Photographer recommendations or reviews anyone?

goobersinlove

Since I got such a great venue suggestion on this board that I know I never would have found on my own (thanks again alasen!), I think I'll go fishing again!

We have an interview with Dexter Davis in Albany tomorrow that I'm really looking forward to.  What attracted me to him was the photojournalistic style of his pictures, which is really important to me.

We are hoping to shoot our engagement session this fall, and our wedding is next fall. We are on a lower budget and I really don't want to spend more than $1,000 - $1,500 tops on photography overall.

Any of you ladies have great photographers that you love? Or ones that weren't so great that I should stay away from?

TIA!

MissyCee

I used Robinn from Special Events Remembered and absolutely loved her. She took gorgeous photographs, was a lot of fun to work with, and had great pricing. The package we picked was just over $1,000 and included her services all day (and an assistant who also took photos so we got several different angles of the same shot which was amazing!), a few prints, and all the edited photos on discs as well as the rights to all the photos (so we can print them where we want and do what we want with them). She also uploads the photos to a website as she edits them and your family and friends can go to the site to view them.

I can't say enough great things about her and very highly recommend her!

www.specialeventsremembered.com

epag

I am using Michelle Rose (msrosephotography.com).  We have not had our wedding yet, but she has taken photos for several of my friends weddings and also has done photography for my junior and senior recitals, and head shots for my FI.  We have been very pleased with her work.  She is very reasonable in price, but also incredibly dedicated and accommodating.  She really takes the time to get to know the people that she is photographing and what they are looking for from her photos.  I cannot recommend her enough.  She works out of Utica, but often does Rochester weddings which is a similar distance to Albany, so I am sure you could get her.  Her packages are about 1,000 dollars.  

Good luck!

Kimberly0402

We are using Upstate Photographers out of Troy, NY. They don't have packages, they have an a la Carte menu. You can pick and chose what you want. With what we wanted, they are giving us complimentary engagement photos.

crystal8503

I'm using Carey White Photography in Potsdam, New York.  I know she charges for travel but she has excellent pictures and her prices are amazing.  We are getting all day coverage for $850.00 with DVD and rights to all of our pictures.

ezennaiter913

I am using Sawicki Studios out of Amsterdam.  They are a little pricey, but they have the ability to capture the pics we want.  We are having a gothic victorian wedding, and Chris has a very creative imagination for our pics.  He has done some other work for people we know and it's AMAZING!!!

goobersinlove

Keep 'em coming ladies! I am looking into everyone's suggestions!

Dexter Davis had amazing pictures, but his prices were a little high ($2,500 +).

We met with Robin at Special Events Remembered. Loved her and her contagious personality along with her great prices, but I wasn't feeling her pictures - they didn't have the look I was going for.

I have emailed and left a voicemail for Michelle Rose. I noticed her website indicated that her wedding packages start at $1,000.00.

I have also emailed Carey White, but have not heard back.

Upstate Photographers in Troy were a little pricey also, but we will keep them in mind if we can't find anyone closer to our budget that we like.

Enzennaiter, How much does Sawicki Studios charge?

ezennaiter913

The pricing we got was $3995 plus tax (we picked their middle package).  But that includes $1570 towards their "a la carte" menu.  Meaning their albums and such.  It's almost 1/4 of our budget, but to us, pictures were a very high priority.  But they do have other options if you are having a smaller (75 or less) wedding.

dramaqueen91087

I am using Brandon Segal of Segal Photo. He has been great so far. We are most likely doing our engagement photos this weekend so I'll let you know how that goes later. His prices are great, we are paying $1645 and that includes engagement photos, an album, $100 print credit, and rights to unlimited photos. He also had a smaller package that was even less money. Dexter was our second choice but Brandon is giving us basically the same stuff for a lot less money. 

goobersinlove

Thank you dramaqueen! I'm excited about his pictures (and prices!) I promptly emailed him, but I would like to call him as well. I didn't notice his number on his website - do you have it? Thanks!

Enzennaiter - yes, we are having much less than 75 people. Prolly 30-50. So I'll definitely be contacting them if they do offer adjustments to small weddings. Photography is a high priority for us too and I wish I could spend more money on it!!

kimm260

We are using Bob Donlon.   We met him at his studio in I want to say Latham.  He was really down to earth and his pictures were what we wanted.  He has a CD only package that we got for 895 (not sure if his prices have changed but this was in the last few months so I don't see them changing to much), which includes the copyrights to all the pictures and 6 hours of covers.  Here is his website   http://www.bobdonlon.com/index.html
 

GL

dramaqueen91087

E-mail is probably your best bet because he is living out of the area for the summer. He comes back all the time though, and will be back this weekend to do my engagement photos and someone else's. He's been pretty good about getting back to me through e-mail so far. His phone number though, if you still want to call, is 518-669-1251.

alasen

We're using Jessica Painter. We really like her and she does great work! 

We also wanted to keep it to $1500, but we decided to go with her anyway for $1800. So far, I'm glad we spent the extra $$, but I'll let you know for sure after the wedding (in 9 days!!!)

EDIT: spelling

goobersinlove

We just had a meeting with Brandon Segal and we him and his prices. Oh, and his pictures as well. He was flexible with us with regard to meeting our budget and what we wanted.

$995 for 6 hours of coverage, which includes all of our photos on discs with editing and a copyright release. And the engagement session (for 3 hours in multiple locations) is only $50, which also includes all the images and a copyright release.

I'm super excited. He penciled us in for our date while we come up with our deposit and will call if someone else is potentially looking at the same date.

Half of a check!!

P.S.:  Thank you so much dramaqueen for recommending him to us!!

dramaqueen91087

No problem goobersinlove. We had our engagement shoot today, and despite the rain it went great! Should have our pictures in about a week!

goobersinlove

I'd love to see them!!

bella101907

What is Brandon Segal's website?

nay083

I think this is his website, correct me if I am wrong of course.


http://www.segalphoto.net/#!

dramaqueen91087

Got the e-pics in the mail today! They came out great. I'll post some as soon as I can get it work (stupid computer).