This is a RANT, folks. I am totally and definitely pissed off. If you decide to read this, you will find I am not kind or reticent in my total loathing of this situation. You are warned.

(UPDATE:
There are many, many comments to this post. Seem to break into two camps: Cool that JJB took this lousy photographer to the woodshed and beat her down good. To that sentiment, I would simply say… grow up. The fact that the photographer seems to not be terribly good, or aware of what she should have been aware of does NOT reach the point that many of you may find yourself in. Namely that the work that was delivered match the work that was shown. The woman’s work was online, at the time I wrote this anyway, and it seemed to be, well, not so good. I can’t imagine the work delivered to be much better. But that is exactly the point… the work looked like what was shown. The other group seem to get it. It isn’t about the gear and all the fun toys… and feeling all superior to the woman… it is about the law, and how it was abused to ridicule and destroy someone who obviously couldn’t fight back well. Hey… maybe you wanna kick her while she’ down too.

There may be a time when this “Bride’s” complaint will come back to haunt you. It received far more showings on YouTube than it did on TV – no one really watches that stupid show… and the point that so many photographers made was that “if you don’t like your pictures, complain and get your money back… cause we got Pelican cases and 1D’s.

I don’t care what kind of gear you have, it is not relevant. There is no statutory rules or listed code of what makes a ‘good’ photograph. Believe me, you don’t want one. Soft focus? A lot of art shooters would be out of business shooting their Lomos and Dianas. Sharpness? You should take a look at the average fashion editorial.

My point is not to defend the photographer (even though that seems to be a difficult concept for some to get their thought processes around) it is to defend the rights of the photographers to not be trashed by people making assumptions that are not true, or have NO business being included in the case.

Yeah, I have seen all the photographers – some big time shooters – jump on the “hey, this is fun to beat up this woman and ruin her life and business… but I find that totally arrogant, elitist and sad. No offers to help, just a mob mentality to throw her under the bus and feel all good about themselves cause, you know, she is ‘ruining the business’ and other pure BS crap.

Seriously, is this $1300 wedding shooter – including proofs, enlargements and book – cutting into the profits of people shooting for realistic pricing? I refuse to believe it. Says more about those being ‘threatened’, than the woman with the Rebel.

And keep this in mind… lots of weddings were shot on ISO 320 with lenses at f-4 (Hasselblad’s for you new digionly folks), and in some pretty dark places. And also remember this – the camera she is shooting is BETTER than the original 1DS.

Finally, I find it repugnant that photographers find such a thrill in belittling other photographers – no matter what. Provide help, work with the shooters to get better, but laughing at a kangaroo court that probably ruined her business… unconscionable.)

Recently I was shown this video on You Tube of some TV Judge ridiculing another photographer for being less than professional. Instead of getting to the heart of the matter, the ‘judge’ decided to use the power of the bench to humiliate, denigrate and castigate the photographers for alleged ‘crimes’ against photography and the use of ‘less than professional’ gear.

I found this man to be despicable and his ravings somewhat in the “best to keep one’s mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” I will admit to not watching a lot of TV (Burn Notice and the Closer get my vote) and especially TV where the sole purpose is to denigrate and ridicule other people. To think that those kinds of shows are popular is sickening to me. Uplifting, and good value filled programming sucks I guess. But that isn’t the point.

The point is the despicable way this man treated a fellow photographer and the despicable way other photographers then jumped on board ready to throw her under the bus. So much bad information now being disseminated as reality on forums all over the interwebs.

In the video, the photographer, not as poised or pretty as the complainant, doesn’t get a chance to even explain her side.

At 2:10 she complains that the complainant is not correct about where they met. Joe, I’ll just call him Joe because I have such contempt for him I would not ever use the word “Judge” to describe him, tells her that isn’t important to the case.

So OK to lie when you are complainant. It would be very much a part of the case if there was another place that the photographer met the woman or she could have been confused over which photographer she actually hired. Got it Joe.

At 2:35 the complainant states that the photographer had the photos done at WalMart on Fuji Paper – not professional paper. Really? I can state with certainty how many PROFESSIONAL wedding photographers charging more than this photographer uses Fuji Printers. And you all KNOW WHO YOU ARE. The Sam’s club by my home is the printer de-facto for a ton of wedding shooters doing weddings in a much higher scale than this woman.

At 3:15 he launches into what gear she was using. A Rebel XTi with a kit lens. And while that may not be the top of the line anything, I can tell you the XTi takes really good photographs. I SHOOT THAT CAMERA on all my workshops. I teach that it isn’t the camera, it is the photographer. And I will stick to that.

He asks her for the other lens and she states it is a 70-300MM and he asks what speed it is. I can understand how the answer “I don’t know” is so funny to gear heads, and lots of serious photographers. I teach workshops and consult with lots of professional photographers. When it is a graduated aperture lens, you may be surprised how many times the photographer will have to grab the lens to see.

Is this a professional response, of course not. Is it automatically damning that she doesn’t know? No way.

AT 4:00 he asks how she is going to be able to take “adequate photos with a lens this slow”? And before she can answer, he cuts her off. Hey Joe, maybe with a tripod, or upping the ISO? Lots of ways, and we may have been able to hear how she would have done it if you hadn’t cut her off.

At 4:12 here it comes… “When I do it I am prepared with the kit I have… blah blah…” Dude’s even got himself a Pelican case. OK.

At 4:45 he starts to address sharpness. Sigh… then states that they won’t be any good enlarged. Uh… he is looking at 8.5 x 11’s there… uhhh… they are, you know, enlarged. And when she starts to tell him that they are, he dismisses her. “… but that’s not what we are gonna get when we start to enlarge them on a hard copy..” His words. Looking at enlargements. Dense? You make the call.

At 5:04 it starts with the grilling… what F-Stop, what aperture, did you ‘note’ the f-stop. How many of you ‘NOTE’ the f-stops.

At 5:35 he states that the ‘natural light was soft and diffused and ideal for taking a picture…” Oh… he was there? The amount of photographic mistakes he makes in the next 25 seconds are breath taking. And when the defendant offered that there was a meeting, the jerk sits back and pontificates what the complainant was thinking. WTF? How does he know what she knew? And the dipshit audience applauds. It isn’t about what is real, it is about what is denigrating and humiliating.

And here it is: at 6:05 he makes the judgment that to be a professional photographer one must use a “1” series camera. I won’t even go there. Fool. What about 5DMKII’s – losers. D300’s – crap. (The fallacy that this represents goes much farther than some lame-ass TV show. It goes to the very core of who we are as people and what we want for others. And how much compassion we are really capable of… not much, I guess.)

“…we don’t have sharp edges…” He doesn’t allow for her to explain post-processing choices or anything else. Her frustration and anger in being lectured by this guy is now real. And it should be.

Then at 6:15 he becomes so beclowned that he starts to pontificate on the edges being soft focus because of the camera… or something. I can’t follow this illogical crap.

Then he declares that the Rebel will not make a 24 x 36 inch print. Joe, you are a total moron. It will most definitely make enlargements that big. Done every fkn day, buddy.

I will not continue down the video as it becomes so painfully stupid that it is hard to watch. Especially when he called her a liar for saying the pastor wouldn’t allow flash photography. In my brief flirtation with the genre way more than half would not allow flash during the ceremony. And I charged a boatload more than $1300.

Look… before you think I am defending bad photography, I will point to this: The question could have been easily handled: Does the work match the photographers portfolio. I can tell you that in the professional world, this type of case arises… and that is the point that the ruling is made on. Does the work match the samples. In this case of course it did. Was it great work or bad work? Does that matter? It is work that was agreed to.

But I must say this: The photographers so damn ready to throw this lady under the bus better watch out for the Karma this may bring. I can only imagine how frustrated a person would be when confronted by an angry moron with a lot of power pontificating over what they did and what HE would have done. No dialog, just him preaching.

Why would so many photographers be so ready to attack her and side with him? Why the continued hatred and anger toward this woman? My God, glass houses are obviously made much better in the digital age.

And the fact that the ‘bride’ met with the photographer, saw a portfolio, agreed to the style should have been discussed. That the ‘bride’ only wanted to spend $1300 should have been noted. The fact that there was contention between whether there was a meeting at a bridal show or whether there was a tripod used should have been addressed.

We have millions of people who are struggling to keep their homes and their families together in tough times. We just witnessed a fellow photographer have her livelihood demolished by a know-nothing fool and we are good with that? Does that make us more powerful? Does it vindicate our purchase of an over-priced camera to shoot girls on Saturday afternoons?

I hated the attack on this woman from mean-spirited people.

I loathed the response from so many photographers. Isn’t there any pride left in our profession?

End of Rant… to summarize. Don’t be so damn happy to see other people lose their business. It is not a good place to be as a human being.

UPDATE:
It is important to remember that the point of the case was whether the work that was delivered matched the work that was used to get the commission.

It is NOT about what gear was used, or the photographers ‘attitude’ or whether she knows what lens speed was what or any of that at all. None of that would have mattered if the images came out good. And supposing that the images would come out good if she had used a 1DSMKIII is wrong.

However, the judge decided to attack her on nearly everything but whether the work delivered matched the work shown to get the assignment. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to just low-end wedding photographers, it happens to some big guys as well. In real courts. With real judges. And it can be terrifying when it does.

But again, there seems to be a focus on what kind of camera she used and her knowledge of the lens speed and all that stuff that makes for great forum fodder. And if you think that protecting someone from injustice is only worthwhile if they have really neat gear and meet some sort of madeup code of professionalism then I feel that there may be no ‘discussion’ at all.

UPDATE: BIG TIME, BIG DOLLAR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID JAY CHECKS IN VIA TWITTER:
“LOL – I’m so glad these arrogant, rude, and pathetic excuses for professonals got their clocks cleand by Judge Joe – http://bit.ly/99QMO9”
Guess little low end photographers in small communities are really pissing him off. Jaysus…. man.

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