Had a beautiful wedding, wouldn't change anything about the venue (shoutout to Pinerose!) but our photographer was horrible!! James Tang Photography to be specific. Didn't talk to us through the planning process, beyond maybe 5 times over a year and a half. Tried to strong arm us into getting a more expensive package where we hire on a 2nd shooter. He fails to mention he brings an 'assistant' who comes equipped with her own professional camera. He ignored the list of people I wanted photos with the day of the wedding. Ignored us when we asked to attend the last 15 min of our cocktail hour, instead going on to take photos an hour and a half. My husband and I aren't extroverted butterflies. We didn't speak up in fear of this guy getting upset and taking it out on our photos and just wanted to get through the day on a good note. After dinner he took maybe 5 photos of my husband and I. I'm not kidding. I have next to no photos of me and my husband after dinner. One with cake cutting, one with me and my dad and husband, one where husband and I are dancing, and one of the garter toss and bouquet toss. Correction: 6 photos. I wish I was kidding. After asking, he explained it's because I 'didn't specifically ask for photos during my reception of my husband and I' so now I have photos of my guests....which I don't hate...but considering how much we paid, I was hoping the photographer would photograph the people who hired him. We had a photobooth for guests. After that he was supposed to deliver sneak peek photos one week after we got married. Didn't get them until after 3 weeks. After we reached out with no response until we reached out to our wedding coordinator. Bless her heart. Then when 4 months passed and we were supposed to receive the rest. Those were also delivered late. Both times I had to reach out to ask. Got ignored. Had to contact the venue for help. Then conveniently got a reply. The most heartbreaking part. Photos are grainy. I asked if this can be fixed. After getting ignored some more, we were told it was apart of the artistic flare?? This is consistent with all our photos. A lot of the faces are somewhat blurry. I was quiet throughout this entire process with the hopes of beautiful photos being the outcome. I can deal with the ignoring and poor treatment, but the poor quality is something I can't let go. I'm heartbroken and I wish I went with someone else. Again. Beautiful photos. Poor quality. I just wish I can look at these photos and think 'yup, paying thousands of dollars for these and working all that overtime was all worth it'. Please do your research when picking your photographer. I tried everything to get this guy to help me. He couldn't care less. read more

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James and his team are awesome to work with. They are true professionals, but also manage to bring some silliness and fun into the mix. I wish I wasn't so overwhelmed and could truly get to joke and hang with them - I recommend doing an engagement session to get more time with James because we did not. From what I have seen he does a great job with engagement photos. My groomsmen were a bit late getting ready (go figure right ;-)), but he made it work and worked around the delay. Just as an aside - I would have actually hired him for even more time before the wedding started so we would not have felt so rushed and I would have made sure everyone was ready on time - just a note for future brides ;-) We hired him for an hour and a half prior to the wedding. If he came earlier, It would have been a chance to get to know him a little more and relax and have fun with the photos. That was my only regret in coordinating. We did not do a first look and I actually do not regret that. For those brides that are old-fashioned like me, go for the walk down the aisle as the first look... it truly is special for everyone to watch you see each other for the first time. Anyways, back to James and team. The pictures turned out beautiful and natural which is just what I wanted. I am personally not into really heavy filters because I want my pictures to be timeless and they absolutely are. Looking through his albums online are great indicators of his actual work. He is artistic, but also brings in the element of raw emotion that weddings are really all about. I thought his ceremony pictures were particularly beautiful. I am not into having my picture taken much, but he did so much in such a short amount of time that we could really enjoy the wedding and our fabulous guests. Hire James if you know what is good for you ;-) read more

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James is a very romantic photographer. Fun to work with. Great ideas and reminded me to put my chin down often so as to get the best angle of my not so perfect teeth. The only reason I put 4 stars is because we haven't seen the pictures yet. Its a 25 week turn around for wedding pictures during the height of wedding season. :( read more

My daughter's wedding in October 2018 was beautiful. We chose the all inclusive package where all money was paid to Pine Rose Cabins and we chose from their recommended vendors. We chose James Tang. My daughter's husband is an active duty United States Marine and was deployed shortly after the wedding. When they were sent proofs with a link that expired in 30 days, they were unable to look at them together. Then when they reached out they were unable to get a new link because James didn't respond. My daughter was subsequently hospitalized with meningitis. Multiple emails and texts to James Tang and phone calls to Pine Rose all now all they say is we have waited too long. I asked to purchase photos before my daughter's second anniversary - and I reached out AFTER my daughter said James wasn't responding to her. How long is "too long" for wedding photos paid for in advance? And why would a wedding photographer not have access to them for several years? We never got photos. They never got a photo book and James never bothered to respond to my email at all. Very disappointing over $27,000 to Pine Rose for the wedding ($3600 of which was for the photographer, James Tang, and PHOTOS!) and zero photos to show for it.  No digital, no thumb drive, no photo book.  The contract including all of these is apparently just a suggestion. read more

We absolutely loved having James as our photographer for both the engagement shoot and the wedding. He's incredible to work with and the photos were all stunning. We met up with him prior to the shoot and no location or idea was out of reach and he shared in every bit of our excitement as we planned the direction. It also helped that he was fun to hang around with, as we spent a loooong time with him between the engagement shoot and wedding, but hey, we ain't complaining! We were especially impressed with his process, craft, and effort on the engagement shoot. We chose Big Sur as the location, and he got there before us and scouted everything ahead of time. As we hiked up the trails to all the cool spots he discovered prior, he helped my wife and I across log bridges and up difficult terrain, while taking beautiful photos. James and his team wowed us again with the wedding photography. We had impossibly high expectations of the entire experience, and he obliterated them. We've gotten so many compliments on the photos and we couldn't be any happier with the results. read more

We hired James and his assistant for our wedding at Pine Rose Cabins, and I was absolutely stunned by the subtle details, the jokes, and the love he managed to capture. He has this dynamic energy about him, so the photo shoots are a whirlwind, but we really got all the shots we wanted and more. The photographer is so important, because if they capture the feel of the event, you can experience it again and again. One important detail - since James professionally touches up every single photo, it takes months to get the full package, especially if you are getting married in a popular time of year. But if you're lucky, you might get a few teaser photos to tide you over ; ). He was a pleasure to work with, and I can't recommend James highly enough. read more

I remember my Wife (at the time fiancé) sending me profiles of different photographers in the Palm Springs and desert area of Southern California to review so that we could make a possible joint decision to meet with one of them upon us visiting our venue in January of 2014. After reviewing several, I came upon James Tang's portfolio and was just absolutely blown away. Each image that was portrayed captured the true essence of the moment. I immediately let my significant other know that this was who I wanted us to meet with when we made the journey down south. We met James at a local Starbucks in the Palm Springs area and from the very start we hit it off. Typically in interviews and or job inquisitions there can sometimes be that awkwardness that sets the tone of the proposal. Well that being said from the moment we ordered our drinks and sat down it was smooth sailing. We talked and discussed what we were looking for, dates, venue and all the business required information one needs as a photographer. After we covered our bases, James turned the table and took the time to inquire, "Why did you wish to meet with me and possibly pick me to photograph your wedding?" This question answered itself after viewing his portfolio, meeting him in person and well in retrospect now, after the job in which he performed. James takes each new job, not just as a job, but rather like a mission for excellence and to excel his passion in photography. James has a true talent and a gift, when it comes to capturing those special moments that you want to frame forever. I'm honored to say that we worked with a photographer the day of our Wedding, and moving forward we made one hell of a friend out of it. I would and will always highly recommended James Tang Photography. If you want the very best, then look no further, because you will find it with James Tang. read more

My husband and I just got our wedding photos back and we are extremely happy. The photos are stunning! I'm so in love with them! It seems like he has endless energy and so much fun to work with. I'm particularly camera shy and I was completely comfortable being in front of James' camera. In fact, I had so much fun during the photo session on my wedding day that I actually didn't want it to end. I wish we also booked an engagement session with him and his adorable row boat. Thank you so much for the amazing experience, James. You are the best of the best! We owe you all the caramel frappacino's you want! ;) read more

James is professional and a great photographer. He did our pictures for our engagement and wedding. I loved all the pictures!

JAMES IS THE BOMB DIGGITY!! seriously the best photographer around. So laid back, so funny, and so so so good at what he does. He knows what looks best, and has no problem directing you, which is GREAT when you do not know what to do when getting your photo taken!! would use him again in a heartbeat!!! Thank you for everything James. Until next time x -Brooke & Matt Shipard! read more

James and his amazing team are unbelievably talented behind the camera. My wife and I couldn't be happier with the results and we feel truly blessed that he was able to shoot our wedding day. When we received the photo's we realized that he essentially shot a story. A story of our wedding day. From prep time, to ceremony time and beyond. James even offered to stay late and shoot longer than we originally agreed on. This was great because we busted out the LED hoop for late night reception shenanigans. Thanks James! You captured everything we were hoping for! read more

James is as good as it gets. My wedding pictures are beautiful and he is a joy to work with. Thank you, James!

Words cannot express how talented James is and how happy my husband and I are with his work. Our pictures came out absolutely beautiful and James was such a joy to work with. I am no model so I was nervous about how I would look/pose in the pictures but he made me feel very comfortable. I have received so many compliments on our wedding pictures, he has a great eye and I would recommend him to everyone. read more

We chose James as part of a package for our wedding venue. When we met him he was nice, funny, and walked us through what services came with our premium package, and what options we could add. Over several weeks I got in contact with James regarding some questions we had, related to the resolution of the pictures, ownership of the pictures, and time frame for when we would get the pictures back. After consistent follow-ups about adding more services, we chose what additional options we wanted. James then proceeded to outline a payment schedule that differed from both our meeting and how he advertised on his website. We simply asked if he would accept the deposit and payment schedule per his website, and heard nothing back. We then got a call from our wedding coordinator that James felt we weren't a good fit for his services as a photographer. This was a particularly harsh thing to hear four months before the wedding, and after we were prepared to add $2K plus for more of his services. The truly unprofessional move was to communicate this through the wedding coordinator, rather than be upfront and share with us first. At no point did we try to negotiate down his price, nor ask him to do anything outside his stated policy. When a vendor drops you without any thought to how it would make you feel, it comes off as both cold and unprofessional. When we reached out directly to share how we felt, his reply could not have been more generic and unfeeling. Photography is one of the most important parts of the wedding day, and while we are thankful we can arrange a different photographer, we can't help but feel James disrespected our time. His talent is unquestionable. His business practices and communication skills could use some work. I have no hard feelings and the goal of posting this review is not to hurt his business. Clearly, there are several couples happy with him. I just thought it was important to share our experience, especially for couples who are concerned about keeping things on schedule or will have questions about his process. read more