To request that our wedding photographer edit our photos in a particular way?

[Mumtobe193]

So I booked my photographer last year, to be honest we picked this particular photographer because he was offering a very competitive price compared to many other photographers and I’m wondering if we’ve done the right thing, although his pictures are nice, the way a lot of his photos are edited maybe isn’t our cup of tea. Quite a few of his photos are quite dark and moody, high contrast, bold colours, extreme closes ups of faces in getting ready photos, dramatic lighting, bridal portraits of bride standing looking very serious just staring off into the distance. We prefer lighter airier looking photos personally, with a softer focus, and more natural maybe even slightly pastel tones to colours, We also prefer photos of people with more natural smiley expressions, as opposed to serious faces. A few of his photos are more as I’ve just described, but many are much darker and more dramatic, which isn’t really what we’re looking for.

We don’t want to break our contract with him as we don’t want to let him down and we’d rather not lose our deposit, as we are on a budget. But we don’t want to regret our choice of photographer as I in particular am very fussy about photos and they’re the one tangible thing we will have left of our wedding after the day has been and gone.

So would it be cheeky of me just to let him know how I would prefer our photos to be edited? How do I put it to him without offending him? Could I just email over a few of his photos that we like the style of, explaining what it is we like about them and that we would like our photos to be similar? How do I convey to him what we don’t like/want without it sounding rude?

Should I just cancel with him altogether and book a photographer we do like the editing style of?

You should cancel. We booked our photographer because we loved her style. That’s why you look at several. You can’t pick someone whose photographs you don’t really like and expect them to do it differently for you! If we can rebook our wedding for next year I’m desperate to manage to book her again because it’s what we want, not because I think she’ll do something completely different.

At the time of booking we didn’t have a choice of a large pool of different photographers due to budget restrictions, sure there were other photographers who’s work we preferred, but we had to be realistic and choose from the people we could afford at the time, things have changed now and we have extra time to put some more money aside and choose a pricier photographer if that’s what we want. It’s not even that we don’t like his work as a whole, at the time of booking his style of editing seemed to be a lot more in the style that we preferred, if we completely disliked his style, we wouldn’t have booked him, however judging by his social media as time has gone by his editing style is becoming increasingly different to the way it was when we first booked.

Judging by his portfolio it’s not that he can’t edit photos in the style that we want, it’s just that recently he seems to be favouring a particular style of editing over another

It’s not just the editing though op, you said it yourself that you prefer smilier natural looking pictures, rather than serious posed type ones. That’s not editing. Honestly I’d cancel and book a different one.

I really don’t understand why you booked a photographer who’s style you don’t like. That’s the whole point of looking at a portfolio and choosing. It might have been cheaper but what’s the point of cheap if you’re not happy?

@Excited101 sorry perhaps I didn’t explain properly in my original post, lots of his photos are more natural and smiley, but there are also lots of very serious moody shots, the getting ready photos and the after ceremony couples photos in particular. I don’t know whether it comes down to his style of shooting or whether it comes down to the couple’s preference. That’s not really my biggest issue as we have a bit more control over our facial expressions and the way we pose. & I will be specifically asking for no high contrasted close up shots of my face, and I’m guessing that he will understand that is more down to my own self consciousness rather than me not liking that particular kind of shot (because it’s the truth)

My main issue is the editing style in all honesty.

You really need a different photographer, honestly. I have a photography degree, and while I don’t do it as a job, I have shot a few weddings- get a different one.

@Excited101 I think you’re probably right.

I’m gonna feel terrible no matter what I do. Don’t know what I’d prefer to hear from a client if I was a wedding photographer? For them to say sorry we decided we prefer a different style of photography and we’re therefore we’ve made the decision to cancel and book somebody else. Or, we really like this particular wedding you shot, and if you wouldn’t mind could you please try and get similar kind of shots and edit all of our photos in this particular way. Don’t want to let him down but I don’t want to dictate to him either.

I might aswell give him plenty of notice now and just cancel so he has the date free for potential new clients.

I know exactly the style you mean - its a trend right now I think - everyone looks like a couple in a torrid Poldark style romance?

I’m another who says cancel - he gets to keep your deposit so he’s not losing out and I bet you he fills the slot no problem if he is already establisbed.

You really don’t need to explain. You just notify him that you will no longer require his service, and he gets to keep the deposit.

Ask him - wedding photographers have it tough right now - and be prepared for him to potentially say no, his style is fixed.

Your approach of showing the image style you do like is good.

But please don't lie if you do then cancel, professionals can cope with honesty but we're still human!

(Full disclosure, I'm a commercial/brand photographer, I don't shoot weddings and while I have a clear and distinctive style, I do tailor my edit for some of the businesses & brands I shoot for. It's possible but we all put a huge amount of time and skill into developing our edit style, and wedding photographers especially sell based on that style. So you may find he's willing to tweak, or you may not).

I don't know why everyone is telling you to cancel. You have said that his earlier work is of the style that you prefer. Maybe the moodier vibe is what people have wanted recently, that does not mean that is the only type of photo he is capable of.

Surely it is better to sit him down and tell him which style you prefer, it is your wedding after all. If he tells you he is not doing that style anymore that is fine but to lose your deposit without even asking a question seems silly. Would you worry about telling a florist that you want a bouquet that is more similar to another lot of flowers you have seen them do?

I'd ask him first if he'd be able to do your photos as in his earlier photography only but make a judgement as to whether he will. Your photographer sounds like he might be happy to do that esp as you know he can and has done photos like that in the past.

My friend wanted very traditional, posed photos for her wedding album. The photographer had a fixation with taking photos in mirrors and she said she absolutely did not want that type of photo. When she got the photo slides to choose her favourite ones, he had edited all the photos so the background of the photographs was blurry, she and her husband's faces were inside a champagne glass, they were superimposed on objects, one object was in colour in an otherwise black and white photograph and so on. She was really upset and picked a random selection just to get it over with and never looked at them again.

Think we’ve made our decision, this morning we’ve managed to find a photographer who’s photos are exactly in the style that we love. & he’s very competitively priced and is available on our date. We don’t want to make any rash decisions and make a mistake just yet, so I’m going to get as much info as I can, ask lots of questions and check out every last photo in his portfolio before we make a decision.

Guess I’m going to have to let my current photographer know that I intend to terminate my contract with him. Really don’t know how to put it to him? How would I word the email in the most polite way? Feel really bad doing this at a time that must be so difficult for people in the wedding industry, but at the same time I have no doubt he will be able to find another couple to fill our spot next year and as somebody had previously pointed out he will also pocket our deposit so ..

We’ve already paid our current photographer in full, I’ve checked his t and cs in the contract he sent me and it states that obviously the deposit is non refundable, but if he recieves more than 12 weeks notice of the couples intention to terminate contact hey are entitled to have the rest of the money refunded. Does anybody that’s in the industry have any idea how long I may feasibly be waiting on a refund? Only it would be helpful to have that money to pay the deposit to the new photographer

Cancel - his “skill/talent” will be best used in the style he’s comfortable with. Asking him to do something different will likely not produce good results.

I feel terrible

And so you should, I think you are being really unfair. You booked him because you could afford him, you had to postpone and even though that wasn't his fault he very kindly offered you extra photos and an album, but hey now you have a few extra quid it's fuck him I can get better so I'll just cancel without even giving the guy a chance, but hey you feel terrible so that's ok. You do not feel terrible, you want help phrasing how to tell this guy and not feel guilty. I think you should feel guilty.

I spent a £5K in total on my wedding £1500 of that was on a photographer.

When it's all done you only have the photos left.

4 years on I love my photos. I love the style of them and they were what I wanted.

Find someone you like the style of and pay them.

It's worth it.

🙄 op is perfectly entitled to change her mind.

I genuinely do feel terrible. I know this is a difficult time for anybody who is self employed.

But at the end of the day this is not a personal relationship, this is a relationship between a business and a client, I struggle to see how I am being unfair by being honest with him and letting him know well in advance we’ve had a change of heart, giving him over a year’s notice to find a new client to fill our spot. As a previous poster pointed out he gets to pocket our deposit and I don’t think he will have any trouble getting more business for 2021 as although he might not be exactly what we’re looking for style wise it’s clear for anybody to see that’s he’s great at what he does.

The only problem might be whether he actually has the money at the moment to refund you - he won’t be making any income from weddings right now. If you want to help him out in an appropriate way then I suppose you could arrange (electronically, to have a paper trail if needed!) to have half the balance back this month and half in six weeks, or something like that. In case he’s waiting for UC claim/government funding to go through.

judging by his social media as time has gone by his editing style is becoming increasingly different to the way it was when we first booked

Surely the thing to do is say how much you liked the style at the time and ask if yours could be done the same way? It's true some photogs get "consumed" with whatever the latest fashion is, but a good one should be able to row back to provide what you want

He sounds very approachable so I'd have thought his response would be a good guide?

@ninkanink that sounds like a good idea 👍

I don't understand why you'd go straight for cancelling him without speaking to him about it first?

I think that is shitty.

For all you know, the style you like and want may be his preferred style, but he has recently been asked for something else quite a lot and so thats whats on his website/portfolio.

If he comes back to you and says he doesn't do that/won't do that, fair enough find someone who will, but to sack him without any conversation for possibly no reason at all seems very unreasonable!

So you booked Picasso when you wanted Monet? Yeah, I’d cancel. It doesn’t sound either of you will enjoy the arrangement.

Honestly you've booked him, to not give him a chance to respond is not a nice thing to do.
Talk to him, explain you prefer his earlier editing style. I doubt that will be an issue as he already has experience in working that way. I know a couple of photographers who all would understand this no problem. Wedding photographers are used to adapting to the couples wishes.