See the eye-popping engagement photographs that left a couple ‘looking like Shrek’ – after pics of their proposal in paradise were wrecked by a cruise ship snapper
A Queensland mother of two is devastated after a dream Christmas cruise ended with engagement photos so badly edited she could barely recognise her own family.
Jessica Latta’s partner, Jayden Bailey, organised the photoshoot to capture the moment he proposed during their first major family holiday.
But instead of treasured keepsakes, the couple say they were left with bizarrely altered images and they say they were met by silence when they raised concerns.
‘I can honestly say the edits were horrendous,’ Ms Latta told Daily Mail.
‘My kids’ faces were distorted. Their hairlines were blurred to the point they didn’t even look real.
‘And in the photo of our engagement where my partner is holding the ring, his finger looked like something out of Shrek.’
The touching proposal took place on Christmas Eve, during a stop at Lifou Island in New Caledonia on their Carnival cruise to the South Pacific.
A photographer travelled on the tender with the family to capture the special moment, and Ms Latta said the photoshoot itself was faultless.
Jessica Latta’s partner organised the photoshoot during their first major family holiday
Ms Latta says she could barely recognise her own family
‘She was wonderful. She was patient, kind, and amazing with our almost three-year-old who was having tantrums by that stage,’ she said.
‘When Jayden proposed it was a beautiful moment and we truly thought it had been captured.’
On December 26 the couple spent two hours selecting their package, choosing 36 unedited images, a canvas, and 15 advanced edited photos.
They were told the final images would be delivered by midnight on the last night of the cruise.
That deadline came and went.
At around 4am on the final day, they received a USB containing the unedited photos and a letter stating the edited images would be emailed later that day.
Days passed. Still nothing.
‘At that point I thought we’ve just spent $1800 on photos of our engagement and our first big family holiday and we had nothing,’ Ms Latta said.
Ms Latta says her children’s faces were completely distorted
Ms Latta says her husband has a Shrek finger in her ring shot
My Baileys iris was missing and his ear had an unusual shape to it
She contacted Carnival and received an automated response advising it could take up to 45 days to hear back.
‘I thought, “No! I’ve spent $1800.” I’m not waiting 45 days for photos I’ve already paid for,’ she said.
With no response, she posted in a Carnival social media page, where another passenger who was onboard the ship intervened and contacted the photographer directly.
That night Ms Latta finally received a link to the edited images and says she was horrified by what she saw.
Despite raising her concerns, she has since heard nothing further and has still not received a response from Carnival regarding her original complaint.
To make matters worse, she says the unedited images are also unusable.
‘Some were completely blown out, others were too dark. I can’t do anything with them,’ she said.
‘This is our engagement. I waited 10 years for this.
Ms Latta wanted to share the photos with loved ones
‘Something that was meant to be captured and remembered and something we paid a lot of money for has just not been delivered.
‘We both work full time and pay our mortgage and saved so much to be able to take our kids on this holiday.
‘We wanted to share the special moment with family and friends and it’s so disappointing.’
Ms Latta says she is now speaking out to warn other families.
‘I don’t know where to go from here,’ she said.
‘But no one should pay that kind of money and be left with nothing.’
Daily Mail has contacted Carnival for comment.
