Wedding Lost……..
-By Ryan Cummings Photography
October 26th 2009
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It happened. I knew it would eventually, but it has finally happened. Sadly, it happened to a good friend of my wife’s family. The bride went about her routine finding the best wedding dress, the best flowers and the best reception venue. Then it came time to decide on the photography.
As a family friend I offered my services. The bride, feeling that she could get a “better deal” opted for a less expensive photographer.
After her engagement portrait session I reviewed the pictures. Immediately, I saw that the pictures were out of focus. I told the bride of my concerns about the quality of the photography. The bride asked the photographer about it and the response was that it was for “creativity.” The bride decided to give her photographer another chance and had her do her bridals. Again, the pictures came back out of focus, poorly composed and not properly exposed. Bridals were redone, yet again the pictures were substandard. I explained to the bride that this was not “creativity” and suggested that she might take a closer look at the photographer’s ability to creatively and professionally photograph her wedding day. Although I had given my advice and my opinion to the bride, she decided that she was getting a great deal with her photography and to stick with the photographer.
The wedding day came. The photographer with a second “candid” photographer came to photograph the wedding. Since my wife knew the bride and groom I attended the reception. Truthfully, it was hard not to watch the photographers and critique. It is natural for photographers to critique one another. Many professionals do so to improve their own photography. Here’s what I observed: They were not appropriately dressed; they were having difficulty organizing the group in a timely manner; they were continually fidgeting with their equipment. It seemed as if they were unsure about what they were doing and I feared that the photographers were not capturing the wedding in a creative and professional way.
My fears became a reality a few weeks after the wedding when the bride had a hard time getting the images from the photographer. After being asked many times by the bride, the photographer finally admitted that she had lost all her wedding photographs. All of them. The whole day. Gone! Even the second photographer’s images were lost. It was devastating.
The bride asked me what she should do. I told her that a full refund was the only thing she should accept. The photographer talked her out of the refund and instead offered to recreate the family portrait group image. How does a family portrait make up for the loss of wedding memories? How can one image replace the hundreds that were lost? It can’t.
Sadly, this story is often repeated by brides everywhere. In their excitement they don’t realize until too late that great photographers are worth the price and going with the least expensive photographer will too often leave you disappointed, or worse, empty handed.
I am a professional. I relate this story to other brides so that they may recognize that professionalism is important. You can’t redo your wedding day. As a professional photographer I care about your wedding day. Check out my work at www.ryancummings.com and call me at 801-864-0987. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have and discuss how a professional photographer benefits your wedding day.
Ryan Cummings
www.ryancummings.com
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