I'm sad... my wedding photos are disappointing.

Is it maybe the editing that needs to be tweaked? Ill pray it is and these were just a rough draft.

I feel it's partly my fault because I did not allow a huge amount of time for photos. I also didn't give much direction, such as pointing out a specific spot. I trusted the photographers to make the call on things like that, because they do it all the time, and they would know if the lighting is good there, etc.

Now I'm researching other photographers so I can plan a re-shoot! Because I really don't have even one really nice photo. There are a few cool ones, but they are casuals/candids.

The pictures from guests taken on their smartphones are the best ones I have! And the photobooth pictures are really fun too.

*sigh* Ladies, don't skimp on your photos!! Find a great photographer and get engagement pics to test them out.

I would love to share some of the worst ones so you can all see what I'm talking about, but with Google image search... I can't risk it. I don't want it to get back to the photographer. I don't want my friend to know I don't like them.

Oh no, I'm sorry!

My FH's friend has told him that he'll be our wedding Photographer and do it for free which is great because he's currently in photography school (I think )

but it scares me because he's not a 'professional'

and I want really nice pictures from our special day!

and this just has me thinking of maybe hiring a photographer for just in case...

It took a long time to get our photos back, so they were doing *something* to them.

I am going to try editing a few, like cropping out fences and zooming in on ourselves. It appears that the image files are large enough that I should be able to do that without getting overly grainy... I think.

But I can't make pictures appear where there were none... I didn't get that many, about 300.

Call your friend. I had much the similar experience and come to find out I was given the wrong disk. I was given an unedited disk of pics that had been saved to examine by the assistant for what went wrong!

The original disk I got this was the only pic of me alone!

Please call her and find out before you assume.

Claudia, yeah, I think I would be scared too! I thought I was safe in this case because the person in question IS a full time professional photographer. Idk what happened... maybe they didn't try very hard because it was free? Or because we were too laid back when we talked beforehand? I wasn't uptight about it. I didn't expect a million shots. I just wanted one good one of my husband and I. And I wanted some halfway decent pics with family so I could give them prints.

Im so sorry. I am hoping she has more shots that she didn't give you.

The thing is... this is going to sound really stupid of me, but.... this same person shot another friend's wedding last year. (same group of tight-knit friends, so this was another free shoot.)

I heard the bride was NOT happy with the pics, and said so. Everyone was shocked she complained so much.

The bride in question was being super bridezilla-y about the the entire event so I assumed she was just being overly picky, and I thought, "I would never complain, you got them for free"... because I thought they couldn't possibly be that bad.

Guess I was wrong! I should have asked to see them. Dumb, dumb, dumb of me.

I think this is why you can't go just on a photographer's website. You only see the very best of the best of that person's entire career, condensed down to a few choice pics for marketing purposes.

Ask to see an entire wedding portfolio. And even when you think you've found the one, schedule a portrait / engagement shoot to make sure you love how the photographer shoots you.

Also learned you should provide a specific list of family members you want pictures of, and let family know ahead of time if they are to be included in formal pictures.

Hindsight is 20/20...

I'm sorry that happened....but sadly many people get blinded by price and don't follow procedures to vet their vendors. Free or not, the reality has hit, and I hate to see this happen to people. I definitely agree with seeing complete weddings and sample albums, see how the stories are told throughout the event, and if there is a system to it. Or a bunch of meh pictures. Sounds like poor research and planning on both parts, and lots of assumptions is what brought us to this point. I hope Photoshop can save the day to some extent at least enough for you to have a variety of favorites. I can refer you to my retoucher if you like, maybe she can improve the product if you have RAW files.

Very sorry to hear this I hope it works out for you. I've sadly heard this horror story a few times before. I think it is possible to get saved if you can get them re-touched.

Keep your hopes up for candids from friends. I was married 15 years ago, in the age of film, and still many friends kindly sent me a duplicate set of the pics they'd taken. Now, either everything digital (and everyone having a camera on her phone!) I'd bet you'll have a steady stream of candids flowing in.

I am so sorry to hear this best wishes in figuring something out and getting a few favorite pics of the day. I agree that hopefully guests got some great pics.

I complete agree and understand how you feel I just got mine back. I have exactly the same feeling and so does my husband

I paid 6000$ for my photos from a very reputable vendor with very high recommendations. Their website and quality of work is beautiful I did a lot of research before choosing them. I feel like my wedding was just not done to the level they normally do -maybe it was an off day, maybe they felt rushed? I had NO bridal party! It was just us! I told them not to focus on family photos we both have small families- I had 175 ppl at a gorgeous venue and not ONE photo was taken outside venue!!! The day was such a blur to me I didn't realize this till it was over! I'm looking thru 3500 photos and maybe would take 100 out of them - there are only about 10 of us together alone and it's the same photos just wit different filters- no cinematography all are harsh and genetic. Nothing creative. I don't know what to do- how do I tell my photographer this- and just remember it's 6000$$$!$$$ I paid!!! 2 photographers all day- I'm speechless and upset...