We hired Vanessa as the photographer for our wedding in October 2022. As of May 2024, all we have received is a handful of proofs that we received immediately after the wedding. It has been 20 months and despite multiple attempts to contact Vanessa and provide opportunities to resolve her failure to deliver on our contract (such as the clause regarding selling the services to another contractor in the event she can't deliver), she has not responded to any messages. However, during that same time, she posted numerous times on instagram to all of her clients/followers and has recently been showing posts about new client photo shoots all over the world. Yet here we are, no photos, money gone, and no communication. She is essentially another one of these social media business types, who is all show and does not treat her paying clients, who trusted her with one of life's most precious memories, with the respect or dignity of communication and resolution. Instead she just pretends like we don't exist and moves on. If you care about actually getting your photos and the memories of these special occasions in your life, don't hire her! read more

I am honestly so sad that I have to write this but I want to share my story with everyone so that hopefully people will learn from my mistake. I was recommended VHP by my wedding planner who had said she'd worked with her multiple times in the past and was great! With the package we got - it even gave us an extra photographer for part of our day. I was ecstatic and after that had an initial call and both my partner and I loved her and hired her within the same week as our call. With our package, we received a free engagement session in LV and she made it to that, however..we did have to bug her to receive the final deliverables (she was a few weeks late past the due date) since we wanted to use it for our wedding guestbook. Red flag #1. On to the wedding day - She was great and helped the day run smoothly trying to capture everything..however, the extra photographer that was promised didn't show (they didn't tell me until after because they figured it was best so fair enough) but now I'm even questioning that even if it was promised that this person even existed in the first place. But, that is my personal opinion. We received 30 sneaks 4 days after the wedding, and then we're supposed to receive the online gallery with final deliverables within 8 weeks. Our wedding was mid August 2022. Since after the expected due date, I have been consistently following up (politely but consistently) via text, email, responding to socials, and now writing a review in hopes of an update or response. It seems that I'm not alone in this situation. She's currently gone on a hiatus due to personal reasons which I respect and I hope she does heal fully and my heart goes out to her - BUT at the end of the day. This is a business, you're expected to communicate and deliver. If you don't have enough time, hire help. If you will miss the due dates due to sickness, personal issues, etc...COMMUNICATE. Clients are understanding (most are), but you need to let us know what's going on with our photos and status updates. You are holding on to our precious memories!!! Our once in a lifetime day. We have given you money in exchange for a service to which has not been competed. So we all need answers. Just COMMUNICATE please. Write us back and let us know that you received our messages. SOMETHING. To this day, now in 2023, I still only have 30 images only and nothing else. It pains me everyday. To end, I want to say that Vanessa is a fun, sweet person with a great personality who also happens to be a very talented photographer. However, listening to other people's horror stories, as well as my own - I cannot and will not ever recommend her to any future clients so please to anyone reading this, if you are planning to use Vanessa for your wedding photos - just keep all of these collective reviews on the back of your mind as she will be photographing one of the most important days of your life. read more

BEWARE: you may not receive your photo gallery! It has been six months since I did a family shoot with Vanessa, and I have only received the sneak peaks. I have sent six emails, left three messages on her very active Instagram account, and one voicemail. I have yet to receive a reply. I have always been polite and understanding in my communications, so I am not sure why she has not responded. I paid for my photo session upfront, including a $150 tip. It is quite disappointing, because I was very happy with the sneak peaks and I was looking forward to receiving the rest of the gallery. read more

This photographer stole our money ; ghosted us ; and hud behind a mental health crisis ... I am saddened to use this venue but have no other choice to provoke an acknowledgment from this vendor ; she prefers on our kindness and care and failed to fulfill her contract ; it's been nearly 2 years ... we remain empathetic to her personal health journey but since she's capable of posting in social media and promoting her business she can at least respond to us ; do not hire her !!!! read more

Vanessa seem to be great person and photographer, did my pregnancy floral tub photoshoot, promised to get sneaks in 48hours and the album in 2weeks. Sneaks took 2weeks and after that she ghosted me and Ive never heard from her again. Ive lost my only pregnancy pictures. I tried to contact her multiple times, but she never replied and when I commented on her IG she blocked me. Stay away, you will lose your money and the precious memories that cant be compensated. read more

Where do I even begin with describing what it's like to work with Vanessa?! Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it!! I still remember the very first time that I met Vanessa. She was genuine, kind, and like a burst of sunshine! I left our brief time together just smiling nonstop. The first thing that you notice about Vanessa is her vibrant personality, fun energy, genuine attitude and a smile that lights up the room. Those characteristics instantly transfer into the imagery that she creates. Every portrait and image reflects beauty, vibrant joy, unique personality and timelessness. I've been so blessed to have worked with Vanessa quite a few times and every session is an absolute blast and joy, literally endless smiles and laughs the entire time!!! Vanessa is so amazingly talented and I'm always blown away by her talent, artistry and craft. She is truly so personable, professional, thoughtful, kind and just the BEST!! She has the biggest heart to serve others and each couple and it truly reflects in her work! She is a true joy to work with and any couple would be lucky to have her as their photographer!! I cannot wait to work with Vanessa again!!! read more

Vanessa is so talented. She knew how to navigate natural lighting, the weather, and our body angles. The day before our shoot she suggested moving it because of bad weather and we're so glad she did. It was gloomy and cloudy on the day we planned but clear and picturesque on the day we moved it to. She gave us three choices for shooting locations which was really helpful since we weren't too familiar with the area. All though she juggles her clients, family, does her own editing, and is often a guest speaker at conferences, Vanessa makes herself available and responds in a timely manner. Most importantly, she knew how to make us laugh, made us comfortable, knew how to capture out best angles, and position our bodies without making us look awkward. If you're looking for a photographer, I highly recommend her read more

I booked a floral tub/pregnancy shoot with Vanessa on 11/7/2020. I paid my $150 deposit to secure my spot. It is just a day or so before the shoot and I heard nothing from her. I reached out via Instagram, etc. and had not heard anything. I had to dig and dig to finally find an email. She told me that she had been off of social media because of the election, but then asked to reschedule our shoot due to it projecting to rain the day of the shoot. I found it strange that I had to do so much work to get a hold of her and when I finally do she tells me she needed to reschedule, but at this point she still has my money so I made the rescheduling work. I'm on a biological clock here, so I tried to take the next available session which she said would be 11/16/2020 at 8 am. Mind you, I work full-time and had to make arrangements to have a photo shoot at 8 am on a Monday, but I was just so excited for this shoot so I booked for that day. Again, here it comes a day or so before and I have heard nothing. No confirmation email, no address of where to even show up for this session, no communication through social media.. nothing. So, again I email her and she finally gets back to me THE DAY BEFORE the shoot to tell me that one of her clients husbands tested positive for COVID-19 and that she would have to cancel all of her shoots for the week and would be issuing refunds. I was devastated to say the least. I'm 38 weeks at this point and there's no way I can get in with another photographer in such a short amount of time. I was upset, but just said thanks and went on my way. Well, I go to Instagram today and see that she just made a post bragging that she is at the airport on her way to Arizona... my blood boiled. I feel completely lied to. This is my first child and I was SO excited to be working with such an established photographer to get some amazing pictures and this is how she treats me. If I could give 0 stars I would. read more

Where to even begin with this post. To start this story, all I wanted was a surprise photo shoot for my mom. We took a trip to Hawaii and I surprised my mom with a photo shoot with Vanessa. She was fine with the pre- communication and had no problem collecting my deposit for the session. When we got to the session, everything went well - we were happy with the session itself. This is where it all goes downhill. Might I add, Vanessa was quick to email with the final deposit less than an hour after the session, so the session was paid in full at this point. I was happy to provide, and my session was paid in full moments after that. From here, at the end of our session in person Vanessa promised us 3 or 4 "sneaks" to the photos within 24 to 48 hours. We would then receive the full portfolio within 2 /12 to 3 weeks max. I will have you know, I to this day never received those "sneaks". We were left in the dark wondering where and why we hadn't received any sort of communication from her. I reached out to her 3 different times within the first week (2 texts and one email) with not a word back on any update or any timeline if there was a delay. My mom, however, sends ONE text and immediately gets a rude and harsh response. She made it seem like WE were in the wrong and that it was OUR fault that we did not receive anything yet. She also stated that she was going through a family emergency. We felt horrible- My mom was extremely kind and understanding with her response from there. I understand that life happens, my family is no stranger to that. As a businesswoman, however, owning her own business, all we wanted was some sort of communication. Vanessa could have immediately told us that we would not get the photos until weeks later (which we would have understood), but she did not. She left us hanging, as she continued to do over and over. After that SINGLE rude text, all we could do was wait. And we still received no communication OR photos. We then reached PAST the 3 week deadline with crickets from Vanessa. After that, my mom texted once and I also texted for any sort of update, with nothing. I then resorted to a final stern email stating that I had paid in full for a service and expected some sort of outcome or timeline of when I could receive my paid service. She then resulted to send me a rude email stating "This is the first time I have heard from you". That is a complete LIE. From there, after basically demanding the photos, I finally received a standard generated email with our gallery 2 days later. I go to open the gallery, and what happens? The gallery is password protected...I can't make this stuff up. I then email AND text her back immediately (trying all sorts of communication) where it then takes her another TWO DAYS to take the password off the gallery. And the grand finale: We get the gallery and there are RANDOM PEOPLE at the end of OUR gallery!! In person, Vanessa promised "great edits". She told us that if there were any people in the background, she would edit them out. Well guess what: there are TONS of people still in our photos. It is straight ridiculous. Finally, I go to post a "thank you" on my instagram after ALL of the disappointment, and what do I find? Vanessa has BLOCKED ME from her instagram account. How rude of her to block me when I paid HER weeks ago for her service, and she failed to do what was promised. I also feel disrespected and belittled that she could give my mom and answer but blatantly ignore me as her client. Overall, the communication and professionalism that Vanessa claims to have was sub par during our entire interaction. If I were to ever be asked if I would recommend Vanessa, I would immediately tell that person to NEVER book with her. We were doing a simple family session. I get it, we were not a wedding paying Vanessa thousands of dollars. However, her work ethic PROVED that she does not care for her clients. She disrespected our entire process. What was supposed to be nice family photos has caused nothing but stress, disappointment, and downright unhappiness. I have a bad taste in my mouth with this photographer. If you would like to ask any follow up questions, please feel free to contact me. read more

Vanessa is WONDER WOMAN! She came in on my wedding day and ran everything with ease, calmness, and comfortableness that made my wedding day better than imagined! First, the sneak peaks that I've received so far are AMAZING. We had a very windy day, and she worked with it to make it in our favor. She ran through my shot list like a pro, and when someone got on my nerves, she reigned me back in and reminded me about what the day is really about. She is someone that you want to have on your side for your wedding, and I am SO HAPPY about my choice to book Vanessa. You will not regret booking her, and I'm sure that you'll find a friend through it too. #wonderwoman read more

I NEVER write reviews, I mean ever! But here I am, writing this for the sole reason of pure disappointment and dissatisfaction of this business. Long story short, Vanessa was a pleasure to work with throughout the booking process ( and taking my money of course), but this has taught me a true lesson to NEVER pay upfront for a service again. Basically, I booked a session, paid in full before the season even began. One day prior, Vanessa cancels due to travel problems. Fine, I understand. I would have rescheduled the session, but we were only in town for a couple of days and didn't have any extra time to reschedule being from out of state from where the session would be held. The contract clearly states that if the photographer cancels the session, you would be fully refunded. It took almost a month to get my deposit back. Vanessa stated that funds needed to be released from the credit card company before she can issue a refund. Excuse me!? As a businesswoman, she shouldn't have to wait for funds to be released in order to issue a refund. Especially, when the refund is being issued due to the businesses cancellation. Fast forward to today, I have still not received the rest of my refund and Vanessa will no longer reply to my emails. I've sent three since the deposit was refunded. read more

Vanessa is a radiant individual and an excellent photographer. We are very pleased with the beautiful pictures she took of our daughter on the beach in Hawaii and we highly recommend her to other parents! The one star review on here from a few years back is unfortunate. The bride sounds very over particular and hard to please in her lengthy review. I wonder if she's still married or if her husband grew tired of her over the top expectations? read more

Vanessa was a pleasure to deal with. She's very upbeat and positive and arrived right on-time for our photo session. She answered the messages I sent her in a prompt manner and we were very pleased with our maternity pictures. I would definitely have photos with her again! read more

Vanessa's photography is beautiful but she is inexperienced at running a business. She lacks business savvy but talks a good game. Her correspondence is unprofessional (see her responses to other negative feedback on facebook and possibly this one in the future) and her actions have been passive aggressive after we decided to forfeit our deposit and book another photographer. Best decision we've made thus far. Here's the story: Strike One: We paid Vanessa a $375 deposit on a wedding package ($1500 at the time, she has since doubled her prices after moving to Monterey.) that included a free engagement session (individually priced at $200). Out of the 70-something photos we had received in our online gallery (promised to be posted until October 2025) we liked about 12 of them. Some of the others were very unflattering but the others were alright. Vanessa gave me instructions on how to pose (which were not natural) but my groom felt that he didn't get the same help. The result was 12 photos that turned out well. Strike Two: We are getting married on a beach and we are not doing a first look. When my groom and I see each other for the first time, it will be when I'm walking down the aisle. We told Vanessa that this was the most important moment to us from the whole wedding and to capture that moment for us. The problem is that when I first see Aaron, I will be up 3 flights of stairs by a condo while he is waiting down at the shoreline. When we presented Vanessa with this problem, we were told that her contract prohibits us from hiring a second photographer. Note: It didn't, but we were going to comply to avoid pissing off our photographer on the day of the wedding by having a second photographer show up. When we asked her how she was going to handle capturing both of us, she said she would stand in the middle of the beach, pan to the groom and snap. Then she would pan to the bride and snap. I'm not really a fan of pictures being taken from below me as they are unflattering. When I expressed that it was a big moment for us she said "Understand, that moment can be very anticlimactic or not. I've done so many wedding where bride and groom cries and so many when they don't due to nerves, in your head, etc. the bride usually cries when she gets to her groom, because she is concentrating on walking and not tripping on heels and dress. All that to say, we will document that moment, but don't put pressure on that moment, you know what I mean?". Then she recommended a first look after I just told her that we wanted the first time we see each other to be when we are walking down the aisle. Strike Three: We decided not to risk the chance that we would like only a percentage of our photos by going through a photographer that did not esteem our big moment as that big of a deal. I sent Vanessa an email stating that we were no longer in need of her services and requested to have the contract terminated. We knew we would be losing money since we had essentially paid $375 for engagement photos/gallery that she would normally charge at $200. But we knew that ahead of time. What she did next was deactivate our gallery from the internet. When asked she said "Madeline, your engagement session was part of your wedding package and contract. As you have voided your contract, those images are voided as well. Vanessa". This action was so passive aggressive since we had technically paid for those photos. But hey, it wasn't in the contract so what can you do. It was just something extra that she didn't have to do but chose to in an attempt to stick it to us. Luckily, I had a feeling that Vanessa would be passive aggressive so prior to firing her, we downloaded and secured all photos. Second best decision we made. Just thought I would share so some other bride out there doesn't experience the wrath of Vanessa Hicks and her bad business savvy. read more