am1595

We had our wedding photos taken by R.S, one of the photographers from Sungold. Paula and Damien were not available but Paula booked us with one of her photographers through their other business, WPA, who we were told, had just become available following a cancellation. R.S. showed up on time and was polite. Ours was a short morning wedding. Following the ceremony, R.S. took pictures of just my husband and me while everyone was at the cocktail hour. Problem: during lunch reception RS informed us that his camerahadn't been working, so we had to retake all the shots."to be sure" We were obviously a bit concerned, and it threw off our schedule, but we agreed to go for retakes following the meal during dessert time. Although we spent a much shorter time taking fewer pictures, he assured us that got enough shots. We rejoined our family for the cake cutting and speeches to be followed by an opportunity for taking family pictures. Again, he assured us we had good pics of the family. Fast forward: The CD of 350+ wedding pictures arrived promptly a few weeks later. We eagerly looked at the pictures only to discover tons of pictures of wedding details (flowers, setting, seating) and activities prior to the wedding (eg guest mingling before the ceremony)--I guess before the camera broke down. There were only 30 portrait like pictures of my husband and me (less than 10% of total pictures). We looked through the 30 portrait shots. The worse part: not a single one of the 30 pics was suitable as either a thank you for our guests or to be used as a portrait shot we could have enlarged and framed for display in our home. For example, in one pic my husband’s hair was blowing up in the air, another we were too far from each other or my veil was in the way. The pics we requested of the family were hardly better. We thought the job of the photographer was to ensure that the pictures are set up properly before snapping. Not just snapping any old pic. I guess we were wrong. Maybe if he had taken more shots (if his camera worked) we would not be writing this—but we don’t know… Okay, so decided we were screwed, but hoped to get 2 good pictures: a family portrait and one of me and my husband together. Over several weeks, I sent Paula several email msgs and left voicemail msgs for her asking what could be done to photoshop a couple portrait and a family shot. No reply and no call back. I kept trying until I managed to catch her on the phone . Of course, she gave the story that she was busy (travelling to Texas, moving, internet woes yada yada) but agreed to have the photographer contact us to address the problem. We got a voicemail message from R.S. a few days later who basically told us we had the pictures we requested. From there--NOTHING. Additional calls and emails to Paula were fruitless; Sungold has been totally unresponsive. Moral of the story: Paula and Damien may be good photographers, but R.S. is probably better at taking passport pictures or being assigned the assistant photographer role (i.e., taking pictures of the flowers and setting etc). But based on my experience I wouldn’t advise trusting him on the big day with the important shots. He doesn’t strike me as a professional wedding photographer or an experienced one at that. For example, we had a breaktaking view of the sea from atop a hill (at Firefly), but somehow managed to assemble everyone at the precise spot so as to miss the view. Stuff like this, you can’t redo later. I found Paula very accessible by email and by phone when we were booking and when she was collecting our payment. But once you have a problem with one of her photographers—she’ll give you good talk (if you manage to reach her then), but don’t plan on getting anything rectified. This was kinda frustrating. Meanwhile back at the ranch, hubby and I are stuck with our crappy portraits. We had to solicit pictures from friends (that’s how we got a pic for the Thank You card) and we still don’t have a good wedding portrait. It would have been nice to have--for the $$$ we spent. It still makes us a bit upset/sad when we think of it, but we have our memories and a happy married life ahead to contend with so, we try to keep it all in perspective. Nevertheless, we wish you better photography luck!

hi, destination wedding in Jamaica on Jan 16. Lots of fun, fun, fun!!!