Wedding. Photography. Lawsuit. Rant.

Okay.  I saw this video (about 11 minutes long, if you have time for it).  And I bet that some people would find it funny, but every time I think about it, I’m mad!  I’m mad for a whole lotta different reasons!!  Wanna hear my rant?  Might be fun!  See below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lz-07D5KoE

I have a hard time deciding what bothers me most about this video. But let’s start with the reminder it provides of America’s knee-jerk litigiousness.  What we don’t learn from this video is what happened between the plaintiff and the defendant after the plaintiff decided she was unhappy with her wedding pictures, but before they went to court.  Did the bride call the photographer and have a straightforward conversation about her disappointment with the photos?  Let’s hope she started there.  If she did, what happened next?  If I were that photographer, though I might have disagreed with the client’s assessment of the work, I would have done everything in my power to make her happy.  If the photographer tried to do that, she clearly didn’t succeed, because they ended up in court.  (And not just in court, in court and ON TELEVISION.)

Then, once they were in the courtroom, in front of Judge Joe Brown, he starts throwing around his purported knowledge about wedding photography and camera equipment.  He looks at an 8×10 print and insists he knows that it won’t be sharp if it’s enlarged any further.  He blasts the photographer for using a Canon Rebel instead of a more professional-grade camera.  Now, of course, every camera has its limitations, but the camera doesn’t make the photographer.  And, does the judge really think he knows to what size images from a Canon Rebel can be enlarged?  I don’t know that off the top of my head, and heck, I’m a photographer, if not a Canon user.  But the photographer in the suit seemed to know, and he wouldn’t let her discuss it!

And lastly, part of the damages sought were for the expense of (partially) recreating the big day for new photos.  I’ve been a bride.  The wedding day was the happiest day and one of the most important days of my life up to that point.  I’m delighted to have beautiful images of the day to remind me of it.  But the first thing I’d mention is that I paid plenty for the privilege of having an experienced professional photographer do the job (the excellent Shane Carpenter, might as well give him a shout-out here).  I didn’t find the cheapest person with a camera and hope for the best.  And the other thing I’ll mention is that if, somehow, my wedding photos had turned out badly, I would not waste a lot of time and money trying to recreate the day.  I might have some beautiful portraits done of my husband and me, in some other location, but let’s face it – the photos of a restaged wedding are going to remind you every time you look at them of what you wanted but didn’t get.  They’re going to remind you that the real moment you wanted to capture isn’t in that photograph. Sometimes, bad things happen, and sometimes, the best thing to do is take your lumps and make the best of it.  Beautiful moments don’t last forever.  That’s one of the reasons we love photographs so much.  And although a truly meaningful moment doesn’t require a photograph to help it live on in your heart, they sure are nice to show to the grandkids.  So, if you want that, do your homework, and hire a photographer who’s a real professional.

So.  There’s my rant.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Comments welcome.

Saying Goodbye to Longtime Friends

4850 Rugby Avenue, Bethesda

 

From Missy Loewe, WSP’s Director:

 

If you are lucky, you will have friends who have been with you for decades, years, forever.  I am friends on Facebook with a woman who rode up to me on her tricycle when I was three, almost 45 years ago, and I email with a friend who I met when we were both twelve.  More recently, Don Becker, Lynn Devore, and John Reef of WSP came into my life over 15 years ago.  And then there is her.

She and I met about 15 years ago, give or take.  She welcomed me in, and it felt like home.  I would spend hours with her, getting to know her every nuance, her personality, her preferences.  I hope she has laughed with me as much as she has given me joy.   She is quirky, doesn’t care what people think about her, and she can be counted on, always.  She welcomes new friends in, for a day or a decade, and seems happy when they return.

Soon, though, she will be gone.  She is 4850 Rugby Avenue, our building, circa 1964.  I will shed huge tears the day we close the door for the last time, lock it up, and some months later watch her succumb to “progress” as she falls into a pile of bricks and ceiling tiles.  I started teaching at WSP before I became the director, so this building and I go back 15 years.  She has bent but never broken.  She’s only a bit older than me, so we have both seen celebrations, tragedy, and watched people come through the doors and leave better people.  I have sat at this desk in this room for nearly 30,000 hours of my life…with her.

Our new building will be spit-clean, shiny, and triple the size.  WSP is not one person, and not one building.  We can grow, spread our wings, and help more people in the new location.  The new building will wrap us in warmth, welcome us in, and become part of WSP the way 4850 has been for nearly two decades.

Be warned, though, wrecking crew…I am taking a few parts of her with me.  A brick, a doorknob, a floor tile, and they will rest in the most special place in my new office that I can find.  She is part of WSP family and WSP history, just like all who have visited her.