Asked to edit wedding photos

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Dave Stone

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Edit My Images
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I have been asked to edit some wedding photos from a friend of a friends wedding. As a wedding gift from my friend they were offered my services as the official Tog.

They declined as another friend of a friend had offered. A young girl just out of college (BTEC Photography) and at the time employed by a local studio.

I have permission from the Tog to do it. However, they are TRUELY APPALLING. I can't do a thing with them! The settings she has used on her EOS1000D, Kit lens & on board flash make no sense at all! Not a single shot of the whole dress. EVERY shot is poorly (Appallingly) exposed and composed. They are noisy and a large percentage OOF!

I have offered to reshoot the Bride so at least she has some shots of her dress.

Sorry, needed to get that off my chest.
 
Oh dear.

I think I'd do it and do my best but just to be sure that I'd not get the blame for producing stuff that I thought sub standard from the start I'd supply unedited and edited files so that the before and after (and blame...) was clear. I'd also tell them verbally or in writing that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
 
woof woof said:
Oh dear.

I think I'd do it and do my best but just to be sure that I'd not get the blame for producing stuff that I thought sub standard from the start I'd supply unedited and edited files so that the before and after (and blame...) was clear. I'd also tell them verbally or in writing that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
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+1 pretty much sums up what i was going to say.
 
Not the first time and I'm sure it will not be the last I've seen a similar situation with a friend of a friend where they paid someone just out of college that was touting there services out as a wedding photographer, there output was awful I mean truly dreadful, telegraph poles sticking out of the brides head, unintended poor levelling etc, under exposed, over exposed, selective colouring done to excess and the worst sepia conversions you've ever seen :puke: I'd say do your very best and make sure the B&G know that you cannot polish a turd :shake:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
I'll do what I can with them. It is the couple that have asked me to re-edit the shots. I only have the JPG files to work with. The Tog is now working in Greece as a nightclub tog. The worrying thing is, one of the local colleges touts their students as Wedding Togs!
 
do your best, see it as a challenge,have the bride and groom seen prints or just on a computer screen?
 
Just tell them they are beyond rescuing and had them the disk back. Then offer them a free trash the dress shoot to make up for having no decent wedding photos.

I'd also consider complaining to the college and showing them their student's work. Daily Mail might make a nice article about it ;)
 
Sounds harsh but i would just steer clear. Where would the world be if there was a backup rescue plan for everything? "oh crumbs, the chef has burned your wedding meal but if you pop to the restaurant down the road im sure they can sort something out for you"
i run a two kitchens in a south Wales wedding venue and have an impeccable reputation, there is no second try like in a restaurant so its gotta be bang on first time.
Shame so called professionals don't have the same working ethos.
 
Id personally not do it

Dave Stone said:
I have been asked to edit some wedding photos from a friend of a friends wedding. As a wedding gift from my friend they were offered my services as the official Tog.

They declined as another friend of a friend had offered. A young girl just out of college (BTEC Photography) and at the time employed by a local studio.

I have permission from the Tog to do it. However, they are TRUELY APPALLING. I can't do a thing with them! The settings she has used on her EOS1000D, Kit lens & on board flash make no sense at all! Not a single shot of the whole dress. EVERY shot is poorly (Appallingly) exposed and composed. They are noisy and a large percentage OOF!

I have offered to reshoot the Bride so at least she has some shots of her dress.

Sorry, needed to get that off my chest.
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as others have said so long as they appreciate that you can't polish crap you may as well do the best you can with them - its a shame you don't have the raws , but i wouldnt be suprised if she shot them in jpeg

IMO the best thing to do with noise (if you can't use noise ninja etc) is to convert to B&W and pretend its grain.

and yes reshoot the B&G (and maybe close family if they are local)

this kind of thing is increasingly common - I was at a wedding as a guest a little while back where the tog only had a D40 and the kit lens - no flash gun - on board flash only :bang: - I really try to resist the urge to uncle bob these days , but i took one look at that set up and went and got my kit out of the boot of the car.

I've no actually seen the official photo's from that wedding, but when I was last round at theirs I noticed that the shot they have blown up to A4 in a frame one their mantelpiece is one of mine , which tells me everything I need to know...
 
Had the same problem a few weeks ago from a B&G that wanted me to look at the pictures a 'local pro tog' had took, after a quick look and scan over the picture detail most of the indoor ones were done with an iso800+ and had more grain than a millers floor.
did a few tweeks but couldn't make the pictures a pure printable quality, had a word with a few print and book people and in the end went for some very thick and heavy grain paper, still looked poor but better than nothing.
 
I'll try and put a bit of shine on the turd. I have offered a trash the dress shoot. She is thinking about it. Lots of B&W conversion going on.
 
I was asked to do the same for little brother, after their photographer made a complete arse of their big day (in the states). Lots of B&W, lots of grain, lots of vignette..... I found it quite fun, trying to make something special for them out of what they knew was absolute *****! (and I got a bottle of malt for it too :) )
 
POAH said:
Id personally not do it
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Me neither especially if they're as bad as you say they are. Sounds like you'd be just wasting your time.
 
Dave Stone said:
I'll do what I can with them. It is the couple that have asked me to re-edit the shots. I only have the JPG files to work with. The Tog is now working in Greece as a nightclub tog. The worrying thing is, one of the local colleges touts their students as Wedding Togs!
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If couples are prepared to book someone with out seeing examples of their work more fool them,having said that the college want shooting for advertising crap
 
Just to try and give the benefit of the doubt... the photographer may have produced good work at college but suffered from nerves and lost it on the day. That doesn't help with the current situation and although the photos are a mess it could be a bit hasty to conclude that the shooter has no clue what so ever... I'm just trying to be a little sympathetic...
 
I would decline, especially as to fix crap takes a lot of man hours. your time would be better served doing a reshoot
 
as long as they are aware of the issues to start with there's nothing wrong with trying to rescue someone's special day.

Shame this is becoming more and more common, I might just hang the camera up and spend my time fixing other people's photos!

We've a new girl in my local town who's mum has been facebooking her all over the place. 4 years in college learning photography, already has weddings lined up and did a shoot at a local kids clothes shop. having seen the photos I wasn't impressed, and from what I've gathered from someone I know who knows her, no wedding exxperience, back ups, insurance etc. Looking forward to having yet another wedding to sort. I've had 3 in the last month alone. :(
 
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