member.

Truth is at that price point this guys work is average in todays market.
If he did have a flash he did not know how to use it. I shoot formals sometimes with one flash on a bracket, it is all in how you use it. Sometimes the conditions allow that sometimes they don't...a professional needs to show up at the wedding prepared to light the formals in whatever method is necessary to achieve "professional" results.
Slow shutter speeds and poor lighting skills are this guys kryptonite, he did not control the light inside or out.
I agree the cut off body parts and tilts are not for me, but that is one of the trends these days. Granted having told him not to do it...he has no excuse.

There are so many NOT professional photographers out there these days that it is a real buyer beware market. Unfortunately the average person getting married just does not have the knowledge to choose a good photographer. And spending more won't necessarily save you either, there are plenty of hacks charging $4000. wedding photography as well.

Insist on seeing examples of full wedding galleries from your potential photographer, indoor and outdoor. A professional should be able to provide a consistent result no matter where he is or what the lighting conditions are.

WHEN TO RUN
Make sure he/she has professional equipment, camera, lenses, lighting.
If your photographer says he shoots everything in natural light and doesn't even have a flash.....run....
If he/she does not have any 2.8 or faster lenses or asks you what you mean when you ask them about it.....run.....
If they refuse to show you examples of their work until you can't stand to look at one more picture....run....
If they don't want to listen to you talk about your wedding dreams and your plans for your day......run.....
If a photographer won't give you the names of at least 3 brides whose weddings he photographed that you could ask them about their experience with the photographer....run....

[lynnesite]

Great advice.

Some fabulous consumer advice at this site: http://www.takeoffyourmommygoggles.com/consumers/what-is-a-fauxtographer-2/

[PedalGirl]

I know this thread is old... but I'm new here and just came upon it. The love and support of the community, dgrin and SmugMug is amazing... and yet somehow, even with my brief experience with you all... I'm not surprised. :)

It amazes me how often this sort of stuff happens. A friend of mine who I work with (my day job LOL) got married last year. Hired a professional photographer who showed lots of examples of great wedding photos. However, when she got her proofs.... they were horrible. Some out of focus, some in horrible lighting and I swear the girl's name must have been Eileen... because every picture was askew. For this she paid $1000 and didn't have a single print yet. She had to pay an additional $500 for the disc with the originals.... which she gave to me to edit. I managed to fix up quite a few for her. But am still amazed at what some professionals are able to ruin. Oh, and did I mention... come to find out the photog showed up with only a wide angle lens!

[goldenballs]

Yes this is such a heart warming story. It is a shame the cowboy walks away with the money but thankfully your memories are salvaged.

[Pupator]

Heh - I got a kick out of seeing this thread resurrected (I was the groom in the poorly photographed wedding). Daphne and I celebrate our 5th anniversary this Friday. We have two kids now. How time flies.

I did want to comment on this:
WHEN TO RUN
Make sure he/she has professional equipment, camera, lenses, lighting.
If your photographer says he shoots everything in natural light and doesn't even have a flash.....run....
If he/she does not have any 2.8 or faster lenses or asks you what you mean when you ask them about it.....run.....
If they refuse to show you examples of their work until you can't stand to look at one more picture....run....
If they don't want to listen to you talk about your wedding dreams and your plans for your day......run.....
If a photographer won't give you the names of at least 3 brides whose weddings he photographed that you could ask them about their experience with the photographer....run....

Very few of those questions would have resulted in our running from this guy. He did have f/2.8 lenses. We did see plenty of his work and, apart from artistic differences, they were technically fine. He did have a flash, an assistant, and (IIRC) indicated that he used natural light "whenever possible." He was very good at communication and was a very hard-worker (he was everywhere) on the wedding day. Unfortunately, he was not technically proficient enough to cope with the difficult lighting scenarios in this particular church and he was not professional enough to find that out beforehand.