I got married last year, had a photographer I found thru a company that was recommended by someone and who were at the Dulhan (Bridal) Expo in
I had some inclination on the day of the wedding that the pictures weren’t good but I had too much going on to pay attention. How we were posed, lack of lighting, where we were posted etc. The photographer I learnt had only been taking pictures a couple of years and wasn’t a seasoned photographer. She worked for the same company I did once upon a time.
However she was professional and worked hard so I didn’t make anything of it.
I got the pictures back around the time I had to go to
The actual videographer from my wedding day eventually called me back a few days later said he was working on the video and asked me some questions about editing out noise during certain segments and adding music. Fine.
The video arrives and now I go thru everything and find it a complete disaster. It was really bad. Honestly the video is unwatchable however I didn’t care for the video as much as the pictures. I really just wanted some nice pictures of us and there weren’t any posed ones.
Thank god for my friend Manish at the wedding he was at least able to capture some moments that I did not get from the photographer. There were so many problems, lighting, missing entire portions of the ceremony, not taking enough pictures of some things and really just not using any light of her own.
I decided to document all the things I had problems with, they weren’t creative issues as much as they were actual quality issues. I really just wanted a session with them with our wedding clothes that would garner a few decent portraits for us that we could frame. I decided to write.
What do you think?
Attention:
Duval Photo & Video, Inc.
April 11th 2008
Dear Elizabeth,
My name is Rupa Gawle-Kale and I got married on October 21st 2007 at the Huntington Hilton in
I’m writing after spending a long time thinking about this to let you know that I am very unhappy with the photographs. Loraine was very professional and hard working, but she lacked in creative vision and skill. The pictures of the ceremony, family, guests, and venue are acceptable at best. However, the posed pictures of my husband and me are dissatisfactory.
My concerns are the following:
1. The solo pictures of my husband and I are only in my hotel room. This should have never have happened; you see an unmade bed and clutter in the background. After we left, we never got solo pictures again. My husband’s only solo shots are leaning against the table in the hotel room with no natural light.
2. The photographs are not flattering. We are not smiling in most of them because she kept asking us to make different faces and expressions. We aren’t actors - we are real people who were confused and it’s visible in the pictures.
3. I would expect a photographer to understand the body type of her subjects and find the best angles and shots for the pictures. Some of the poses she asked us to do resulted in embarrassing photographs. If the pose had the potential to be flattering, it was taken from the wrong angle. Perhaps this is due to her inexperience with an Indian wedding though I was assured otherwise. I had to request she take certain poses, which she should have known on her own.
4. She unfortunately missed some very key shots. There were only 2 pictures of my henna hands and none of them were in full view, 2 pictures of the wedding cake without flash and most of the first part of our ceremony where we put garlands on each other were taken from behind people in the frame and with no flash so that we are barely visible in the picture. We got married on a huge open stage and she had the options of a lot of angles.
5. The flash and lighting was inconsistent throughout the event. For example, during the outdoor baarat in the morning, the photographs were dark and over exposed. Though it was a bright, beautiful day, most of the pictures are dark.
Fortunately, I am grateful to a friend who happened to take some excellent photographs of the wedding. We’ve taken beautiful pictures in the past thru a lot of different events including our engagement ceremony and it was very disappointing to see us not in the best light on our most important day.
While I have already purchased the photographs, I am not requesting a refund. However, I would like Duval to arrange a session for my husband and I to have our wedding portrait done. At this point I do not have any pictures of us in our wedding clothes that I would like to get framed. I may be reached at 917-940-9379 anytime. I sincerely hope that Duval will do the right thing for us because this has been very very difficult for me.
Sincerely,
Rupa Gawle-Kale
---------------------------------------------------- April 17th Dear Rupa: In regards to your letter dated 4/11/08. I’ll try to answer some of your concerns. After viewing your photos and video, without going into a lot of detail – we thought the overall photography job was quite nice – and captured your entire day, even with the prevailing conditions of the day. It is very difficult and extremely challenging to work with a bride that passed out. When this happens and it doesn’t happen often and never twice, the photographer eases off with a lot of posed photographs and constant flashing. You also appeared very tense and appeared distracted on more than several occasions. This was quite evident and it showed in both your photographs and video. Truthfully, I’m amazed In short, we are not going to go into each and every detail. If you want to blame us 100% for not giving you a perfect job, that is certainly your right. I’m surprised you forgot to mention the other issues in your letter, along with leaving the affair 1 ½ hours prior to the wedding ending. We are sorry you feel this way about Duval. Since 1966, we have worked with our clients, however most do not wait approx. 6 months to write a letter. To put this matter behind and go forward. Kindly call us at your earliest convenience to arrange an appointment in our studio. We will be more than happy to give you an in studio portrait session at no cost. You will be supplied with all images on a CD. If you wish to bring a change of clothing, please do so. Again call us at your earliest convenience to arrange for your in studio sitting. Any questions, kindly call, it will be our pleasure to serve you. Any defamation of character, implied or outright, written or spoken will certainly be answered through the proper legal channels. Best Regards Phillis Fein On April 28th I wrote: Duval Photo & Video, Inc. ORIGINAL SENT: April 28th 2008 RESENDING REGISTERED MAIL: June 10th 2008 RECEIVED June 13th 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Phyllis Fein, I’m writing in response to your letter dated April 17th 2008. Thank you for responding back. I realize nearly 6 months would be an unusual time for someone to respond about unsatisfactory pictures under normal circumstances. However my mother passed away and I was out of the country. Also I also did not receive the wedding Video from Duval till early April 2008 and thought it best to write after I was able to review both the pictures and the video. I am writing back because I’m concerned you may have me mixed up with another bride for various issues mentioned in your letter. 1. I never passed out at the wedding, not twice not once not at all. 2. I also never left my wedding early. My husband and I were the last ones in the wedding hall writing checks to our vendors while the crew was cleaning up. And this was long after we personally said our thank you’s and good byes to Joe and 3. Every single picture and video from that day including those from Duval show me smiling and happy not tense or distracted. All of the above leads me to believe there was confusion between me and another bride because I was frankly very shocked by the tone of your letter and the claims in it neither of which applied to me at all. And you offered my apparent passing out was an explanation for the photographer not taking enough pictures and not using flash. I look forward to hearing from you with a correction. Sincerely, Rupa Gawle-Kale When I never heard from them again I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau on July 9th 2008. Two days later the following ANONYMOUS registered letter came to my husband: Dear Mr. Kale, I am writing in regards to your wife. I work with your wife and you must be a real Saint. Everyone that knows your wife, feels the same way. We all know that she HATES children and has no respect for them or their parents. We’ve just seen her blog. What a pig! She seems to love the F-K word. I guess with poor upbringing for family values, this is the way one relates. I am also writing to I am also writing to Human Resources, to show what Rupa does on company time. Innocent children read blogs, and your wife has no respect for them. If she did, she would not use the F-K word as freely as she does. We all know from the work area, disagree a little with Rupa ands he states, she “Rupa”, will F-K you back. Very nice and ladylike, using threatening language in that tone. The “had enough with Rupa” group. The same week the below letter also ANONYMOUS along with the letter sent to my husband was sent to Human Resources at my job. Friends of (My Company) July 1st 2008 (My Company) Human Resources (Address) Dear Human Resources: I am writing this letter along with some of my peers in regard to another employee: Rupa Gawle-Kale. We want to make you aware of certain issues pertaining to Rupa. We thought about this and did not want to proceed, however, we feel at this time, harmful attention could be drawn to (My Company). A Company we love. In short – check Rupa’s Blog. www.janeofalltrades.verveblogs.com We understand from other sources, regarding her wedding photographer of October 21st 2007, that there was a slight disagreement and now Rupa brags…she’s out to get them. Why is this an issue for (My Company)? Upon viewing her blog, date: 4/27/08, she says, “You don’t fuck with me that way”. She also says, “I will fuck you back, I promise.” We personally do not know if the photographer knows this is out there. When he/she realizes this is out there, I’m sure eyebrows will be raised. Going further, checking her blog, you will notice her 4/24/08 blog states: Rupa doesn’t like Daughters and Sons Work Day. As she states, “What the fuck, Somebody gonna get hurt real bad.” P.S. this was on company time; Thursday 4/24/08. Other entries on Rupa’s blog were written on company time and bragging about it, saying it’s too bad for (My Company). Tuesday 4/21/08 Thursday 3/27/08 Friday 3/14/08 Wednesday 3/12/08 Friday 3/7/08 “Must read…why the fuck have a kid” Thursday 2/28/08 Wednesday 2/13/08 Friday 2/01/08 Thursday 1/24/08 “Must read”…calls…the police officer a bastard and frankly he (police officer – fucked up”. Also Monday 1/21/08 We can go on and on, we’ll leave that to you. It’s truly a shame when a person like Rupa doesn’t care or give a hoot about anyone but her self, brags about it and does it on company time. Again, if and when the photographer finds all this out and most of it done on company time, this could get nasty for (My Company) Obviously she loves the f—k word, doesn’t care for children, dislikes the police, judges and anyone that disagrees with her. In short this matter can get very ugly, and we feel you should take immediate action, before the (My Company) name becomes more famous for it’s employees than it’s products. Since Rupa does all this on company time. At this time, we are also writing to Yahoo the domain registrant/host to make them aware Rupa is abusing her privileges. Basically, everyone reads blogs, adults and children alike. We might be old fashion, but to use that type of terminology when you know children might be reading it. It’s just not right. We leave this in your hands. We are sure this matter will be property handled. To everyone’s satisfaction. Sincerely, Friends of (My Company) Cc: Office of the President Human Resources at my job with the involvement of the Legal department conducted their own investigation during which they not only caught some of the false accusations but bothered to look at time stamps as well. Essentially I was contacted given the documents told about what was happening and given full legal support to investigate this. Isn't it a felony to threaten someone via US Mail? Nevermind leaving behind traces leading back to you like your IP address and the town the letters were mailed form (yeah Anonymous isn't the sharpest tool in the shed) Without telling you my conclusion or my company's conclusion what is yours?
I received the following letter below: (written exactly including the bold font)