Ok, im stoping my bit#$ing for today.  I got what I paid for....i only paid $30 bucks..he had a sale...lol  i just expected the same quality that was in his port..he promised it...moving on...thanks for the responses...

I just moved this one..it was posted somewhere else by mistake..crtique away..

To make a very frustrating story short...i paid a retoucher on MM to redeem a few photos for me from a recent shoot.  Two of the photos were a wardrobe stylist grave error in stying for my body type (think Plus Size Model in too tight spandex) and my silly fault for changing in the car without a mirror...lmao  Amway, contact this guy, paid him via paypal and 4 days later still NOTHING not a peep from him since he got paid.  I emailed him and told him that I understaod the photos were not the best and asked if he was having trouble.  I also told him I would like to aprove the backgrouds if possible and this is why I was asking.  His response was it takes 5-7 days to return a photo.  Yeah..that seems awefully long but he wasnt costly and his work was great on his MM profile.  So I was like..ok 5-7 days..ugg but ok as long as they are great!  No word back from him about the appoval.  Then on day 7...no word..lol I emailed him again and he told me he was having computer issues...i told him ok and asked him again was there trouble and he said no and will have the images today for  you. No images..day 8 and 9 the same thing then on day 10 I got them and oh...what a hot mess!  He told me he should have said 7 biz days because he was only really a day behind...lol  see photos below..




First..who believes this scene could REALLY happen? Raise  your hand?? Why would you combine such colors or environment. Go from a crazy funky look to a um..what is that?? If its going to be a museum...it should be a hip fancy museum and the photo should be on the inside. ....thoughts?

ok then I got this one:



yeah i was  HOT MESS that day! Look at my hair...lol but better yet..look at my hair in THAT shot.  WTF...why does it look like i was cut and pasted on this da$% photo..? I like the concept..the theme is nice considering where the original photo was taken...so i was happy with that...but does this look like a job that could have taken more then a few mins to accomplish from someone that considers himself a professional? I really want to know.....maybe im wrong..

I should mention that I retouch for free on MM so im familiar with the effort and time this all can take..i DONT work with backgrounds however because frankly, Im just not that good at changing them...apparently, this guy is not either..lol

Last but not least..my fav photo out of the bunch...I will let you figure out whats wrong with this one...wait..let me tell you...lol  The DOF..the guy in the background was blurred out when the photographer took it in purposely....so i would be the main focus... anyone that knows photography knows this..this re-toucher is a photographer BTW...Why is my guy blurred and NOT my background?? PLEASE tell me....?? right now..i would be happy if he just took the guy out completely...lol  it just doesnt make sense to me...




ok, so im listening to you guys..am i just being harsh because i was not satisfied after waiting 10 days for my photos?  He never let me see them before releasing them..wont return the email i sent him once i got them back asking for him to fix the errors.  im stupid i know...maybe i should not have paid him before hand...ugg..im frustrated and i need/want your advice.  Take a look at his past work and tell me why my stuff is the only one that looks like a cut and paste job gone wrong...

Is anyone out there willing to help me fix this?? just asking..i have no more money however..i gave him my last dime..  but really im just looking for advice.  I was pretty upset when i finally got my photos along with a message that said "even my wedding customers arent this impatient"...Impatient??!! He did not communicate with me! I did not even have any say so in my photos..uggg....help!!!!!!

The mistake that is all to often made is not in Photoshop, but in keeping an image in the first place. Photoshop is not a fix all. No they did not do a great job but they did not have much to work with. If an image is not designed from the start with a background in mind how do you expect every thing to become a complete story in the end product. Photography starts with a theme that the photographer, MUA, hair, stylist and model work to achieve and then goes to post.

i am not sure. quality always depends on what price you did pay for the pictures. so if you payed 3 bucks (since i know some people do edits for that money) it is probably what would be expected. if you payed a decent price i think thats not appropriate.

I do not know what the portfolio of the retoucher looks like. so if he had similar work in his port, there wasnt more to be expected to begin with.

it is difficult to answer the question if that edit is fine. you always have to consider a lot of things. i would not present work like this, but we all have different standarts. i think there are a lot of mistakes in the images which i would not be happy with. beginning that the second image lacks any basic idea of perspective and ending with someone moving the midground of an image out of focus but having a sharp background.


[edit] just read that you paid 30$ for the images and i think thats what was to be expected.

can't be harsh if you actually paid for that

unless it's 5$, then you got what you paid for...

[edit]
if you paid 30$ for all images you did get what you paid for

How about posting the originals and your instructions....
Without that the discussion is useless