Would you give this photographer the boot?

randerson123

My finance and I have a dilemna. We found a photographer with a fantastic style and great prices that has shot at our location before. By looking at his blog, he doesn't seem to do a ton of weddings and he didn't have any reviews on any websites.

So, we filled out a contact form. He contacted us about a week later, saying he was on vacation and doesn't check his email on vacation. Okay. We meet him, he calls us when we're on the way saying he'll be about 30 minutes late. When we talked with him, he said it was a family emergency, that his grandma almost passed. No judgement whatsoever, I was impressed he still met with us.

So we do the engagement shoot and he says it'll take him two weeks to process the photos and then he'll send them to us. He knows we are using them for our save the dates. Well, three weeks go by and we haven't heard from him. I emailed him on Sunday and I still haven't gotten a response (Tuesday).

I'm starting to feel nervous about this guy. I'm concerned about his responsiveness and I'm concerned we're not a priority. I mean, if the engagement photos take an extra few weeks it's not the end of the world, but what if this behavior carries over to the wedding? I am going to be DEVASTATED if this guy flakes out on our wedding day. We paid a deposit of $450 but I am considering cancelling the rest of the contract after we get our engagement photos.

Am I being overly paranoid? Did anyone else have an unresponsive photographer and if so, how did it end up?

JoanE2012

randerson123 said:

My finance and I have a dilemna. We found a photographer with a fantastic style and great prices that has shot at our location before. By looking at his blog, he doesn't seem to do a ton of weddings and he didn't have any reviews on any websites. So, we filled out a contact form. He contacted us about a week later, saying he was on vacation and doesn't check his email on vacation. Okay. We meet him, he calls us when we're on the way saying he'll be about 30 minutes late. When we talked with him, he said it was a family emergency, that his grandma almost passed. No judgement whatsoever, I was impressed he still met with us. So we do the engagement shoot and he says it'll take him two weeks to process the photos and then he'll send them to us. He knows we are using them for our save the dates. Well, three weeks go by and we haven't heard from him. I emailed him on Sunday and I still haven't gotten a response (Tuesday). I'm starting to feel nervous about this guy. I'm concerned about his responsiveness and I'm concerned we're not a priority. I mean, if the engagement photos take an extra few weeks it's not the end of the world, but what if this behavior carries over to the wedding? I am going to be DEVASTATED if this guy flakes out on our wedding day. We paid a deposit of $450 but I am considering cancelling the rest of the contract after we get our engagement photos. Am I being overly paranoid? Did anyone else have an unresponsive photographer and if so, how did it end up?

Can you just pick up the phone and call him?  

If you like him otherwise, the fact that he hasn't responded to one email yet and is a week late with photos seems like a silly reason to write him off.  I'd call him and see what's going on.

photokitty

I'd call him and she what's going on. But if you feel uncomfortable with him it might show in your photos. I'd hate to lose the $450, but for something as important as photos I seriously consider ditching him...

GL!

SteffJay

Do you love the style? Do you love his work? That should be enough. A written contract will ensure that you have your photographer on your day. As for timing, if you get your wedding pictures back a couple of weeks later than you'd like, does it really matter?

You get em forever! So honestly, if you love his work, go with it.

orwhatuwill

Any updates- did you hear from him?

Personally, I'd let him go. We actually switched photographers. So glad we did.

ShirlPearlOKC

Communication is everything! Our photographer was pricey but well worth it because we love his style. He did a great job communicating throughout the entire experience. 

I wish I could say the same about our florist was bad with communication and it bothered the hell out of us so much that we don't feel comfortable referring her to any one we know. We were on the fence about canceling with her but money was tight so we had to stick with here. Any who, It's just sad that some business people don't understand the basic principle of communication. 

WedReMix13

my photographer has never done a wedding/renewal before so ill be her first. That didnt bother me. The rest of her work is good. 

I would try to keep communicating and if not- ditch!