Family Can’t Believe Their Eyes After Their Professional Photographer Shows Them Their Photos
A picture is worth a thousand words but a hilariously terrible family photoshoot earned them over 377K shares and 363K likes on Facebook. Everything started when the Zarings were contacted by a middle-aged woman, marketing herself as an experienced professional photographer. She took them to the popular Forest Park in St. Louis where they paid her $250 to snap beautiful pictures. After 8 months of post-production, the Zarings received a package containing a disc. After they opened the images, the family almost died of laughter.
The creepy cartoon faces staring back at Pam were lacking any human features, with eyes and teeth that looked like they were done in Paint. “She said the shadows were really bad on the beautiful, clear, sunny day and that her professor never taught her to retouch photos,” Pam Dave Zaring wrote. Pam said she has asked for the original pictures, but she doesn’t want a refund. On the contrary, she’s found humor in the whole ordeal. According to her, the photoshoot “has been worth every dime” for all the giggles it produced.
Scroll down to check out a photoshoot the family will never forget and let us know in the comments if you’d pay $250 for it!
More info: Facebook
The Zarings went to Forest Park in St. Louis where they paid a ‘professional’ photographer $250 to snap beautiful pictures
Image credits: Pam Dave Zaring
After 8 months of post-production, however, she mailed them something that took the family completely by surprise
Image credits: Lesa Hall
Image credits: Lesa Hall
Image credits: Lesa Hall
Image credits: Lesa Hall
Image credits: Lesa Hall
Image credits: Lesa Hall
But the family don’t want a refund. On the contrary, they’ve found humor in the whole ordeal
Delivering images like these to a client is ridiculous. However, as a REAL professional photographer, I wanted to address the gentleman 's comment about there being no shadows on a bright sunny day. Bright sunny days = shadows. Ideal weather for outdoor photography is always overcast = even, uniform lighting and no shadows. A professional outdoor photographer would have known that.
I totally agree: sunny=shadows.. If you have to do it that day you could use a flash it you know how to.. or otherwise do what everyone tells you not to do: photograph against the sun...
Load More Replies...Super funny if it were free with an apology, but at $250.00 and a day of posing I wouldn't have been laughing.
https://www.facebook.com/imagerybylesahal/ I think that family knew exactly, what they ordered. This "photo agency" is running projects like that. Not to mention I feel like it is all set up. The profile has updates running from 13th of January. So it's either really new, or created solely for this purpose. Idk I just smell fake here.
The Facebook page is definitely a fake. It was set up after the story broke, presumably as a joke.
Load More Replies...Yeah. I was thinking that this can’t be real. There’s no way.
Load More Replies...I'm just glad it was your money and not mine. I didn't really see the humor.
I just really want to know what was going on in the photographers mind?! She thought these looked ok to give to someone...i just dont understand. But they are funny none the less!
I think most people are leaning to this being fake news. The photographer's website/Facebook was created after the original post. A couple people investigated this and can't verify it.
Technically not a problem with the photography but their Photoshop skills.
Sorry to say, Mark, but you already do. It's called the game of life! 😂
Load More Replies...oh wow what a laugh even my grandkids are rolling around the floor , best laugh ever
Thank you so much for helping me laugh today. : ) My chemo side effects are awful today and I felt hopeless and down. Seeing your "beautiful" photos and the comments made me laugh, despite myself. <3
Unbelievable! By that I mean I'm not sure I believe this story or at the very least it's the whole story.
I hate to be that guy, but I'm super skeptical. Before reading this (just looking at the first pics) I thought that someone had overdone a gaussian blur and accidentally had the layer opacity set to 100% on an overdone mask, but then I read it there's just no way. I can't see it. I have no proof so I can't say definitively, but not one bit of this story makes sense. The timeline, the finished product nor the reaction.
It may be funny to them, but it is an utter disgrace to all of us photographers out here.
All I can say is that the family members are really good-natured folk to be able to see the humor in the situation. If that happened to me, I'd be as mad as a wet cat. I don't like anyone messing with my money. But, exactly because of that, I would have vetted the photographer before hiring her. With a photographer, I think it's important to look at his/her portfolio and talk to past clients. It also bothers me that the woman is obviously lying to try and cover up the fact that she did an awful job. If the shadows were so bad that you couldn't see the faces of the family, why can you see the dogs' faces perfectly? They were part of that group shot on the bench. If you make a mistake, own up to it, don't lie.
Sorry, I just went back to check and see if I was a bit callous and then I laughed so hard I choked on my spit! Seriously, the best laugh I've had in a LOOONG time! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing with us how you choked on your spit...
Load More Replies...I seriously can't stop laughing at this!! I would pay extra for this in my life!!!
While total warranted,and admittedly not in the same league, be careful putting her name on social media. I remember the story from last year. https://petapixel.com/2017/08/01/wedding-photographer-wins-1-08m-defamation-suit-couple/
Next time you ask for goddamn references and check the "artist"'s homepage, etc. BTW, these photos are creepy, reminds me of the Victorian post mortem photos where eyes were painted on the dead, to make them look alive.
I can see the family resemblance... even within the 3 generations! hehe!
I can definitely see the family resemblance... even amongst the three generations photographed! hehe
I would keep keep them in a fram..them might be worth a lot of money one day..i have never seen any thing like this..one of a kind...might end up being some kind of trend
Oh my gosh, that is hilarious! I ask myself if I would have laughed and been as awesome as this family if I had received photos like this? I'm not so sure, it's great that they can turn things into good :)
You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone.
Have you thought that maybe this "photographer" suffers from some sort of mental disease? I'm neither a professional photographer nor a professional in mental health, but I've heard that some mental illnesses cause people to see faces in a different way (of course, I may be mistaken or I was trolled). I mean, it's funny that a "professional" would send something like that to a customer, but even I can see that these are anything but professional photos and that it should have been better if they had received the original photos instead. The "professional" in question has either sent these photos deliberately, or there is something totally wrong with the way they perceive faces and/or people.
I am not a professional photographer myself so i couldn't comment on the photography, I do however do graphic design and use professional photo editing and designing software(Namely Coreldraw and Photoshop). As Kate commented below, sending images like this to a client is absurd, these images were done in Microsoft Paint, I would be too embarrased to supply these images to a client.
We are a family of pale ghosts with frozen features but we all love each other and enjoy having our picture taken in forests anyway.
Communication from photog to family: Dear Mrs. and Mrs. Mannequin, It is with regret that I wish to inform you..
OMG - laughing. i think the gray people ate the beautiful family in the first picture. That's my theory and i'm sticking with it.
I guess it's funny.....What I don't understand is how anyone would deliver such pictures to a paying customer unless it was supposed to be a joke. I also don't understand how these faces ended up on these people, what happened? Obviously no one looks like that. I"m confused. Weird.
Wow...thank you dear family for the much needed laugh. Literally cryin, laughin at my desk yet trying to be inconspicuous.
Just a heads up this is an absolute scam. The mother didn't like the original photos and then did her own edits. Those edits are now the ones she is trying to pass of as the photographer's and has caused a huge amount of damage to that photographer's reputation with her false information. Once again the internet causes a stir without getting all of the information up front before reporting something.
Is there documented proof of this? I’m reading a few comments that this was actually done by the original poster - nothing to do with the photographer. Any verification somewhere? Would love to know that this wasn’t true, cause it seems fake AF.
Load More Replies...WOW! I can't believe this "photographer" actually gave this to clients and did not see anything wrong with that! O_O
Also, a photographer - granted, just an amateur - but I am amazed that she would have sent these photos to the family! Did she really think that they would like them? Anyway, their reaction is adorable and hopefully, the photographer will perfect her photoshopping - or maybe not. She might have a future doing LEGO family photos!
I think that the photographer needs a shrink. That's just an outrageously WEIRD thing to do. And I wouldn't be laughing.
Even if you laugh for a full hour per photo, that's over $40 per hour of fun. I laughed for 1 minute total. It's funny for a free article, but not if you spent $250 on it. $250 buys you 5 $50 video games, which gives you 50-1000 hours of fun depending on length.
You should sue that professional jerk and when your case will be filled, let all lawyers to people who will see that miraculous photos should laugh.
Imagine trying to make a name for yourself and you don't really know what you're doing but you think you do and the next moment you're the laughing stock on Bored Panda...
Even without the bad photoshopping, it doesn´t look professional at all...I take better pictures with my phone.
Well they are buttfaces... not sure if it’s your butt per se, but they do look a bit like butts.
Load More Replies...I don't see the humor in it.....https://www.facebook.com/imagerybylesahall/
What is this 2-250, what does that mean? 2250, 248, what? And also - there are shadows on a bright sunny day
Agree that they haven't received $250 worth of final product. Another angle on this though... if it took the photographer 8 months before sending the finished product, she spent a lot of hours doing this attempt at retouching, far more than the $250 she was paid, thus she well and truly shot herself in the foot. At the very least she could have done one shot, emailed it to the Zarings and asked them what they thought and saved herself a lot of faffing around. Lesson learnt perhaps?!
If anything, at least the photographer can easily get a job for a fashion/ beauty magazine where nothing is real anyway.
Who cares? I would consider it worth the money just for the laughs.....but I would make SURE that the "photographer's" real name and business address were on every post and repost.
Load More Replies...The pics are funny / creepy but the post seems pretty P/A to me. Just get your money back and / or be up front about the fact that you're (rightfully) pissed and sharing the pics for straight up ridicule purposes. That whole "we shared these for a laugh but don't want our money back and obviously this is a post meant to embarrass someone but let's not act like it is" thing is more mixed messaging than my BS meter can handle.
I'M SORR BUT THESE PEOPLE'S FACES ARE A BIT WEIRD AND SOMEWHAT SCARY TO ME, JUST SAYIN'!
How someone can be ok with this? How someone can say something like: haha, nevermind, I paid 250 bucks to some stupid b***h for this. How?!
Holy cow.. I'm an amateur hobbyist with a camera.. but if a so called pro can get paid for sh#t like this, maybe I need to go into business, as even the c**p I turn out is better than this.
I think the pictures are frightening. I don't like them at all. I'd want my money back.
How about dress like you paid $250 I can take a pic of 💩 and try do pull a magic trick but🎆💩
what is wrong/funny about the pictures? She just removed some wrinkles, is all, I guess...
Most likely they got duped and just to save face they're claiming that they're happy with what they got.
Family must have been really ugly for her to photoshop them that much
this a f**king fake news to get some f**king buzz, what this do on bored panda ??? i wasted my time...
Why? Did someone tie you to a chair and force you to come here?
Load More Replies...Delivering images like these to a client is ridiculous. However, as a REAL professional photographer, I wanted to address the gentleman 's comment about there being no shadows on a bright sunny day. Bright sunny days = shadows. Ideal weather for outdoor photography is always overcast = even, uniform lighting and no shadows. A professional outdoor photographer would have known that.
I totally agree: sunny=shadows.. If you have to do it that day you could use a flash it you know how to.. or otherwise do what everyone tells you not to do: photograph against the sun...
Load More Replies...Super funny if it were free with an apology, but at $250.00 and a day of posing I wouldn't have been laughing.
https://www.facebook.com/imagerybylesahal/ I think that family knew exactly, what they ordered. This "photo agency" is running projects like that. Not to mention I feel like it is all set up. The profile has updates running from 13th of January. So it's either really new, or created solely for this purpose. Idk I just smell fake here.
The Facebook page is definitely a fake. It was set up after the story broke, presumably as a joke.
Load More Replies...Yeah. I was thinking that this can’t be real. There’s no way.
Load More Replies...I'm just glad it was your money and not mine. I didn't really see the humor.
I just really want to know what was going on in the photographers mind?! She thought these looked ok to give to someone...i just dont understand. But they are funny none the less!
I think most people are leaning to this being fake news. The photographer's website/Facebook was created after the original post. A couple people investigated this and can't verify it.
Technically not a problem with the photography but their Photoshop skills.
Sorry to say, Mark, but you already do. It's called the game of life! 😂
Load More Replies...oh wow what a laugh even my grandkids are rolling around the floor , best laugh ever
Thank you so much for helping me laugh today. : ) My chemo side effects are awful today and I felt hopeless and down. Seeing your "beautiful" photos and the comments made me laugh, despite myself. <3
Unbelievable! By that I mean I'm not sure I believe this story or at the very least it's the whole story.
I hate to be that guy, but I'm super skeptical. Before reading this (just looking at the first pics) I thought that someone had overdone a gaussian blur and accidentally had the layer opacity set to 100% on an overdone mask, but then I read it there's just no way. I can't see it. I have no proof so I can't say definitively, but not one bit of this story makes sense. The timeline, the finished product nor the reaction.
It may be funny to them, but it is an utter disgrace to all of us photographers out here.
All I can say is that the family members are really good-natured folk to be able to see the humor in the situation. If that happened to me, I'd be as mad as a wet cat. I don't like anyone messing with my money. But, exactly because of that, I would have vetted the photographer before hiring her. With a photographer, I think it's important to look at his/her portfolio and talk to past clients. It also bothers me that the woman is obviously lying to try and cover up the fact that she did an awful job. If the shadows were so bad that you couldn't see the faces of the family, why can you see the dogs' faces perfectly? They were part of that group shot on the bench. If you make a mistake, own up to it, don't lie.
Sorry, I just went back to check and see if I was a bit callous and then I laughed so hard I choked on my spit! Seriously, the best laugh I've had in a LOOONG time! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing with us how you choked on your spit...
Load More Replies...I seriously can't stop laughing at this!! I would pay extra for this in my life!!!
While total warranted,and admittedly not in the same league, be careful putting her name on social media. I remember the story from last year. https://petapixel.com/2017/08/01/wedding-photographer-wins-1-08m-defamation-suit-couple/
Next time you ask for goddamn references and check the "artist"'s homepage, etc. BTW, these photos are creepy, reminds me of the Victorian post mortem photos where eyes were painted on the dead, to make them look alive.
I can see the family resemblance... even within the 3 generations! hehe!
I can definitely see the family resemblance... even amongst the three generations photographed! hehe
I would keep keep them in a fram..them might be worth a lot of money one day..i have never seen any thing like this..one of a kind...might end up being some kind of trend
Oh my gosh, that is hilarious! I ask myself if I would have laughed and been as awesome as this family if I had received photos like this? I'm not so sure, it's great that they can turn things into good :)
You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone.
Have you thought that maybe this "photographer" suffers from some sort of mental disease? I'm neither a professional photographer nor a professional in mental health, but I've heard that some mental illnesses cause people to see faces in a different way (of course, I may be mistaken or I was trolled). I mean, it's funny that a "professional" would send something like that to a customer, but even I can see that these are anything but professional photos and that it should have been better if they had received the original photos instead. The "professional" in question has either sent these photos deliberately, or there is something totally wrong with the way they perceive faces and/or people.
I am not a professional photographer myself so i couldn't comment on the photography, I do however do graphic design and use professional photo editing and designing software(Namely Coreldraw and Photoshop). As Kate commented below, sending images like this to a client is absurd, these images were done in Microsoft Paint, I would be too embarrased to supply these images to a client.
We are a family of pale ghosts with frozen features but we all love each other and enjoy having our picture taken in forests anyway.
Communication from photog to family: Dear Mrs. and Mrs. Mannequin, It is with regret that I wish to inform you..
OMG - laughing. i think the gray people ate the beautiful family in the first picture. That's my theory and i'm sticking with it.
I guess it's funny.....What I don't understand is how anyone would deliver such pictures to a paying customer unless it was supposed to be a joke. I also don't understand how these faces ended up on these people, what happened? Obviously no one looks like that. I"m confused. Weird.
Wow...thank you dear family for the much needed laugh. Literally cryin, laughin at my desk yet trying to be inconspicuous.
Just a heads up this is an absolute scam. The mother didn't like the original photos and then did her own edits. Those edits are now the ones she is trying to pass of as the photographer's and has caused a huge amount of damage to that photographer's reputation with her false information. Once again the internet causes a stir without getting all of the information up front before reporting something.
Is there documented proof of this? I’m reading a few comments that this was actually done by the original poster - nothing to do with the photographer. Any verification somewhere? Would love to know that this wasn’t true, cause it seems fake AF.
Load More Replies...WOW! I can't believe this "photographer" actually gave this to clients and did not see anything wrong with that! O_O
Also, a photographer - granted, just an amateur - but I am amazed that she would have sent these photos to the family! Did she really think that they would like them? Anyway, their reaction is adorable and hopefully, the photographer will perfect her photoshopping - or maybe not. She might have a future doing LEGO family photos!
I think that the photographer needs a shrink. That's just an outrageously WEIRD thing to do. And I wouldn't be laughing.
Even if you laugh for a full hour per photo, that's over $40 per hour of fun. I laughed for 1 minute total. It's funny for a free article, but not if you spent $250 on it. $250 buys you 5 $50 video games, which gives you 50-1000 hours of fun depending on length.
You should sue that professional jerk and when your case will be filled, let all lawyers to people who will see that miraculous photos should laugh.
Imagine trying to make a name for yourself and you don't really know what you're doing but you think you do and the next moment you're the laughing stock on Bored Panda...
Even without the bad photoshopping, it doesn´t look professional at all...I take better pictures with my phone.
Well they are buttfaces... not sure if it’s your butt per se, but they do look a bit like butts.
Load More Replies...I don't see the humor in it.....https://www.facebook.com/imagerybylesahall/
What is this 2-250, what does that mean? 2250, 248, what? And also - there are shadows on a bright sunny day
Agree that they haven't received $250 worth of final product. Another angle on this though... if it took the photographer 8 months before sending the finished product, she spent a lot of hours doing this attempt at retouching, far more than the $250 she was paid, thus she well and truly shot herself in the foot. At the very least she could have done one shot, emailed it to the Zarings and asked them what they thought and saved herself a lot of faffing around. Lesson learnt perhaps?!
If anything, at least the photographer can easily get a job for a fashion/ beauty magazine where nothing is real anyway.
Who cares? I would consider it worth the money just for the laughs.....but I would make SURE that the "photographer's" real name and business address were on every post and repost.
Load More Replies...The pics are funny / creepy but the post seems pretty P/A to me. Just get your money back and / or be up front about the fact that you're (rightfully) pissed and sharing the pics for straight up ridicule purposes. That whole "we shared these for a laugh but don't want our money back and obviously this is a post meant to embarrass someone but let's not act like it is" thing is more mixed messaging than my BS meter can handle.
I'M SORR BUT THESE PEOPLE'S FACES ARE A BIT WEIRD AND SOMEWHAT SCARY TO ME, JUST SAYIN'!
How someone can be ok with this? How someone can say something like: haha, nevermind, I paid 250 bucks to some stupid b***h for this. How?!
Holy cow.. I'm an amateur hobbyist with a camera.. but if a so called pro can get paid for sh#t like this, maybe I need to go into business, as even the c**p I turn out is better than this.
I think the pictures are frightening. I don't like them at all. I'd want my money back.
How about dress like you paid $250 I can take a pic of 💩 and try do pull a magic trick but🎆💩
what is wrong/funny about the pictures? She just removed some wrinkles, is all, I guess...
Most likely they got duped and just to save face they're claiming that they're happy with what they got.
Family must have been really ugly for her to photoshop them that much
this a f**king fake news to get some f**king buzz, what this do on bored panda ??? i wasted my time...
Why? Did someone tie you to a chair and force you to come here?
Load More Replies...
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