So bummed, photographer lost family photos that we can’t red

that is sad. i am sorry.

i had a friend pass away from AIDS about 17 yrs ago. his mom didn't know he had AIDS or he was gay until the day before he passed. his mother was devastated when he told her, she didn't speak very much english and sent his sisters husband over to all of us at the funeral, thanked us for being there for her son and express her gratitude we were in his life.

another one of his friends had this lovely idea, we would give him all our photos and he would make prints and do up a nice photo book for his mom, sharing his life and friends and memories that she knew nothing about. you can imagine where this is going....

i handed over *every single* photo that had steve in it. this was before digital anything. i was careful to write my name on the back of each one so i would get them back. apparently, this friend was struggling with a drug addiction at the time, shortly after went right off the rails, got evicted, lost everything.... including ALL THE PHOTOS. he just went awol and no one ever heard from him again. i gather he has put his life back together (from FB).

i was heartbroken. i have one picture of steve from the funeral that was the handout piece ... i kicked myself for trusting that guy and not making prints. difficult lesson to learn the hard way.

i hope, at the very least, people were taking snaps with their cell phones and maybe you will get a couple? maybe not professional photographer quality but still.... something.

(((hugs))) that does suck.

Oh, I am so sorry - that is really upsetting. I know how I would feel. I am sure the photographer was so upset too, but it isn't her family.

    !00% agree with this. Professional photographers doing weddings, or other shoots use pro cameras that have 2 slots that are places in the camera for 2 SD cards-that way if one is damaged, the other is there as a back-up. This equipment costs more for the photographer to buy and maintain along with their education and experience so yes their prices are higher. Sadly the public often doesn't realize this fact when they are shopping. They are excited, costs are adding up, they look at a few shots the unprofessional photographer has made in the past and decide to go with her/him. Pro photographers do other things too like switching cards during the event to make sure not everything is on the same card. 

 Or in your case you had a limited choice and chose this one. I'm so very sorry this has happened to you tinyt. I'm not sure what you can do at this point but I would search through your contract and see exactly what it says. She didn't deliver her part of the contract. You are left with no photos. I'd also check with the wedding guests to see if you can get photos from whoever was there who was taking them with their smart phones. 

I would ask for a refund. I am so very sorry this happened to you and your family.

I've had that happen to SD cards and my husband has been able to download a recovery software and get the pictures. There are also pro services that you can pay for that a lot of times can get pictures off of corrupt cards. If that's truly what happened (and she's not just saying that)I would hope that the photographer offers to try that. Maybe you can ask her about that.

It happened to my wedding photographers/videographers who had a combined 20 years of experience, references, formal portfolio, and extremely high ratings. They put the SD card with our video into the card reader and had a momentary electrical brownout, which caused a static shock and fried the card. They spent hundreds, if not thousands, of their own money, sending the card to multiple recovery specialists, with no luck. We have the reports from the specialists as proof. Of course we were disappointed, but they were crushed, to the point that they don't even do weddings any more because it shook them up so badly (they fulfilled their committed shoots, including two of my friends, without issues, but they moved to strictly commercial work afterward). It's rare for it to happen to professionals, but it can and does happen. You and your photographer friends should be less pissy and more thankful that you've never known anyone it's happened to.

OP, I'm sorry you've lost your precious memories - I understand your disappointment.

I am so sorry, that just sucks.

Oh, no! That would drive me batty and hard to let it go. I too would also ask to have it looked at by a professional at photo recovery.

I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry, but that is terrible and very unprofessional. Only "pretty" brides deserve photos?

I’m so sorry that happened to you and your family. However, don’t beat yourself up with going with someone with only a few years experience. It could’ve happened to any photographer, even one with a long history of success. Life happens and unfortunate things like this go on all the time it seems.

Ah, so just being arrogant, then. Gotcha.

FTR, my wedding was in 2016, and the photographers also had/have thousands of dollars of equipment too, since they aren't windshield repair shop owners doing photography on the side and do this as a full-time profession. But hey, get your backwoods judgey pants on, if that's what makes you comfortable. When karma comes for you, I hope your customer shows you grace.

I’m so sorry. That really stinks.