OMG I felt like a diva for the day.
OK first of all, had the hair, had the nails, had the dress and damned if I did not look sexy!
But then I saw the pics that Jim and Audra took and I am blown away.
They took hundreds of shots and yet I barely remember seeing them through the day, they were so unobtrusive that I actually got scared at one point and looked for them only to see Jim taking amazing candids of my nieces playing with my new man.
During our formal shots they got my aunt to wrangle everyone in and made sure that we got every shot we wanted and a few we did not even think about. On top of that they were fun and personable and made everyone smile. Even when my brothers girlfriend fell over Jim's tripod he took it in stride and even caught her on the way down. These two are great.
Audra is amazing, she is Jim's wife and they said they have been together for 10 years and shooting weddings for 4 years.
She came in a nice subdued clothes that not only looked good but looked really comfy, she even asked about my wedding colors so that she could color coordinate and blend in easier. She was never in the way, even when I was getting dressed she got great candid shots and was like a shadow on the wall, never in the way yet produced a sewing needle and thread to fix a small tear in my sisters dress. This woman is super. I could tell this was not her first rodeo.
Jim kept my man and his friends entertained and now I get to see what goes on behind the scenes at a getting ready party for men. He even got my photo-phobic (is that a word?) Dad to smile for a real nice portrait.
Oh yea, you are here for the price, not the story of my wedding.
OK, the price was great, they lay it out on their website, 2500 dollars and no hidden fee's, they give you a bunch of stuff for that price and they even let you get your prints at Walgreen's or Wal-Mart if you want, but they also have a shop that we ordered through which can do prints on METAL! Seriously, they printed on metal, they showed me some samples of it and I was hooked, I will be ordering them when we meet next week.
They do offer a bunch of upgrades like special prints and canvases and some photobooks. My favorite was a set of books that they showed me where you could open the pages and everything laid flat out. No ugly seams or anything.
Turn around time was amazing, they shot my wedding Friday, and this afternoon had the first of the shots ready for me to view on their website in a nice password protected gallery. And they said they will have them all available for ordering by Wednesday, how cool is that.
Oh, and the website is so easy, I am not a tech person at all, but his website was great and easy and even my mom loved the website and said she is just going to order some pictures from there.
Now with all of that said I do have a couple of warnings. Jim said normally it can take a couple of weeks to get the photos, but that as business has been slow he would most likely have them sooner, but this is completely to be expected, every photographer I spoke to said it would be like 4 to 6 weeks, so that is normal.
Number 2, Jim is a stickler about his contract, he makes sure that you get everything you paid for but he also makes sure that everything is on time and to the letter. Oh and he takes credit cards but he requires cash or a money order for the deposit. After talking with some other photographers this is completely normal, but just know to expect it.
They also split up the amount in to 3 payments. This way it was easier to pay but it also meant that I talked to them a lot before the wedding so I never felt like I was just giving them money then not seeing them again. My last payment was due 3 weeks before the wedding but I forgot, Jim was happy to work with me and did not threaten me or anything like my caterer did.
And finally, they work from home, they have two children.
But these are two of the best behaved children I have ever seen, they are quiet and listen to mom and dad, so while it seems strange it is understood in this economy to not have multiple places to pay utilities on. Just keep in mind the kids were not there while they were talking to us, they have a friend watch them. They showed me where they do the photoshop work though and they have massive setups, so they are totally pro on that. Oh and the cookies that Audra makes are the BOMB! She called them Buckeyes, said they were common in Ohio and Kentucky but I have never had them, they are peanut butter and chocolate and they are OMG amazing!
So if you need a photographer for your wedding who can be there nearly all day, get all of the great shots and is 100% transparent in dealing with you then give Jim and Audra a call, they are keepers, I have been telling everyone about them, because when you think about it, your pictures are about the only thing you have left after the wedding that you ever look at again, so yea I am totally recommending them. read more