Lost Groomsmen Photos..

Hello everyone on the forum!

I am a fairly new wedding photographer- I've had 3 full seasons by myself, a few half seasons when I was just starting out, and I've been second shooting for other wedding photographers for 5 years or so.

I was hired by the groom of this wedding I am here to discuss through a relative of his. I had photographed his relative's wedding years prior and the bride and groom liked their photos. When we were discussing working together I told them to check out my newer work as my style had changed (and my skills were much better) and wanted to make sure they liked it. They still liked my work and I met up with them. We signed the contract, I gave them a cash discount, and we did an E session. E session was great, they loved their photos.

The reason I am having trouble today is because there are some missing photos. While I was photographing the bride getting ready I sent my second shooter to photograph the groom getting ready. She took some photos of them straightening their ties, putting on their jackets, and a few photos outside by the car that was hired to transport them to the ceremony.

The card she used for these photos was corrupt when I tried to import it. The card could not be read either in camera or on my computer. I tried recovery programs and nothing has worked. All together the couple has almost 700 beautiful wedding photos to choose from, minus the missing photos.

I feel very bad that the groom does not have photos of him and his groomsmen getting ready. We still have the formal photos of them with the whole bridal party, as well as photos of him and the group of them. He is missing getting ready photos and single photos of him and groomsmen A, B ,C, D. etc.

The groom is really upset, he says that I should give him some money back to right the wrong. I had offered him a large canvas print to make up for it and he said that was unacceptable.

I sent him a long email back, apologizing profusely for the missing photos, explaining that the equipment is thoroughly checked before each wedding (he mentioned I should have checked prior to the wedding) and asked him when a good time would be to call and talk about this. I offered the canvas again, and mentioned if he would rather have prints I would be happy to give him some prints.

Although I feel terrible, I am surprised he is so upset about these photos as he sent my second shooter away fairly quickly when she was taking the photos. The other photos we took of their day all came out really really nice, everything is there.. from the bride getting ready to the ceremony, receiving line, formals, introductions, speeches, dances, party..
I put a lot of hard work into their wedding, I always care that the customer is happy so I feel pretty sick about this. He said he paid for two photographers and that he wants money back for my second shooter. In the email I made sure to mention the only photos missing that my second shooter took were the groomsmen photos, and everything else she photographed that day (that I wanted to use) was include in the photos.

I've never had such an angry customer before, this is really my first one. Does anyone have any advice, or ever deal with a situation like this before? What should I do?

Thanks for reading!

Sounds like he's simply fishing for money. Does your contract state anything about guaranteeing certain photos?

If it is a professional card I heard there are places that can extract the data but it is not inexpensive. I had a similar thing happen while on vacation which is obviously no where near what you are experiencing. It was a Lexar and their recovery software worked but still had about 7 corrupt images.

JColman- That's what several other photographers have said when I asked them about this, too. Unfortunately it does not.. I will definitely be revising my contract.

Digital paradise- It's a Lexar Platinum 2. I've tried several recovery programs to no avail. Thanks for your post

Are you insured against this type of thing? (i.e. Indemnity Insurance / Errors and Omissions)
You might want to look into that.

How many photos are missing? Say 20 photos out of 700 total? Maybe offer him 20/700 or 3% of his money back?...... or the canvas print, his choice.

nicksan wrote in post #16279370
Are you insured against this type of thing? (i.e. Indemnity Insurance / Errors and Omissions)
You might want to look into that.

I'm not, and I will be looking into it for sure. Live and learn.

Bearmann wrote in post #16279575
How many photos are missing? Say 20 photos out of 700 total? Maybe offer him 20/700 or 3% of his money back?...... or the canvas print, his choice.

Yeah, in my email response I gave him a rough estimate of photos that would be missing from the entire day. He didn't pay me much, I booked this wedding a long time ago and gave them a cash discount, so really the canvas would be worth more. He hasn't responded yet so we'll see what he says.

It certainly sounds to me as though he's wanting to use this as an opportunity to get some money back, not that he's really upset about the loss of photo's. However you deal with it, if you're not prepared to give him a significant discount that he's wanting (whatever that might be) - he's going to remain aggressive. You may need to choose whether to give in to him (if his happiness is that important to you), or to accept that he's going to be disgruntled regardless of what fair options you offer.

A few things to keep in mind re indemnity insurance. It can be a double edged sword. In one place, it can protect you, but in the other it can make you a much larger target as well.

From my understanding, lawyers will only be interested in claims where they can get a lot of money for themselves. (ie, people who are insured). And a person like this, who see's an opportunity probably won't continue much if they can't see there's much to gain. (Making you much less of a target, and not worth the hassle). Flip that to if you had insurance, and there's a good chance he'd probably be talking to one of those 'no win no pay' lawyers already!

If you're looking for protection, you may be better off having a good non-guarantee clause in your contract, and leave it as that, or alternatively (or including) having your photography business as a separate entity (ie company).

My advise is not to make your final decision based on advise from a forum, but to spend a couple of hundred bucks talking to your solicitor about the options and what's best for you.

Thanks for your response. Sound advice. I really appreciate it.

If I were in this situation, my first priority would be to try and keep the client happy. I would accept that the client is missing expected shots, and that the reason they are missing was a failure on my part to have back up images.

Regardless of whether or not my contract stated that there was no guarantee of certain photos, I would, personally, deem it an issue that needs addressing if a whole set covering a specific segment of the day was lost. I wouldn't worry about missing a specific shot during the day because somebody stepped in front of me as the bride through the bouquet, that is outside my control and what the contract clause covers, but a whole batch of lost images isn't.

My reputation would be far more important to me than the loss of a reasonable refund (and I am talking more than 3% or a canvas print, if that is what it takes - although I would negotiate hard and not refund the majority of the money paid). I would rather pay the client a bit extra than have them badmouthing me, and how I screwed up losing them so many images, to other potential clients.

I would take the financial loss as the cost of screwing up, and as a reminder to take precautions to make sure it doesn't happen again with another client.

I know there are many who will disagree with me, but my policy is always to try and keep customers happy and that way they recommend me, rather than warn people off. It may cost a little more than pointing to the contract and saying that I don't have to make things right, but if I screw up I feel a personal obligation to make it right. The partial refund may significantly reduce the profit for that job, but that is better than risking a bad reputation and losing other potential clients.

Have you talked to his wife? Perhaps she will be more understanding and talk to her husband.
Have you contacted a professional data recovery company? I think that some will not charge you for a preliminary evaluation to see if there are additional images which can be recovered.

sandpiper wrote in post #16280157
If I were in this situation, my first priority would be to try and keep the client happy. I would accept that the client is missing expected shots, and that the reason they are missing was a failure on my part to have back up images.

Regardless of whether or not my contract stated that there was no guarantee of certain photos, I would, personally, deem it an issue that needs addressing if a whole set covering a specific segment of the day was lost. I wouldn't worry about missing a specific shot during the day because somebody stepped in front of me as the bride through the bouquet, that is outside my control and what the contract clause covers, but a whole batch of lost images isn't.

My reputation would be far more important to me than the loss of a reasonable refund (and I am talking more than 3% or a canvas print, if that is what it takes - although I would negotiate hard and not refund the majority of the money paid). I would rather pay the client a bit extra than have them badmouthing me, and how I screwed up losing them so many images, to other potential clients.

I would take the financial loss as the cost of screwing up, and as a reminder to take precautions to make sure it doesn't happen again with another client.

I know there are many who will disagree with me, but my policy is always to try and keep customers happy and that way they recommend me, rather than warn people off. It may cost a little more than pointing to the contract and saying that I don't have to make things right, but if I screw up I feel a personal obligation to make it right. The partial refund may significantly reduce the profit for that job, but that is better than risking a bad reputation and losing other potential clients.

Would you pay him back what you paid your second? I believe I paid her $200.00 for the day. Thank you for your post, I like hearing different thoughts on the matter.. it's helpful.

Bearmann wrote in post #16280183
Have you talked to his wife? Perhaps she will be more understanding and talk to her husband.
Have you contacted a professional data recovery company? I think that some will not charge you for a preliminary evaluation to see if there are additional images which can be recovered.

I have been communicating with the two of them through email primarily and a few phone calls throughout this process, as well as a few in person meet ups.

Generally though, it is email, with the wife. They share an email address. He did respond to me this evening to tell me he is available tomorrow evening and that he looks forward to hearing from me, so I'm going to give him a call when I get home from my day job.

I have not contacted a professional data recovery company, but I will look into it.

weddingphotog123 wrote in post #16280188
Would you pay him back what you paid your second? I believe I paid her $200.00 for the day. Thank you for your post, I like hearing different thoughts on the matter.. it's helpful.

I would certainly be prepared to pay that yes, possibly more depending on how much the package was priced at.

Do you price the visit to the groomsmen as an option, or is it a standard part of the package? If you charge extra for it, then I would expect that the minimum refund would be the additional charge for that service, as no pictures are provided from it. If it is priced as part of the overall package, then how much of the package price is calculated as covering that part of the day? Somewhere in your pricing calculation you should have an idea what you are charging for that specific part of the day, I would take that as a starting point and be prepared to pay a little bit more on top as compensation, if they were still unhappy.

I presume that the $200 for your second was for shooting at the wedding & reception as well, and not just for the shoot of the groomsmen?

sandpiper wrote in post #16280232
I would certainly be prepared to pay that yes, possibly more depending on how much the package was priced at.

Do you price the visit to the groomsmen as an option, or is it a standard part of the package? If you charge extra for it, then I would expect that the minimum refund would be the additional charge for that service, as no pictures are provided from it. If it is priced as part of the overall package, then how much of the package price is calculated as covering that part of the day? Somewhere in your pricing calculation you should have an idea what you are charging for that specific part of the day, I would take that as a starting point and be prepared to pay a little bit more on top as compensation, if they were still unhappy.

I presume that the $200 for your second was for shooting at the wedding & reception as well, and not just for the shoot of the groomsmen?

It's a standard part of the package.
The $200.00 for my second was for shooting the wedding and the reception as well, yes, not just the groomsmen photos.

As I booked this wedding in 2011, I was just charging a flat rate that I felt was fair for shooting the wedding and the editing the photos afterwards.

I am certainly going to spend a lot of time on my business practices and become better in that sense.