I am not sure if this is in right section, however, desperate cry for help.

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conor

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Edit My Images
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Hello,

Firstly, I am brand new to your forum, so please forgive me if I am in the wrong section with my post.

I am not a Photographer either, so please bear with me whilst I try to get across my problem.

Myself and my wife recently married, and our Photographer has given us back what I can only call a shocking album. Everything is wrong with the pictures. The are not coloured correctly, some look like a complete train wreck.

He has basically provided us with an album with 40 pictures, out of which, I would say three work. They just seem very wrong. The people do not look like they should, the pictures appear dark and lots of shadows on people. The picture from the reception look very "dirty". My poor wife is heart broken.

We complained to him, and he has said to us that if we think that we could do a better job, then feel free. He has given to me files called CR2 files, which I do not have any idea how to fix. I could not even tell you a program that I could open these with, as they do not open on any program on my computer.

If possible, would anyone be able to tell me a program that would assist me in this? Also, how to edit a picture to bring it to a correct standard?

I would be very grateful for any advise, in this very scary task ahead.

Many Thanks in advance.

Conor
 
A CR2 is a RAW file basically is a totally un-edited photo straight out of the camera...you would need something like Photoshop Elements to process them that would probably be one of the cheaper paid software...there is free software that you can get too

Processing a RAW is not hard to do in reality but it does take some getting used too :( but at least you've got the best type of file to get photos from if they need a lot of processing :(

Hopefully someone will be able to help you...I'd happily process a few for you, no professional wedding photographer am I though I must confess
 
Connor, what area do you live? really you'll need someone to guide you through the basics, the software (elements or lightroom) isn't difficult to use but it's much easier if someone local can show you how.
The CR2 are canon raw files (as said above) but having them is still no guarantee that the photos will be any better, they could be so bad that the orignal photographer may have got the best he could from them, without seeing them it's impossible to say
Can you post one or two of the cr2 files somewhere so we can have a go at them? Theres plenty on here who will probably try and help.
 
MWHCVT said:
A CR2 is a RAW file basically is a totally un-edited photo straight out of the camera...you would need something like Photoshop Elements to process them that would probably be one of the cheaper paid software...there is free software that you can get too

Processing a RAW is not hard to do in reality but it does take some getting used too :( but at least you've got the best type of file to get photos from if they need a lot of processing :(

Hopefully someone will be able to help you...I'd happily process a few for you, no professional wedding photographer am I though I must confess
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Thank you so much for your reply.

Not being a photographer, I really wouldn't know where to start with editing, not alone learning a new editing program. I do not even know if the pictures could be fixed or what is required to fix them to a good standard.

I would happily pay you as much as I can to help me edited some of the pictures.

At this stage, I am that upset for my wife, I would sell the house to have them fixed :( .

Thanks again for your response, I really am grateful.

Conor
 
sorry to hear about this......

If you go to www.speedyshare.com you can upload the cr2 file to there, and paste the download link in here.

It's amazing what can be "salvaged" from a RAW (CR2) file....
 
swanseamale47 said:
Connor, what area do you live? really you'll need someone to guide you through the basics, the software (elements or lightroom) isn't difficult to use but it's much easier if someone local can show you how.
The CR2 are canon raw files (as said above) but having them is still no guarantee that the photos will be any better, they could be so bad that the orignal photographer may have got the best he could from them, without seeing them it's impossible to say
Can you post one or two of the cr2 files somewhere so we can have a go at them? Theres plenty on here who will probably try and help.
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Hi Swanseamale,

thanks for your response.

Where could I post them to to allow for that to happen?
 
If you want to post a couple up I'll see what I can do, depending on what can be done, I could maybe consider re-processing them all for you and re-doing you an album (i use graphi).

It sounds like some White balance issues (funny colour)
Shadows...(these can sometimes be easily lifted etc)
I am not sure what you mean by dirty (sensor dust can be fixed, but if its noise this could be more difficult esp if the pics need lightening)

An old photographer trick to fix bad colour quickly is to simply convert to black and white if that helps any ;)
 
post them.. he means upload them .. do you know how to upload files to the internet?
 
TheDrift- said:
If you want to post a couple up I'll see what I can do, depending on what can be done, I could maybe consider re-processing them all for you and re-doing you an album (i use graphi).

It sounds like some White balance issues (funny colour)
Shadows...(these can sometimes be easily lifted etc)
I am not sure what you mean by dirty (sensor dust can be fixed, but if its noise this could be more difficult esp if the pics need lightening)

An old photographer trick to fix bad colour quickly is to simply convert to black and white if that helps any ;)
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Hi, many thanks for responding to me. I have posted one of those files here http://www.speedyshare.com/hCMwPwew/MG-0173.CR2

If it is possible for that to happen, how much would that cost to do?
 
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thats a shockingly bad picture.. if they are all like that i hope you got your money back and gave him a kick ... its fixable and i daresay it will be done for free in next ten minutes by someone..
 
KIPAX said:
thats a shockingly bad picture.. if they are all like that i hope you got your money back and gave him a kick ... its fixable and i daresay it will be done for free in next ten minutes by someone..
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Yes, A lot of them are like this.

We asked for our money back, but go none of it back. He gave us our album, which was a traditional old fashioned album with 8*6 prints. That was what my wife had requested.


He refused to give us our money back, so we have had no other choice than to make an appointment to see a solicitor.
 
Was this a 'professional' photographer?

The colour actually doesnt look to bad, could maybe do with being warmer, the big prob is its out of focus..probably because it was shot at just 1/15!!

If this was me it would be firmly in the bin pile!
 
connersz said:
Did you see any of his previous work before booking?
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Hi Connersz,

Yes, he came to our place with a lot of different example of his work which seemed fined. I am starting to think that it might not have been his work.
 
conor said:
Hi Connersz,

Yes, he came to our place with a lot of different example of his work which seemed fined. I am starting to think that it might not have been his work.
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Quite possibly. I would be tempted to have a go at looking for his images elsewhere through tineye if he has a website.

http://www.tineye.com/
 
Jeez,

60D and 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5
1/15
f/3.5
ISO 500

Taken in manual

I think you deserve your money back but I'm guessing this photographer was booked on price?
 
KIPAX said:
thats a shockingly bad picture.. if they are all like that i hope you got your money back and gave him a kick ... its fixable and i daresay it will be done for free in next ten minutes by someone..
Click to expand...

Can only really echo this :( I do hope that some can be saved but if that is representative on the standard I'm sorry to say I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope :(
 
admirable said:
Jeez,

60D and 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5
1/15
f/3.5
ISO 500

Taken in manual

I think you deserve your money back but I'm guessing this photographer was booked on price?
Click to expand...

We payed him £975 for the total package.
 
ive had a couple of these in the last 12 months. the worst i had was an indian wedding where everyone looked "white"

spent about 8 hours fixing pics.

If OP lets me know where he is I will happily have a look for him there might be something recoverable.
 
Photoshop's blur reduction is bringing a little of the detail back, but i'm afraid its probably a bit too little to late..

I dont understand why he/she shot at 1/15! its far too slow?
 
TheDrift- said:
Photoshop's blur reduction is bringing a little of the detail back, but i'm afraid its probably a bit too little to late..

I dont understand why he/she shot at 1/15! its far too slow?
Click to expand...

Indeed, would have been far better to use a much higher ISO and get a decent SS
 
higgeh said:
did he give you the pics on a disc?
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He gave me a memory stick, and stormed out on us. We where to get the Pictures on a disk to enable us to print them, but he took that with him. What was on the stick was purely the CR2 files, which I cannot see. However, I can only assume that they are the pictures within the album.
 
Can you upload the file again because I can't get a copy using that link.
 
MWHCVT said:
Indeed, would have been far better to use a much higher ISO and get a decent SS
Click to expand...

...or flash or a wider aperture or anything to not shoot people at 1/15! :shrug:

To the OP
As others have suggested its probably a case of going through the disk and seeing what is saveable?

If you wanted to do this yourself you can download a free trail of photoshop at
https://creative.adobe.com/products/photoshop?promoid=KHTUU
For a one off job like this it might help.

Google white balance, and maybe the new antishake function and sharpening..
..Also zoom into the picture 100% and you'll see the focus probs

Photoshop can be a steep learning curve though...

Good luck :)
 
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TheDrift- said:
...or flash or a wider aperture or anything to not shoot people at 1/15! :shrug:

To the OP
As others have suggested its probably a case of going through the disk and seeing what is saveable?

If you wanted to do this yourself you can download a free trail of photoshop at
https://creative.adobe.com/products/photoshop?promoid=KHTUU

For a one off job like this it might help.

Photoshop can be a steep learning curve though...
Click to expand...

I was basing my comment on looks like it was a church so often no flash, and the lens in use was at its widest aperture :shrug:
 
MWHCVT said:
I was basing my comment on looks like it was a church so often no flash, and the lens in use was at its widest aperture :shrug:
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I know :) I was shrugging at him (the unnamed shooter) not you :)

If your shooting in a church thats doesn't allow flash why would you put on a 3.5 lens in the first place?

99.9% of people who shoot weddings for that money must surely own something faster than 3.5

whole load of choices by the photographer that dont make sense to me.
 
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The fact that some people are suggesting the OP uses photoshop to recover these himself is frankly rediculous.

From what I can tell they would need some quite advanced techniques to get them right, especially if they are all out of focus.

You can't expect the wedding couple to have to learn photoshop and edit the images themselves it will never look right.

A more useful piece of advice would be to attempt to claim off his indemnity insurance if he has it or speak to a solictor about the case. I am quite sure you will be able to achieve some money back which you can then use to hire a professional wedding photographer to fix them.

Edit: Try to stay calm about the situation.
 
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TheDrift- said:
I know :) I was shrugging at him (the unnamed shooter) not you :)

If your shooting in a church thats doesn't allow flash why would you put on a 3.5 lens in the first place?

99.9% of people who shoot weddings for that money must surely own something faster than 3.5

whole load of choices by the photographer that dont make sense to me.
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One would hope....there is a name attached to the file but cannot find anything based on that name :(
 
TBH Conor I would take the disk to a retoucher rather then trying to do it yourself. Atleast to someone who'll give you an honest opinion as to their likely hood of a reasonable set of photos being recovered from them.
 
boyfalldown said:
TBH Conor I would take the disk to a retoucher rather then trying to do it yourself. Atleast to someone who'll give you an honest opinion as to their likely hood of a reasonable set of photos being recovered from them.
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This, you need and expert if they are all like the one linked :( it's not something I would like to do as my photoshop skills are not tailored to that type of photography :shrug:
 
connersz said:
The fact that some people are suggesting the OP uses photoshop to recover these himself is frankly rediculous.

From what I can tell they would need some quite advanced techniques to get them right, especially if they are all out of focus.

You can't expect the wedding couple to have to learn photoshop and edit the images themselves it will never look right.

A more useful piece of advice would be to attempt to claim off his indemnity insurance if he has it or speak to a solictor about the case. I am quite sure you will be able to achieve some money back which you can then use to hire a professional wedding photographer to fix them.

Edit: Try to stay calm about the situation.
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Not sure why is that ridiculous, certainly worth considering as an option, before considering the expense of sending out? Like I said its hard to tell without seeing them all

Without looking at all the photo's it's difficult to tell, but if some details can be recovered say by using anti blur, its not that difficult to open picture select sharpen, select shake reduction, press go

Given that its a free option using the photoshop trail...it would cost nothing to give it a go?
 
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