This past week, a drama over a bride’s wedding photos blew up across the internet after the newly-wed took to TikTok to complain about the editing work done to them.
Since last week, Alexandra Jaye Conder has posted dozens of videos to her TikTok page outlining why she is unhappy about her “sepia-toned” photos.
Titling the first video: “Wedding photographer horror experience”, Conder says she initially “loved” the photos and stared at them for 30 days until she started to believe something was wrong with them.
“I’m staring at the solo pictures of me and I’m like ‘Hmm, I kind of look really pale and my makeup isn’t showing at all. My hair has these red highlights in it and I look extremely dull,” she says.
@alexandrajaye5 Replying to @Sinke Floral #greenscreen needed to get these off my chest #weddingtiktok #weddingphotos #photographer #bride #bridal #destinationwedding #weddingdrama ♬ original sound – Alexandra Jaye Conder
Conder says she raised her concerns with the photographer and the pair agreed on a re-edit. But, Conder was still unhappy with how she looked so the photographer sent her some of the RAW files.
“I noticed something,” Conder says and points out that she preferred the “natural” look of the RAW files and disliked the sepia tone the photographer had put on her pictures.
“I came to the conclusion that I needed to reach out to her, that some of the edits felt like a preset that had been copied and pasted and I wasn’t happy whatsoever.”
Conder says the filter the photographer used made her “teeth look yellow”
“I’m not discrediting her ability to capture a moment because that she was really good at it. But it was the post-edit that I was really unhappy about,” she complains on TikTok before adding she looks like a character from The Simpsons in the photos.
Conder claims she rang the photographer and asked to see all of the RAW files so she could pick some of them out, edit them herself, and put them in a wedding album. She claims the photographer dismissed her requests saying that she knew her style when she hired her.
Conder and her husband accused the photographer of holding the photos “hostage”. She then claims the photographer wanted to charge $4,000 for access to all the RAWs.
“I just wanted to look like me. Not some warm sepia-tone version of me,” she says
Photographers Clap Back
Conder’s videos have sparked a big reaction with photographers taking to Threads to share their thoughts.
“I think these are all gorgeous. The editing is consistent, the difference is the lighting and background which play a role in the final product. No image will look exactly the same in a different light,” Hudson Valley NY Wedding Photo says.
Mike Stempler from Shutterheads says: “If your client is unsatisfied, you make it right if you can. In this case, you re-edit the entire collection according to what the client wants and apologize profusely. You aren’t compromising the integrity of your art, you’re providing excellent customer service.”
However, Stepha Stock, a photographer based in Brisbane, says it’s lucky that Conder’s wedding is done because “I doubt there would be many photographers willing to work with her.”
