Photographer issues

Oh wow, I am so sorry! Maybe try reaching out to him again and stressing the fact that hired him based on the fact he said he had a two week turnaround time, and time is of the upmost importance for you since these were to be Christmas cards announcing your marriage. Try appealing to his sympathetic side by letting him know your wedding was canceled due to Covid, and your family is now unaware of your married status. Tell him you are not comfortable keeping it secret through the holidays and would really like to announce your marriage. Maybe he could just send you 3 edited photos to choose from for your xmas cards.

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Sadly I did just this and he said he was busy with those other sessions, he couldnt even give me a for sure delivery date and simply said "I wont even be able to look until next week when im in front of my computer". So basically I have a week to wait to even find out if we can even get a date or timeframe. Not to mention he does not do previews at all. As a fellow photographer at this point I wish he would just send me a contract, a date OR the images and ill sign a contract saying I wont make them public and i can edit them. Normally I would never send raws to someone but as a photographer if i knew the person was in our position I would gladly just send the photos. And since we do not have a contract with him im worried we wont even get the photos if i push too much! We are simply at his mercy and im freaking out and so heart broken over this.

Without a contract, you may not have any legal protection. Professional photographers typically take more than 2 weeks to get the full set of photos to you.


Talk to a lawyer and see what your options are. Talking to your local tv news consumer reports person will get the ball rolling. Also make sure to give an honest review on all platforms (yelp, WW, GoogleMaps, etc) to warn future brides of this behavior.

I would love to get a Valentine’s Day card with a gorgeous photo of the bride & groom! Think of the amazing captions!!! Stay on his good side & try not to nag...it sounds like he is telling you where you are in his queue. There is something special about getting a card in February when the hustle & bustle of holidays is over!

View Quoted Comment Ugh. That stinks. This guy sounds incredibly unprofessional (and lacking sympathy/human decency!). I mean, it wouldn’t take that long to just edit a couple images for you. I’m so sorry. Good luck! Hopefully he will come through with either one edited image or giving you the raw images. Being a photographer yourself, it may be wise to use a tripod to take a few pictures that you could use for your Xmas card announcements.

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While I do want to stay on his good side, we specifically booked him for the 2 weeks turn over time. He blatantly lied to us and now it could be 6-7 weeks and I jsut feel thats unacceptable. While we would wait for rebruary we HAVE to announce to our family now because their christmas gifts correspond with my new last name and it will be obvious we have gotten married. :/

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I am a professional photographer. For a 1 hour shoots its 2 weeks turn around as ALMO
ST all of the togs in my area are. If it were a wedding, months is reasonable this wasnt a wedding this was simply a 1 hour shoot. And being told 2 weeks then finding out after its 7 is unacceptable and unprofessional. I dont think i would have any clients if I deceived them in that way. I am nervous to reach out to anyone or leave a bad review yet due to no contract im worried we would never see the photos then, so its like im just stuck.

Could you possibly find another photographer that has a contract and is actually capable of having the photos back to you in time? Another question, is to ask if he could have 1-2 photos back to you sooner? You only really need one for the announcement.

View Quoted Comment Well without a contract, I don’t think you have a leg to stand on...sorry! He knows there is no contract. Have you paid him in full? I guess I would have my Christmas card figured out, postage bought & addresses ready to go. And keep my fingers crossed!

View Quoted Comment I agree with this! It's best you stay on his good side.

I know it’s not what you want to hear but there’s really not much you can do with no contract. With all the Xmas cards people send, I would hate for my wedding announcement to get lost in the shuffle. That’s exactly why we’re not sending our invitations until January. How about you send them out in January with a “to start off the new year on a good note !”

To be honest I feel like both you and your photographer have some blame in this scenario. You didn’t really leave yourself much wiggle time here in the case of any delay BUT your photographer also should have been more upfront and realistic about the lead times to have photos returned to you.

I would follow up with your photographer but be prepared that he may simply not be able to get the photos back to you in time.