Best way to complain about a photo...

I have been a reader/lurker here for a little over a year now, I don't post much. Forgive me if this is the wrong area to post this.

My husband and I attended his holiday military ball and had our photo taken by a professional(I use the term loosely) We also had a photo at a ball done in April by a different photographer and I love it.

However we received our photo(that we paid for) this week and I am less than happy. She did use an on camera flash that I hadn't thought about at the time. There are deep shadows behind us, my dress is very over exposed, looks cherry red and it was a wine color. The focus is not on our faces, she cut our feet off on a full length photo and its not centered to be a portrait. It looks about as great as a snap off a cheap disposable to be honest.

I am no professional, but I have been doing photography for 2 years as a hobby and I know when I see a bad photo.

What would be the best way to approach this with the photographer? I honestly want my cash back as I can take a better photo of us at home on my backgrounds using a tri-pod and timer! I do not want to come off as a total know it all, but in this case I know the work was not charge worthy. Thoughts?

Thanks
Christine

I would try to be as calm and reasonable as possible. If its truly out of focus and poorly exposed then you probably have a case for a refund. I would say though that all photo ops are not created equally so comparing what you can do in a home studio and a live shot at an event is a bit off topic. Just ask for your money back, be prepared to fairly detail the problems with the photo and dont make your knowlege part of the discussion.

Did you see it before you ordered it or was it a blind purchase?

It was a fill out the form, give your payment info and then we got a quick look at LCD on the camera. Not like it a blown up version on a monitor. That's typically how these events run. She took 3 photos, upper, mid and full. We decided on full because I am pregnant and ready to pop. LOL wanted to have a little memento. I wasn't expecting perfect by any means. She had no backdrop set up and no tripod, but I was wasn't expecting it to be as terrible as it came out. When we got home I looked at her website and for the most part the photos aren't bad. It just feels like she took advantage of the large group knowing that most of us would opt for photos to make a quick buck with minimal effort.

Gonzogolf, good advice at just pointing out what I see and not explaining the details about how I would know.

Just ask for your money back. It's not hard, just admit you are not satisfied with the product.

The number one rule when having these type of discussions is to keep it short. There's no reason to go into loads of detail or draw it out. Be nice, tell her what you want, and wait for a response. Then keep any additional response short.

highergr0und wrote in post #13738145
Just ask for your money back. It's not hard, just admit you are not satisfied with the product.

The number one rule when having these type of discussions is to keep it short. There's no reason to go into loads of detail or draw it out. Be nice, tell her what you want, and wait for a response. Then keep any additional response short.

Thanks, I think I will go that route. I'm just not one to complain about stuff.

Euphillia wrote in post #13738090
It was a fill out the form, give your payment info and then we got a quick look at LCD on the camera. Not like it a blown up version on a monitor. That's typically how these events run. She took 3 photos, upper, mid and full. We decided on full because I am pregnant and ready to pop. LOL wanted to have a little memento. I wasn't expecting perfect by any means. She had no backdrop set up and no tripod, but I was wasn't expecting it to be as terrible as it came out. When we got home I looked at her website and for the most part the photos aren't bad. It just feels like she took advantage of the large group knowing that most of us would opt for photos to make a quick buck with minimal effort.

Gonzogolf, good advice at just pointing out what I see and not explaining the details about how I would know.

I'd ask her to fix it up before I'd ask for a refund. Otherwise the photographer could logically conclude that you already scanned it and just want to get a freebie. If you ask her to fix it up, that means you're honest and really just want a good product. If she's halfway worth her salt she can easily swap heads from one of the other shots so your faces are in focus.

As an event photographer this is part of the reason i do not like on-site sales, its an impulse buy with alot of guilt.

Generally though these prints are rather cheap, and expecting good quality in the middle of a dance is going to be tricky to get. Furthermore, if a client asked for a refund my initial thought would also be "Well they scanned it." and giving a refund on a custom printed piece of you, requested by you, makes for a solid loss of both money and time.

That being said, i haven't had anyone request a refund yet after several hundreds of people, but i also take the time to actually show them the photo in person after the event and let them decide at their own pace. An issue with cutting feet is common given print size, if the photo is shot on a typical 3:2 sensor, then requested as a 8x10, if the photographer hadn't had the space to back-up and give themselves enough crop room, it will happen.

I shoot 300 photos last event, out of 100picks, 2 ended up with that problem. When the client requested a print, i sent them a sample with each size showing the cutting factor before purchase.

This being said, i do not mean it to come off as harsh and that you should just keep the print and assume responsibility for buying a photo off a camera LCD, i'm just here to offer a possible flip side to your story. +1 to What CDI said, if the photographer is worth their salt, they'll easily be able to fix the colors, although the cropping issue is probably non-fixable and is inherent to good parties :P

I would Never let a client pick a print off the back of my LCD thats just ridiculous, i don't even like showing them the back of my LCD....

How much did you pay for it?

I regularly show my LCD or laptop but I also point out what's going to be fixed. If it's a cropping issue I simply let them know it's unavoidable. I try to crop well above or below the knees though, not just the feet.

Simply ask for a refund. A pro would have used better lighting for a formal event.

Csae wrote in post #13738384
As an event photographer this is part of the reason i do not like on-site sales, its an impulse buy with alot of guilt.

Generally though these prints are rather cheap, and expecting good quality in the middle of a dance is going to be tricky to get. Furthermore, if a client asked for a refund my initial thought would also be "Well they scanned it." and giving a refund on a custom printed piece of you, requested by you, makes for a solid loss of both money and time.

That being said, i haven't had anyone request a refund yet after several hundreds of people, but i also take the time to actually show them the photo in person after the event and let them decide at their own pace. An issue with cutting feet is common given print size, if the photo is shot on a typical 3:2 sensor, then requested as a 8x10, if the photographer hadn't had the space to back-up and give themselves enough crop room, it will happen.

I shoot 300 photos last event, out of 100picks, 2 ended up with that problem. When the client requested a print, i sent them a sample with each size showing the cutting factor before purchase.

This being said, i do not mean it to come off as harsh and that you should just keep the print and assume responsibility for buying a photo off a camera LCD, i'm just here to offer a possible flip side to your story. +1 to What CDI said, if the photographer is worth their salt, they'll easily be able to fix the colors, although the cropping issue is probably non-fixable and is inherent to good parties :P

I would Never let a client pick a print off the back of my LCD thats just ridiculous, i don't even like showing them the back of my LCD....

Def agree with all of this 100%.

Numenorean wrote in post #13738419
How much did you pay for it?

It was $30. Wasn't a big deal at the time as I thought they would at least come out decent enough.

Our April photo was great and def looks professional. He brought a background, lighting and he was set up on a tripod.

Euphillia wrote in post #13738923
It was $30. Wasn't a big deal at the time as I thought they would at least come out decent enough.

Our April photo was great and def looks professional. He brought a background, lighting and he was set up on a tripod.

I would ask for a refund then. If it was more around $5-10 I'd say it sounds like you got what you paid for, but for $30 for something like this, it should be better.

cdifoto wrote in post #13738479
I regularly show my LCD or laptop but I also point out what's going to be fixed. If it's a cropping issue I simply let them know it's unavoidable. I try to crop well above or below the knees though, not just the feet.

How would you see what needs to be fixed on the LCD in the middle of a "good" party ? I can bearly stay in one spot long enough, much less answer people requesting photos.

Best i can do with the LCD is to see if they blinked or not, and check the histogram for overexposure.

The on-site sales i've seen were all done with a laptop, letting the photographer shoot and the clients see their photos on an actual screen and do the ordering details with an assistant.

Ofc, this isn't applicable to a portrait session or a calm evening dance where you might even have the opportunity to speak to your subjects, i can't speak to them, music is too loud, too much bumping, too many requests, and in the moments where things calm down i need water and to sit.

Ditto on the knees, i usually manage to leave myself enough space, i'd rather go to 24mm and distort a bit, then cut, if im cutting, the knees is a good place to start, but again at this point i need confirmation. Both clients i've shown their "cut" photos opted for a 5x7 instead of a 8x10, i technically lost a bit of money and extra time doing the samples, but they appreciated it so it was worth it for me.

Euphillia wrote in post #13738923
It was $30. Wasn't a big deal at the time as I thought they would at least come out decent enough.

Our April photo was great and def looks professional. He brought a background, lighting and he was set up on a tripod.

30$ for a 8x10? Give them a shot to fix it, but if not definitely refund. Color balancing at that price range is just the basic.