In Which I Comment on Judge Joe Brown and Bad Photographers

Some thoughts on the video here:



First off, let me say I seriously hope that I never end up in small claims court with a bride fighting for the quality of my photos, not to mention on a TV court show. I don't think I have much to worry about though as I try not to be like the photographers in this case for a number of reasons.

I don't know anything about these women other than what's presented in the video; they shoot with a Canon Rebel XTi, an entry level-dslr; an 18-55mm f/4.5-5.6 kit lens and a 70-300mm lens, the speed of which they don't know. The claimed to use tripods, which the bride denies; they claim that there was a strict flash restriction put upon them by the venue, which the bride denies; and they claim that there was inadequate lighting all day which resulted in poor images, though they claim the images are high quality. (More on that later.)

The first problem that I have with this trial is that it even happened at all. I'm not saying that a photographer should never go to court to defend his or her business, but the details in this case seem to be a disagreement over a refund and a disagreement over expected quality over delivered product. These are problems that all professional photographers  face at some point; you can't please every client and there will be times when you are forced to concede a refund, agree to disagree on quality (unless their complaint is valid and deserved) and part ways with the client. If you handle it amicably you'll feel the sting, as will your client, over the unfortunate turn of events. You'll lose time and money and materials, the client will be left without a suitable record of their event. In any circumstance where the photography fails to meet the clients expectations and the issue cannot be resolved it's THE CLIENT who always stands to lose the most. As a photographer you will earn new clients (unless you behave like the ladies in this video) and you will, at some point, earn back your lost wages and credibility. For the bride, you lost something that cannot be replaced. No one is going to re-enact a wedding start-to-finish just to get a new set of photos and their walls will remain bare. Their children won't see mom and dad in their wedding clothes, the couples parents will have no 8x10 on their mantle to show off to friends unless they got the shot themselves.

The point is that as a professional shooting a wedding you have one chance to get it right. You MUST come prepared for anything. These women claim to be the victims of poor lighting and strict rules but if they'd done their job not only would they have walked the venue at some point before the ceremony and worked out the rules with the venue, but they would have brought with them the gear they would need to improvise in the event that something was missing or had changed. That means  fast lenses, tripods, and complete knowledge of your camera and which settings can absorb the most light from a scene without sacrificing quality. These women couldn't describe their gear or settings and their gear was entry level kit stuff, which leads me to believe that they were most likely shooting in full auto and trusting the camera to do the work for them.

What it all comes down to is attitude. These photographers made some bad photographs, and I won't even bring up the flowery borders, selective color or tragic poses, they made bad photographs because they didn't know their gear, their venue, their client or the limits of their talent. It appears that they viewed their personal satisfaction over the satisfaction of their paying client, as is evident in the vindictive and argumentative manner in which they "defended" themselves in this case. They have a bad attitude and carrying a record of judgment of any kind, for or against your business, is a red flag. The fact that they were rude, combative and indignant only adds to the embarrassment of having your TV judge own you at every turn when talking shop then force you to give the refund you should have given anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if this were the last wedding they ever shot and maybe it's better that way.