Photographer Pleads With Thieves to Return Irreplaceable Wedding Photos

A photographer is pleading with thieves to return the wedding photos he shot after all of his camera gear was stolen in Oakland, California.

David Martin Jr. traveled to the East Bay area of San Francisco from Southern California to photograph his friend Jenna’s wedding.

The photographer stayed in the area for another job and while on his way there, stopped by Swan’s Market to get some food.

While there, his vehicle was broken into and thieves got away with his camera, lights, a drone, his computer, hard drive, and other gear.

Martin then had to call up his friend Jenna and her new husband Nick to inform them that their wedding photos were gone.

“I feel horrible. All my gear could be replaced. The one thing I can’t replace is Jenna and Nick’s photos,” Martin tells KTVU Fox 2.

Martin has parked his rented Kia Sportage on the corner of 10th and Washington Streets in Old Oakland at approximately 11:30 A.M. on October 7.

“And just within a matter of minutes, as I came back outside, my windows were smashed,” Martin says.

Witnesses reported seeing a masked man break into the SUV. The photographer says the total value of the gear that was taken amounts to $35,000.

Before the break-in, Martin had been taking photos of a building elsewhere in the city. He says it’s possible he was followed but acknowledges that car windows are smashed all the time in Oakland.

Martin also says that he should have had Jenna’s wedding photos backed up elsewhere, such as the cloud.

The couple is hoping that the thieves will do the right thing and return their precious memories.

“Just return it, you know?” Jenna tells KTVU Fox 2. “We’re not going to hold a grudge or hate you or anything of the sort. Just be a good human being and just return it so we have these memories.”

Martin’s family has set up a GoFundMe for his camera gear. It says that Martin will refund the couple if he can’t recover the photos. It also notes that Martin lost other videos and photos from jobs he’s been working on.