This was not a good experience for us. I regret using her services, but we were in a rush because we were leaving town.
Coming from NYC and Chicago, we are spoiled with a very deep talent pool and have always had great experiences getting our photos done.
Her website says (or "said," as I will explain later) that she provides things that she simply did not provide for us. "I believe in doing more than just showing up and taking your photos," but in our case, that is exactly what she did.
She says that once you book you will have a consultation where you will "chat on the phone" and she can learn more about you and exactly what you are hoping to capture with your photo session. For us, there was no such "consultation."
So in an email I told that we were looking for pics of all of our family together, pics of the kids together and pics of my husband and I each separately with the kids. I specifially said that we didn't need any photos of the two of us together as a couple. Most adults would have certainly been able to read between the lines. This was her response: "As far as the images, I typically just go through my routine of poses." Hmmm- so much for being open to hear what her clients are looking for! "Routine of poses" hardly sounds tailored to the individual client, but ok- let's see how it goes.
Regardless of my requests, she forced my husband and I to endure several awkward minutes of "couples pictures" even though I told her we didn't want any of these. At the end when she asked if there were any photos she missed (like yes- ALL of the ones I told you were important to me), and I reminded her that I really wanted pictures of myself with each of my kids individually, she blurted out "Oh weird, are you guys, like, a blended family?"
It was such a profoundly tone-deaf and weird thing to say.
Her website also says that she also chats with clients prior to their session to help with wardrobe and that all of her clients get accesss to her "What to Wear Guide." Neither of these things were true. No help was offered with wardrobe choices and she didn't even do a "once over" when we showed up for the session like every other photographer we've worked with in the past. She barely glanced at us in fact, and was clearly ticking down her inner timer in her rush to get us started.
Things really fell apart later though, when she sent back our selections with what she called her "final edits," I noticed several things right away. My daughter had an injury to her two front teeth and they are discolored. My husband's legs were covered with mosquito bites. My son's hair (which has a ridiculously stubbon cowlick) was sticking up in a crazy manner from the wind. None of the things were fixed, so I emailed to see if she could fix them and she told me that they were "hand edits" and beyond the scope of her normal editing, and we would need to pay extra if we wanted them fixed.
HOLD THE PRESS. Her website clearly states (or stated) that your images will be "hand-edited" and "fully-edited." Frankly they are such simple edits and the issues so clearly take away from the quality of the images, I am shocked any photographer would send out photos without taking care of these things first.
She never even asked how we felt about the images or offered any professional opinion on what images she felt were good shots. It was like she simply didn't care. Got the money, took her 45 minutes worth of photos, did whatever minimal editing she does (certainly not what she advertises) and that she was just done.
My husband decided to send an email pointing out the discrepancy between what her website says about editing and how extra cost was never mentioned. But before he sent the email I took a screenshot of what her wesbite said because at this point I no longer trusted her and thought she might pull something funny. Clear as day it read (before the changes) "fully-edited" as well as "hand-edited."
And then we waited and waited and waited with no response.
I was giving her the benefit of the doubt thinking, well maybe she didn't get the emal, it's the holiday season, Covid, etc. I was getting ready to send a follow up email today, but decided to take another look at her website. And lo and behold she has CHANGED THE WORDING on her website so now it just says "edited images"
LOL! She actually revised her website rather than take a few minutes to actually deliver what she was advertising. Oh my. And the freaking gall of NOT EVEN RESPONDING to a client who handed over $700 for photos. What sad piece of work this woman is.
Amy Weiler lacks courtesy, interpersonal skills and basic respect for her clients.
All in all this was a great example of a low effort person making a low effort for a large sum of money. read more
