photographer issues

I don’t think you are being unreasonable at all! He has given you self-imposed deadlines several times, and has continually missed those deadlines. If this is a person you were planning to use for your wedding photography, then they should be putting their best foot forward during your engagement session in order to secure that second job. If this is him showing you his best, then I wouldn’t be impressed either. Was there a turnaround time for your engagement pictures stated In the contract? Have you already signed a contract with him to shoot your wedding?

View Quoted Comment So I can’t exactly remember (because it’s been freaking 6 weeks) but I don’t think we signed anything physically, it was a verbal understanding. There’s nothing about timelines etc in the contact he sent me on 10/18, more of a package packet and then details about the venue, timeframe etc.

View Quoted Comment I would definitely think long and hard about whether you want to use this person for your wedding then. If you get your engagement photos back and absolutely love them, then it may be worth using him for your wedding, since you I already know you like his shooting style and quality of work. Before signing a contract with him for the wedding though, I would request he put in writing a physical date or specific amount of time as to when you will have your photos back. I would definitely not sign a contract without a turnaround time in writing and signed by him. If you get the photos back and don’t love them however, it’s good you haven’t signed a contract or placed a deposit with him yet! In that case, you can simply not book him for your wedding. And if he follows up with you about it, you can simply send a short email stating that you have decided to go with someone else- no further explanation needed.

I’m sorry to hear about your dilemma! I would definitely hire a different photographer. You’re not being unreasonable and it’s very unprofessional for him to be extending the deadline without coercion. You deserve the highest quality of service.


Good luck and congrats on your engagement! 🎉

View Quoted Comment Thanks so much for your advice!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I think he’s taking advantage of my kindness because he’s done my senior pics (12 years ago) I’m not happy with him.

He is definitely unprofessional. Everyone can be stuck with unforeseen circumstances but the
" it would hopefully be early next week (10/25ish).
After hearing nothing, yet again, I messaged him 10/29" deal-breaker in my mind. At the very least, he should have texted you to keep you in the loop.

I wouldn’t write the photographer off entirely based on this, but I would take a lesson from it to clearly establish a specific timeline, in writing with a contract , for wedding photos. In my world, “a few” would mean 5 and given the lack of precise schedule, I’d presume that would actually end up meaning something closer to 6. While the wait is annoying and the lack of defined deadline is frustrating, it seems partially based on an original misunderstanding with language open to interpretation. If you can fix that problem, you should be able have a better experience in the future.

I'd probably try to find someone else. My photographer told us off the bat it would be 4-6 weeks for our engagement photos to be done (because of the time of year we had them done...holidays and whatnot), and at 7 weeks I didn't receive them so I reached out and it just so happened that the email never went through, so she got them to me immediately. If he keeps pushing off the deadline like that, he's going to do the same for your wedding and you don't want to pay for a product you have to wait forever for, past a deadline he promised to have them to you by!

View Quoted Comment Exactly it’s not showing good business practice. He actually reached out to me right after I got engaged. He did my senior pics what seems like ages ago (12 years) so I thought I was doing him a favor by giving him my business and being a repeat customer. To be honest I think his editing is outdated but planned to edit them myself. Question is, how do I eloquently word things to say I’m going to take my business elsewhere.

View Quoted Comment If you're looking to go elsewhere, you could just phrase it as something like, "Thanks so much for doing the engagement photos! They turned out great. I am looking for a different style for my wedding photos, so I decided to book a different photographer who more closely matches my vision for my wedding day. I appreciate all of your time and effort on my engagement photos!"