Photographer lost the photos.

Celia is correct...even if the photos were wiped from the computer, so long as they actually made it to the computer, the photographer can bring her computer or just the drive they were stored on in to a computer repair shop and at least attempt to restore the photos. There is never a guarantee and it's certainly not cheap, but I would definitely have your friend find out exactly HOW they were destroyed (because at this point it is not "lost," it is "destroyed"), and so long as it wasn't the actual card that was wiped, have the photographer bring her computer in and have them restored.

ETA: grammar sorry

I wonder if she could sue for breach of contract...I loved our photographer but if he loses our photos and I had any extra cash for a lawyer, I might or I'd insist they not only refund but pay some $ too so I could try to recreate what photos I could with ANOTHER photographer.

What the actual f***? Did the memory go corrupt? If so there are ways to recover it. That would be a tragedy, I don't see how they'd get lost otherwise, I upload mine and back them up immediately before importing to Lightroom.

I would be furious!!!! I would definitely be tempted to do physical harm - those are priceless memories that cannot be reconstructed.

TammyNicole- I would post all the good about the day of and then something to the effect of, "...and unfortunately, all of these photos were lost. *Photographer* posted 3 sneaks the following day. Between then and our viewing appointment the photos were lost and unable to be recovered. A refund was issued, but that doesn't help sentimentally"

Something like this happened to FH's grandma! She had her uncle (a photographer) take her photos and SOMEHOW he forgot to take off the camera lens, so all of her photos are black. So once they could afford it they want to a studio and dressed up, but by the time they could afford it she was 6 months pregnant, so it looks like they had a shotgun wedding lol!

I am soooooo afraid of this happening! Some of the photos that my FCIL wanted and posed for "got lost" by the photographer and she was devastated.

This wouldn't happen. My photographer backs them up to two external hard drives before editing. One she keeps at home, one she keeps elsewhere in case her house burns down or floods. She doesn't delete them off the memory card until they're completely backed up. Also she doesn't delete the back ups, so even if I lose the pictures a year after the wedding she can still give them to me again. She also uses two cameras throughout the ceremony in case something happens to one of them. I'm pretty confident we'll get our pics.

My heart just sunk reading that...and then thinking about it. Poor thing!

SnappyLove- I know. I feel for her. I text my photographer this morning and told her the situation and she assured me our pics were fine and they are backed up etc. I just hope that they can some how recover the photos!

Jay Farrell Photography- I don't know what happened, I'm hoping they recover them!

I'd be sad, certainly, but let's face it-- the day is about getting married, not pictures or dresses or flowers or cake-- as long as I still had DH, I could muddle.

That would be devastating.. I really hope that photographer finds their pictures. I'd have to ask guests to send me any images THEY had and try to salvage some nice shots. Sometimes non-pro pics turn out great!

Unfortunately it happens more than we'd like to know. It happened to someone I know as well. They didn't have a second shooter but, they did have a videographer and were able to create stills from the video. However there were lots of poses they were not able to recreate. The photographer wasn't cheap either. smh....

Hoping people learn from others' experiences and cream rises to the top again...and couples see that the uncle with the camera isn't so awesome for the price afterall. I couldn't imagine doing this to someone's wedding.

I would stab her. Stop scaring me! *off to look at wedding insurance I've been putting off getting*

I would be absolutely devastated, I would probably have an emotional breakdown!

Reading your title made my stomach hurt a bit -I thought you were speaking in terms of yourself. I like all suggestions so far.

One more thing I can have a bad dream about.

I hope something is worked out for your friend.

I would freak out. And I would expect more than a full refund.

Most of the time in a photographer's contract, negligence or act of God, accident, etc. refundable amount is not to exceed what has been paid. A pro would have insurance....many of these ass hats calling themselves photographers, probably not.

Jay- she is a pro. She probably does have insurance. She's not someone's uncle with a camera, she's real reputable in this area...That's why we were so shocked.

UPDATE:

The lost is found!! The photographer didn't elaborate on what happened and the bride didn't ask. They were just relieved.