What is the Sepia Bride TikTok drama? Netizens weigh in on wedding photographer fracas

A recent TikTok drama called ‘Sepia Bride’ has taken over the platform, where a bride complained about her wedding photographer. Alexandra Jaye Conder who goes by @alexandrajaye5 on TikTok posted several videos, claiming the person she hired for the job did not meet the desired results.

Alexandra expressed the photos from her wedding day came out too orange and yellowish rather than reflecting a more natural tone. A visit to the photographer, Han’s Instagram portfolio shows she has a particular style that lies in warm yellow tones. It can also be compared to a low-contrast version of the widely known orange and teal color grading by Sam Kolder.

The bride admitted she liked the photos from her rehearsal dinner the previous sunny day and the photos from the night of her wedding reception. However, when the actual wedding took place, there was an overcast. The cloudy and dull weather with the lack of natural light affected the warm tone-leaning editing style of the photographer which ultimately disappointed Alexandra.

Han re-edited the photos but Alexandra wasn’t too pleased with the second outcomes either. So, she asked the photographer for the RAW files, but Han wanted $4k for them.

Alexandra referred to the style of her wedding photos as sepia, leading TikTok to address this drama as 'Sepia Bride'. It reached other platforms including Threads and Reddit, prompting myriad reactions from netizens.

User Puzzleheaded-Bid-963 summarized the story in the r/photography sub-Reddit, where many shared their thoughts on the matter, mostly speaking in support of the photographer.

Netizens react to Alexandra's Sepia Bride drama over wedding photographs. (Image via Reddit/r/photography)

Netizens react to Alexandra's Sepia Bride over wedding photographs. (Image via Reddit/r/photography)

Netizens react to Alexandra's Sepia Bride drama over wedding photographs. (Image via Reddit/r/photography)

However, some people tried to look at the situation from the bride's perspective and sympathized with her to an extent. But a few others responded by defending the photographer.

Netizens react to Alexandra's TikTok drama over wedding photographs. (Image via Reddit/r/photography)

Internet reacts to Alexandra's TikTok drama over wedding photographs. (Image via Reddit/r/photography)

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OP says miscommunications prompted Sepia Bride situation

Alexandra complained that the photos taken on the previous day and the night of her wedding had a consistent color grading. But that same style somehow looked horrendous on the photos clicked during the day of the wedding.

It is uncertain whether the photographer edited each photo individually or the results were from a batch edit using a preset. Some professional photographers shared their views on TikTok and pointed out that the background and the lighting play a significant role in the final results. However, that can always be adjusted by some re-edits or retouching.

In an email shared with an outlet, Alexandra said:

"I sent the photographer multiple Pinterest galleries for the vibes I was looking for. Ultimately now I’m realizing that there was miscommunication between the 2 of us with the reasons of the Pinterest board."

She claimed she liked Han’s style and editing after booking her for the wedding photography. However, Alexandra added:

"I just found that a lot of the special moments in my gallery did not live up to the expectations of her work. I had yellow-looking teeth, red streaks in my hair, extremely harsh shadows and she made the greenery look super brown & dead looking. I was not expecting that, due to what I saw on her social media. No person on her feed looked like (in my opinion) to have red streaks, yellow teeth, huge shadows under their eyes along..."

Alexandra further clarified:

"She’s a really great photographer, no discredit to that. The editing is what I wasn’t happy about on certain images."

As Alexandra’s Sepia Bride drama went viral on other platforms, she posted a concluding message and wrote:

“Thank you to everyone who listened to my experience & my story. I will no longer be sharing more on this issue as i need to move on with my life. If the photographer ends up sharing her story on the matter, i will comment. But as of now, im going to try to re do my wedding portraits & close this off…”

Han, the photographer has not responded to the Sepia Bride drama yet.