My recent negative experience with a wedding photography business really takes the cake!
I hired The Pros (www.thepros.com) to do our wedding ceremony and reception pictures because I saw badges of approval from several wedding websites like TheKnot, so on and so forth. I definitely learned a lot from this experience, let me tell you!
But back to my story…
The photographer arrived on time and took pictures, he had some small device he was using which he said was a “light meter” at various points throughout the reception (professional, right?), he walked around the reception snapping photos, etc. All the things that you think a photographer is supposed to be doing, am I right?
A week later I receive the link to the digital photos that had been uploaded to the website.
…
…
…
All I can think is, there must be some mistake.
Every single photo was crooked. The majority of the photos were blurry and improperly focused. He had people in the wedding party that couldn’t be seen because of where he was telling them to stand for photos. There was a smear on the camera’s lens which clearly showed up in virtually every single photo – from the FIRST photo to the LAST photo.
I. Was. Livid.
Wouldn’t you be?
I mean, this is my wedding. It’s not gonna happen again – I can’t call for a “do-over” on this one!
I called the company and spoke to a manager. He tried to tell me the crookedness of the photos is an art form called the Dutch Tilt and it is the “trend” right now.
Excuse me? I didn’t ask for a Dutch Tilt, and even if it is “trendy” why on earth would you photograph an entire album in this manner, especially if you had not first cleared it with the customer?!
He also tried to tell me that the photos were not blurry.
Excuse me?! If you actually look at the photos and not the thumbnails you can clearly see the photos are blurry.
He told me the smears from the lens could be photoshopped out.
A week or so goes by and only a handful of photos are photoshopped by the photographer. He is clearly an amateur. (He probably does not even have Photoshop.)
The photos are over-exposed (which means you can barely see any details of my dress) and our skin is totally unnatural-looking. He tried to remove some of the smears but made it end up looking like a big smudge instead. Don’t ask me how this even happens.
Blurry photos can’t be fixed and neither can bad subject-placement. The photos are a total disaster.
There is NOT ONE PHOTO that is professional quality. Not ONE!
The manager offered me a free photo album – the kind where each page is a printed photo of your choosing.
Excuse me? Why would I want a photo album full of crappy pictures?!
After several weeks of going back and forth about this rediculousness, I finally spoke to a higher manager. Finally! Someone who agrees that these photos are NOT the quality of a professional! But he can’t issue me a full refund and instead only a partial refund.
By this time I am totally fed up with The Pros and just want to be done with them forever. Partial refund? Fine.
I asked them to send me the CD with all the untouched images. They sent the wrong CD. Twice!
I’m done with this company. Please, if you’re in need of a photographer, stay far far away from The Pros!
The only thing that saved our wedding memories is that we had friends and family with good cameras who like to take pictures.
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We ended up getting wedding pictures done this past weekend. My brother did it for us while visiting and he did an outstanding job. My brother isn’t a professional photographer – but he should be!
Photo from the Pros: I don’t know if it’s large enough for you to see the smear that is clearly over our faces.
Photo from the Pros: I wish I could say that this photo was just a fluke…but virtually the entire album was like this – blurry people with the background being crystal clear! Not to mention crooked and over-exposed with that stupid lens smear…
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A photo that my brother took (our official portrait): I love it!!
