![[Video] Judge Brown Tears Cheap Wedding Photog a New One](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/large-16-9/s3/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/judge-joe-brown-wedding_jpg.webp)
I have to say up front I'm a little ashamed at posting this. I don't watch American trash TV or "reality TV", in fact, I don't even have cable. My TV is reserved for my PS3, Wii, Netflix and avi files. But when I saw this video of Judge Joe Brown ripping this professional wedding photographer a new one I couldn't help but chuckle at this ridiculous exchange. I apologize ahead of time for all the stupid in this video but there is a lot to say about this one so...
via [KEHBlog]
From Kenn:
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Those women are clearly not professional photographers in the least. What they are, are girls with digital cameras that think auto is sufficient, and photoshop will save their arses.
You can shoot a wedding on an EF kit lens, you really can. But to not double check with the pastor about the flash, and to not understand the basics of photography?
Hardly professional.
And with a paycheck like that, they should know their stuff, because it was only a matter of time until they were ripped on by someone else, and in this case. Judge Brown delivered what was coming to them.
It's insanely irritating seeing people like this making money. Just because they have the confidence to line up their DSLR's body to the A on the dial, make sure the lens is full auto, and can use the on camera flash.
It's degrading to the real photography scene. I could shoot better photos on a consumer point and shoot. Which is basically what these ladies turned their DSLR's into.
*slow clap*
This is from early 2010. Judge Joe was way out of line with his grandstanding, badgering and abuse of buzz words. Disgusting.
I pretty sure the bride knew the photog was crappy from their portfolio. You get what you pay for. She should have invested.
Sorry..but you get what you pay for.
LOL I'm surprised at some of these comments. The judge was out of line completely. It is up to the client to research what they are buying. He's trying to show he knows something about photography and he just sounds like a fool. "Where's your 1 series?" Umm why would you want to shoot anything besides the 5dmk2 around the airing of this show anyway if he wants to pull rank on pro choice cameras?
He's a jerk and I feel bad for these photographers. I'm also wagering to bet many people that are dissing these women, don't shoot much better than them yet advertise themselves as pros when they are using flikr as their website and still doing color isolations on black and white photos.
These women were trying to make a start and unfortunately ran into a crappy bride and groom. The judge insulted the two photographers while trying to build himself up. Many of you started off bad I'm sure and realized how difficult it was to learn the tricks of the trade without going to school for it.
Shame on those who put these women down in their first attempts to shoot. The photographers offered to compensate the plaintiffs but the judge went beyond reason just so he could prove he knew about Canon cameras. And how lame are those stupid people in the audience applauding like the even know what an fstop is.
This clip almost made me punch my screen. But my laptop is hot sexy time and I wont do that to my lil lady.
Please don't post Judge Joe Brown again. He makes me not like black people........AND I'M BLACK!
You're missing the fact that they claimed they have shot "100's of weddings"...
Oh. I totally missed that they claimed to have shot that many. I thought she said that was their first. ewww if I did.
If they have shot 100's of weddings then why in the world would they go to a wedding with a kit lens when they say it's no flash allowed? Take $200 out of each one of their 100's of wedding and at least they could have had a couple of 5Dmk1's, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 with some change to spare. Low light, fast lens...even their outdoor shots were bad.
The only thing that you got right is that the judge is a jerk. Everything else is way off,your perception of the facts and reality of this case is disturbing.
i would agree with you but those women were rude as shit
I've seen this long time ago. You folks may object, that the judge was not completely fair, but I am sorry, a professional photographer who claims to have shot "hundreds of weddings" still shoots on an entry level Canon and kit lenses? Yes, camera doesn't make you photographer, but c'mon "a professional photographer" knows the limitations of such equipment and hundreds of weddings ~1000USD makes you enough money to get a proper gear...
LOL they should be put on http://youarenotaphotographer.com/
that woman can't shoot weddings with a high-end tools either
a lens and body are just 20% of the quality of a photograph
Amen! I still shoot with my entry xti, most of the photos are on my website right now (www.tracynphotography.com). It's the 80% that the clients hire you for.
yes she cant , cos she is a boob, but the judge was right. with that gear you can not deliver good enough quality photos, for large printed photos ( poster size etc... ) for normal prints it is okay.
Am I the only one who's trying to find Judge Brown's portfolio online?
:)
lol
a professional with an amateur camera can do things that an amateur could never do even with a professional camera. Tiger Woods is a "pro" golfer, but give him a basic set of clubs and he is still Tiger Woods Pro Golfer.
I don't know if anybody else noticed but the woman didn't even know what f stop her lens was . Pro or not we all know what our lenes f stops are and we all know that if your shooting natural light indoors that you want a lens with an f stop of 2.8 or higher.
I think the judge is right, professional wedding photography is a high end business, and these are photographs that presumably will be cherished and immortalized forever, which is why as a professional, your Lenses and Camera should be high end, semi professional to professional standards.
Simply giving the clients their money back is still a loss to the client. No photographer should ever think that "Oh well if this doesn't look good enough, I can always return their payment"...that's completely unacceptable, I would quit photography if I ever had to return someone's payment because my photos weren't adequate because I brought a beginners camera to a professional's photo game.
Many places rent cameras, and lenses, cheap for 1 day, she could have rented equipment. Wedding photographers I think are some of the most versatile, because they learn to adapt to different surroundings, and know what settings work best, what lenses work, etc etc. The judge was amazing, that photographer needs to get a new job.
LASTly: It's not completely up to the client, because most clients don't know what's good for them, it's up to the photographer to blow their minds beyond belief. The client is busy trying to prepare for a wedding, she probably saw the 5 decent photographs on this chicks website and assumed she would be okay, or whatever...who knows...but in my experience, I've shot $5000 weddings, I've shot $500 weddings, I still deliver the same service, and I make sure I never have to return the client's payment.
Of topic but am I the only one who hates how the f-stop goes up when the number goes down. Done on purpose to keep the amateurs away I think. :) j/k
The more comments I read, the more professional those ladies are looking.
Professional isn't some magic word that you add to a job that indicates exceptional awesomeness. It just means you do it for a living. It becomes an issue for people who do something professionally that is more commonly a hobby. You don't hear people referring to themselves as professional doctors or accountants (though I bet there are accounting hobbyists somewhere). We just have to understand that the term photographer is a big umbrella for a lot of different people with varying degrees of skill. Lets have some respect for ourselves and drop the professional caveat as it sounds like an justification for our career path.
I think the picture with the tacky clip art border said it all.
I think the picture with the tacky clip art border said it all.
What is really expected here? Wedding photography is not cheap. I agree everyone involved.
The plaintiff: should have recieved a better all around experience. But that is her own fault. Do your homework. Research portfolios and other photogs in that price range to see what you get.
The Defendant: was hired to do a job and she had a contract (I assume) and provided a service. If this work was similar to the images that were presented to the plaintiff as a portfolio in the first place, there really shouldn't be an arguement here. But!!!! she needs to step her game up. Clearly, as a professional your tools shouldn't be foreign to you. If she could truly master her equipment that would be good enough, that would require her to know what equipment she has. SMH.
Judge: although he was a pompous ass, did a service to the industry by keeping it legitimate and lettign it be known that just because you have a camera and a biz card, you shouldn't categorize those who dedicate so much energy to the craft. This woman will undoubtedly know that she should at least know her equipment like the back of her hand before embarking on this as a pro.
All in all I work too damned hard to charge the "discount rates" for my photography. But what can I do when anyone with a Rebel can get a tumblr/wordpress with pics of their friends and be a pro???
It's VERY obvious that these "pro photographers" are no more than 2 woman who saw an entry-level SLR as quick-buck. I think Judge Joe Brown's comment were directed to the client as well. Even someone without camera experience such as a potential client can tell that these 2 women were not pros in any shape. If the client saw the women's work and STILL booked them, I can't blame the photographers. What you see is what you get.
Honestly, I see more and more photographers like this. I recently got an email from someone that another photography service is only 30 dollars. I searched the page on FB, and the images are actually worse than the ones depicted here. I haven't been in business long, but trying to compete with businesses like this... really suck. It also gives professionals a bad name.But hey... why buy lenses and Photoshop when you get a free kit with your shiny camera and Premium Picnik is $25 dollars a year, right?
Is today the first of april? It`s a joke, is it?
i can say only one thing equipment isnt important if u got result... i mean result which is suited to the customer... video is quite funny btw )
the judge is right , in certain situations equipment dos matter. beginner mirror camera whit kit lens and flash , or a better camera with pro lens without flash , now That's the difference. and by the way , normally a Pro shots Wedding with pro gear!
Thats why we have some many "Professional Photographers" in the market. Just cause you have a camera does not make you a photographer.
This video is upsetting to me. I feel that if there was another judge that was not so found of their past, these ladies would have someone who was more concerned about the facts.
If they were explicitly told not to use flash and expressed the concern to both the pastor and the bride with no avail, then I feel even more sympathetic to them.
You pay what you get for, seems like that daddy's girl had royal dreams on a commoners budget
I think this is the nightmare of every wedding photographer (although these clowns are not even worthy of being called wedding photographers!): to end up on a court t.v. show being sued! Let this be motivation for all of us to be clear and honest with ourselves and with our clients about what we can do, and what we can deliver! (The tipoff for the bride should've been the price point!...)
who knew judge joe brown could cause so much cotroversy on a photography website
We need to define "Professional" here. It literally speaks to a higher to highest quality in that particular field. And while going to photography school and graduating doesn't make you a professional photographer (I know many who haven't stepped inside a school who are professional in every sense of the word...) there are many out there calling themselves this that could really stand a class or two to help them out! (namely these ladies)
Photography is one of the few professions where you don't have to be a school graduate to be considered this. I like that, but in many ways it has hurt the profession because now many claim professional status without any absolutes as a bar of measurement. If you say you're professional who has the formula to judge this? So, at the end of the day yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and it alone will speak to the truth of your professionalism or lack thereof!
God. I wouldn't have hired her just based off of her FACE. Bad energy man hahaha
Totally un-professional and way out of line!
Her pictures were awful, not even close to professional. Also her attitude was horrible, if I for one second thought I could have done a better job, I would give them their money back no problem. I've only done one wedding, and it's hard work, but if you're taking pictures that look like her's, I wouldn't continue with wedding photography, or she could continue and charge in the 50$ range.
Also you don't need awesome equipment to take great photos, you just need to know how to use it.
Many great insights and responses here. From a marketing viewpoint the "so called professional photographers" are most definitely not very good marketers either. Who in their right mind whether you had a good case or not agree to go on a show like this, even if they were the winners, would have been losers. I have always lived by the mantra "You never get a second chance for a first impression" they would have been better off settling this without appearing on the show. Now even if they do become professionals this will always be out there on the internet. The show does pay for the expenses but to me it was a lose lose for them.
Just food for thought... http://ask.metafilter.com/71192/Daytime-Courtroom-Television-What-Gives George
These comments are as entertaining as the clip.
How do I hire this Judge Brown to come with me to client meetings?
lol andy!
Isn't Ken Rockwell able to use a kit lens and a d40 for wedding photo's?
But in any case, let's not forget that the equipment consumers use nowadays are still far superior from the camera's Adam Ansel used in his days. In the end, let's not forget, we remember the name of the photographer, not the camera make and model.
Ken Rockwell is Ken Rockwell. :-P
However, I seriously doubt he ever pulled that stunt himself! :-D I bet he goes armed with his D700 or 5D* and a couple of f/2.8 zooms. :-P
The judge is an idiot. His ignorance shows in his stupid comments about needing expensive cameras to do a good job. Expensive cameras in the hands of an amateur still produce amateur results.