Bride left jilted by 'dodgy' photography company after receiving wedding snaps with 'eyes closed' and 'phone filters'
A devastated bride has a warning about a 'dodgy' photography company for couples getting ready to tie the knot after the memory of her magical day was reduced to a series of 'average' wedding photos, showing her bridal party with closed eyes and edited with 'cheap filters'.
Jess and Matt Probert celebrated their first wedding anniversary only days ago, and have a hard time looking at photos of their special day.
“They’re really disappointing. They’re not $3000 worth of wedding photos that you want to show off to everyone. They are just kind of average,” Mrs Probert told Yahoo7.
After hiring Victorian-based company We Shoot Photography to cover the wedding and reception, alarm bells first started ringing when the photographer showed up late and left early.
Photographer Kelly McRae said she was sub-contracted by the company and was told Mrs Probert, 22, had purchased the cheapest package available.
The start and finish times were not properly communicated with her, Mrs McRae said, and she was told to only stay four hours.
“I didn’t actually know I was doing it until two days before the wedding commenced,” Mrs McRae told Yahoo7.
Two months after the wedding and following numerous phone calls to We Shoot Photography, Mrs Probert finally received her first lot of photographs.
She was shocked to find that the photos were unedited and featured skewed skylines and photos of the bridal party with closed eyes.
She said she couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“It’s all we’ve got to remember the actual day. It ruins the memory itself,” she said.
The company offered to fix the images Mrs Probert was unhappy with.
What she got was a series of photos that appeared to have cheap filters.
Shocked by the result, photographer Mrs McRae offered to edit the images for free.
“Kelly actually edited the photos herself free of charge. She was horrified by the whole thing,” Mrs Probert said.
“She’s done such a good job with what little she was given.”
After organising a refund with We Shoot Photography, the South Australian couple are yet to see any of the $1000 promised to them.
But Mrs Probert isn’t so much worried about the money – she is more concerned with other brides falling into the same trap.
In December last year, she wrote a scathing review of the business on her personal Facebook page and was surprised to find it had been shared more than 250 times overnight.
“I’ve got a group of us, almost 15, trying to work together,” she said.
“My aim is to get the name out. Others are looking into what legal action they can take.
“I have gone through many different cycles of emotions. I’ve cried a fair few times," Mrs Probert said.
“I don’t want other people to go through this heartache.”
She detailed a number of photographers who have not been paid after being contracted by We Shoot Photography.
At least a dozen brides have stated that they never received portions of their bridal package.
“I know of one woman who never got any photos at all.”
Mrs McRae has also revealed a seemingly dodgy payment dispute between the company and the sub-contractors.
She said was promised a 70 per cent profit from the event, and was told the couple had purchased a $1200 package, unaware that the couple had in fact paid $2800.
She also completed two other assignments for the company that she was never paid for, but said she has “totally given up” on chasing the money.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a client or a subcontractor you’ll get burnt.
“It’s not good for the reputation for the sub-contractors. We’re the ones that look like we’re responsible but we’re not.”
“It really has been a nightmare.”
She said the company quotes “bad sales” or “unhappy clients” as an explanation for little or no payment.
Mrs Probert said the option to write a review on the business Facebook page had been disabled, and the owner of the company had stopped returning her phone calls.
She said she even went to the lengths to travel to the business owner’s house to confront them, but was met with countless excuses.
“We’ve heard every line in the book,” a frustrated Mrs Probert said.
Yahoo7 contacted We Shoot Photography to be told that comment would be made once advice had been sought from a lawyer.
In regards to Mrs Probert’s photographs, the business released the following statement:
''“Images that were taken for the Probert Wedding were taken by a contracted photographer whom no longer works with our agency.
'Filters' or Photoshop actions are often applied post shooting to change the look and feel of the image. Because of personal preferences, the images were supplied both edited and unedited to the Proberts”.''
Mrs Probert and other brides affected by the company have vowed to continue their fight.
Mrs McRae said the company was negatively impacting freelance photographers like herself.
“Ethically on a professional capacity its really bad for the industry. They are tarnishing the industry of photography because of the way they operate their business.”
We Shoot Photography’s Facebook page was disabled shortly before publication.
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