E-Pic Disappointment

I'll admit, I started looking at wedding photographers, wedding pictures, and engagement pictures before BRG proposed. Loonnggg before. I like to call it research and I don't see anything wrong with it. After we got engaged I was itching to get some pictures taken. One day a light bulb appeared above my head. Every year we go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We could find a photographer down there and get some amazing pictures taken on the beach!! My mom informed me that she wanted to have some family portraits done at the beach. Two birds, one stone! Thus began my search for a reasonably priced but amazing photographer.

After scouring the Internets for a photographer, I decided on a gentleman who fit our budget and had a nice online photo gallery. He wasn't exactly the style I was hoping for, but he was willing to take some family portraits and do our e-shoot afterward.

On the day of the shoot I was so excited and nervous. I love having my picture taken and I'm definitely not camera shy, but this was a big thing for me and I desperately wanted it to go right. Although I was excited, I sort of had a bad feeling going into it. I like very natural photos. Nothing too posed or fake. I love detail shots that include engagement rings and close ups that really show emotion. From the photographer's online gallery I could tell he went for a more posed look. I overlooked it, however, because of the price and availability. By now I should know: you get what you pay for. I'm not saying he was a bad photographer. I'm not even saying our pictures were necessarily bad. He just wasn't what I expected.

When our pictures went up online a few weeks later I was seriously nervous to view them. After sifting through the family portraits, I got to our e-pics. I tried to like them. I really really did. But I couldn't help but cry tears of disappointment. Everyone reassured me that they were beautiful, that we looked great, and that I was making a big deal out of nothing. Here are a few of our "favorite" (and I use that term loosely) shots. Also, these are unedited screenshots. He did not give us a full CD of images and the price for prints was OUT.RAGEOUS. (in my opinion).





Like I said, I know they're not terrible pictures. We did purchase a few prints that were retouched. We made a few copies of those to give as Christmas presents to various family members. Luckily, our e-pic saga has a happy ending. The photographer we booked for our wedding includes an engagement session in every wedding photography package. I cannot WAIT to shoot with them. I'll write a post about them soon.

Were you disappointed by a vendor during your planning?

All pictures taken by this photographer.