My husband and I hired Erin Ehnle Photography to take our wedding pictures. We were looking for someone local to where our wedding would take place, who had some wedding photography experience under their belt but who was still young to the industry and able to provide reasonable pricing for our conscientious budget.
Original Pricing Offer:
$1,500
7 hours wedding coverage including getting ready photographs
250 edited pictures on a DVD with rights to print/copy/etc
1 hour engagement session and 25 engagement pictures
We already had engagement pictures done, so I asked for that to be removed and price reduced. I also said that I didn't want getting ready pictures so hours of her being at the wedding would realistically be 2:30 - 6:30. (Ceremony and reception were right by each other and we didn't have dancing or the "traditional" wedding festivities.) In summary, I was trying to get the most pictures of the ceremony and reception provided since we would only be receiving 250 pictures. And I wanted this to be provided at the most fair price given her initial pricing package.
She was able to offer us
$1400
4-5 hours coverage
250 edited pictures on a DVD with rights to print/copy/etc
- she picks the 250 and we never see the other pictures
Although I felt that we should have more price reduction from fewer hours and no engagement session/pictures, I still felt that $1400 was a reasonable investment for what we wanted and within our budget. I was hesitant about not being able to pick and not even getting to see, any of the other pictures. Her reasoning was that she doesn't want clients to see "less than perfect work".
Our wedding was May 18. And I thought things went really well. She seemed to be taking lots of pictures. But honestly I had other things on my mind and wasn't watching over her ;)
We received our DVD in the mail and were completely disappointed. Obviously I should have understood better what the 250 pictures would be comprised of but we have close to 90 duplicate pictures. Some of this I understand and appreciate her desire to give us options, but I feel a little cheated of the rest of my wedding that wasn't provided in her pictures. Especially when every group picture (traditional family pictures, bridal party, etc), has a duplicate - and the majority of these are 1 picture where someone has eyes closed/isn't smiling/hair in face/not quite in place and the other picture is absolutely perfect. She also provided duplicates with different filters and in B&W, but this is to a lesser severity.
I reached out to her and explained the situation. Unfortunately she has deleted all other pictures before we had even received the DVD. She blamed me for not telling her to do things differently (even though I was unaware this was even a concern). She felt that the best she could offer was a 10% refund. My husband and I felt that this was not fair given the percentage of pictures we feel have been duplicated.
She agreed to send a 15% check. We expressed that we still felt this was not fair but that we expected to receive some sort of compensation. However, weeks passed and we hadn't received anything. We reached out to her asking to confirm where she was at with the situation. She has now decided that she will be providing no compensation.
I do want to be honest and share that in talking with her on the phone, I let my emotions of the situation get the best of me. I used harsh words and expressed that if she refused to provide compensation that we would be writing reviews and sharing with others our experience. Because of this, she feels that she is justified in no longer having to refund us.
In summary, if you are considering using this photographer, I strongly suggest having a contract in place that covers how photos that aren't provided will be stored and managed before you have seen your pictures, number of unique pictures, and compensation if you are not satisfied. Her current practices are to delete all alternate pictures before customers have seen the photos, provide numerous duplicate photos that count against total # of pictures provided, and no monetary refund of any kind. read more
