11/11/2025
To the Board of HYFA
First, I would like to thank Harley, HYFA President, with his assistance in determining a solution that we believe is the most ideal in this situation. Harley, thank you for your help, your wisdom, your kindness, and your ability to be a voice of reason. You are a great leader that I believe myself and many others could learn from. Thank you for this opportunity.
Dear HYFA Parents,
I apologize for not meeting your expectations regarding your child’s photos and the disappointment you all have vocally made known. I am not a child photographer nor a sports organization photographer but I do believe that I am a great photographer in the specialties that I have focused on. I took on this project as a favor to a friend who is on the HYFA board. This has been a great learning experience for me and I am thankful that Harley and the HYFA Board were willing to give me this opportunity.
To be absolutely clear, Cody Brassfield Photography does not provide printed photos but this was an additional service requested by the member of the board who urged me to take on this project. My post on Saturday clearly stated that prints were still being processed. Since we don't do prints, I apologize for not having a better printing option.
Shortly after agreeing to take on this opportunity, I broke my shoulder and was unable to lift my camera. I relied on two assistants, who did an amazing job given the circumstances. I have since spent hours editing and trying to salvage the photos. Another delay has been my designing of the season’s program, which from what I hear - everyone is in love with.
When we were kids, our parents taught us to smile and say cheese for the camera. During this time, my team was often forced to act as babysitters because neither parents nor coaches could control the children for the photos. We are photographers you paid for; we are not your child's parent.
Some of you even demanded buttons, which were not originally offered, a kindness I now regret extending. This is on top of the wasted time waiting for teams and individuals who were late to their "scheduled" slots, or the two teams that didn't show up at all but are now demanding their group photo. What group photo is there to be had if you didn’t show up to take it? The lack of a group photo is a scheduling conflict between you and your coaches - as my team was only a third party with limited ability to provide you any communications. My team still sat out in the heat for hours on multiple weekends, as asked, in the hopes of obtaining everyone’s photos.
To those who have already accessed the HYFA Gallery,
I believe that when I checked about twenty minutes ago, there have been well over nine-thousand (9,000) downloads from the HYFA gallery. While reviewing the images of those that have been accessed a lot more than others, it astonishes me to see some of the names who have accessed and downloaded from the gallery happen to be the same individuals who have had quite a bit to say on Hernando’s Happenings. I have the program rosters and can see who viewed and downloaded the files. This goes for those who used fake email addresses to access the link - I still see every action you took on every photo viewed while you were accessing the online gallery. If you did not purchase the "Make It Digital" package, you have essentially taken advantage of a service you did not purchase. If you have accessed the digital gallery without purchasing the “Make It Digital” package, consider my services rendered in full.
As for the solution, we have discontinued all pending prints from being processed and are now upgrading everyone’s package to the “Make It Digital” package - as many of you have already taken advantage of this. There will be no additional private galleries sent out. The photos are there and ready for you to view, download, and share. You may also print wherever you would like to do so. This is a service that most of you only paid $25 - $35 for when the package is $55. This solution has been made final and I thank HYFA for their assistance in determining it and communicating it out through their platforms.
Lastly, the defamation of character against me and my business is unacceptable and we are now in the process of dealing with those individuals accordingly.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Cody Brassfield Photography
