Photography Wank!
Courtesy of mouse on wank_report, we have photography plagiarism!


Over at Groupon, a social buying site, Dana D posts a photography package—a $500 value for a mere $65—that seemed too good to be true. Every package, over a thousand altogether, sold out. And then....wank happened. You can find everything here but I tried to bring some highlights since there’s no way to link to comments at the original discussion thread. Oh, and a link to the entire thread for those interested in reading by themselves: here!

It starts innocently enough--buyers and potential buyers asking Dana questions about package specifics and whether or not pets can count as kids, etc., etc. Then....the fun starts:

SP: Groupon, you are dealing with a thief here. This photographer does not own all the photos on her website.
I looked at her website and realized that as a pro myself, her lighting and conversions didn’t match up. I then took one of her images off her website and un-distorted it, and then placed it through a recognition software that brought up this – http://morgaineowensphotography.com/?p=924 — THIS is the owner of the photograph, not Dana Dawes. I would suggest you refund the money to all of these people because this person is using photos that aren’t hers to try to bring in clients. In other words, she’s a fake photographer.

Dana D: SP.-Let me assure you that I am not a thief. Many of my pictures have been taken in other states as well as many that I took while studying in Europe this past Spring.

SP:Groupon – one major clue that the business is fraudulent is if they offer a deal like this, that cannot be physically fulfilled by a true professional photographer. I’ve seen these deals pop up countless times on groupon, and no one is verifying that these are legitimate businesses that can fulfill their promises. It is physically impossible for a pro photog full time to do 1,000 sessions in a year (and on location at that).

She even continues to respond to buyers’ questions for a few comments, before other posters point out more stolen photographs in her gallery. Then Dana, who had previously been replying to buyers’ comments left and right, quiets down…and proceeds to DELETE FUCKING EVERYTHING from her gallery (It looks like she deleted her FB page altogether; when I click the link at PetaPixel it just redirects to the homepage). Fortunately, SP & other posters get screencaps. She comes back to say LOL GUIZ I'M TOTALLY LEJIT! Well, sort've:

Dana D. :Let me assure everyone that I have rights to the photos on my site. I am not sure who SP is, but someone is trying to sabotage my success. My website has not been hacked and all of a sudden I am receiving all of these comments. I am currently working with my hosting company to work through this. But I can assure you that I am NOT a fraud.

kdh:uh,oh, Dana…the person who hacked your account now replaced the stolen images with your own work. Crazy that they had access to your images. They also apparently hacked into your facebook account and took the stolen images off there too…

Jodie O.: and… not only the photographs were stolen, but she stole her wording of the “about me” section from Kristina Young Photography.
Nice.
Groupon, this is pathetic.

Later, SM notes that her website wasn’t even created until last Saturday. Discussion begins on whether Dana is even a professional photographer at all, or just a scammer with a camera. Many commentors have a lot to say about Dana's...skill....as a photographer.

BUT THEN!! Just when you thought that Dana had slunk away for good: A WILD SOCK APPEARS!!!

Andre M.: Let me say that Dana Dawes has been my photographer for 3 years now and I have given her permission to use the photos that she took on her site. She is very professional, thorough, great with kids and I have been pleased with using her 3 times a year. I can assure you that she is a great photographer. –Andre

People ignore him for the most part, while posters continue to remind Dana to delete stolen photos from her facebook fan page, and generally mock/express outrage at Groupon for allowing the listing to stay active.

So then Dana decides one good sock deserves another:

Tasha W: I have also used Dana Dawes Photography several times and she has always provided me with excellent images and is very good. I purchased two of these.

Tasha:She was so good that you only purchased two images?

Andre M.: No. I purchased more than two images. I purchased two sessions.

Becky B:haha, I think Dana, Andre, and Tasha W are all the same person…Andre just answered a question that was directed to Tasha W. LOL Give it up, Dana!

The discussion continues on for awhile, mostly on the subject of how to cancel if you ordered, and get a refund...and Dana eventually comes back to issue another statement, since her sockpuppets and last excuses worked so well, you know?

Dana D:This is not a scam. I have references that I am more than happy to provide to anyone that would like them. I am currently working with Host Gator, and 2 people using two different IP addresses have hacked into my web account. If the person that hacked into it is on this message board, please know that Host Gator has your IP Address and they have started to look into this. I have taken photos in the U.S. as well as in Europe . Just like other photographers, with the permission of clients, we are able to sell those images. I am currently unable to login to my own site, because someone has reset my password. Therefore, I did not login and delete, add or modify any images on my site. For those wanting references, I am more than willing to provide them.

An admin from Groupon finally responds to the thread:

Josh from Groupon:
Hey Everyone
I’m sorry for all of the commotion and confusion with this today.
I want to assure you that we take issues like this very seriously and are looking into all of these matters as I type.
We are currently trying to get ahold of all parties involved with this so we can decide on a resolution.
Please know that we are following all of these concerns and investigating them promptly.
We’ll have an official decision made about what’s going on with this soon.
Thanks for your patience and sincere apologies for the confusion or frustration with this today. We’ll have it worked out soon.
Josh
Forum Moderator

After that, Dana vanishes. Some wanking continues in the comments, mostly of the “OMG I can’t believe Groupon didn’t catch this/allows photographers to offer such large deals/I AM LEAVING GROUPON FOREVER” variety. Some of the photographers that Dana stole from show up in the comments, demanding apologies from the thief and LOLing at her claim that she had "permission" to use their photos. It’s revealed that at least some of the people in the photos Dana actually bothered to take herself are related to her. Josh posts again to let everyone know that all orders have been canceled and refunded. So that should be the end of this kerfluffle, right?
WRONG.

crystal s.:Holy crap! And now she is offering this via her website….and still blaming her ‘webmaster’.
Shameless!!!!!

Anne R.:Amazing. Her webmaster (or some hacker… can’t seem to get the story straight…) put stolen images on her website without her knowledge because she’s not competent to manage her website herself, yet she can change her Groupon tab at the drop of a hat to reflect the fact that Groupon is no longer willing to support her scam. So she must’ve mastered web design and coding in the last hour or so, I guess?
Thank you, Groupon, for doing the right thing and shutting this offer down.

Yes. Dana is now offering the discounted package directly on her website. And now she is claiming that her “webmaster” posted photos that were unapproved by her onto her FB/site. The message that displayed on her site:

Due to an error made by my Webmaster in developing and creating my site, Groupon will no longer be offering this promotion… If you would like to keep your appointments, I will be charging $50 for the exact same offer
I can’t find the message from her site anymore, but she does still have a promotion going on if you check out the “pay for session” section.

Oh, and then Groupon deleted the entire discussion thread.

So what did we learn?

I don't fuckin' know, fellow wankas. I just don't know.