Wedding season is officially upon us and photographers everywhere are making preparations for the busiest season of the year.

Stories of wedding photographer ‘fails’ often crop up in various news pieces, and while incidents are uncommon, many tend to ‘go viral’ which can be detrimental to a professional photographers reputation.

The latest of these being the story of an Australian wedding photographer who posted a bizarre rant on Facebook after photographing a wedding in New South Wales. 

The photographer appeared to post a photograph of the bride alongside the comment “Ugliest bride I have ever photographed. Winged (sic) the whole time. Bridezilla #1”

The post has since been taken down, with the photographer claiming that he didn’t actually post the comment and that his account had been hacked. Despite this, backlash soon followed with hundreds of outraged comments pouring onto his Facebook page.

Dan Seldo wrote: “5 star professionalism fail… The worst so-called professional photography I have ever witnessed, amateur at best. Then to go on and leave these comments about the Bride and her friends is a disgrace.” 

Apart from the obvious potential upset to the couple, a minor lapse in judgement such as negative comment on social media has the potential to land a photographer in very hot water…or even facing a claim. 

So what financial consequences could photographers face if they make a wedding fail? 

Professional Negligence

If a client is dissatisfied with your work they may go on to claim against you for any additional costs associate with re-shoots such as re-assembling guests, booking venues, compensation for the upset caused.

We would expect a current Professional Indemnity policy to respond to this claim subject to you reporting this incident as soon as you become aware there is a dispute. 

Libel

Unintentional Libel claims should be covered by Professional Indemnity policies. This can happen when you innocently publish statements your client deems to be defamatory in some way. However if you intentionally make defamatory comments about a client, for instance calling them the ugliest bride ever, that would not be insured. You are in effect the deliberate author of your own misfortune.

PR Crisis Containment

In order to contain damage to your reputation it may be appropriate to employ a Professional PR Agency to deal with the media and online social media platforms. If you have it, this is a very useful addition to your Professional Indemnity cover in these circumstances.

Most photographers know that adopting a professional and caring attitude when dealing with clients is the key to success, especially on a sensitive shoot such as a wedding day. 

The best way to protect yourself from a wedding photography fail is with insurance.

Make sure your policy includes Professional Indemnity Insurance (for financial protection should you be accused of failing to produce work of a professional standard), Public Liability Insurance (to cover any accidental damage you cause to property or another person as a result of your work.) and Equipment Cover in case it’s subject to theft of accidental damage. 

Take a look at all our policies here. 

Here at Infocus we’re confident that we have something for everyone but please get in touch if there’s anything else you need.