Disgusting wedding photos

[inthelight44]

Just received my wedding photos and I’m so upset. The composition of the pictures is lovely - the backgrounds are beautiful and the colours are nice, but all the photographs have been taken from low down, giving me an awful double chin. There are two photos I like - both taken from a normal angle, but for the rest, the photographer crouched down and I have about 5 chins and my hair looked so flat.

I know it’s silly and there’s nothing I can do now, but why didn’t the photographer think of this? So upset.

Went to wedding in May that was practically run by the photographers... they were there all day, telling people to do different things, wandering round taking informal shots as well as an hour of "brides family", "grooms second cousins twice removed" etc... and the pictures are meh... so so. 4 or 5 of them are lovely - the rest are just run of the mill, some truly awful.
Was really intrusive, never felt you could relax. Not sure any wedding pictures are loved by the people in them though, seems a common complaint.

Hi OP.

I'm so sorry you don't like your wedding photos. Although the important thing is that you have a great marriage and enjoyed the day itself, it's still upsetting when you've paid a professional to take photos of you at a once in a lifetime occasion and they don't deliver.

First of all, I would email the photographer and explain that you are unhappy with the angle they used to take the pictures they have sent you, and ask whether there are any other pictures they took which weren't taken from this angle and didn't make it into the selection they sent you.

If that doesn't help at all, and these pictures are clearly not what you were expecting given the photographer's other work that you saw when deciding who to go with, ask them if there's anything they can do to make it right. Realistically you would be looking for a partial refund or a freebie photo shoot where you and your husband put your wedding outfits back on and have another go.

Alternatively you might prefer to try and have a photo shoot with a different photographer.

Our wedding photographer was having an off day and didn't get many decent shots of me and my husband. It wasn't a total bust because we got some nice pictures of the ceremony and our guests at the reception, but the couple photos were disappointing.

We left it until the following summer and then decided we still felt disappointed about it so we found another photographer. My husband and I both took a random Monday off work, I got my hair and makeup done again and we had a lovely relaxed photoshoot just the two of us.

Social media has really killed our self image and created a wide gap between expectation and reality.

1. If you really don't like the photos, just put them away, you'll get them back out in 30 years and feel differently. Hopefully you've been able to capture the feel of the day and your most important guests.

1. Organise another photo shoot just for you and your husband, with a different photographer. Get dressed back up in the wedding outfits if you want - or whatever is comfortable and makes you feel good. The important thing is to have pictures of you that represent you newly married. Is there a specific motivation e.g. putting them on social media, printing them out for your home etc? Tailor it for that.

Note for future brides: Always book a pre-wedding shoot with your photographer. If you can, before paying the full deposit. It means you can get comfortable with them, understand what poses work and don't before the stress of the wedding day and give constructive feedback. You don't have do anything with the photos if you don't want to.

Was going to say this 😂

Remember thinking I looked horrible and now I look back and wonder why I was complaining!

Great advice ❤️

I was at a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I noticed this about the photographer. Camera low and I knew that might prove a little worrying for the bride who likes to be photographed from above as she knows about composition. All I can say is hopefully others took some photos too. I was initially so upset after my own wedding as there seemed to be no nice pictures but there were a couple I liked and frankly it’s all about the memories.

My photos were like this, it still makes me upset and furious. The photographer did my brother's wedding and made everyone look like a supermodel. At our wedding she made us look like orcs. All photos from below, she made me stand side on and tried to make my dress behave as though it had a train (it didn’t), the most spectacular historic setting and all photos close up with zero landscape, photos of my family group actually squint and always with at least one person with their eyes closed or not looking at the camera. She put some awful filter over everything too so that the colours were completely wrong and looked dreadful. I was devastated, and I'm still bitter about it! I look massive and awful in every picture she took. Thankfully my sister in law was taking pictures on her phone and friends also took snaps that were beautiful - if it wasn't for those, I'd have believed I looked like a fat sweaty drag queen. I feel for you, OP 😔

Your photographer sounds dreadful op

you shouldn’t have to pay them

Ask the photographer. They might have lots more.

Also if you do hate them that much. Get them redone. A friend of mine did,

Sue him for not airbrushing the photos? I don't think she'd get very far with that, her dh obviously has more commonsense.

I really feel for you. I hate my wedding photos from 6 months ago, too. Our photographer broke her foot 2 days before the wedding and sent another (professional) photographer in her place. Couldn't be helped but the replacement, although v nice on the day, really didn't do a good job at all. Unflattering angles, horrible blueish filter on outdoor ones, and the couple pics outside are Godawful. Our original photographer was mortified and spent ages trying to edit them - a few are now OK but we are intending to put our outfits on again around our first anniversary and try to get a few half decent ones of the two of us.

My fave pictures are the ones from friends and as pp said, as time passes I hate some of the ones of me a bit less. No real advice, just a hug from me! X

Sorry OP. You've had some good advice above. Also I would say that all you really need is one or two nice photos to have on display (if you want to). You'll rarely look at the full album (and no-one else will!)

Men tend to prefer photos of them taken from a low angle with the camera pointing up at them, women tend to prefer photos from slightly above.

I think maybe the crash from feeling like a goddess and having the best day of your life to seeing photos of that day where you look decidely human can be a bit of a sharp landing.

Go back to the photographers website, and try to compare them objectively in terms of style and editing. If they're nothing like, then get in touch with the photographer and ask if they can talk you through the obvious difference as you didn't get what you expected in line with advertised examples of their work.

You really only need one decent one that you like, and as others have said in thirty years you it won't matter that the one you have framed on the mantlepiece was one you had to stick your wedding gear back on for a re-do.

You are not being unreasonable. Why would you want child’s eye view of most of your pics?? I would go back and ask if they have more from a higher angle, just say that’s not my most flattering angle to be honest and they aren’t pictures I will use. They might have loads of unedited pics they set aside but could edit now.

DH is a wedding photographer, a good one, and he definitely thinks about flattering angles in pictures. I’m overweight and have an overbite so often have a double chin BUT I know if he takes a picture of me he has a magic touch for getting the most flattering angle.

Was this a professional photographer or someone who “has a nice camera” and offered to do it cheap?

I can’t believe a proper professional would take photos from that angle? When I was looking for a wedding photographer I came across a lot of the “I’ve got a nice camera” types who were only charging £200 for the day 😬

I’ve assumed they’re a proper wedding photographer (2k+ price tag) and not a friend/ family or somebody untrained and cheap, if the latter I might be inclined to just accept the pics x

Sending you a massive hug! I had the exact same problem with my photos and was absolutely gutted.
I bought a photo editing app called Meitu and altered the pictures so I have less chin and am now happy with a few of them.
Is this something you'd consider?

Wisdom 👏

I assume he talked her out of it because sueing someone is a huge, expressive process and a massive overreaction! Trying to get your money back, sure- but sueing?? I’m on the husbands side here for sure!

I'm so sorry, but the fat sweaty drag queen comment made me PMSL!!!! 😆

I'm so sorry your (professional) photos were shite, and I am so glad you got some nice ones off your friends.

As others say, there may be other photos the photographer has that are more flattering, failing that, could you get them photoshopped?

Yeah this. I am not sure what the OP and her DH could sue for anyway tbh. 'I didn't like the way I look' may not be a valid reason. (Not taking away how upset the OP is at all, and I feel for her, but the law may not see it as a valid reason to sue.)

Yep it's worth asking. Although from what the OP is saying, it sounds like they may have been given all of them.

My friend had this issue - she received about 500 photos from her photographer and didn't really like a lot of the ones of herself and her DH. She went back to the photographer and complained, and asked for the rest of the images. She was given the rest (about 2-4,000 photos) and found lots of lovely photos. She then asked the photographer to edit them, and they did!

Ooooh that sounds promising for the OP!