Steve was the main photographer for a large social event-doing the main, prepaid portraits of approximately 20 college students, and close to 100 young students aged 4-14. Also he was responsible for shots of each and every event leading up to the main "social". Almost 99% of the families involved had members photographed in past years so we knew what to expect. For myself, this was our 4th trip to the rodeo, in addition my third involvement with the older group.
Pro:Steve is very nice, interested in pleasing everyone and knows his craft.
Cons: kept saying he "always photographed X" and therefore he automatically knew what we expected.
Results: for my individual shot, Steve took over 20 shots of my son (age 12) but only after 10 did *I* realize his shirt and bow tie were crooked, had to fix, and those were included in my choices. Previous photographers had made sure my daughter/son were perfect and those weren't counted as options. We were required to choose a particular pose for the program, and that limited things further.
Upon finding an acceptable one, but requesting it be cropped so my son's head would be centered in the shot (both vertically and horizontally), that was done. However, my handsome son was now photoshopped to have perfect skin with a model finish and bright blue eyes (they are lt blue grey), rosy cheeks and kissable lips. ????
Remember I said I also assisted with the college students photographs. These are of young ladies in white gowns, and the best backgrounds are classic. Photography inside a classic hotel, house, or the Capitol is very possible (and has been done for decades) but requires someone who looks at everything. Mothers complained about chandeliers growing out of heads and plants growing out of sides. Now, once Steve was faced with those who openly pointed out each of these issues he worked hard to accommodate many changes--he just didn't see the overall picture from the beginning, and seemed to have some challenges setting up classical settings as choices. Sometimes the background limits your options, but I was at this same house for two sessions and after the second mother pointed out issues the three of us (Steve, mother and I) found much better options.
Setup shots and group shots of at least one special group event included shots where people had to finally tell him to go away. He didn't seem to realize what shots weren't needed at all (someone not yet in makeup and in rollers!!) For a wedding that might be fine because only family sees those shots but for us everyone in the very large group sees everything :)
The worst was: when presented with an issue: "I'll just send it overseas to photoshop it out". The price paid for a premium photographer for an entire event is to get the know-how to prevent things like this. Or the skill set to Photoshop it *yourself* and tweak things very carefully. Yes the industry trend (and trend for everything ) is to send it overseas. However, we "bought and paid for" the skill set to do it yourself, or at least tweak the really important things so that *must*be kept in mind.
If that had been done, maybe my son wouldn't look like he was ready for pre-teen magazine.
Overall:maybe a good photographer for cookie cutter shots, or when one family works with him like a wedding, but definitely not recommended for "mixed groups". read more
