A bride-to-be claims she and her fiance got a lot more from their wedding photographer than they have bargained for. And not in a good way, either. Everything started when Katie Liepold turned to Facebook to hire a photographer for her May wedding. After receiving about 20 responses, the couple picked Tower Photography in Medina which offered an engagement photoshoot to go along with the wedding photos at the reception for $600. Including a free humiliating experience.
"Didn't really need the engagement photos, but it was in the package so we did it," Liepold told 5 News Cleveland. The shoot with photographer Linda Silvestri seemed to have gone well. "We laughed, we talked, we joked, we shared stories."
When the couple's photos were sent in, however, they noticed something was off. "This isn't exactly what I thought I was going to get," said Liepold. "She actually photoshopped one picture of us skinnier." A side-by-side comparison of the original and the photoshopped images clearly reveal a dramatic change. "She probably took like 30 pounds off each of us."
"That wasn't asked for, and I just felt like that was really hurtful and my pictures weren't good enough to be left alone," Silvestri responded by telling Liepold she could cancel the contract. According to the bride-to-be, it wasn't the end of the story. She claims that Silvestri left a hurtful rant on a Facebook page called Northeast Ohio Wedding Professionals Only. It started with "and people have wondered why I have scaled back my photography business." "A whole big rant about how just that week she had a photoshoot with two morbidly obese individuals," said Liepold. The post, which has been deleted, continued, "it is extremely difficult to get Pinterest worthy lovey-dovey pictures when people can't even get their heads together."
Silvestri refunded Liepold but kept the $150 deposit for spending two hours taking their engagement photos. "I didn't pay her $150 for a body shaming rant on a site," said Liepold.
A bride-to-be and her fiance from Ohio bought a wedding photo shoot but they claim they've received much more
Image credits: Katie Liepold
"This isn't exactly what I thought I was going to get. She actually photoshopped one picture of us skinnier"
Image credits: Katie Liepold
"She probably took like 30 pounds off each of us"
Image credits: Katie Liepold
The photographer also left a hurtful rant on Facebook, which has since been deleted
"That wasn't asked for, and I just felt like that was really hurtful and my pictures weren't good enough to be left alone"
Image credits: Katie Liepold
"I didn't pay her $150 to have her make fun of me on a site"
Image credits: Katie Liepold
Furious, people believe the photographer had no right to photoshop the images without the couple's permission
