What do I tell the bride if I miss important shots?

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QOTD: "Recently I shot this wedding, and I'll admit it to you guys, I screwed up a few shots. I just messed up my settings and I did not capture the shot...what do I do? Should I tell the bride that I'm sorry I miss "so and so" shot? Should I get the pictures to the best place possible, and give them to her? Or should I delete them and never look back? Help, this is such a hard decision because I know how important this day is to brides!" She was referring to some of the family formals.

Kate: Do what you can to get them as best as they will look. In my opinion she'd rather have a blurry or grainy image, than none at all.

Elisha: I've never shot a wedding (and don't plan to anytime in the near future they scare me LOL!!) But I think you could get the shot to the best possible and let her know these things happen sometimes-that's what I would want my wedding photographer to do--at least I still have the photo even if it's not something I would frame.

Jess: as a bride, we remember what was shot... so my suggestion is to make them look as best as you can.. unless they are all black or all white you can fix them.. I have been in that boat and thanks to the power of cs5 i was able to make them look better.. probably wouldn't print huge but good.. another idea flip them into black and white its more forgiving... if nothing else, we learned a lesson to check and double check the back screen of thecamera and be 100% sure next time :)

Leah: Get them to the best possible place you can. Nobody's perfect.

Tonya: During my wedding the photographer had the same issue but she deleted them instead of giving me the option to see them. I was kind of upset because I would have liked to at least have a copy of them on the CD that she created of all of our pictures. And if it was the only shot that taken of a particular scene I would rather have them than not. I would be honest with her and tell her that they may not be exactly what she expects but work on them the best you can and give her a copy.

Alicia: I would get them to the best place possible, and only give them to her if she askes for that one shot of .... unless it is a focusing issue then I would tell her the truth, that is why you take 2000+ shots at a wedding so that there is enough to choose from. HTH

Catrina: Do the best you can with the photos, and then show them to her. The first wedding I was hired for, most of the photos turned out TERRIBLE because a) the lighting was awful and b) I had no idea what I was doing. The bride and groom LOVED them, though. You're inevitably going to mess up, you're human. Just live and learn, and try not to make the same mistakes in the future [:

Shanna-Kaye: Do what you can-I can honestly say I missed getting the groom in a family shot once, and had to photoshop him in! (by MIL request)

Jennise: Editing pictures for perfection, meaning editing them with color, blur, soft portraits. adjust some saturation and contrast. no panic you can make the worst photos the best. reminder you can always crop a picture to its finest. I hope everyone solution worked.

Sheila: Also, I would specifiy, in the future, in your contract that they cant sue you for missed shots. Lol

Stephanie: I would be honest with her! This happened to me and I don't have any of the pictures with my grandparents at all and it breaks my heart!!

Patricia: I agree with putting it in the contract for next time. Also limit the amount of photos they will get. This way you can weed out the bad ones. And if they get more photos then promised they made out on the deal.

Crystal: Explain the situation and get the photos to the best place possible. Even if that means contracting out the photos to someone who is simply a photoshop master who can really get the most out of the pictures.

If you missed out on a bunch of key shots where everything is ruined sometimes you have to return the money....or offer a free session of choice for the future. I offered a free session once because I did not 100% like how one wedding came out.

Crystal: Good luck to you...I know how disheartening it can be.

Alexia: BP4U has wedding contract that comes with a liability form ^_^ for the shots you miss :)

Karen: This why I'd never shoot weddings! Too stressful for me! :)

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