Photography by Norm

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
To whom it may concern:We have received the documentation provided by The
photographer and disagree with the statements provided. The photographer can make many excuses as to
why he failed to do what he was hired to do.
The photographer was provided specific instructions and requirements to
which he agreed to do. The photographer
failed to perform these requirements with the excuse that he photographed our
wedding as he does other weddings.
He fully understood and agreed that this was not his “normal” wedding
and that we had very specific requirements, not to what he does on other
weddings. He agreed to these
requirements and agreed to perform them to the extent that he whispered in my
ear “ I will be your shadow “. This did
not happen, he conducted business as he normally did in the past and failed to
comply with our agreements. This is
evident in the fact that family and friends do have photos of all of us
together on their cellphones, yet the “photographer” who was hired to take
those pictures does not have these pictures.
My question is “what happened to my shadow and our agreement?”. In reply to the remarks/excuses he has made the following
are our rebuttals:The photographer is correct, he had not been paid for $24.84, not because we did not have money, but because I don’t believe that was the best time to think about something so minimal and we did not have the change to pay him. The photographer is correct about the questionnaire; however, that was the reason for us to sit down with him and tell him our requirements so that they would be fully understood. As far as not having anyone to help him, that is not true. Besides the individual assigned to help him (which speaks English) he was introduced to many other family and friends. Half of the people in the party are Americans and the other half speak English too. The individual assigned (Mahbubeh) speaks English and approached The photographer three or four different times and The photographer mentioned he was okay and needed no assistance. We made an agreement with The photographer from 11:00am to 1:00am the following day. During our conversation The photographer was to take pictures during the makeup, hair styling at the salon of the bride with her bridesmaids and then move to the hotel for pictures of the ceremony and the party. During the hair styling at the salon the bridesmaids were getting their hair and makeup done, The photographer took pictures of them; however, there are no pictures of the bride with her bridesmaids. This repeats throughout the party as The photographer does not take pictures of the bride and groom with family and friends, but takes individual photographs of guests. Photos were to be of the bride and her bridesmaids and not individual pictures. Several times we emphasized to The photographer the importance of all these pictures, and I don’t see how he could have misconstrued what our requirements were, as I speak and write English proficiently and my wife speak fluent English. The times for the events occurred as planned since the *** *** had a timeline for all of the events. Additionally, synchronization occurred with the band, the DJ and the videographer and our pastor who came all the way from Washington D.C. All of these individuals had no issues with the timeframes established. The photographer is not portraying the full picture and is not correct. There is not a wedding that the timeline gets affected by one reason or another; whoever, a professional knows how to deal with the situation and performs what is requested of him. If he had time to take individual photos, he certainly should have had time for us, since that was our time, our party, our wedding and we hired him for us.To the comment about the individual assigned to him for help, not providing help, that is not true, as that individual approached three (3) times The photographer and asked if he needed help and he denied needing anyhtiing. There were more than one individual (family and friends) who were introduced to The photographer to whom he could have reached out if he needed assistanceHe was introduced to my daughter, my mother, both US citizens and fluent in English. Additionally, he was introduced to my wifes sister who is from another country but speaks perfect English and had no problem making herself understood. Additionally, if he would have been my shadow he had no need to worry about who was who, as he would have captured them in the pictures when they were with us.The two hours he makes mention were not for pictures with groups, they were of us. He had many hours for taking pictures of us during and after the ceremony. The photographer actually set people up in groups of his own to take individual pictures. The ceremony was projected to start at 6:30, guests were to start arriving at 6:00pm so they would be in place when came in.The photographer did not approach me on three separate occasions to take time to take pictures of the groups. As a matter of fact, The photographer disappeared and did his thing once he exited the ceremony. The photographer did not actually ask us to take special poses, it was my wife who asked him to take a specific picture of her, which he failed to do so and did it his own way. The photographer does not listen well to what the customer wants and needs. He believes he knows best and does what he believes. The agreement was also to take pictures of us with our family and guests yet he failed at that too. The photographer claims we are in over 50% of the pictures; however, he is counting multiple duplicates and pictures with no content and not in focus. We can also as The photographer suggests, provide copy of all the pictures for your review.The photographer was not asked to take individual pictures of guests, neither to take them out and pose for pictures, or set them up in individual pictures. We asked of him to take pictures of us with them as we shared those moments with them. The photographer claims doing hundreds of weddings, but also as he stated he had never done this type of wedding and was extremely excited about doing so. So excited that he took pictures of all guests by themselves, or with their partners or groups, but not with us and this was our wedding The photographer claims, and I quote his words “I can’t imagine the response that I would get from people if I didn’t photograph the entire wedding and only photographed the bride and groom.”, this explains exactly what he did. This wedding is not for the people, it’s for the bride and groom. We contracted the photographer and we told him what we wanted done, we paid for this services the way that we wanted them done, not the way that he thought “people” would like it. As the bride and groom share with family and friends the photographer will capture those special moments and record them for prosperity. Additionally, this is a wedding event and not concert, birthday party or other event, the main characters here are the bride and groom.The photographer sold our pictures without our authorization to do so. We do not accept any pictures to be sold to anyone as these are our pictures for our personal and private event. With the current world events, selling pictures on line is not safe. The photographer assured me that no pictures would be sold. Additionally, The photographer should have granted us the opportunity to review the pictures first prior to posting anything on the internet for everyone else to view. There are pictures that my wife considers to be inappropriate for other to view. During our discussion at our home The photographer mentioned that he was not going to post or sell any pictures until we had an opportunity to review them. We explained to The photographer that many of our guests for religious reasons cannot have their pictures displayed on the internet and he understood. Again in June 2016, I sent a text message followed by an email to The photographer emphasizing that photos are not to be shown or sold. Right after we became aware of the posting of the photos for everyone to see, we contacted The photographer and asked him to take them off the internet, so he offered to keep them there but password protect them. I made a wedding for us and not for the public.Our August celebration was very small with about guests and it only involved a lunch. At no point in time it was discussed about selling the pictures and this is the first I hear about this subject. Action should be taken for this too. As far as overseas sell of pictures there was no discussion about this subject since our intent was to send our guests a thank you card with our picture with them, but we don’t have pictures with our family or friends. The photographer is no being accurate about his statements and not professional. The photographer did provide notification that the photos were online; however, we were to be granted the opportunity to review them prior to posting them for everybody to see. We found out that everyone could see the pictures, because guests called us to say where are our pictures with you. At this point we reviewed the pictures to find out that we don’t have pictures from our wedding, some were not suitable for posting, some we did not agree with and we immediately asked The photographer to take them off from the internet.The photographer only makes reference to taking out one couple and the boyfriend; however, he took many other individual and group photos The photographer was specifically told and he agreed that pictures were to be of us with our guests. If it only took minutes for this one couple, when we add all of the other individual and group pictures in which we are not present, it’s not a matter of just minutes, it becomes hours. The fact is that we hired him for us to do a job for us and not for someone else. The photographer is demonstrating with providing an offer to have an additional photo session that the photos were not what we had discussed and agreed to. My wife is foreign and her immediate family do not live in the US. My family does not live in Virginia and cannot make themselves available. We are not able to recreate this event as many people come from very far away and are not available. This is not taking in consideration the expense involved, which has already been done one time. We need pictures of us with our family members and with our guests. This was my wife dream and she was counting on these pictures to relive that dream, but she can’t with the pictures that The photographer took. We paid a photographer to provide pictures, not to use other peoples pictures because of not doing a good job. The important pictures that go into a wedding album are of the bride and groom with parents, family and guests, and we don’t have those pictures, so how can we make an album?The photographer’s statement is incorrect. We called The photographer to express our dissatisfaction with the pictures. My wife was sad and distraught after seeing the pictures and not having any pictures with her sisters, family, bridesmaids and other guests. I believe she has every right to be upset due to the circumstances, but she is a very polite individual. The photographer kept saying I worked hard and I did right, you cannot teach me how to do my job, and I don’t have to only take pictures of you and your husband, but from all the guests, then he hung up. I called him again and once again he hung up, but before hunging up he mentioned, I don’t have time for this, I am dealing with my mother. Once again I tried to reach him and he would not answer. My wife asked me at this point if this is the American way of not having respect for a woman, and dealing with customers so unprofessionally. My wife is currently under medical treatment due to the levels of stress that this situation and that The photographer have caused. She constantly cries and mentions her dream is gone, and does not have anything to remind her of those special moments with family.The photographer is basing his whole excuse on two hours out of a hour day. Additionally, photos with groups as he mentions could not be possible between 4:00pm and 6:00pm since the hair appointment was at 2:00pm and lasted at least hours, the Rotunda at The Jefferson was booked for another event that afternoon and this is not your “normal” American wedding celebration. Everything started with the ceremony scheduled for 6:30pm. All of this information was clearly identified to The photographer and he acknowledge understanding it.As far as The photographer’s willing to provide a refund of $315.90, we find that unacceptable. The photographer was paid $for pictures for a wedding album. We do not have the pictures we contracted for. We request that full refund be issued in the amount of $for services not provided as agreed.To finalize, The photographer
makes reference to our understanding and agreement of his terms about the sales
of photographs, but what law allows him to sell peoples private photos without
their consent. I would like to have him
provide this law. Also as he mentioned
on his own statements he took pictures of others as he has done in the past to
sell for his benefit, but we paid for our celebration. We hired him for our wedding celebration
pictures and not for his own benefit.Thank you very much.*** ***
See attached

I met with the couple on March 9, 2016 to collect the
balance owed and talk about the upcoming wedding on March 12, 2016.
When I arrived they gave me $960 which was short $24.84 but assured me that it
would be paid on the wedding day.  I
asked for the balance at the end of the wedding day,...

March 12th, and
Mr. [redacted] told me he had spent so much money that he did not have it.  I still have not been paid the balance owed to
me. During this meeting with Mr. and Mrs. [redacted], who were
actually married on August 22, 2015 and I was the photographer for them on that
day, I asked to see the questionnaire that I had sent to Mr. [redacted] by email
on March 6, 2016 and he responded that he had not had time to fill it out. Mr.
[redacted] then printed off a copy and began filling it out while we talked. (I
have made copies of the 4 page questionnaire so it can be seen what little
effort was put into filling it out and providing direction for the day.)  I asked if there was a mistress of ceremony or
someone that could help identify people and their relationships to the couple
and they called someone into the room.  I
was trying to be polite but the English that she spoke was not very good and
she seemed nervous that she was supposed to help me.  The day of the wedding I received no help from
the woman I had met, or anyone else, and was left on my own to figure out “who
was who”.  This was very difficult since
there were people from all over the world that had travelled to be there. The notion that I was not available and disappeared for long
stretches is ridiculous as evidence by all the pictures and their time stamps,
which shows otherwise.  In discussing the
wedding day with Mr. and Mrs. [redacted], it was agreed that I would start at
11:00am at the [redacted] Hotel, would depart to Petersburg, and then return to
the [redacted] Hotel by 4:00 pm to begin taking pictures of groups, wedding
party and family. They asked if that would be enough time and knowing that the
ceremony was 6:00 pm to which I responded that it would be. Please note that I
was with the [redacted] for a total of 14 hours on the day of their wedding.Below is the actual timeline for how things happened on the
wedding day:I arrived and began photographing
at the [redacted] Hotel, where Mrs. [redacted] was getting her make-up done, at 11:00
am. 11:00 am to 1:22 pm at the [redacted] for her make-up.1:53 pm to 5:53 pm I travelled to the [redacted] in Petersburg to take pictures of [redacted], the bride, and all of her bridesmaids to have their hair done.Arrived at The [redacted] at 1:53 pm and began taking pictures. The first picture at the Salon was taken at 1:56 pm.  I stayed there and was available to them the entire time for pictures and I took various pictures of [redacted], the bridesmaids and anyone else that showed up there even though I did not know the relationships, friends or family.  My last picture at the Salon, of them leaving, was at 5:53 pm.  I drove to the [redacted] to be available for pictures of the [redacted] arrival. My first picture at the [redacted] Hotel arrival was at 6:28 pm. Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] arrived at 6:32 pm and I began taking pictures of the release of balloons that Mr. [redacted] had tied to the car in Petersburg. The balloons were released at 6:36 pm and they began the ceremony at 6:44 pm.Of importance is the
fact that the two hours I had been told I would have before the ceremony,
from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm to take pictures of the [redacted] as a couple, the
wedding party and pictures of groups they may have wanted, was NOT made
available to me.  In addition Mr. and
Mrs. [redacted] were 45 minutes behind on the start of the ceremony. During the reception, I spoke to Mr. [redacted], three different times, as to when could
we try to do some group shots and each time I was told there was something that
was about to happen and that “we’ll do it later”.  I had wanted to take a romantic picture of
the two of them, at night, in front of the [redacted] Hotel. I had suggested
this shot prior to the wedding and the [redacted] had wanted to do it. When I
asked about that at one point during the reception I was told that they did not
want to do it anymore, which was not a problem but yet another change in plans.
 In their complaint Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] sent to you it is
stated that “Out of the over 1200 pictures….”, actually the total number of
images is 1,125.  A minor point but does
show how they are distorting the facts to try and achieve their goal of a
refund.  Additionally, to their claim
that they are only in approx. 25% of those, that too is incorrect; they are in
more than 500 of the images.  At one
point, during the reception, I was able to take the [redacted] away from their
guests so that I could take pictures of just the couple, using more formal and
romantic poses.  The [redacted] did not
want to use the poses I suggested and because it was during their reception,
did not want to be away from their guests, which I completely understood.   It has been my experience when the time line on a wedding
doesn’t turn out like the bride and groom expect the last thing they need is
the photographer putting added pressure on them. There is a need for being
tactful and trying to get what you can which is what I did. The words “be their
shadow” never came out of my mouth or theirs, though being the type of person
that I am I would have done whatever they asked of me. It was never said to me
before or during the wedding that they wanted to be in all of the pictures only
that the photography that I did for them was very important to them.  Of the hundreds of weddings that I have
photographed over the years, yes the bride and groom would like pictures of
themselves, but they also want a record of the day and pictures of friends and
family enjoying the event, which is what I did. I can’t imagine the response
that I would get from people if I didn’t photograph the entire wedding and only
photographed the bride and groom.As to his claim that I said I would not sell pictures to
guests or friends this is not true.  We
not only discussed this subject prior to the March 12th wedding but
also before the August 22, 2015 wedding that I photographed.  Mr. [redacted] told me after the August 22, 2015
wedding that he was pleased that the pictures had been online and one of his
co-workers had told him he had purchased a few pictures.  MR. [redacted] explained that he liked this
option because he did not have to do anything and wanted the same thing for the
March 12 wedding.  Additionally, because
guests would be from all over the world, it was discussed if I could send
pictures overseas and while I had never had that experience, I told Mr. [redacted]
that I was willing. I explained to Mr. [redacted] that their friends and family
would be able to view the images on-line and purchase but I would have to
adjust the shipping price for out of the country.  This discussion demonstrates that Mr. [redacted]
was aware that the online images previewing and print ordering gallery, which is
part of the package that was purchased and used for the August 22, 2015 wedding
and was also part of the package that was purchased for the March 12 wedding.  At no point before the wedding was there any
mention of not selling pictures and more to the point Mr. [redacted] was glad that
he would not have to print pictures for those that wanted them. The only sale
of pictures from the March 12 wedding was to Nasim Moadab, a bridesmaid, and
after shipping and tax totaled $35.38.  As
to the [redacted] not knowing that the images were online after the wedding, I
emailed [redacted] right after I posted them, just as we had discussed.As to the claim in their complaint that I was taking people
out of the reception room to photograph them for future sales this too is not
true. There was only one instance
when a female guest asked me to take a picture of her and we stepped outside of
the Empire Room where the reception was taking place.  This turned into multiple pictures because she
asked for her boyfriend and another couple to join them and I did not want to
be rude to a guest of the [redacted]’s. 
However, I knew that I needed to be in the Empire Room so I finally told
the guests that I could not take any more pictures of them and returned to the
Empire Room. This was not initiated by me and happened because I was trying not
to be rude to a guest. No pictures from this were sold and, as noted by the
time stamps, the entire time spent doing these pictures for their guest was 6
minutes.I am sorry that Mrs. [redacted] is unhappy and have had
numerous conversations with [redacted] about solutions.  In conversations with Mr. [redacted] I have
offered to take pictures of the two of them in a setting of their choice, at no
charge, and have offered to incorporate images that guests took to add to the
list of images they could choose from for their album which they still have not sent to me.  To address the statement that I refuse to talk with them, when
trying to talk to [redacted] and [redacted] by phone and at the same time, Mrs.
[redacted] began yelling and screaming at me, making it difficult to understand
what they wanted.  Mrs. [redacted] demanded
a refund of over $600.00, which I responded (based off of my conversations with
Mr. [redacted], that I thought “this wasn’t about money” and at that point Mr.
[redacted] said “it’s not.”  Unfortunately
conversations for resolution broke down because Mrs. [redacted] continued to
scream at me, which was not necessary or warranted.  Lastly, I believe Mrs. [redacted] is unhappy with the images I took
because she had envisioned different results from the photography of her
wedding – results that, I believe, could have been achieved if the two hours
from, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, for taking pictures at the [redacted] Hotel had been
available to me, as promised.  In conclusion an offer that was made, and that I am still
willing to provide, is for a refund of $315.90 which is the difference between
the package they purchased and the package that does not come with an album.  I will be more than happy to send discs with
the wedding images on them to you, a neutral party, to review to assist with
your conclusion.  I have attached other documents, the four page questionnaire
referenced and emails that note the agreed upon package/details of the package
and emails notifying the [redacted] that the images were online for not only
their August 22, 2015 wedding but also their March 12, 2016 wedding.  Thank you,Norman A[redacted]