I've waited a long time to leave a review, because I was so mad and disappointed at the finished product we we're delivered after our wedding, and wanted to insure I was leaving a fair evaluation.
First off, I do appreciate the price point of Inspire Film Studios. 10 hours of photography for $1499 was a great price (how can you beat that?). What I didn't like was that we were given 323 pictures in the final product, including family, decorations, guest during reception, and duplicate pictures. I cannot hold them accountable because our contract did not specify the exact number of pictures we would be given, but ask any other photography company and they will tell you 600+ pictures for that amount of time. I also did not appreciate James just telling us there are no more pictures to give us and he cannot just make pictures appear out of thin air. Specifically we were asking about pictures they took that my husband and I posed for with family and friends during our reception (one picture in particular was when James had to take the picture twice after changing equipment).
I did appreciate that they were on time to begin family photos prior to our ceremony. However, they severely lack experience directing large groups (mind you I did not have bridesmaid/groomsmen), it was just mine and my husband family. James and Brittany did not speak up or walk over to reposition people to insure everyone was un-obstructed in the family photos (feel free to head to my FB page and check out my background/wallpaper photo. This is the ONLY photo we received with the two families together. Did you notice the glare spot in the center of the photo on my nephews hand? Yep, that's part of the finished product we received, yet they tout about "color correction" as part of the package price?)
I emailed James a copy of my "must have" pictures 2 weeks prior to our wedding; this is a photographers main job! Capture what is on this list at minimum. The final product did not include all my must have's (the rings, my bouquet, boutonnière's, first look, many of these were left out of the final package). Although we witnessed many of these being captured.
After our wedding we inquired about the timeline to receive our finished product and were told 2 weeks. Then as we continued to check in they seemed annoyed at us and stated the most photographers take 6 months to get wedding photos back. While that may be true, I should point out James is the one who gave us the 2 week time frame.
There are many more problems/issues, including our 6min wedding "video" that took 3 months to receive and was poor quality.
We reached out to James requesting an in person meeting, and he declined to meet with us to discuss our concerns.
In the end we received a partial refund, but this does not bring back the missing pictures (which we watched them take), or the fact that we can't get that day back. It has taken me a long time to even look at the pictures because what I see when I look at them is tainted with the aftermath in dealing with James. I felt as though he had our money and could not longer be bothered with insuring we were satisfied with his product.
When my husband and I are old and our memories fade these pictures are the only thing that will remind us of the best day of our life.
For those brides researching wedding photographers: be sure to ask for a full portfolio- including large groups. And remember with Inspire Film Studio: you get what you pay for. read more