Family vacation, so once again, time for family photos. Let's go through the checklist of…read morerequirements. Pristine background setting? Check. Beautiful family in tow? Check. Positive attitude about taking time away from family vacation to take photos? Check. Clean and pressed clothes? Check. Fantastic local photographer to conduct the shoot? Check! It's become a bit of a tradition to take family photos when on a vacation to a unique and luxurious location. (See my review Studio 3511 Photography here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/studio-3511-photography-honolulu?hrid=qWiF0G99XOcUeich6zomsg). Heading up to Whistler, I figured it was time once again to capture the family for posterity. It had been two years since our last family photos and while three of us looked more or less the same, The Boy had grown about 15 inches. Funny how that happens. I started my search for a photographer on Yelp (of course) and contacted a photographer who got back to me quickly saying that she was unavailable, but recommending that I get in touch with Darby Magill. Perfect--a personal referral and one from a peer--how could I go wrong? I emailed Darby and she got back to me right away. Over the course a few emails we discussed settings, pricing and other logistics. Darby suggested we meet in Rebagliati Park just a short walk from Whistler Village. From there we could wander and look for interesting settings. That sounded like the perfect plan. We're a causal group and liked the idea of capturing different settings during the hour-long shoot. In her final email Darby wrote "I'm short with a big black bag :)" and sure enough, when we arrived at the park, Darby was easy to pick out from among the tourists. Just as I suspected, the down to earth vibe that I felt in Darby's emails was immediately apparent in person. Safe to say that we all liked and felt comfortable with her from the beginning. Over the next hour Darby snapped shots of us in numerous settings--underneath the large natural growth trees, next to the river, along a walking path and, perhaps my favorite, under a bridge that was painted with fantastic urban art. I appreciated the different poses and angles that Darby explored and the particular attention she paid to the dance of the light that poured through the trees. I honestly have no idea how many pictures Darby took, but the portfolio she uploaded had over unique 60 photos, each presented in color and greyscale. Throughout our hour together we visited with Darby, enjoying learning more about her and her business. The photos themselves are terrific (with perhaps the exception of a certain teenage boy who decided he had something against smiling--so much for that positive attitude check box above.) Still, vibrant imaginative, lovely and fun. Darby provided all of them on an easy to access password protected website so we could review and share and print. A great keepsake from a great vacation and a time capsule of who we all were that summer of 2014.

Darby was the photographer for my wedding. She showed up on time and dove right in. She captured…read morethe day just the way we had hoped. She was incredibly flexible and easy to work with and managed to take pictures of almost every single one of our 100 guests. We really enjoyed working with her.

The photographer and assistant are nice enough, however, that does not make up for really bad…read morephotography work. As photographers, they could not get a pose, took pictures with everyone's eyes shut, cut off legs, signs, etc. I would have done better to have hired a 12-year-old with an iPhone. There is just no way around a final product that is just awful. The area was so beautiful and virtually every shot they took was against a building, had blurred, or just was completely unbecoming. Just no. Find a 12-year-old kid if you must, but don't waste your money with these guys... BTW: If you attempt to reach them to discuss how they only got 44 pictures which were either the same of 5 locations or were out of focus....don't expect a call back... in fact, you should feel so privileged that they sent you a link to download your photos..... This is what happens when you pay upfront (about $350 US)...What a RIP... Be warned..... These guys are a NO.

Coast mountain Photography is located in Carleton lodge in the basement area. The entrance is right…read morenext to longhorn. Go down the stairs and their counter is right there. They can service approximately three people at a time. If you are in adventure camp lessons you can pick up your photos here. Or if you book a free photography session you will also pick up your pictures here. The staff are very slow! You wait in line forever and never quite get there! Then, when you are finally there you need to wait and wait. As far as the pricing it is $29 for 3 printed photos. You can also pay a total of around $55 for 3 photos and a usb with your photos on it. It is rather expensive, especially if you have multiple children that you need to purchase photos for. In general they need to work on their customer service. No one wants to wait in line on vacation! They also need to work on their pricing! Way too much! I feel like they are just pushing the photos on you and in reality I would've just liked the usb instead of the printed photos. That is more items for me to pack in my suitcase. They definitely need to think of their customer base.

I have mixed feelings about Foto Source. I appreciate that they exist in Whistler - but their…read moreprices seem exorbitant - even for a resort! I bought a Canon Rebel camera kit back home in the U.S. the day before I hopped on the plane to Vancouver - and what I did not realize is the camera kit did not include a memory card! So I found Foto Source, called them to verify they carried memory cards, and then made my way over from the hotel. I bought a ProMaster Performance SDHC CLASS 10 32GB Secure Digital Memory Card - for $60.00 frickin' dollars! I would have paid half that if I had bought in back home in the U.S.! Example: http://www.amazon.com/ProMaster-Performance-Secure-Digital-Memory/dp/B005BTKMNA Steep prices, more than double what it costs in the U.S.! I'm glad I found a memory card so that I got to use my digital SLR while on vacation, but the prices are to high! Also - a lot of businesses in Whistler have an address problem - I've noticed that what appears on many businesses credit card receipts - DOES NOT match the address listed on their web site/social media sites. For example - for Foto Source: Web Site: #4 4154 Village Green Whistler, British Columbia V0N 1B4 Canada Receipt: #300, 4241 Village Stroll Whister, British Columbia V0N 1B4 Canada Why is this important? Directions provided by smart phones and such may lead you to a location where there is no such business!

Came in to quickly get some passport photos done. The girl working was extremely rude to me and got…read moremad when my face was slightly tilted (instead of simply telling me to shift). Really disappointed in this service and won't be coming back.