It’s 6 in the morning. After hours of driving and over an hour of hiking, the photographer takes his position near Hawksbill Crag in Arkansas. He is supposed to photograph an engagement, and the couple shows up as planned. The guy proposes, the girl says “yes,” and the photographer has some great shots of the moment. But there’s a catch – it’s the wrong couple!
What are the odds, you may ask? Well, for photographer Jacob Peters this seems to have been “one of those days” when life decides to show you all the weird tricks up its sleeve.
Posted by JP Photography on Monday, May 8, 2017
A guy from Wisconsin contacted Jacob to take engagement photos of him and his girlfriend on May 6, 2017. The engagement was to take place on Hawksbill Crag at sunrise, so Jacob woke up at 2:30 am and began his trip. When he got there, it took him over an hour of hiking and finding the right direction in the complete darkness, with only a cell phone flashlight. Finally, around 6 am, he got to his spot and set up, waiting for the happy couple to show up. And so they did, as Jacob explains in his Facebook post:
Around 6:17am a young couple shows up. It’s them. I’m sure of it. A little late but still not too late. They go up onto hawksbill crag. Hang out for a few minutes and then it happens. He pulls out a ring, kneels down behind her. She turns around and starts crying and hugs him and it’s obvious she said yes and all went well. I stick around for 10-15 minutes after, just taking photos. Then they sit down watch the sunrise and I figured my job’s done, I’ll pack up and hike out.
When he got home, he texted the client to say congratulation, but the message he received made him realize his mistake: “I’m confused, we never saw you and we got there a little late, are you sure it was us? I was in a blue plaid shirt…”
It turned out that the couple he was supposed to photograph turned up an hour late, when Jacob already finished taking photos of the wrong couple and began heading back. After the screw-up, he wanted at least to give the other couple the photos, but of course, he had no idea who they were. So he turned to Facebook for help. He posted an album with photos and the story, and within a few hours, the couple was found. Jenny and David are the couple from Dallas, and Jacob took photos of their engagement due to a mix of strange circumstances.
I’d say all this mess happened because of communication breakdown. Jacob only knew the couple he was supposed to photograph from phone calls, so he didn’t know what they looked like. After all, who would have thought there would be more than one couple of enthusiastic hikers getting engaged at sunrise at exactly the same spot? The clients were unable to contact Jacob as there’s no cell phone service in the area, that’s why they couldn’t let him know they’d be late.
As Jacob explains, all this turned out bittersweet. He made one couple’s engagement memorable (by chance), but the other couple ended up without the memories they expected. In an attempt to try and make it right, he started a GoFundMe campaign to fund a trip and go and photograph the couple whose engagement photos he failed to take. As for Jenny and David, they, of course, got their engagement photos for free.
Although this sounds pretty incredible, something like this could happen to anyone – you know what life can be like sometimes. But I think we can all learn something from this: communication is the key, as well as being prepared for everything.
[via News Leader]
All I can say is that guy proposing doesn’t have a particularly original ideas…
Why start a GoFundMe for something like this? If I screw up because I didn’t do my job up front we would eat the cost and make it right. That’s just good business.
Well said.
He did his job.
The client didn’t. They showed up an hour late, with no notification.
He owes them nothing.
I am not a full time photographer. I still have a day job. I didn’t accept payment for this gig and the guy was late. And another couple showed up at the right time and got engaged. How was I supposed to know? Why should I be out of pocket for wanting to help someone out? I’m also not eating the cost of plane ticket and extra for a shoot that I’m already out money on. Lol just trying to do good since this world and this country seem to love bad news.
If there is a single lesson to learn from this, it’s: “don’t be late”. ;)
I totally support you Jacob. You did your job.
“Why should I be out of pocket for wanting to help someone out?”
That’s the problem… If you want to get paid to redo the shoot, ask the client. If they don’t want to pay, then just don’t do it. Wasn’t your travel part of your charges for the job? You didn’t ask for a down payment to at least cover your costs if something like this happened? If you did and they declined you still traveled to do the job?
I’d use this as a leaning experience for the next time you take a job without knowing anything about the client, including what they look like.
Sorry, I still don’t understand the GoFundMe for this.
Now, how long would it have taken to hit the fb and get a visual on what his clients look like?
It said there was no service where they were at.
Happened to me before… in a crowded beach….
Laura: I think he meant when he was hired.
I agree with Beleslin and would even one up that the client could have texted the photographer pictures of them to be sure the photographer had the right people.
the photographer was ill prepared for the shoot. he should have asked the couple what they looked like, what they were going to wear, and the spot where they were planning to be there. I feel bad for the photographer but let that lesson be learned.
lol don’t be late.
Sounds fishy to me, another drama to gain attention and get famous? How unprofessional of the Photographer for not calling his client before he started taking pictures? Nope … I dont buy his bullshit. Its a fake attempt
It says there was no phone service in the area…
According to these comments, romance is officially dead.
Jacob didn’t get a photo or at least a description of the clients, didn’t ask what the guy planned to wear, and didn’t have the sense to bring a flashlight, knowing he had a long hike in the dark. Hard to be sympathetic. Part of being a photographer is being prepared.
Co not bringing a flashlight makes you a bad photographer? Did he get lost? No. So I guess the phone light was good enough.
If the client told you he planned to wear a blue shirt and then the guy showed up in red would you not shoot thinking, “he probably had to change his plan”? I would.
The photographer was there on spot as requested. The client messed up. Blame the photographer for everything.
Well, thanks for that perfectly sensible response.