They were a cute, young couple, and they seemed normal. This wedding was already going better than most. The wedding was scheduled for September, but we were meeting now, in July, for a consultation and a quick engagement session.
We went over a few details concerning starting time, number of people to be photographed and personal photo preferences, and started on the engagement pictures.
It was a beautiful day, though it had threatened rain earlier in the morning, and the county park where we had decided to meet, was nearly empty. We took a few shots right near the water, and then moved into a clearing surrounded by a number of huge trees.
They were friendly, obedient, and photogenic. We were finished in a half hour, and I was pleased with the results. They thanked me, I told them to expect their proofs in two weeks, and we parted ways.
Two weeks later, they had their proofs and I was eagerly anticipating their order. The weeks came and went and soon it was late August. I was surprised that I hadn’t heard from them and after I got no response from several emails and a phone call, I assumed that they weren’t very happy with the proofs and had decided not to order. It was disappointing, but not a huge deal. I went about my business and eventually forgot about them.
The day of wedding finally arrived and everything went pretty normally through the ceremony and the formal portraits. When I arrived at the reception, I quickly snapped a few establishing shots of the venue, the cake and the DJ. I got to the gift table, however, and noticed that they had a display of engagement photos.
Honestly, I was kind of hurt that they had disliked my image so much that they had gone to another photographer, but I was curious, so I went closer for a better look.
The picture looked familiar…I took another look and realized why. They were mine-sort of. The location was the same. The pose was the same. The clothes were the same. But they weren’t the same; they weren’t mine.
It didn’t take a brilliant mind to figure out what had happened.
Over the course of the day, I had the unfortunate opportunity to run into one particular friend of the bride and groom who seemed to be everywhere. He was what I like to call an “accomplished annoyance.” Other people like to call them “aspiring photographers.” Regardless, he was one of those people who own a high-level consumer DSLR and thinks that makes him a professional.
My guess was that the couple decided that they could save a few bucks by studying their proofs and having their “aspiring photographer” friend re-stage the photos.
Technically, this qualifies as copyright infringement, but rather than spend thousands of dollars on a law suit, I added a few dollars to their bill. Problem solved…if I can ever get them to place an order. . .
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