Gareth Bowers, a young photographer located in the UK, was sued by a wedding couple, Marc and Sylvia Day for 1450 pounds. According to Mrs. Day:

He (the photographer) seemed very reasonable, very polite and professional. He even showed us albums of his previous work, which we really doubt could have been his. The standard of photographs from our wedding were not to the level of samples he showed us.

From my research, the couple had interviewed more than 10 wedding photographers before finally settling on Mr. Bowers. The photographer, 23 years young, who operated under the name, Fresh Images, said that he had shot 20 weddings and had been in business for four years. That would make him 19 when he opened his business....

Judge Nightingale ruled, "It is not just the quality of the photographs, but the subject of the photos is unworthy of wedding photographs. "

Out of the 400 digital pictures that were taken, the bride thought 22 of them, 5% were acceptable. My comments on the photos, well, they are definitely not the best wedding photos. But's it's really hard for me to say if there were only 22 that were good out of the 400, without see all 400 photos. Digital photographers do shoot a lot of photos, and on average, only 5 to 10% of the come out great. That's why they shoot thousands of pictures at a wedding. I feel as though the media may be cherry picking the bad photos out of the 400 taken. But that's just me guessing.

Now there are two big questions here that should be addressed:

1. Should the photographer, have been sued?

2. Were their warning signs that the Bowers could have recognized to avoid this fiasco?

The answer to both questions is a big "YES!"

Aside from the fact that only 5% of photographers pictures were usable, a lawsuit was just cause because he did not deliver everything that was promised in his invoice. It's important to note that his this photographer probably did have a signed contract with the couple. But it was not the contract which justified the ruling in the case, it was the invoice. Remember, the invoice is more important than the contract 99% of the time. Contracts are used primarily to defend the vendor from lawsuits, never the consumer. Your strongest piece of evidence in any wrongful business suit is your invoice or receipt.

Now there were warning signs that the Days recognized about this photographer, but didn't react on. Remember, they went through 10 other photographers, before settling on him. So what didn't they react on?

Lets start with the photographers age. At 23 years old, the odds of he, Mr. Bowers, being a great photographer, and a businessman, were pretty low. Photography, especially wedding photography, is a skill that is crafted over years of practice. At 23 years old, I was still a protegee, learning the ropes from a great photographer from Taiwan. It took me roughly two years to get good. Till this very day, I'm still learning with every shoot that I do. Business wise, I have to say I matured as a businessman at 27. I'm 32 now. And even now, till this very day, I'm still learning about business.

The Days also mentioned that it was very difficult to get a hold of their photographer. He wouldn't return phone calls or emails, even prior to their down payment. Like any relationship, communication is the key. Communication, is also a choice. A vendor is never too busy to return a phone call, even if their busy. It's very easy to devote 5 to 10 minutes of their time to a customer, potential or existing. I handle 20 plus weddings a month, and I am very easy to get a hold of. Now I may not call up family members of mine as often as I do clients, but again, that's a choice...haha.

Lastly, the Days took a look at Mr. Bowen's wedding album, and it looked great. But their photos did not come out as good. Honestly, you truly cannot tell how great a photographer is by just looking at one of his albums. Any amateur photographer can create a great wedding album. Any amateur photographer can also have 1 or 2 great references. What separates the pros from the wannabes is consistency.

You don't have to look at any entire album to recognize talent. You could possibly just look at a handful of pictures of different wedding couples, at different times of the day, different lighting conditions, BUT...AT THE SAME LOCATION. He may repeat some poses, and that's a good thing. The main question you want answered when looking at these photos is that he or she is able to produce a great shot, under different lighting conditions, with different people, at the same location. If he can, you got yourself a great photographer. Amateurs have a very difficult time replicating quality.

There are more things to note, but these are the major tell-tell signs to be on the lookout for.

With that being said, for those of you who booked with me, you can rest easy that I'm no like Mr. Bowers.

Well, I better get to bed. I have 2 weddings tomorrow and a football game to watch!


Steve Young
The Hawaii Wedding Reporter
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com/