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New Jersey
ginabean82
member
Stay away from Bella Photography
in New Jersey
Hey guys, I just wanted to pass along some info. If you are looking for a photographer please stay away from Bella Photography in NYC. My cousin got married a year ago and had a horrible experience with them. They showed up 2 hrs late and didn't get any pics of her at her home getting ready. Also when they got their album back the retouching was awful. Every page had at least one photo that was blurry and they refused to redo it for them.
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Re: Stay away from Bella Photography
Back when I was looking for photographers, a couple I was chatting with at a party told me to check out Bella - they said they did a great job at their wedding.
I never saw their photos - maybe they were great, or maybe the couple didn't have high standards. But photography matters to me, and I want to know who will be working at our wedding when I book - not a few days before the wedding.
I'm sure a lot of good photographers work for Bella ... but lots of crappy ones do as well. If you're on a budget or don't care about having the bestest wedding photos ever, I suppose Bella is better than Lamar or The Pros. But you should definitely avoid them if you care about photography.
Oh, Denis Reggie (who I believe is considered the father of wedding photojournalism) sold out to Bella - they have a service called "The Denis Reggie Experience," which claims that he handpicks the photographers and personally reviews the albums. But the packages (which start at $5,500) cost about the same as a good independent photographer, if not more.
Read more about this questionable venture here: http://theperfectpose.com/2010/10/bella-pictures-and-denis-reggie/
[QUOTE]Maybe they're not highly regarded on this board, but remember, not everyone who gets married posts on this board. Back when I was looking for photographers, a couple I was chatting with at a party told me to check out Bella Pictures - they said they did a great job at their wedding. I never saw their photos - maybe they were great, or maybe the couple didn't have high standards. But photography matters to me, and I want to know who will be working at our wedding when I book - not a few days before the wedding. I'm sure a lot of good photographers work for Bella ... but lots of crappy ones do as well. If you're on a budget or don't care about having the bestest wedding photos ever, I suppose Bella is better than Lamar or The Pros. But you should definitely avoid them if you care about photography. Oh, Denis Reggie (who I believe is considered the father of wedding photojournalism) sold out to Bella - they have a service called "The Denis Reggie Experience," which claims that he handpicks the photographers and personally reviews the albums. But the packages (which start at $5,500) cost about the same as a good independent photographer, if not more. Read more about this questionable venture here: <a href="http://theperfectpose.com/2010/10/bella-pictures-and-denis-reggie/" rel='nofollow'>http://theperfectpose.com/2010/10/bella-pictures-and-denis-reggie/</a>
Posted by 37 Butter Knives[/QUOTE]
If people do their homework before booking, they will find LOTS of negative reviews about Bella. Not only from this board but other boards with wedding reviews and the Better Business Bureau. When I was looking at photographers, I looked into them, and found it very difficult to find any great reviews for them. Other than the fact that you don't know who your photographer is until the wedding, they get terrible reviews all over the place for customer service.
[QUOTE]Weren't they also just bought by the same company which owns Walmart and Sears Photography?
Posted by Kristinathebride[/QUOTE]
Yeppers! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theperfectpose.com/2011/01/bella-pictures-sold-to-wal-mart/">http://theperfectpose.com/2011/01/bella-pictures-sold-to-wal-mart/</a>
[QUOTE] If people do their homework before booking, they will find LOTS of negative reviews about Bella. Not only from this board but other boards with wedding reviews and the Better Business Bureau.
Posted by goaliegirl[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately, for a lot of people, it doesn't matter if a company has multiple negative reviews on message boards, or WeddingWire reviews, or the BBB - if their friends were happy, then that's all the endorsement they need to book with a crappy vendor. After all, they think, maybe all those negative reviews were planted by rival vendors...
Really, I think personal referrals are why companies like Bella stay in business despite having no business being in business.
I prefer second opinions, and most of us here do as well. But we're a savvy crowd. :)
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I found this post from a photographer who briefly shot for Bella Pictures. The post - and the thread - is really telling, and I think it should be posted every time someone asks about Bella here.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=405506
(And yes, many couples would be ecstatic with the "before" images.)
Bella touts itself as "photojournalism," and I'll buy that. As many of us have learned, "photojournalism" or "documentary" refers more to the photographer's approach to taking pictures, and not necessarily the finished product; a photo taken for a newspaper won't have vintage tints or satellite dishes Photoshopped out, because image manipulation goes against the definition of journalism.
Bella's bare-bones post-processing is closer to what journalism really is than what most wedding photojournalists do. But it's not done out of integrity.
[QUOTE]Doesn't Bella buy David's Bridal customers' contact information? I found this post from a photographer who briefly shot for Bella Pictures. The post - and the thread - is really telling, and I think it should be posted every time someone asks about Bella here. <a href="http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=405506" rel='nofollow'>http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=405506</a> (And yes, many couples would be ecstatic with the "before" images.) Bella touts itself as "photojournalism," and I'll buy that. As many of us have learned, "photojournalism" or "documentary" refers more to the photographer's approach to taking pictures, and not necessarily the finished product; a photo taken for a newspaper won't have vintage tints or satellite dishes Photoshopped out, because image manipulation goes against the definition of journalism. Bella's bare-bones post-processing is closer to what journalism really is than what most wedding photojournalists do. But it's not done out of integrity.
Posted by 37 Butter Knives[/QUOTE]
The probably do buy names from David's Bridal.. which is a whole separate issue. I went to David's Bridal and a day later I was getting tons of phone calls and emails from vendors. I didn't know David's Bridal was going to give my contact information to people. It was extremely annoying that my phone kept ringing constantly, and my mailbox was over flowing with spam. Real nice.
Other than this, it was the typical polite, prompt, enthusiastic service before signing contract; after signing, they were very impersonal, hard to get information, delayed callbacks, etc. Photographer said he wasn't allowed to meet with us prior to wedding (we offered to go to him). When I tried to speak with him on the phone about the day of the wedding, he showed little if any interest and acted like he was doing me a big favor. He also was the worst dressed at the wedding, wearing wrinkled worn black shirt and pants. We weren't able to communicate with the videographer at all--the photographer coordinates with the videographer. When we got the video, it was out of sequence so they had to send it again. Their website to order pictures is less sophisticated than CVS.com, and all the pictures came out dark so they had to be resent as well.
We completely regret picking Bella. Find a more personable vendor, so that you can have a sit down with the photographer and videographer if you'd like.
Does anyone know names of the photographers that were bad? We were "assigned" with Alan Abley.....
http://www.eurovisionimages.com/weddings/
I don't want to make you feel bad, but this guy's work looks TERRIBLE ... worse than I expected from Bella! If you're not happy with his work, can you request another photographer?
[QUOTE]Clearly this company is not liked but its too late for us at this point. :-( Does anyone know names of the photographers that were bad? We were "assigned" with Alan Abley.....
Posted by maryallisonb[/QUOTE]
OMG! I was assigned Alan too! I looked at his portfolio and thought "Eh" and then tried to research the heck out of him. Well, not much info on Mr. Abley. NO reviews from other brides despite Bella's claim that he's done +1000 weddings. His website as the other poster mentioned is EXTREMELY unprofessional and very dated. And the biggest turn-off was an article I came across from three years ago when another Bella-like company named Celebrations went belly up screwing over their clients and photographers. NOT something I want to be reading about my future photographer. Called up Bella immediately and mentioned all of the above and that I am strongly against using him. I was told that this was "a shocker" and that they'd never had complaints about Alan before and how wonderful he is. They insisted on sending me some more of his work which was a little better but still... doesn't seem like a good fit for us. Plan on speaking with them more on Monday about re-assigning him AND my videographer <font size="2">Adam Kopelman (<a href="http://www.akweddingvideo.com/">http://www.akweddingvideo.com/</a></font>) whose footage is SO raw that it looks like it was done with an old family camcorder. BTW, here's the article about the court case Alan was involved in a few years ago (<a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/judge_delays_decision_on_plan.html">http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/judge_delays_decision_on_plan.html</a>). Insist on a new photographer and tell them you know for a fact that other people have complained about him. Good luck honey and if they get you someone good pass me the name too if you wouldn't mind - <a href="mailto:vfallenxangelv@yahoo.com">vfallenxangelv@yahoo.com</a>.
You would think this experience would have kept him from associating with a similar company with an identical business model, but it looks like agencies like Celebration and Bella are the only way he gets work. I can't imagine that even the most photographically clueless couple would book him directly!