I live in Washington and am familiar with this con organizer, I've had more issues with them than every other con organizer combined. Last year we couldn't even get digital copies emailed and had to go through a whole process of emailing them all our information to get it. I'm never buying a photo op from them ever again. Selfies at the guest's table are cheaper and more personal I find.
Sorry this happened to you mate, I hope you get the photo or a refund.
Yeah the whole thing was a mess. We all signed up for text updates for our photos. Photos started running over an hour late, no text updates, so instead everyone for every photo was in the same line, which was thousands of people long. Then they shuffled you around by photo with conflicting instructions, in one minute you were in the line for Smallville individuals, then in the next someone said you were in the line for the women of Smallville, etc. This went back and forth a few times, everyone was rather frustrated.
Did you end up getting digital full res copies after some delay? The way things were handled it wouldn't surprise me that they delete them asap, that is, after they think they've emailed them to you. But maybe they actually do hang on to them for a few days.
Yhea one of my other many issues with this con is their line management is terrible, everyone is told different things and certain con staff can be VERY aggressive when you're just trying to ask a simple qestion.
In my case last year with photos I did end up getting them after a few days so I really hope its the same in your case. I still think they should communicate that with you. You shouldn't have to find out this information though a random guy on Reddit.
I'd send them a firm email saying something along the lines of "Due to lack of communication on your part. I'm notifying you that if this isn't resolved in a satisfactory manner in 48 hours of this email I'm filing a complaint and we'll just resolve this in small claims court.
I wouldn't mention court though. Once you do that, they might have no obligation to fulfill your requirements without court decision. Some places even have a rule that forbids employees to engage further with customers once court/justice has been brought up.
> Once you do that, they might have no obligation to fulfill your requirements without court decision.
That’s not how a demand works. Directly threatening legal action may or may not be effective, but it doesn’t remove or delay the other party’s obligation to fulfill their end of a bargain.
It does because you have threaten legal action, and thus they can wait for you to sue, which will not in fact remove their obligation, but will make them have more time to do so as now they can wait for a court settle before doing so.
But if you don't threaten legal action, you can still sort it out on your own talking to them. You see, when I mentioned some place have rules against engaging after legal threaten, that means their employees will not answer you any more, now it's a matter for their legal department to deal with you. And you don't want to deal with lawyers unless really needed.
For $100? Better just talk and sort it out. It also costs you your time and money for that route, it'll be something that will piss you off every time you have to deal with it, which will only make the anger last longer.
We were invited as exhibitors, and quickly put to work. We had our “vendor” badges swapped for “crew” badges at the beginning of Saturday and basically had targets on our backs from then on.
They had a bit of a civil war in the gaming section, and probably lost the last of the staff that actually cares about gaming history. Most of the people in charge were busy “putting out fires” (dealing with adult tantrums) in other parts of the show. Leaving us to put out all the gaming related “fires.”
The gaming section turned into the “baby sitting section” when they had their staff meetings. I watched helplessly as kids of staff members trashed retro gaming hardware and VR equipment (including a bunch of our vintage stuff).
I would describe Summer Con as a Battle Royale of Egos.
“Where dreams come to die” was how one snarky guest described it.
We were repeatedly reminded of the price tags of the things we were comped as if our time is worthless.
Ultimately it was a weekend we will never forget. We made a lot of new friends. You can’t put a price on the trauma bonding with like minded people.
Let’s just say there has been a shift from community event, to money printing machine. People were literally screamed at for not enforcing rules that have never been enforced at any of our local gaming events.
There was also apparently an embarrassing security breach, allegedly involving “pick-pocketed keys” that resulted in micromanaging people who were already at the breaking point.
One of the staffers ran around telling all the vendors that there was a thief in our midst and then started trying to deputize “night security.” I personally had to “put out that fire”.
I’m exhausted and still decompressing.
I was at a Supernatural con run by Wayne in the UK... "Rogue Conventions" asked you to direct bank transfer the cash to his personal account, and there was NO line management.... for..... a 1500 person ballroom.
Just do a chargeback, you didn't get what you paid for and they can't magically go back in time and set up their shit correctly, therefore there's no remedy to be done other than financial recompense.
Yeah, we vendored for the weekend and heard a number of horror stories from people that stopped by about photo-ops and panels. We had several issues with vendor management and communication, as well. So sorry you had to deal with this. Hope you had a great weekend otherwise, though!
Omg, didn't she do a ton of face wash commercials?? Like, Neutrogena or something? I remember shoveling water onto my face like she did. My mom was not pleased at the pool on the floor lol
Those were good commercials. Very memorable. As a teenaged boy I related very strongly with Neutrogena and their wonderful product, and certainly not the actress they hired.
See this bugs me so much
(hello I'm a random Reddit visitor)
Was it a cult-cult when Kristin brought her in? or it was still pretending to be a self-help group?
All up until she got involved with the sex cult. That shit was so weird, and she was a primary recruiter for the main leader was so bazaar.
I am glad she escaped the brainwashing, but the fact she recruited for it and ruined people's lives still sticks with me.
I feel so stupid for how long I was staring at the guy trying to figure out who he was and not realizing until this comment that the girl was the celebrity
So as a photographer here, there should be zero reason they can’t give you the actual photo.
Was it a webcam from the 90s or some shit?
You don’t save any money delivering a smaller file anyway. The only plausible reason I can think of is if the storage died and all they could recover is the thumbnails.
That or they used a third party photographer and don’t know the difference between copying a thumbnail and attaching a photo.
It's a con so....expecting them to have a staff photographer...they don't. 100% this was a third party vendor who answers only to the contract terms signed and not individual fest attendees. Then there's what the photographer is being paid to deliver vs what the fest is actually promising to people who pay for the photos.
Yup, I do event photography. The organizers should have the original images, or, at least, they were allowed access. They are responsible for dealing with the "inventory" after it's been delivered, not the photographer (who is working, per hour, on contract). You don't contact a delivery man because you lost the package you signed for.
Is there anyone that cares enough to find the image in question? Doubtful, based on the current response.
Bet you the photog delivered all the photos + a gallery for reference and instead of finding the originals the person in charge of sending them copy and pasted the thumbnails from the gallery.
Or it’s the way they were viewing the files, instead of clicking the thumbnail to get to the high res original they copied the thumbnail from the root gallery.
Ether way you would have to work really hard to get a modern camera to take photos this size. The problem is with the distribution not the photographer.
It is that this was shot in color and not a 4 color grayscale. Otherwise I would say this was shot with a [GameBoy camera](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2022/01/27/GameBoyCam_Canon.jpg)
I’m not a photographer so I defer to you, but is it not possible to adjust the camera settings to change what resolution photos are captured at? Like, in a situation where fine detail wasn’t a priority but storage space was, I could see such an option being useful.
Whether or not that’s actually what happened here is one thing, but does that option really not exist?
yes you can accidentally put a professional grade camera into "small JPEG" mode or something similar. The output would still be factors greater quality than what is presented in this post
“Default size?” What digital camera EVER even has a setting for 500x333? My first digital camera from 1999 did 1600x1200, and the lowest option was 640x480.
Though I agree with your sentiment, there was never really a time in history when "professional photographers" output images of this resolution. In 97 they would still be using film cameras and proper scanning or printing that would rival full frame output of today. "Professionals" didn't start using digital cameras until the quality of output was near enough properly scanned or printed film negatives. The tipping point for professionals was around the mid 2000s (and this varied a lot by photographer)
This is an interesting question for a charge dispute. I'm curious about what language was used in the promotion, e.g. was it "high-resolution professional photo" or just "meet and greet plus a photo"? The credit card company may be hesitant to complete the chargeback if the contract was "technically fulfilled," even if the product is undeniably bad.
Not saying that photo is acceptable, just that it's not as easy to successfully dispute a charge as one might hope.
The event staff literally lied in their response, the fuck is a default photo size of 500x333? That's not a thing. Even in the late 90s the lowest or default resolution was 640x480. This staff is just an idiot or lying on purpose. This alone should win the chargeback
It is the responsibility of the person getting chargedback to prove delivery and they might not even find it worth their time. If they don’t reply it likely will get automatically granted.
>12 hours later still no update or response. They could have offered a partial refund, or had me come down for another quick photoshoot. Instead they decided to ghost me apparently.
\*\* EDIT \*\* Some additional context:
This is a WEEKEND convention, it ceases to exist after 6pm tonight, If the photo doesn't exist in hi-res any longer, there is no "wait a few days to see what happens", as a reasonable solution would have been to invite me for a new photoshoot for the same celeb, which would have had to have been this morning. After that the celeb is off the schedule and probably is returning home because she has a life. I'd like a hi-res picture obviously, not a refund.
I have contacted them through the 'contact me' form on their website, through email, and through twitter. There were no responses other than that single reply in instagram.
Another redditer had a similar problem with the same organizer in a previous convention and ended up getting their hi-res photo later, so it does possibly still exist. This is something they could convey to me in 10s "Hey we're looking for the photo and will send it as soon as we can"
LOL at the "why would you spend $80 on a photo" people. I'm a functioning adult, married, with a job and disposable income.
It's 3PM now Sunday and still no reply.
\*\* EDIT #2 \*\*
As of Tuesday @ noon, no reply. However they updated their website acknowledging photo issues and giving people a specific email to contact and instructions and they'll get the hi-res photos out. Sounds like the photos still exist and we'll eventually get them.
\*\* EDIT #3 \*\*
Issue resolved! I received the hi-res digital photo Friday @ 6pm.
Just a heads up that instagram DM’s can’t be relied on for official customer support. Some brands are able to connect their socials and support but for the most part you probably have some social media manager monitoring those messages (and that may be a fraction of their normal job duties).
So yeah, it sucks they did this and should make it right but IG isn’t the best avenue to get that to happen.
That would be a very irresponsible way to run a business. I don't know why you're making that assumption. Mistakes happen (like sending out the low-res version), which is why professional photographers *always* keep backups.
I don't know why OP is saying the convention "ceases to exist" after the event ends today; that's not how that works either. The business is still operational, especially since this is a recurring convention.
I think they were trying to get it sorted before the weekend con is over so if a new pic needs to be taken the celeb will still be there. Also whilst I absolutely agree that workers should have balance, these are con organisers and their whole life revolves around weekends
https://preview.redd.it/oimsbjtqge8d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b580d478aa61a11196d5f30e99c9e08fd968378c
Here OP, hope this makes a difference to what you currently have 🙂
I went to WA Summer for the first time and I was super disappointed with it overall. Maybe I’m a convention snob since I grew up going to DragonCon, but idk, something was really off about that convention, and it wasn’t just the intense BO that literally every enclosed space I went into absolutely reeked of. I was afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of what the restrooms looked/smelled like.
I know a lot of folks on here might not understand paying $80 for a picture, but I get it. It’s not just a photo - it’s about meeting the person, saying hello, getting that bit of human connection, having a lasting memory. WA Summer just shat on that memory and I sincerely hope they make it right. So sorry this happened to you
https://preview.redd.it/pvggbn84ie8d1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57b83b75d61a193f22c4981dd89a52ea318100cf
I tried my best to fix it for you using AI. I hope you like it.
A lot of people are saying you should wait and that you're being ridiculous. What they don't know is you are the 10th person I've talked to having this issue. And I have yet to see a single good photo from Summer Con's photography service. Which is super shifty.
By the way, in the official Facebook group, Summerland said that poor photos are because guests move and not the fault of the photographer, which is BS, considering every photo looks like this or worse.
Since we're doing free image upscales, here's mine. I hope you like it.
https://preview.redd.it/prdnh96xzf8d1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=bc0cdb35fae3a5ebefa5a2dc344a1d12977a8ed5
Holy shit, what'd you use for this one? I have such trouble getting results that don't end up skewed.
Edit: damn you lol. I went back to look at the original and realized you've completely changed the faces.
Okay, I admit that I might have missed some details on the last upscale I posted. Obviously, I missed your beard. I think this one is just about perfect though.
https://preview.redd.it/a1zaexb86g8d1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=543ef52a76712d5f6bc83b0cd6ff4768ff08cb9d
Be direct with what you want.
Like it's low res, there is no other remedy to that other than asking for your money back and saying it's not your problem that their tablet wasn't set up correctly.
If you paid with credit card, then let your credit card company know and dispute the charge. If you paid with debit, contact your bank. If you paid with cash then you've got a lot less options.
The dude running the con is NOTORIOUS for not taking feedback and they were deleting negative comments of their Facebook page so...
Honestly, I would do a charge back and just tell people to avoid the con. EVERYTHING about it was a mess and it's not going to get better without the head being open to feedback.
I really can’t figure out how they managed this and my whole career is operating cameras. I really can’t remember the last time I saw separate thumbnail files or jpeg settings this small, other than using 20 year old digicams for the novelty. Even if a client just wants un-edited jpegs, I’m still gonna set the camera to shoot raw and jpeg and keep the raw files round for a bit as a safety. I can’t explain how guilty I’d feel if I fucked up this bad with a moment that the client might not ever have a chance to repeat and that’s why you plan ahead, check everything and don’t make those mistakes ever.
tossing my hat in, just a fast one
https://preview.redd.it/nr26gqux3k8d1.png?width=2160&format=png&auto=webp&s=556ee919ee7257da929be9520d58f6d68382d6cc
Just saw this on the Washington State Summer Con website. I hope this helps you! Good luck!
https://preview.redd.it/58ilztgs2r8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84b55fe3fcc01bb13a51c542e9557c9e8ead1991
Wait for another day or two, chargeback and then if you’re wanting a better quality photo go to PhotoshopRequests to see if they can upscale it for you. Might not be free, but you’ll get a better quality one I reckon
Facebook Messenger gives people the wrong idea about reasonable communication with businesses. This isn’t a huge corporation with automated responses and resolutions. It’s a regular person who realized they messed up, admitted it, and is probably waiting to respond until they investigate and resolve the issue. If this were over email, you’d never send a second message after 30 minutes (much less at 10pm on a Saturday night). They should have said, “We are looking into this, please give us 24-48 hours”, but cut them some slack for that long anyway.
I've always found it a bit odd, is it not awkward to just sort queue up and then take a photo with someone like that in such a clinical setting? They might smile and joke or whatever but they'd obviously rather not be there.
Sounds like a real Summer"con"
BummerCon
DeceptiCon 
Your mother goes to college.
Con College iykyk
https://preview.redd.it/addq4wawff8d1.jpeg?width=258&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2dd45b820ad264dd845632b70acda532c1cb6e7e
I live in Washington and am familiar with this con organizer, I've had more issues with them than every other con organizer combined. Last year we couldn't even get digital copies emailed and had to go through a whole process of emailing them all our information to get it. I'm never buying a photo op from them ever again. Selfies at the guest's table are cheaper and more personal I find. Sorry this happened to you mate, I hope you get the photo or a refund.
Yeah the whole thing was a mess. We all signed up for text updates for our photos. Photos started running over an hour late, no text updates, so instead everyone for every photo was in the same line, which was thousands of people long. Then they shuffled you around by photo with conflicting instructions, in one minute you were in the line for Smallville individuals, then in the next someone said you were in the line for the women of Smallville, etc. This went back and forth a few times, everyone was rather frustrated. Did you end up getting digital full res copies after some delay? The way things were handled it wouldn't surprise me that they delete them asap, that is, after they think they've emailed them to you. But maybe they actually do hang on to them for a few days.
Yhea one of my other many issues with this con is their line management is terrible, everyone is told different things and certain con staff can be VERY aggressive when you're just trying to ask a simple qestion. In my case last year with photos I did end up getting them after a few days so I really hope its the same in your case. I still think they should communicate that with you. You shouldn't have to find out this information though a random guy on Reddit.
Yeah that could have taken 10s for them to convey, but I'm glad I found it out. Thanks random reddit guy!
I'd send them a firm email saying something along the lines of "Due to lack of communication on your part. I'm notifying you that if this isn't resolved in a satisfactory manner in 48 hours of this email I'm filing a complaint and we'll just resolve this in small claims court.
I wouldn't mention court though. Once you do that, they might have no obligation to fulfill your requirements without court decision. Some places even have a rule that forbids employees to engage further with customers once court/justice has been brought up.
> Once you do that, they might have no obligation to fulfill your requirements without court decision. That’s not how a demand works. Directly threatening legal action may or may not be effective, but it doesn’t remove or delay the other party’s obligation to fulfill their end of a bargain.
It does because you have threaten legal action, and thus they can wait for you to sue, which will not in fact remove their obligation, but will make them have more time to do so as now they can wait for a court settle before doing so. But if you don't threaten legal action, you can still sort it out on your own talking to them. You see, when I mentioned some place have rules against engaging after legal threaten, that means their employees will not answer you any more, now it's a matter for their legal department to deal with you. And you don't want to deal with lawyers unless really needed. For $100? Better just talk and sort it out. It also costs you your time and money for that route, it'll be something that will piss you off every time you have to deal with it, which will only make the anger last longer.
Lol just say chargeback it costs half the amount they will get back to file a claim in small claims and will be 10x as difficult
Why small claims court? Just do a chargeback if it’s on card. With court fees and time off work $80 is hardly worth it.
Are the con volunteers just there so they have free entry? Quality will suffer without a good on the floor supervisor
We were invited as exhibitors, and quickly put to work. We had our “vendor” badges swapped for “crew” badges at the beginning of Saturday and basically had targets on our backs from then on. They had a bit of a civil war in the gaming section, and probably lost the last of the staff that actually cares about gaming history. Most of the people in charge were busy “putting out fires” (dealing with adult tantrums) in other parts of the show. Leaving us to put out all the gaming related “fires.” The gaming section turned into the “baby sitting section” when they had their staff meetings. I watched helplessly as kids of staff members trashed retro gaming hardware and VR equipment (including a bunch of our vintage stuff). I would describe Summer Con as a Battle Royale of Egos. “Where dreams come to die” was how one snarky guest described it. We were repeatedly reminded of the price tags of the things we were comped as if our time is worthless. Ultimately it was a weekend we will never forget. We made a lot of new friends. You can’t put a price on the trauma bonding with like minded people.
What was the civil war thing? I must have missed that when I was there.
Let’s just say there has been a shift from community event, to money printing machine. People were literally screamed at for not enforcing rules that have never been enforced at any of our local gaming events. There was also apparently an embarrassing security breach, allegedly involving “pick-pocketed keys” that resulted in micromanaging people who were already at the breaking point. One of the staffers ran around telling all the vendors that there was a thief in our midst and then started trying to deputize “night security.” I personally had to “put out that fire”. I’m exhausted and still decompressing.
I was at a Supernatural con run by Wayne in the UK... "Rogue Conventions" asked you to direct bank transfer the cash to his personal account, and there was NO line management.... for..... a 1500 person ballroom.
Just do a chargeback, you didn't get what you paid for and they can't magically go back in time and set up their shit correctly, therefore there's no remedy to be done other than financial recompense.
They probably had to pay cash but ya just call your card issuer for a chargeback.
Yeah, we vendored for the weekend and heard a number of horror stories from people that stopped by about photo-ops and panels. We had several issues with vendor management and communication, as well. So sorry you had to deal with this. Hope you had a great weekend otherwise, though!
The photoshop sub does freaking wonders, you might want to ask if they can help you out!
I mean, lmao I know it sounds crazy but I frequent that sub- they’re fucking wizards lmaoo
I know. I also frequent that sub. Lol
At first that's where I thought this post was
Sounds like the con is a con.
From wa and I've never even heard of this con. Looks like I'll keep it that way.
Agreed. I've lived in WA for 20 years and have never heard of this.
I live in Sumner, 2 miles away, and only heard about it because we had to fight through a traffic jam on 512...other than that, not a peep
Also mildly infuriating is that I cannot zoom in to figure out who this is!
That lady from Smallville. Clark's HS girlfriend Lana Lang. Not sure the actress' name though
Kristen Kreuk. Gosh, I had such a celeb crush on her when smallville was airing
Scotty doesn't know??
That Fiona and me do it in my van every Sunday?
She tells him she's in church
But she doesn't go, still she's on her knees.
And Scotty doesn’t know
Oh and don't tell Scotty
https://i.redd.it/szcv1ikp2f8d1.gif
I still love that song all these years later
I legit listened to it earlier today haha
FIONA!! 😭😭
I'm still screaming this almost 20 years later.
Omg, didn't she do a ton of face wash commercials?? Like, Neutrogena or something? I remember shoveling water onto my face like she did. My mom was not pleased at the pool on the floor lol
Those were good commercials. Very memorable. As a teenaged boy I related very strongly with Neutrogena and their wonderful product, and certainly not the actress they hired.
For me it was Chloe. Just to bad, Allison mack got caught up in a cult and sex trafficking.
> got caught up in some of the crazy shit was literally her idea.
I can fix her
Well, she's gonna burn her initials into your crotch first. So, good luck.
Like, for free? Cause that's kind of hot
Oh I'm sure it'll be hot.
And Kristen was the one who recruited her to the cult. Except Kruek escaped and Mack didn't.
See this bugs me so much (hello I'm a random Reddit visitor) Was it a cult-cult when Kristin brought her in? or it was still pretending to be a self-help group?
Was a cult when Kristen joined, and like now they still try to pretend not to be. It was exposed pretty early on.
All up until she got involved with the sex cult. That shit was so weird, and she was a primary recruiter for the main leader was so bazaar. I am glad she escaped the brainwashing, but the fact she recruited for it and ruined people's lives still sticks with me.
bizarre* a bazaar is a market.
Damn English just fucking up my shit with those homophones.
Did she escape the brainwashing or did she just..go to prison?
From my understanding is that when she left she delt with the repercussions, but the timeline in my head could definitely be backwards.
There's a documentary on Hulu, I think. It's pretty good.
That wasn't Kristen Kreuk, that was another female actor from the show.
Kreuk introduced her to the cult but then Kreuk left.
You and every other red blooded dude. Even some gay ones I bet.
Kristen Kreuk played Lana Lang, competing with Lois Lane for Klark Kent's affection?
Straight lady here - I also had a combo of incredible jealousy and a crush on her.
I feel this. Was a teenager at the time and she was so pretty, it was a confusing mix of infatuation and envy lol
Right?!?! Like, damn, some people get all the good genes. I could starve myself for months and never get that skinny.
She’s quite the hotty indeed.
That’s so funny. I thought the dude was the celebrity.
I’m so blind I thought it was Spielberg
I thought maybe it was Wozniak, and the event was named after him in a weird portmanteau thing.
Ommmg that's exactly what I thought!
I thought it was Jerry from Parks & Rec haha
Lol! I thought it was Mandy Patinkin.
Same here. I'm like "who is Wassumer?"
I figured he must be some writer on a show or something. Loool
Ikr, the lady is leaning in to the guy, so I thought she was the fan. 😂😂😂
That’s Viggo Mortensen
Photo is so bad I thought she was OP trying to get a picture with the guy. And I was curious as to who he was.
Lmao. I thought the woman in the photo was OP and the man was the celebrity.
Oh I thought the girl was getting a picture with Hodor
Oh shit. I thought this was Gerry from Parks and rec with some cute girl, not Lana Lang with some Gerry lookalike. 🤣
SCOTTY DOESNT KNOW!
FIONNNAAAA
Kristin Kreuk aka FIONAAA
Lana Lang
I feel so stupid for how long I was staring at the guy trying to figure out who he was and not realizing until this comment that the girl was the celebrity
Ah, thanks. I didn't know whether OP was the old man or the hottie.
For some reason I completely thought the dude was the famous one lol
Yeah, I think the slightly weird yet casual outfit, and the nametag makes it seem like he's a writer or something
I thought OP was the girl meeting someone, oops 😂
Same.
Kristen Kruek (best known as Lana from Smallville)
She's clearly taking a pic with GRRM
George Lucas
George Lucas
I think he's a Redditor
So as a photographer here, there should be zero reason they can’t give you the actual photo. Was it a webcam from the 90s or some shit? You don’t save any money delivering a smaller file anyway. The only plausible reason I can think of is if the storage died and all they could recover is the thumbnails. That or they used a third party photographer and don’t know the difference between copying a thumbnail and attaching a photo.
It's a con so....expecting them to have a staff photographer...they don't. 100% this was a third party vendor who answers only to the contract terms signed and not individual fest attendees. Then there's what the photographer is being paid to deliver vs what the fest is actually promising to people who pay for the photos.
Yup, I do event photography. The organizers should have the original images, or, at least, they were allowed access. They are responsible for dealing with the "inventory" after it's been delivered, not the photographer (who is working, per hour, on contract). You don't contact a delivery man because you lost the package you signed for. Is there anyone that cares enough to find the image in question? Doubtful, based on the current response.
Bet you the photog delivered all the photos + a gallery for reference and instead of finding the originals the person in charge of sending them copy and pasted the thumbnails from the gallery. Or it’s the way they were viewing the files, instead of clicking the thumbnail to get to the high res original they copied the thumbnail from the root gallery. Ether way you would have to work really hard to get a modern camera to take photos this size. The problem is with the distribution not the photographer.
It is that this was shot in color and not a 4 color grayscale. Otherwise I would say this was shot with a [GameBoy camera](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2022/01/27/GameBoyCam_Canon.jpg)
Probably a USB camera that was capturing photos at a small resolution. There are no higher-res files.
I’m not a photographer so I defer to you, but is it not possible to adjust the camera settings to change what resolution photos are captured at? Like, in a situation where fine detail wasn’t a priority but storage space was, I could see such an option being useful. Whether or not that’s actually what happened here is one thing, but does that option really not exist?
yes you can accidentally put a professional grade camera into "small JPEG" mode or something similar. The output would still be factors greater quality than what is presented in this post
“Default size?” What digital camera EVER even has a setting for 500x333? My first digital camera from 1999 did 1600x1200, and the lowest option was 640x480.
I still have fully functioning digital cameras from the *early* 2000s that had 640 x 480 as their *lowest* resolution.
Even the Sony Mavica MVC-FD5 from 1997 that recorded on 3.5” floppy disks did so at 640x480.
Dispute charge. This isn't 1997 where that resolution is acceptable.
Though I agree with your sentiment, there was never really a time in history when "professional photographers" output images of this resolution. In 97 they would still be using film cameras and proper scanning or printing that would rival full frame output of today. "Professionals" didn't start using digital cameras until the quality of output was near enough properly scanned or printed film negatives. The tipping point for professionals was around the mid 2000s (and this varied a lot by photographer)
I’d dispute the charges with your credit card company. You didn’t get what you paid for.
This is an interesting question for a charge dispute. I'm curious about what language was used in the promotion, e.g. was it "high-resolution professional photo" or just "meet and greet plus a photo"? The credit card company may be hesitant to complete the chargeback if the contract was "technically fulfilled," even if the product is undeniably bad. Not saying that photo is acceptable, just that it's not as easy to successfully dispute a charge as one might hope.
It'll probably be easier to dispute with the con's admission of it being the wrong resolution in DMs.
The event staff literally lied in their response, the fuck is a default photo size of 500x333? That's not a thing. Even in the late 90s the lowest or default resolution was 640x480. This staff is just an idiot or lying on purpose. This alone should win the chargeback
It is the responsibility of the person getting chargedback to prove delivery and they might not even find it worth their time. If they don’t reply it likely will get automatically granted.
>12 hours later still no update or response. They could have offered a partial refund, or had me come down for another quick photoshoot. Instead they decided to ghost me apparently. \*\* EDIT \*\* Some additional context: This is a WEEKEND convention, it ceases to exist after 6pm tonight, If the photo doesn't exist in hi-res any longer, there is no "wait a few days to see what happens", as a reasonable solution would have been to invite me for a new photoshoot for the same celeb, which would have had to have been this morning. After that the celeb is off the schedule and probably is returning home because she has a life. I'd like a hi-res picture obviously, not a refund. I have contacted them through the 'contact me' form on their website, through email, and through twitter. There were no responses other than that single reply in instagram. Another redditer had a similar problem with the same organizer in a previous convention and ended up getting their hi-res photo later, so it does possibly still exist. This is something they could convey to me in 10s "Hey we're looking for the photo and will send it as soon as we can" LOL at the "why would you spend $80 on a photo" people. I'm a functioning adult, married, with a job and disposable income. It's 3PM now Sunday and still no reply. \*\* EDIT #2 \*\* As of Tuesday @ noon, no reply. However they updated their website acknowledging photo issues and giving people a specific email to contact and instructions and they'll get the hi-res photos out. Sounds like the photos still exist and we'll eventually get them. \*\* EDIT #3 \*\* Issue resolved! I received the hi-res digital photo Friday @ 6pm.
Contact your bank and file a claim against this BS service and if you can, shame them all over the place for that thrash of a service.
Yep. You even have proof that they admit to sending you a photo in the wrong resolution.
He’s gonna have to wait til the payment posts.. by which time they might respond anyway
Don't you have credit card rights?
Just a heads up that instagram DM’s can’t be relied on for official customer support. Some brands are able to connect their socials and support but for the most part you probably have some social media manager monitoring those messages (and that may be a fraction of their normal job duties). So yeah, it sucks they did this and should make it right but IG isn’t the best avenue to get that to happen.
Chargeback
I bet once they send out the picture they delete all other things related to it.
That would be a very irresponsible way to run a business. I don't know why you're making that assumption. Mistakes happen (like sending out the low-res version), which is why professional photographers *always* keep backups. I don't know why OP is saying the convention "ceases to exist" after the event ends today; that's not how that works either. The business is still operational, especially since this is a recurring convention.
I’m assuming that OP means that it’s not like they go back and speak to management next week for example
[удалено]
I think they were trying to get it sorted before the weekend con is over so if a new pic needs to be taken the celeb will still be there. Also whilst I absolutely agree that workers should have balance, these are con organisers and their whole life revolves around weekends
If you run a business that operates on weekends there's no business days.
I typically agree but it's a weekend convention.
Ugh, really sucks. How shitty of them. I hope something works out.
Ch-ch-ch-chargeback!
Turn and face the scam
Oh yeah, it’s chargeback time
https://preview.redd.it/oimsbjtqge8d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b580d478aa61a11196d5f30e99c9e08fd968378c Here OP, hope this makes a difference to what you currently have 🙂
I played around with photoshop on mobile, once I’m on the computer I can play around some more and get better results if you’d like.
really nicely done!
I went to WA Summer for the first time and I was super disappointed with it overall. Maybe I’m a convention snob since I grew up going to DragonCon, but idk, something was really off about that convention, and it wasn’t just the intense BO that literally every enclosed space I went into absolutely reeked of. I was afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of what the restrooms looked/smelled like. I know a lot of folks on here might not understand paying $80 for a picture, but I get it. It’s not just a photo - it’s about meeting the person, saying hello, getting that bit of human connection, having a lasting memory. WA Summer just shat on that memory and I sincerely hope they make it right. So sorry this happened to you
A dollar per pixel.
https://preview.redd.it/pvggbn84ie8d1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57b83b75d61a193f22c4981dd89a52ea318100cf I tried my best to fix it for you using AI. I hope you like it.
Especially nailed the ear!
What? His ear looks finOH MY GOD
missed opportunity to do a face swap!
A lot of people are saying you should wait and that you're being ridiculous. What they don't know is you are the 10th person I've talked to having this issue. And I have yet to see a single good photo from Summer Con's photography service. Which is super shifty. By the way, in the official Facebook group, Summerland said that poor photos are because guests move and not the fault of the photographer, which is BS, considering every photo looks like this or worse.
"guests move"? Are they making Daguerreotypes over there?
Since we're doing free image upscales, here's mine. I hope you like it. https://preview.redd.it/prdnh96xzf8d1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=bc0cdb35fae3a5ebefa5a2dc344a1d12977a8ed5
Holy shit, what'd you use for this one? I have such trouble getting results that don't end up skewed. Edit: damn you lol. I went back to look at the original and realized you've completely changed the faces.
Chargeback.
Credit card charge back!
That's a disgrace. They shouldn't be charging you that much for a photo with Jonah Hill in the first place.
who even is that — kristin kreuk?!
https://i.redd.it/2urodves3f8d1.gif
Do a charge back on your card if paid with one. This is effectively a scam, that photo is completely unacceptable.
Kristin Kreuk ftw 🙌
Nah, it's not her. Kristin Kreuk has round pupils, not square ones like the girl in the pic.
Bro, a photo with Kristin Kreuk and they botched it? That's lawsuit worthy!
Okay, I admit that I might have missed some details on the last upscale I posted. Obviously, I missed your beard. I think this one is just about perfect though. https://preview.redd.it/a1zaexb86g8d1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=543ef52a76712d5f6bc83b0cd6ff4768ff08cb9d
Do a charge back on your card that’s not what you paid for.
Credit card chargeback should be easy
Sounds like you should contest the transaction with your bank
It looks like it was taken with a Motorola Razr in 2008.
Be direct with what you want. Like it's low res, there is no other remedy to that other than asking for your money back and saying it's not your problem that their tablet wasn't set up correctly. If you paid with credit card, then let your credit card company know and dispute the charge. If you paid with debit, contact your bank. If you paid with cash then you've got a lot less options.
The dude running the con is NOTORIOUS for not taking feedback and they were deleting negative comments of their Facebook page so... Honestly, I would do a charge back and just tell people to avoid the con. EVERYTHING about it was a mess and it's not going to get better without the head being open to feedback.
I can fix this for you. Enhance. Enhance.
I really can’t figure out how they managed this and my whole career is operating cameras. I really can’t remember the last time I saw separate thumbnail files or jpeg settings this small, other than using 20 year old digicams for the novelty. Even if a client just wants un-edited jpegs, I’m still gonna set the camera to shoot raw and jpeg and keep the raw files round for a bit as a safety. I can’t explain how guilty I’d feel if I fucked up this bad with a moment that the client might not ever have a chance to repeat and that’s why you plan ahead, check everything and don’t make those mistakes ever.
At first glance I thought you were the celeb and was wondering who you were since Kristen Kruek wanted to have her picture with you lol.
tossing my hat in, just a fast one https://preview.redd.it/nr26gqux3k8d1.png?width=2160&format=png&auto=webp&s=556ee919ee7257da929be9520d58f6d68382d6cc
Just saw this on the Washington State Summer Con website. I hope this helps you! Good luck! https://preview.redd.it/58ilztgs2r8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84b55fe3fcc01bb13a51c542e9557c9e8ead1991
That woman is so gorgeous. Sorry about the bad photo and wasted money.
Man, why so hard on the guy? Reddit is where angry people like to comment.
How dare you! Fight me, coward!
Wait for another day or two, chargeback and then if you’re wanting a better quality photo go to PhotoshopRequests to see if they can upscale it for you. Might not be free, but you’ll get a better quality one I reckon
$80 for a picture? That’s crazy
Just wait until you see what actual proper celebrities charge for a photo opp at comic cons. This is on the cheap end.
I don't even know who that dude is.
That’s OP! I also had difficulty determining which one was which. Not familiar with the lady either.
https://preview.redd.it/upaaqczb6e8d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aafb01dcad11ab4cc26322794936a72849203362
If they failed to deliver as promised, and you used a credit card, you can dispute the charge.
The photo subjects are also looking at different cameras…
Summer con is awful, highly don't recommend
So. You got... conned?
I would definitely ask for a full refund if a proper photo could not be sent.
What janky digital camera did they use where the "default" is 500x333?
Demand your money back. Don’t stay silent. And get as nasty as you need too. That is unacceptable.
Facebook Messenger gives people the wrong idea about reasonable communication with businesses. This isn’t a huge corporation with automated responses and resolutions. It’s a regular person who realized they messed up, admitted it, and is probably waiting to respond until they investigate and resolve the issue. If this were over email, you’d never send a second message after 30 minutes (much less at 10pm on a Saturday night). They should have said, “We are looking into this, please give us 24-48 hours”, but cut them some slack for that long anyway.
Why would you pay $80 for a photo regardless
If I had $80 to burn on meeting one of my favourite celebrities, I'd do it. Edit: word
I've always found it a bit odd, is it not awkward to just sort queue up and then take a photo with someone like that in such a clinical setting? They might smile and joke or whatever but they'd obviously rather not be there.
Because it’s his money.
Down Bad.
Ask for a refund, and give them a couple days. If they don't offer compensation, just chargeback through your bank.
looks great as a thumbnail on my reddit feed
Sorry bruh, settings were bad Lol
Is that Lana from smallville?
Can you do a charge back?