photography dilemma, am i just being crazy?

ncwenze · March 2012

hi fellow knotties. i need your opinion.

     i get really excited about wedding planning and sometimes make decisions a little too soon. so here is my dilemma. a few months ago i found a photgrapher on craigslist that i liked and she offered me a great price, $500 for all day coverage, rights to photos, edited photos on cd, and an engagement session...how can you beat that? (im not going to say who this photographer is yet, in case im making a big deal out of nothing, but if you search my past posts you can easily figure it out). we signed a contract and i sent her a 50% deposit.

     the weird thing is: she doesnt have any wedding photos on her website. so i thought that was kind of odd. i meet with her and it goes really well, but she didnt bring a porfolio for me to see. she said she has done weddings before (yet doesnt show me any evidence of this).

     so the last few times ive emailed her she hasnt been very responsive. i know photography is a part-time thing for her...but three weeks to answer an email...really?

    and i cant find anyone who has used her, so i dont have a recommendation or referral.

    is my paranoia justified?  our wedding is 18 months away, should i just see how it goes? or sign with someone else? what do you guys think?

   i emailed her yesterday to ask about doing our engagement session. i figure that will give us a chance to see her work. see how quickly she responds to this email, and how quickly she gets us our edited photos back. but as of today no response.

ncwenze · March 2012

apparently my post didnt show up. weird

ok i signed a contract with a photographer i found on craigslist. she gave me a great price. i met her, i liked her. weird part is she doesnt have any photos of weddings on her website. and she didnt bring a portfolio of weddings shes done for me to see. although she reassured me she HAS done weddings before. i paid her a 250.00 deposit already.

lately shes been slow to return my emails. like three weeks! and i cant find anyone who has used her before to recommend her work.

i think i jumped the gun signing with her. our wedding is 18 month away, should i see how it goes with her? sign with someone else? am i being paranoid for nothing?

i emailed her yesterday to ask if we can do our engagement shoot soon. i figure that way i can see her work. see how long it takes her to get our photos back. but as of yesterday she hasnt returned this email either. what should i do?

WinterWed17 · March 2012

It doesn't sound like she has a lot of wedding experience. It could be that she's only been a second shooter at weddings, and whatever contract she signed said that she couldn't use images in her portfolio. Her prices are incredibly low, which is another indicator that she doesn't have much experience.

Hopefully the work she's shown to you is up to the standards you want. You'll need to be very clear on details she needs to cover and when they will take place. Photographers who haven't shot a lot of weddings can sometimes be unfamiliar with their flow and how to handle them. Giving her a detailed timeline may help.

But the big red flag I see is taking so much time to respond to emails. Three weeks is far too long. Even if it's a side job, she should never take more than 2-3 days to respond.

telepjm · March 2012

for me, this day is too special to not having the confidence. I would find another photographer even if it means losing your deposit. 50% deposit seems too high to me to begin with....

good luck!

t

MobKaz · March 2012

Color me "stalker" as I did take your suggestion and search your posts. I would offer the following thoughts to consider....

If you look on her FB site, she sounds excited but overwhelmed at the (good) number of bookings she has received. I am going to guess that as a new profession, it is overwhelming for her to take care of the artistic AND business portions of her business.

Your wedding is 18 months away. On her current, daily list of things to do, the reality is that you will not be her priority.

I would email her once more. Explain that with your wedding date, you understand that you are not a CURRENT priority, but that you are anxious that you have not heard from her. You may also need to give her some specific dates as to when you want to shoot engagement photos. Finally, be honest with her. Tell her that her lack of response concerns you and that if you don't get a response by a certain date, you may regrettably have to look elsewhere for a photographer.

ncwenze · March 2012

i appreciate everyone's feedback, the result seems to be i'm not being crazy. im gonna wait to see how it develops (luckily i have a little time), but im probably going to go with somone else. i want to feel great about all of our vendor choices.

thanks for the input, and i like that you went "stalker" it shows you went the extra mile

MINDMNMO · March 2012

I'm going to go against the grain here and say you ARE justified in being nervous. What the pp said could all be true. I, however, took a chance on a videographer that was just starting out and I've regretted that decision. Listen to your gut. We weren't getting too much response before the wedding either and we kept hearing the excuses and sticking with him (he said he was overwhelmed with all of the new business and was having a problem keeping up with things). He did show up the day of the wedding and at least I did get my long form video 4 months later (which is better than some other brides) but I stil have never seen my raw footage, my short form video or my 2 copies of Blu-Ray which I had contracted and paid in advance for in November 2010. And I haven't heard from him in a year.

My point is, be careful. Your photography is the one thing that will best capture the day and you don't want to have to worry about it....especially if you have actually never seen any of her work. I really hope it's all a misunderstanding and it all works out.

elellingson · March 2012

I definitely think that you should look at going with someone else. You have plenty of time to find someone who will have a great portfolio, and will respond to your emails. You may have to spend more than $500...but I think a photographer for $500 is a little iffy anyways! Most professionals tend to run at least $2500, and are well worth it for the important task you're entrusting them with!

thealphabride · March 2012

I'm with MINDMNMO !!!
Photography is just too important to screw around with. I got hosed by the same videographer. He had talent but couldn't handle the business part, and a lot of brides were left with either nothing, bad video, or ok video delivered a year later.
If someone can't handle getting your photos edited and delivered all the talent in the world won't change that.
It seems to me this lady doesn't have any talent to show you and she's not responding in a timely manner.

I was planning 18 months out and all my vendors replied in a very timely manner to every email I sent.....

I think you have your answer, you're NOT crazy at all. Look around, you have time, and you can probably get your deposit back. I'm curious about the contract, did it state you can you get your deposit back?

aimers1525 · March 2012

I agree w/alpha and MINDNMO. There are plenty of wedding photographers that have great websites, samples of their work, and who will work with you to find a package w/in your price range. My bf decided to have her friend's cousin who was doing wedding photography as a side-job, to take her wedding photos and was not a professional at. all. She really regrets it now because she has very few pictures and not a lot of great shots.

trambam · March 2012

I would be nervous. Photos will last a lifetime and whatever the reason for the slow response from the photographer, it may just be indicator of what is to come.

Cony&Ben · March 2012

I would start looking for another photographer. There will be things you will stress over as you get closer to the wedding; you don't want any of your vendors to be one of them. Ditto PP; check your contract to see if you can get your deposit back. If you can't, I would at least go through with your engagement photos so you're not out the money with nothing to show for it.

ETA:
PM me if you want any photographer suggestions. We didn't have a ton of money to spend on photography so I spent a lot of time doing research. I have a couple of people you could look into.

jbll326 · March 2012

Ditto alpha, MINDNMO and aimers. Many of us were burned by the same videographer. Your photographer is starting to display similar behaviors that we saw with the videographer. Do not ignore them as I did. I'm sure you want to give her the benefit of the doubt, particularly as she's an entrepreneur just starting out. But your wedding memories are too important to gamble on some person you don't know, found on Craigslist, is giving you a ridiculously low price (an initial red flag), has not shown you any relevant work, and is already unresponsive. This sounds exactly like my videographer and it's now 2 years after my wedding and I still don't have everything I was promised.

I like mobkaz's suggestion to give her one last try and then cut your losses. Good luck! At least you're finding this out with plenty of time before your wedding!

ncwenze · March 2012

here's an update. we are going to do our engagement photos in mid-april with our current photographer. but im pretty sure i've made up my mind that we are going to go with someone else. CONY&BEN i emailed your photographer and got a decent price and immediate feedback, so i think he is going to be our guy

ladies thanks so much for all your input. its nice to get feedback about whether or not your making too big of a deal out of things

Cony&Ben · March 2012

I'm so glad you contacted Gilbert! We really enjoyed working with him and absolutely loved our photos. He was always great about returning our emails or calls too, even after the wedding!

thealphabride · March 2012

CONY&BEN, I loved your photos!!! I think Karolina had some posted some on her website, they were absolutely beautiful !!!

To the OP: I don''t think you'll be disappointed, his use of light was amazing..
Also, I used a different photog for my engagement photos than I did for my wedding.
Trying to save money like you , and made a decision to switch early on, like you!

Cony&Ben · March 2012

Thanks alpha!

telepjm · March 2012

We booked with Gilbert as well. He does great work.

T

photography dilemma, am i just being crazy?

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