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How long does it take to get photos back?

callisto11callisto11
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in Wedding Photography and Videography Forum
I was married over a month ago, small wedding.  We splurged on a photographer, it was our greatest expense.  One question I failed to ask her was, "how long after the wedding will we be getting our disk?".  I just emailed her today and she said she is "busy" - I hate that excuse.  If you were too busy to photograph our wedding and finish with a disk, you should not have accepted the job.  I would love input on how long others have waited for their pictures.
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Re: How long does it take to get photos back?

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    haegelem1haegelem1
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ours took 2 weeks.  We received 7 DVDs filled with pictures, 500 each except for the last one had less, so about 3300 pictures in total.  He touched up and added effects or whatever to a few hundred of them, but we printed hundreds of our favorites through Walgreens, CVS, snapfish, etc. and made our own scrapbooks.
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    callisto11callisto11
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Sheesh, my gal just told me it would be at least a couple more weeks.  6 weeks to get pics?  Really?  Because I remember having to pay for everything prior to the wedding day....
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    haegelem1haegelem1
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    That isn't acceptable anymore with all this digital technology
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    smokyhillssmokyhills
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Really, it depends on how much post-processing she's doing. "I'm busy" is a curt response, and one I'd never give to a client. I can easily spend a couple of hours on a single photo, so when I do photos *for* people I ask what they're expecting. Does it say anything in your contract as far as how many photos are going to be post-processed, or if you're just supposed to get a card or disc with photos?
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    S_A_FriedelS_A_Friedel member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our photog got us all our of images, disks, and everything within 1 month.
    Anniversary
    Planning Bio
    *For Sale*
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    prusgirlprusgirl member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I got a "Story of the Day" package in three days. It's a cool slideshow you view online only.

    I got my wedding images on DVD (450 images), retouched and edited in less than a month.

    My album was assembled, drafted and edited in eight business days.  The flushmount album is due at the end of the month -- four weeks.
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    swissarmymelodyswissarmymelody
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It took our photographer about 7 weeks for both our wedding and TTD pics.
    Anniversary
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    woodfrogswoodfrogs member
    First Comment First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    If you have a contract with your photographer, it should say in it the timeframe for getting your pictures back. And depending on how busy the photographer is, it might take longer. I'm just finishing August's weddings now because we had 5 of them and I have a full-time job besides, plus I'm the only one who edits the images. If I'm not busy, they get images back in 2 weeks or less. Right now, it's 6 weeks.
    I'd push her for a date that you can expect something, especially if the contract doesn't specify.
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    callisto11callisto11
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am supposed to get a disk.  I was told via contract that we would get about 100 photos per hour and we hired her for 6 hours.  I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who thinks this is odd.  In the day and age of digital photography, this just seems extreme and I was NOT pleased with the "I'm busy" excuse.  I thought I had the right photographer but boy the tune changed after the wedding.
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    hannahhannah1hannahhannah1 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think that it really depends on the photographer. For me it was about six weeks. For my friend in CA, it was four months! Make sure that you negotiate that before hand if you still have time. Anyways, I am made a blog about weddings with tips and DOS and DON'TS for future brides. I guess I just can't get enough of this wedding stuff. You should check it out, because I just wrote about Photography. 
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    callisto11callisto11
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I read your blog - great idea.  Your photos are beautiful.  May I ask who you used?
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    jessicanorenejessicanorene member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Typically, a reasonable amount of time is anywhere from 2-5 weeks, depending on how in-demand your photographer is. During a slow season, I can turn out a wedding with 800-1000 images in about a week or 10 days. However, during the premium wedding season, I run about 4-6 weeks out.
    I agree that she realyl shouldn't have given you such a curt answer. I would never say that to a client. But its possible she was having a bad day and being pulled in 20 directions when she answered your email. We all have bad days....but still.
    Anyway, I would ask her for an estimated time when you can expect to see something, and take a look at your contract.
    The truth is, there is so much in the post-production behind the scenes than most clients are aware of, and digital age or not, a photographer running their own business and doing all the shooting, marketing, sessions between weddings, creating albums, editing, answering emails & phone calls and meeting new clients - there just aren't enough hours in the day.
    If you can't get an answer or see something within about 2-3 weeks, then you have reason to worry. For now, try to trust that the more time she's taking doing your editing, the better your photos will look when they're revealed to you!
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    callisto11callisto11
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you.  I did exactly as you posted.  There was nothing in the contract.  I did email her and she finally told me 6-8 weeks.  But, my relationship with her is damamged.  She took photos of my sister-in-law and her husband 2.5 weeks after our wedding.  Not only did my sister-in-law get her pictures online, she has already ordered her photos and should be getting the prints within 2 weeks.  I still have nothing.  I was planning on using this photographer for one year photos.  Nope.  Will not ever use her again.
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    brasielM01brasielM01 member
    First Comment
    I was married over 2 months ago. When we got back from our 2 week honeymoon I asked the photographer if he was done with the wedding pictures. He said not yet. Since then I have not heard one word. He hasn't even communicated with me about his progress. I'm slowly getting irritated and we paid over $3,000 for this. Our wedding was in Lake Tahoe; beautiful location and it was small, only about 50 people. Soooo...I don't know what to tell the others... It seems like it's a lesson learned.
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    photokittyphotokitty mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    brasielM01 said:
    I was married over 2 months ago. When we got back from our 2 week honeymoon I asked the photographer if he was done with the wedding pictures. He said not yet. Since then I have not heard one word. He hasn't even communicated with me about his progress. I'm slowly getting irritated and we paid over $3,000 for this. Our wedding was in Lake Tahoe; beautiful location and it was small, only about 50 people. Soooo...I don't know what to tell the others... It seems like it's a lesson learned.
    I'm sorry you are having trouble getting your images. BUT please don't bump up old threads, these brides aren't around to respond. If you stick to the first page or create a new discussion if you have a question, it will help keep the discussion current and relevant :)

    @knotporscha ZOMBIE 
    :kiss: ~xoxo~ :kiss:

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    hyechica81hyechica81 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment First Answer
    it took him 4 weeks to finish ours. we got two disks with all the photos he took but some of them he didnt like so he got rid of them.. but they were duplos anyway 

    we had over 700 mostly unedited photos he gave broken down into 4 pre ceremony ceremony photo shoot and reception for   us. its not that hard to photo shop and crop minor things out of photos like clothes lines and other objects not needed. i had my dad whos a retired wedding photographer edit my photos he then made a story book file from start to finish and it took him 2 hours to sift through 700+ photos and edit and fix up 210 of them 
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    photokittyphotokitty mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    @knotporscha ZOMBIE from 2010
    :kiss: ~xoxo~ :kiss:

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