Weddingbee Blog

MY DISPOSABLE CAMERA NIGHTMARE. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.

Last week, I picked up my disposable camera pictures from the wedding. Some of the rolls weren’t able to be processed at all, more than half the prints didn’t come out and the most of the ones that did were of very poor quality. The culprit?

Evidently the company I purchased the disposable cameras from taped film onto old film cartridges. I think they bought film in bulk and then taped them onto recycled film cartridges. See this label? It’s a sticker they printed themselves and put over an old Kodak film cartridge. (Ilford is a brand of film.)

Do you see the crease down the middle on the white tape on the film? When this was put into the developing machine, the tape was too thick for the machine to cut through. The machine jammed and the entire roll was exposed and lost forever.

These are wedding cameras - a once in a lifetime event!! I feel so ripped off!!! All those priceless pictures…. gone.

I’ve read warnings about wedding disposable cameras - how you should have pictures from a disposable camera printed first to see the quality. But I was busier than a bee and I decided at the last minute to have disposable cameras. I never thought that it would happen to me! I’d recommend just buying those Kodak or Fujifilm disposable cameras. At least you’ll know they work. Here’s a template you can print to make your own disposable camera covers.

I’m sending a copy of this blog to the camera company. I’m waiting for their response.

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Thank goodness for digital cameras or I might really have been devastated. My friends have sent me digital pictures through shutterfly, ophoto, and imagestation. I’ve printed pics through all of these sites and photoexperts - I want to see which one comes out best. I’ve received my pics from photoexperts and ofoto so far. The ones from ofoto are a little bit better, but not much. Here’s an overview of the sites:

Shutterfly

• lets you download condensed image files
• lets you make adjustments such as cropping, red eye removal, add borders
• prints are 25 cents each but if you prepay for prints, they’re as cheap as 19 cents each. I paid 20 cents.

Ofoto

• no photo adjustment options
• lets you download condensed image files
• 25 cents per print

Imagestation

• lets you download full size images
• no photo adjustment features
• 19 cents per print (on sale for 17 cents right now)
• you can avoid shipping charges by picking up your prints from cvs stores

Photoexperts

• no photo adjustment options
• 9 cents per print, but $1.99 developing fee

I think I’ll also check out Snapfish. I’m still sorting through all the pictures. I’m making a photojam for everyone who attended and couldn’t attend the wedding. You can try a limitied version of the software for free - it’s pretty cool. It lets you add music and effects to your pictures and turns them into a story. My friends and family love them whenever I make one.

I know I promised pictures…. I’m still going through them!