I wanted to share my experience with you ladies so that in case you were interested in a Boudoir shoot for your partner... You would avoid Photography Inspired by TLC. Here is my review:
I purchased a Living Social deal for this merchant and the deal stated that I would pay $35 for a boudoir photo shoot and a CD which contained 20 low-res images.
Since merchants get overrun with business I decided to wait awhile before using the deal so after a few months I called the merchant twice and never heard back. I then decided to email her and she responded after a week. After a couple of emails, a day and time was agreed upon for the photo shoot. The night before the shoot she cancelled, saying that it would be too cloudy. Needless to say I was disappointed since I had prepared greatly for the shoot, but I understood the circumstances so we rescheduled.
The morning of the rescheduled photo shoot I received a text from the merchant stating that she was cancelling and hoped I received her email from the night before. I had not. Supposedly, she was having email trouble but she had painted her studio earlier in the week and it still wasn't dry so we would have to reschedule again (I never received an email). I immediately responded and attempted to call multiple times (which she did not answer) saying that I could not reschedule and that I was under a time crunch to get the photos completed. The merchant agreed to continue as is and to work around the studio issue and gave me a guilt trip that she would cancel her plans to get it done and physically fan the walls. I found this quite unprofessional since she should not have made plans if we had an appointment, not to mention she should have been more responsible with her schedule so as not to interrupt photo shoots with studio painting issues.
During the photo shoot, the merchant made me feel very comfortable and was very friendly and that made me feel a lot better. Her direction with posing was very reassuring. However, at the end of it when I mentioned the deal and getting the 20 images she stated that the images would be watermarked after they were edited. I challenged her since I knew the deal did NOT mention a watermark since that would result in the images being unusable. If I would have known they were watermarked I would not have purchased the deal. She said that they would be watermarked and I dropped the conversation. She said she would email me a "preview" and bring me back in at the end of the week to get the photos. I never received a "preview" and she again said she was having email trouble.
When I came to get the CD, she showed me the images and I again brought up the water mark situation. She tried to say that I didn't understand "photography lingo" and that low-res referred to a web version and it goes without saying it would be watermarked. Since I am an amateur photographer and have shopped around for engagement and wedding photographers and have friends who are photographers... I knew this wasn't true. I told her that low-res meant I would get low resolution images on a CD and that the understanding was that if I needed larger prints at higher quality I would purchase from her. She disagreed and I dropped the issue since she was not being professional or fair and I am currently taking it up with Living Social to get my money back since I did not get the service and product that was in the deal.
In regards to the quality of the photos, I was not impressed at all. During the shoot she would have me smile and laugh but there were also serious shots.... she took TONS of photos so I was confident that there should be plenty of good photos with flattering angles, facial expressions, etc. Just due to the sheer volume of options. She also reassured me that some parts of my body would be "blurred out" or "touched up" during the editing and not to worry. Well, I got my photos and over half of them contained a very unflattering and unsexy smile or laugh. I have no idea why any photographer would present to their customer the images she chose when I know that out of the many photos she took there would be better options. One of them I was clearly in the middle of talking. Others she chose because she was impressed with my flat stomach (thanks I work out, that isn't your skills shining through) but then my face was completely in the middle of a laugh of something. Not attractive. Not to mention, the angles she chose were not ideal and there was little to no editing done at all. The editing looked as though only the lighting was touched up. I was highly dissatisfied. I followed up with her and asked if she had ANY other photos (of the hundreds she took) that had more flattering facial expressions or even just serious expressions since this was for my future husband and I didn't want a comic real, I wanted sexy images. She has never responded.
I sent the images to a friend who is also a photographer and she was also extremely surprised that any photographer would send those images. Out of the 20 she provided, only 5 are usable. And that was after she clicked away hundreds of photos. I am confident there should have been better photos. And that is not be being full of myself. My friend agreed that there is no reason that I shouldn't have had plenty of great photos. I have opted to fly my photographer friend in to do a photo shoot which is still less expensive than this merchants prices. My friend pointed out the poor angle choices and editing that should have been completed and I'm confident that I will eventually get better photos to give to my soon to be husband. Unfortunately, it will be for our 1 year anniversary and NOT the night before the wedding.
When dealing with this merchant. Understand that she is not responsive and her schedule is dictated by natural lighting so if you are in a time crunch or have a busy schedule, it will most likely be frustrating to get the shoot done. I would opt for choosing a more experienced photographer who knows how to work with lighting equipment and able to edit photos fully and also overall a more mature and responsible business owner.
-Whitney