Parents' fury after photographer erases mark for nursery school portrait

Sorry, I think it's a bit of a non-story. It was done in error, the tog apologised profusely and offered compensation. Yes if I had been the parent I would have been up in arms, but mistakes happen.
 
photographer could well have mistaken it for a paint smudge...
 
As for the question posed by the OP ... No never in a million years... However it could be mistaken for spilt juice or it could be a genuine mistake from a request just like the photogrpaher said.... I would never make a decision off my own bat to alter anyones features..

Also and more important... I would never hang someone based on a newspaper story..

PS not suggesting the OP was ...but thats the way it will go for the poor photogrpaher in question... probably half killed his business now :(
 
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The daily mail is always a non story. They just print any old story to get a reaction from readers. That looks like a high key portrait which would have bleached the birth mark out but that does not mean it was done purposely for that.
 
Nobody is answering the OPs question ?
 
I wouldn't purposefully remove a birth mark, but if i thought it was a smudge of food or paint or juice then i would. Sounds like the photographer removed it without realising it was a birth mark, a simple mistake, easily rectified.
 
KIPAX said:
Nobody is answering the OPs question ?
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no, I wouldn't have done the same unless it was requested, but if it was genuine mistake, and he has apologised, it seems a shame that Daily Mail are once again running non stories that could kill someones livelihood. Mind you, pressumably someone had to tell the DM the story was there..... :suspect:
 
‘I hold my hands up and admit I made a mistake but that’s what it was, a genuine mistake.' ( quote from the photographer)

Wether or not it was a genuine mistake or not is for each individual to decide, I personally would not have manipulated the photo.
Sadly we live in an era where the word "mistake ( and accident!) appear no longer to be accepted. The masses are quick to make a big scene out of human errors and that's what we are ...humans and humans make mistakes!
I expect we have all done "errors" in life ....the problem now is the fear of making a mistake because of the chances of being "ruined" by bad publicity/ being sued.
Without doubt, as a parent I would not have been pleased, and would have expressed so to the photographer however I wouldn't have gone "selling" my story to newspaper though ....I personally find it a little immature as the whole situation could probably have dealt with ammicably .
 
Yv said:
no, I wouldn't have done the same unless it was requested, but if it was genuine mistake, and he has apologised, it seems a shame that Daily Mail are once again running non stories that could kill someones livelihood. Mind you, pressumably someone had to tell the DM the story was there..... :suspect:
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That would be the money grabbing parents after compo, I would expect.
 
The tog apologised, offered a free print and held his hands up admitting error on his part. It should really be left at that and the parents should move on with their lives and put it down as a bad experience.

However the fact they are making such a big deal out of it, leads me to some questions? What do they exactly hope to achieve by destroying this poor guys business?

It wouldnt surprise me if he has received a letter "politely" suggesting compensation of sorts...maybe a private shoot for the whole family, a whole photo albulm being made free of charge...with a 40 inch canvas thrown in for good measure...

Then what is the guy meant to do? Refuse, look like the bad guy and struggle to get bookings in his area again due to word of mouth and the press. Or give in and take what could be a large financial loss along with the lost time he could be doing other jobs with.

Unfortunately thats how I view it, theres too many people around who will jump up and down and refuse to accept apologies and good will guestures, wanting everything and anything to put it right.

Quoted from the link -

Sophie Edwards, manager of Pebbles Day Nursery, said several parents were unhappy with the photos. ‘Some children’s eyes appeared to have changed from blue to brown while others just didn’t look very good,’ she said.

Where you get one person jumping up and down you will always get others join in, "just didnt look very good"...seriously? Why did you order the photos then, especially as they had an opportunity to see them beforehand. Sure you can do alot in PP, but you cant do complete miracles.

Oh and another bit Ive just noticed, quoted again from the mother -

'There are enough worries about the prejudices she may endure later in life without having to worry about adult male photographers, especially when she’s just two years old.’

Worry about adult male photographers? Seems rather specific. Shes two, she probably wont remember anything about the incident, and a guy who messed up an order isnt the sort of thing to instill fear or worry into a small child. I dont remember anything from when I was two.

I apologise now if any of my comments seem a bit brash or headstrong, it just winds me up when people over react to these sorts of things, going to national press etc. :bang:

I dont have children, but if I ever do then I may well come round and change my opinion, or perhaps not :shrug:
 
menthel said:
That would be the money grabbing parents after compo, I would expect.
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indeed, exactly what I was getting at ;)


If you had shown me the mark, I would have guessed at excema or similar [ie, something not necessarily permanent] btw, but still wouldn't have removed unless asked to do so.
 
Yv said:
indeed, exactly what I was getting at ;)


If you had shown me the mark, I would have guessed at excema or similar [ie, something not necessarily permanent] btw, but still wouldn't have removed unless asked to do so.
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I think the world would be a much better place if it had been the Daily Mail and not the News of the World that had shut down! ;)
 
Looks to be just a mistake. Dont know why the parents are getting so upset. Ask the tog first before blowing a gasket i say.
 
i wouldnt have edited the shot intentionally. the photographer has appologised and offered some compensation now the mother should get a grip and move on.

and it seems by the comments on that article most would agree.
 
Fuss about nothing. The photographer is the only one who knows what really happened, and he's given a reasonable explanation and apologised. There was no need to go the media, and I can't think of any reason for this other than vindictiveness/setting up a demand for some sort of 'compensation'.
 
Hang on a bit - according to the Daily Fail the parents seem to have seen contact / proofs and chose the pics from that - and the ' damage ' happened between then and the arrival of the final prints .

Now if I had been the parent of a child with a birthmark I would also be doing my nut - I chose the pictures I wanted , and I didn't get them.

How would they have explained this later - " sorry love - yes that mark was there when you were at Nursery but the man decided to 'improve' you . "

Now I can just imagine what either of my daughters would have said under those circumstances .
 
KIPAX said:
Nobody is answering the OPs question ?
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I may well have done it accidentally before, I work with schools shooting wall art / prospectuses a fair bit, and I suppose that there's the fair possibility that I've mistaken a birth mark or mole for spilt soup/paint/snot/dirt, and cloned it out. Ah the glamour of being a photographer...

With birthmarks and moles, I usually reduce the effect (ie don't light it to cast a huge big shadow or whatever) but leave them in place.
 
camerassassin said:
Hang on a bit - according to the Daily Fail the parents seem to have seen contact / proofs and chose the pics from that - and the ' damage ' happened between then and the arrival of the final prints .

Now if I had been the parent of a child with a birthmark I would also be doing my nut - I chose the pictures I wanted , and I didn't get them.

How would they have explained this later - " sorry love - yes that mark was there when you were at Nursery but the man decided to 'improve' you . "

Now I can just imagine what either of my daughters would have said under those circumstances .
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did you read the whole article?

photographer posts proofs,
customer says yes
another customer says "yes but remove blemish or mark"
photographer makes a mistake and removes the wrong blemish or mark from the wrong photo
customer complains
photographer says "oops, mistake,heres a free original print"

end of story, why then make a fuss. :shrug:
 
camerassassin said:
Hang on a bit - according to the Daily Fail the parents seem to have seen contact / proofs and chose the pics from that - and the ' damage ' happened between then and the arrival of the final prints .

Now if I had been the parent of a child with a birthmark I would also be doing my nut - I chose the pictures I wanted , and I didn't get them.

How would they have explained this later - " sorry love - yes that mark was there when you were at Nursery but the man decided to 'improve' you . "

Now I can just imagine what either of my daughters would have said under those circumstances .
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On what circumstance can the parents, or any customer, be angry at the sequence of events here?
Tog mistakingly removes a mark from a childs face, parents aren't happy so he apologises and offers a replacement print?

If Junior had a face covered in snot and nutella would the tog not be expected to "tidy up" the photo. Poor guy can't win and I hope that these idiot parents and of course the DM don't ruin any chances of success.

Joe
 
What if it *had* have been jam, or juice or whatever and the photographer hadn't removed it?

I bet you my last quid that the parent would be equally scathing that the photographer had done a shoddy job of not bothering to remove it.

Simple case of miscommunication and human error IMO. A total non story.

Besides, she called her child Omnee, she needs a hoof in the giblets :p
 
Oh I read it OK and according to the Daily Fail he offered another print. I presume it was one of the original un-improved ones but it didn't say so.

The Photographer does seem to have been guilty of a degree of carelessness [ busy with a huge amount of work - I hope so for his sake ]
 
My wife has a port wine birth mark covering one side of her face and i took a pic of her and removed it in PP showed her and she was not happy, so i can see were the parents are coming from.

As for it could have been mistaken for juice, i am sorry I donot buy that at all, the tog took the pic he knew it was there and removed it simple as thinking he was doing right, just like I did with my wife.

Ok parents got an appology, but he should have asked.

spike
 
faddius said:
The tog apologised, offered a free print and held his hands up admitting error on his part. It should really be left at that and the parents should move on with their lives and put it down as a bad experience.

However the fact they are making such a big deal out of it, leads me to some questions? What do they exactly hope to achieve by destroying this poor guys business?
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Sadly that seems to be the way of the World today. There are many people who seem to "rage" for no good reason, for whom an apology is not enough. I saw an assistant in Waitrose (an ordinary middle aged woman) reduced to tears by some ignorant guy's attitude over a quite simple mistake, where an apology was instantly given. This guy would not let matters rest, and I asked myself the same question as you - "what do they hope to achieve?".
It seems that they want total humiliation of the person concerned, and they want everyone to know that they have done it. They do not even seem to be bothered that it is his livelihood which is at risk.
 
SpikeK6 said:
My wife has a port wine birth mark covering one side of her face and i took a pic of her and removed it in PP showed her and she was not happy, so i can see were the parents are coming from.

As for it could have been mistaken for juice, i am sorry I donot buy that at all, the tog took the pic he knew it was there and removed it simple as thinking he was doing right, just like I did with my wife.

Ok parents got an appology, but he should have asked.

spike
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that isn't consistent with the story, have a read through. In the story the photographer says he had a request from a customer to remove a mark and mistakingly thought it was about this photo, that was his mistake. He got the wrong photo. He never said it was mistaken for food or juice.
 
joescrivens said:
that isn't consistent with the story, have a read through. In the story the photographer says he had a request from a customer to remove a mark and mistakingly thought it was about this photo, that was his mistake. He got the wrong photo. He never said it was mistaken for food or juice.
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Sorry I worded it wrong, the bit about the juice was in answer to what people where saying on here, What i meant was IF he thought it was juice would be wrong as he took the pic, does thsat sound any better does in my mind lol.

spike
 
SpikeK6 said:
Sorry I worded it wrong, the bit about the juice was in answer to what people where saying on here, What i meant was IF he thought it was juice would be wrong as he took the pic, does thsat sound any better does in my mind lol.

spike
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its hard to say. You'd have to see the girl in real life to work out whether that mistake could be made or not. hard to tell just from the pics
 
faddius said:
Oh and another bit Ive just noticed, quoted again from the mother -

'There are enough worries about the prejudices she may endure later in life without having to worry about adult male photographers, especially when she’s just two years old.’

Worry about adult male photographers? Seems rather specific. Shes two, she probably wont remember anything about the incident, and a guy who messed up an order isnt the sort of thing to instill fear or worry into a small child. I dont remember anything from when I was two.
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She may not remember it but when she's older will she thank her parents for drawing attention to her birthmark in a national newspaper? Making it a big issue across a daily paper and internet? Are the parents really thinking about the best interests of their daughter?

Typical Daily Mail non-story...
 
I would of removed it. Without hesitation. Not sure why the fuss in this story though....he apologised, gave a replacement print, no fuss or bother. No story
 
What a bloody fuss about nothing.

Photographer makes a mistake, offers to rectify mistake, customers are obviously the sort that are really "Jeremy Kyle" and make a big song and dance about.Shock of shocks, some scumbag puts it up in the Daily Mail...........:D

I also refuse to click the link, the Daily Mail should be shut down forthwith, worthless bloody rag..........:)
 
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