Anonymous wrote:Maybe there was a contract that said no reshoots but I do think a professional photographer with experience with kids would do one of two things - after trying for 30 minutes of so with no better results, call it a day and reschedule or if all photos came out bad, offer a much limited/location timeslot reshoot to get at least one or two good pictures. I think most professional photographers want customers to be happy with the results and be excited and love their photographs.

I disagree. Most professional photogtaphers expect a 3.5 year old not to howl hysterically through a photo shoot. Honestly, the photographer is probably not inclined to deal with the child again and certainly not for free unless there were extenuating circumstances.

I have been in this situation... Last summer when my DD was 2.5 we hired a photog to take family pics and my DD lost it after about 10 mins because she was tired of being told to stay in one place and smile. The photographer did her best to distract and tried to make it fun... But my DD wasn't having it. We ended up taking a snack break and then trying again. All in all we got one good picture which was really disappointing, but at least we got that.

I think it's a really hard age for being told what to do. Unfortunately I don't think it's the photographers fault though so it's one of those live and learn lessons. If anything maybe the photog would give you a discount for the reshoot, but that is likely not worth the money.

This is why so many of us use Target and JCPenney for photos in those early years. Even People Place has pretty cheap sitting fees and all often have coupons or groupons. While I didn't get the artistry of a photo shoot, I've always gotten great photos, even when mine were little.

Sorry this didn't work out for you. It's a lot of money to spend and not get what you had hoped for.

If this is a professional photographer with a reputation to protect, I would think they'd offer a half price or very short re-do session. We do our family photos at different fun locations instead of in a studio, you might want to try that. And switch photographers!

Op, I'm sorry for this. It must be very disappointing.

Like pp suggested, maybe try a lifestyle shoot. We've always had ours in our yard playing or at our kids preschools playground. It helps to put them at ease.

age 3.5

There is your reason right there. That age is crazy.

Maybe there was a contract that said no reshoots but I do think a professional photographer with experience with kids would do one of two things - after trying for 30 minutes of so with no better results, call it a day and reschedule or if all photos came out bad, offer a much limited/location timeslot reshoot to get at least one or two good pictures. I think most professional photographers want customers to be happy with the results and be excited and love their photographs.

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth did you get an entire new session? This is a risk you take when you do pictures with children. The kid's fault, not the photographer's.

Would not did

Anonymous wrote:You never answered about why your child was misbehaving. He's way too old for that.

This. Unless she meant 3.5 months. I can absolutely see a 3.5 month old crying the whole time.

Why on earth did you get an entire new session? This is a risk you take when you do pictures with children. The kid's fault, not the photographer's.

You never answered about why your child was misbehaving. He's way too old for that.

Did you offer to pay for the reshoot?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is your child's fault. Blame your child. I hope you punished the child severely.

Wow, that is over the top. Yes, the problem IS the child's behavior. But the kid is 3. Punished severely? Who are you, Cruella de Ville?

I think the PPs post was satirical, since there are posters on DCUM who are inclined to react severely.

Anonymous wrote:Okay, just asking because I've never paid for professional photos before. When my child was losing it, I thought we should stop the season and try again another time instead I was promised there would be some good photos.

Yes, I am emotional about it but that's why I'm asking for others who have been there and done that if they just take a loss in a situation like this.

If this is standard for child photography, I won't bother hiring one again. It's too much money to risk.

Well... The photographers that I use are $750 and $1000 for a session so in my opinion, $250 is you get what you pay for. I think $750 is a lot but the photographer is excellent, great with my kids and we do it for big milestones (new baby, Christmas cards etc) because I am not great at capturing more than the random iPhone photo and its worth it to me to preserve this time in our lives. That said, we've had one shoot where I really didn't love the photos and it was what it was. In that case it was a $250 session fee and then you pay for images and printing. I only bought a few photos because I really didn't like them. I maybe won't use that photographer again but if it was my child's crying that impacted the session I wouldnt necessarily blame the photographer. You pay for their time and skill, and even if you had asked to redo the shoot, you would have paid twice.

Anonymous wrote:You'll look stupid if you negatively review the photographer for your child's behavior ruining the shoot. Accountants mess up tax returns, lawyers lose cases - they are still performing a service and you need to pay. Same with your photog.

+1. You're in no position to post a negative review. Accept the fact that this is the result of your child's behavior and move on. As another poster said, suggesting to stop mid-shoot wouldn't have changed what you owe financially for that day. You'd still owe the $250 AND you would've had to pay another $250 to shoot another day / time. You wouldn't have been charged less or saved anything.