How One Family Learned You Don't Always Get What You Pay For With Photographers Is A Lesson We All Should Listen To

How embarrassing.

Elana

• Published in Funny
• January 16, 2018

30 years ago photography was an art form. Photographers spent years perfecting their trade and film was magical. With emerging technology over the last 3 decades, it's safe to say photography has completely transformed. 

There are many factors that have played into this transformation in what it means to be a photographer but the main concepts are that digital photography is easily accessible and affordable and since our phones take pretty decent photos, most people misconstrue what it even means to be a professional photographer.

Professional.

I grew up in a family of photographers. My mom was a photographer and I took to it well, at a young age and stuck with it. Over the years it became apparent that being a good photographer took a lot of creative and technical skill and even though I've drifted away I have a very strong understanding of this idea. 

I have a camera phone but paying a professional photographer is the true way to quality, lasting memories. While some people today don't realize the value in an experienced professional photographer, there is the other side of the coin which is: people thinking they are experienced photographers when they are not. 

This has created a lot of fuss and problems over the years but for one family, in particular, the results of spending a couple hundred bucks on a "professional" had disastrous results in their family photos!

Dave and Pam Zaring probably should have just nixed the whole hiring a professional photographer bit and set their iPhone up with a timer because after spending somewhere between $200-250 on a "pro," they definitely did not get what they had in mind. But, the couple felt like their family was really something special and that hiring a professional was the best way to capture their happy memories. You see, The Zaring family is a blended family. Dave and Pam married three years ago and each of them brought a child from a previous relationship. Watching their lives transform was special and capturing it with high quality equipment sort of guaranteed that they would have something special to always look back on.

But that's not at all what ended up happening.

Dave, Pam, their two sons Cade and Connor, and Dave’s mother Sharon all took a trip to Saint Louis to meet the photographer they planned to hire to do their professional photos. For $250 the Zaring family was promised that within a few months they would have fully edited photos, shoot included in the price.

But literally nothing could have prepared the family for how things went down. For one, the photographer wouldn't send the photos... for months! And Pam was furious. She told WTVD TV:

I passed my furious mark months ago when she wouldn't send us anything! I was fully prepared to be scammed, money gone, and no final product! So the humor was much easier to find. Trust me, at one point my blood boiled anytime I was asked about the status of our photos!

In the end, the photographer delivered. But what she delivered? An unrecognizable family, that's for sure!

8 year-old Connor said:

I was thinking, like, 'What the heck is this?'

But Pam? She had the best response of all:

I’ve never laughed this hard in my life. My kids were so confused. They thought we were playing a joke on them. They just kept saying they looked like Lego people.

While The Zaring family is having a good laugh over their photos, not everyone else is so lucky. In fact, as you can see in the video we're going to share, it is far too common for people to claim the professional status and be incapable of backing up their claims with a final product worthy of payment. But while family photos can easily be re-taken, your wedding photos? Not so much.

Your best bet is just... researching your photographers. A lot. Find someone who comes highly recommended with a good track record. It will be worth it!

Elana