Disappointing Photos...

They certainly aren't horrible, but this was a $3,500 award winning photographer who is in many many publications and has a body of work on her website that is, well....award winning. These photos just seem ordinary.

Hi, Beth! How many hours of photography did you hire? That makes a difference regarding how many photos you get. The one with the green spot might be fixable.

Regarding everything else... I don't think your photographer could have done much about how people looked like (you not looking happy, the groom squinting, etc). And the people who were missing - if you didn't give your photographer a list of "must-have" with specific family members/friends, they wouldn't have been able to know. For what is worth, I think you look quite nice and the photos do look professionally taken/edited. Congratulations on your wedding!

Did you see other galleries of hers, full weddings? You can have an award winning photographer and still have average pictures with one or 2 stunning ones.

For a 3500 award winning photog yes I think you should've gotten better.

Sorry i really don't want to sound like an asshole but you wanted pictures of yourself "looking happy" while getting ready but, you did know that you had a photog there, you should've smiled a little more. I think your pictures look fine and your wedding looked beautiful.

A few examples of her work...

http://tabmccausland.com/orlando-hilton-wedding-marc-court/

http://tabmccausland.com/falcons-fire-wedding-pretty-pastels/

http://tabmccausland.com/eagle-creek-orlando-wedding/

They're not the worst by any means. Just not really what I expected based on her site-published work.

FWIW - my photog was great huffpost, top in madison etc, but there are some pics I look terrible in, that just happens. Here, enjoy this one. seriously wtf is this.

ETA: those links are her blog and not a full wedding you probably have an equal number of really stunning shots

Is it possible that those couples paid for more editing. It's clear that their photos have more editing than yours, but that could be because of different packages. Plus, those aren't their whole albums, just a group of the best pictures of the day.

I will say, Emmy, that your profile photo is STUNNING.

I think you could take 10-15 of your photos and make a blog that looks like those. You have some great shots. The whole album isn't going to be great no matter who you get to photograph. And blogs only include the best of the best.

There are two things I see in the other weddings that do look different: (1) there are more pics of the bride, either close-ups or posing her differently, and (2) she used a few filters that she didn't use with yours. The second one is easy to fix - select a few photos and ask her to edit them with said filters, to get the same look. Your photographer should be able to do this easily.

Regarding the other point... why didn't you say something during the photo shoot? I asked for specific stuff during my wedding day, and my photographer was always happy to do them (a few pics of just my brother and I, close-ups of my dad's handkerchief, etc). Same with the pics of your friends - it's unfortunate that she didn't take these pics, but maybe it would have helped for you to ask her right then.

As for requesting things like close ups, I guess I just didn't think of it. I've had friends that got married and didn't ask their photogs for those things, their photogs had a standard set that produced ample photos with bridesmaids, families, etc. etc. - I know at least two of my friends didn't have to ask for every single pose or enough of families to get a good shot, because I asked them after getting this album...

I would agree that her work is inferior to other $3500 photogs I've come across. Did you ever tell us whether there was a 2nd shooter? $3500 for just one shooter is REALLY pricey. Like O&S said, not every picture is going to be amazing. But I think your photos are on par with the rest of her work, and you definitely got some good shots!

Thank you all for being kind with my grumpiness and your kind comments - I know some are nice!

No second shooter, not even an assistant or something...

This was an 8 hour shoot.

I just looked through all of them and thought they were beautiful. Sorry you weren't happy with them though.

@Beth: I know, it's hard to stay on top of everything with all that happens during the day... getting ready, making sure the dress looks perfect and you like your hair and makeup, making sure everyone got their bouquet, rushing to be on time, etc. I forgot/didn't notice tons of things as well :/ but I'm guessing it's probably the same for photographers - unless a specific look is on their list, maybe she didn't realize she didn't take enough close-ups of you before moving on to your first look, etc.

I think if you have teh budget left, it would be worth it to have a *professional* album made. Not a Shutterfly album. But a high quality professional album. You have some great shots that if arranged well, will show your story beautifully.

I think that is what these galleries do that you are possibly missing. You're seeing some extra editing and hand-picked pictures, one great one after another telling a story perfectly. When you have ALL the photos from a photographer, it doesn't work that way. And that's why albums are great. It's worth finishing your investment in this case and having an album. It might close the loop and give you a finished product that you'll be a lot happier with.