Celena R. Sent on 04/13/2020
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Quality of service
3.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time
5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism
5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value
3.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility
5.0 out of 5 rating
Wedding/ engagement shoot
His engagement photo shoot was phenomenal so we hired him for our wedding. We were very disappointed in the wedding photos, however. He did not have an assistant with him, (which we paid for) so we had to ask the best man to help assist him, instead of enjoying the cocktail hour. He was rushed to leave to another shoot, so he was rushing through our photos, not remembering to get all of the family photos with parents, step- children etc. We are now missing some integral wedding photos with our elderly parents. The background on our wedding photos was horrible, we were on a cliff side location with panoramic ocean views and none of the wedding party have any of those views in our photos. He took all of the wedding party photos in an enclosed pool side location. There’s over exposure in some of the pictures. There were rolled up rugs and boxes on the side of some our photos, he didn’t bother to crop out before sending them to us. Wedding photo results were very unprofessional overall, I was very sad, it makes me want to cry just remembering it.
His engagement photo shoot was phenomenal so we hired him for our wedding. We were very disappointed in the wedding photos, however. He did not have an assistant with him, (which we paid for) so we had to ask the best man to help assist him, instead of enjoying the cocktail hour. He was rushed to leave to another shoot, so he was rushing through our photos, not remembering to get all of the family photos with parents, step- children etc. We are now missing some integral wedding photos with our elderly parents. The background on our wedding photos was horrible, we were on a cliff side location with panoramic ocean views and none of the wedding party have any of those views in our photos. He took all of the wedding party photos in an enclosed pool side location. There’s over exposure in some of the pictures. There were rolled up rugs and boxes on the side of some our photos, he didn’t bother to crop out before sending them to us. Wedding photo results were very unprofessional overall, I was very sad, it makes me want to cry just remembering it.
Matthew Reiter Photography's reply:
Hi Celena! I'm really sorry that this is the first time that I'm hearing about this from you. I'll do my best to go through and address some of your concerns that you've mentioned hopefully to clear things up from my end.
First off your contract was for one photographer. Nowhere on there does it say that I'd have a second shooter or assistant provided. Yes I did ask your son if he'd like to assist (for your romantics only) and he was more than happy to help out.
I was at no point "rushed" to get to another shoot. If you recall I actually stayed at your wedding 20-30 minutes overtime (at no additional charge to you) just because you wanted more pictures with friends in front of your hallway backdrop. I can confirm this with photo timestamps if you like. I did not have another shoot after yours. I kept asking "Are there any more shots you want" even though you were already overtime, which again was me just being nice and trying to go above and beyond.
As far as timing was concerned with the wedding, you were over an hour late due to not liking your hair/makeup and having to have it re-done. I was forced to completely change our original photography schedule due to this fact. If you recall you literally got into your dress 10 minutes before the ceremony started. Any photos that were scheduled to be completed during that time weren't possible and that wasn't my fault or your fault, it just was the way things turned out. Please don't blame me though.
The cliffside was a nice spot for the wedding. However everything in photos is determined by direction of light, time of day, and setting. The sun being low in the sky and close to the water made anything pointing in that direction very bright due to reflections. That has nothing to do with gear or skill, just timing/time of day/time of year/direction of sun, etc. I've done plenty of beach weddings and engagement shoots, you are at the mercy of the environment.
The wedding party photos were taken where I was able to set people up so that they would be in shade and I would be able to use a palm tree to block out the overpowering direct light behind you. Without doing so the amount of light entering my lens would have completely blown out your shots. The spots I chose were based on the situation/location/lighting and my experience with over 250 weddings under my belt to get you the best possible shots given your situation.
And yes there are rugs and boxes rolled up in the corners of some of your photos. You and your bridal party did not clean or prep your room for photos in any way. I still moved couches and tables and food trays as best as possible to clear space. That wasn't my job but I still pitched in to try and get you the best photos possible. Again I was trying to be helpful.
As far as photo groupings are concerned you did not provide me with a shot list of "must have" photos, so I kept asking you "Are there any other groupings you want?" I did that over and over until you told me we were good. I did not miss any shots because I always went back and asked what other photos you wanted, so if you failed to tell me you wanted a specific shot then please don't blame me because our schedule changed after you were an hour late for pictures.
The quality of your photos is amazing. Your veil shot on the ocean is incredible, so much so that you even have it on your Instagram as your main pic. It hurts my feelings that you think I wasn't going above and beyond on your wedding day, because I was. At no point did I ever slow down or not give 110%. I know that it was a stressful day for you because of your hair/makeup situation, but if you saw it through my eyes I think you'd have a completely different idea of what actually got accomplished. Please know that I'm here for you if I can help out in any way moving forward, so please don't hesitate to reach out.
All the best,
Matt
