Unless you formatted ur sd cards you can recover the prints from there. I'm surprised you didn't have them on ur external and on ur computer. Shit happens though. Live and learn... That was a huge learning expense

I can recover the files from the drive. You life is now unfucked. Send me a message to get the details to get your drive to me.

hay 7 they r the idiots, don't let it bother u. guys her mom is dead have some respect.

Please try to get the Hard drive recovered. It is not very difficult.. Next time make a back up also. Plus, don't let your husband touch anything related to technology :) hope it helps.

FYL... i am sorry:(

YDI for not backing up - you can never backup enough. atleast you know now..

Formatting just deletes the Master File Table (or File Allocation Table, or whatever it is in that particular formatting scheme). Professionals will make you pay through the nose to recover the data, but it IS still there. Considering what will happen if a wedding photographer loses an entire summer worth of wedding pictures before delivering them, in terms of reputation and pay for those weddings, the price for data recovery will be minimal by comparison. The only problem here is that since there's nothing saying the data is useful as far as the computer can tell, anything you save onto the drive will save over the data you have, making recovery less effective. Don't put new stuff on the drive, and send it in to a data recovery team.

You deserve it for not having a back up. EVERY professional photographer should have at least 2 backups at two different locations. If you didn't backup, than you're most probably not a professional photographer but a pure amateur shooter who shouldn't be hired ... fact!

Wait... if you know more about computers than your husband (which you obviously do - your husband is obviously a total noob if he doesn't know what formatting does), then why was HE the one fixing it?? That said, like Rashkavar said, the data can usually be retrieved by someone who KNOWS what they are doing.

You can have it sent away for data recovery. I know the Geek Squad does it, as much as I hate to advertise for them, but it is very costly. For the average person just keeping a backup drive is a good idea, but for what you do I'd also look into an off site data backup company to prevent future episodes. That way, god forbid, your technologically deficient selves don't burn your house down with the microwave and destrory all your PC equipment. You're not the sharpest tool in the shed for not having some kind of back up.