HI All, I was married in 2009, so it's been awhile since I was on The Knot. I just had a great experience with a local photog through and felt compeleed to pass along my positive review. If you are still looking for someone to shoot engagement photos, your wedding or family pictures, please check out Meredith Hanafi!!!!
http://www.meredith-hanafi.com/Meredith worked with me and my husband and our two pups to do a "family" photo session in October of this year. I liked my wedding photos, but I wasn't totally blown away so I was looking forwarding to having more photos done at the park where our wedding reception was held.
I found Meredith via an online search (I can't remember specifically where I first saw her business or website) and decided to go with her initially for the following reasons:
1) Her portfolio was exactly what I was looking for. A good mix of portrait shots, but also fully embracing the photojournalism style. I also liked that I saw props and lots of pets in her photos.
2) Her prices are UNBEATABLE. I looked. For $395 we received 1.5 hours of photo time at a location of our choice in the DMV, we would receive hi-rez files on a dvd at the end that we could print out at the location of our choice.
3) She was responsive. This is a biggie for me. When everything is done at the speed of the internet, it's preferable to work with someone who responds in a timely fashion!
Prior to our photo shoot Meredith provided great advice about what to bring and what to wear. She was excited about working with our dogs and indicated she was very experienced with that.
On the day of our session, everything ran very smoothly. Meredith was great at directing us and getting great shots from us and the dogs, but was also totally open to what I wanted to do -- for instance, I brought a bottle of champagne which we opened while she photographed, I also wanted to recreate a few pictures from our wedding, etc. Plus she really makes you feel like a star while she's shooting you! I can't say enough too about how great she was with the dogs.
We received our photos back in about 4 weeks, which was just fantastic given that we took our pictures at the height of DC wedding season. Even though we would be printing the pictures on our own (though you can order prints through her!!), Meredith still set up an online slideshow for us, which was awesome for sharing the pictures with our families. We received our disc of photos in a cute little tin with a personalized note from Meredith, which was such a nice touch and just proves further that she is someone who goes the extra mile for her clients.
The pictures themselves were FANTASTIC. We can be wildly photogenic and I sincerely felt like Meredith capture the best looks from us both in every picture. I cannot tell you how pleased I was. I cannot WAIT to work with Meredith again for maternity photos, newborn shots, family pictures, etc. in the future. The value and quality that Meredith provides absolutely cannot be beat!! I only wish I'd found her before my own wedding in 2009!
I would recommend Meredith without reservation anyone looking for a wedding, engagement, or family photographer. I was very happy, and I can be hard to please.
**You may see this same review other places as I plan to post it in other forums.**