Carlos Pasten Photography Anyone?

NJBride2014 · March 31, 2014

Hi @@NJBride2014,

Just emailed you his package list. I have not seen his videos yet, and am also reluctant for the same reason.

Where are you getting married? I am having a hard time choosing photographer and videographer. I am getting married at Moon Palace and they have only a few preferred vendors. Carlos Pasten is one of them, and I like the fact that he does both photography and videography. The only other one that offers both is Sarani but she is a bit expensive.. not sure what I am going to do yet.

If he posts a demo will you please let me know?

Thanks @@MBK for the package list!

I'm getting married at Le Blanc Spa Resort which is a Palace resort. I wasn't a big fan of their photography choices so I booked an outside vendor Del Sol Photography and am paying for 2 day passes instead of their outside vendor fee. I'm only looking at Carlos Pasten for videography I was hoping to hire someone from the palace preferred list to avoid having to pay a vendor fee but so far their prices are higher than what I would pay for an outside videographer plus their vendor fee. I've been trying to get a video from Carlos for 2 weeks now so I can see his work I'm looking for more of a cinematography style wedding video and he says he does it but I want to make sure it's exactly what I'm looking for. Other cinematography style videographers I've researched and reached out all had plenty of videos to view on their website so it's a little strange not to see any video on his website (not sure if that's a bad sign). I know my wedding is 5 months away but I would like to go ahead and book it and have it done with so I can work on other things. When I finally get a video of his work I'll let you know and send it to you.

MBK · March 31, 2014

@@NJBride2014 Thank you very much! Yes, I also find that a bit strange..

How did you work out the 2 day passes instead of the vendor's fee? I would like to do this as well! Also, were you only able to negotiate this for Del Sol or any other outside photographers?

NJBride2014 · March 31, 2014

@@NJBride2014 Thank you very much! Yes, I also find that a bit strange..

How did you work out the 2 day passes instead of the vendor's fee? I would like to do this as well! Also, were you only able to negotiate this for Del Sol or any other outside photographers?

@@MBK I knew that Del Sol had done a lot of weddings at Palace Resorts in the past and before I even booked my wedding I knew that I wanted to hire them as my photographers, I just loved their style that much. I asked LeBlanc what their policy was for Del Sol specifically and they said since they had a good relationship with them that they would allow a day pass for them. I'm not sure if this is still the case with them as I think Palace Resorts has become much more strict about their outside vendor policy but I got it in writing that they would only charge the day pass fee.

When I tried to go with an outside videographer and also do the day pass they told me that I couldn't and they said the vendor fee would apply. I also found the palace photographers to be almost as expensive as Del Sol and not quite the right style I was looking for. Photography and videography is really important to me since after the wedding really that's all we have to look back on.

Is there an outside photographer you are looking at? Maybe you can ask if you can also do the day pass, doesn't hurt to ask. Another way to get around the vendor fee is to book your photographer/videographer a night at the hotel and now they are considered a guest of the hotel. You still have to pay for their room but its still cheaper than the $800 vendor fee and you can also negotiate a cheaper price with the photographer/videographer since you are booking them a night. I'm thinking of doing this for the DJ since their DJ is pretty pricey too.

MBK · April 1, 2014

Hi @@NJBride2014,

Thank you for that info. I will be emailing my wedding coordinator tomorrow to see if I can negotiate the same thing as you for Del Sol... it's worth a try. I heard that paying for the photographer's night is tricky since the hotels know their local photographers and will recognize that they came for work rather than as guests, but I may be thinking too much into this.

I"ll have to see. I will post an update about what happens with Del Sol.

Thanks!

bicoastalimages · April 4, 2014

@@MBK Palace Resorts has become stricter with their rules regarding outside vendors. Officially it is $800 or a 3 night stay but we have shot on just day passes as well. Really varies!

carolinaHowarth · October 22, 2016

hi all,

I got married on last April and Carlos Pasten was or photographer. We found him through a wedding planner website and met him personally in Mexico where he showed us his work which we considered good enough (nothing special tough) for the price.

in overall, I can rate his work during our wedding day as average as we got some photos that we like but any that we love or consider special (our guest took better ones) and he also didn't pay attention to detail as we agreed beforehand and he ignored when I asked him correct them.

However, we got completely disappointed and regretted hiring him to work on out 'trash the dress' session for which we dreamt to have an underwater session. I have to clarify that this type of photos are pretty expensive and we knew that many people in the area do it, so we asked him about the possibility to do it with him, and he accepted, so we trusted him. Later on, we realised that he wasn't being honest as he didn't mention that he didnt have any experience.

During the session we did our best and followed any instruction he gave us in order to get good photos and during all that time Carlos made us believe that everything was going perfect, so obviously we were so excited. We came back to London and had to wait 3 months to receive the final photo album but it was always delayed and everytime we asked him for an explanation he replied with silly excuses. After 2-3 extra month waiting and pushing him we received them and it was then when we knew that everything was ruined as any of these photos were good (and he neither tried), his attitude was horrible as he ignored us he and blamed us for the result, of course he didn't offered a refund, compensation or at least an apology.

He is just like any person with a good camera so I wouldn't contract him for any special occasion again.

Moments That Matter · October 22, 2016

Congrats on your destination wedding last April, carolinaHowarth, and thx for your photographer info - always helpful for wedding couples doing online research!

There are also some threads here talking about Carlos Pasten (in case you haven't already seen them) : Carlos Pasten threads

It's helpful to check out the reviews here, so will post that link too: Wedding Photographer Reveiws

We've captured some really magical wedding moments that matter at Moon Palace, as seen here:

taken from our Moon Palace Wedding Album 1:

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