Neither my husband and I are from the Chicago area so we had to do a lot of research and emailing, but we finally selected Maha Studios for our traditional two-day South Asian wedding. It started off okay. Zainab was difficult to meet with and seemed unwilling to work around anything but her own schedule. We eventually met once, very briefly, to discuss what I wanted. She seemed aloof and only interested in the large wedding she was shooting the next day. Things turned south when I sent Zainab an Instagram with poses that I liked. She seemed to think I was saying I liked the style, and even when I told her I actually liked the poses and just wanted to use them as a frame of reference, she wouldn't let it go. She suggested I get a new photographer. It was so close to my wedding that I felt locked in. I reassured her of what I actually meant and hoped for the best. (After we got the pictures and videos I confronted Zainab and asked her about this situation. She confirmed that I had offended her and she chose to stay silent on the issue rather than discuss with me. She confirmed that she is a very emotional person and cannot take criticism. I was shocked at this revelation because as a professional I thought I could come to her with my suggestions and get feedback from her. She is, after all, the professional here. Not me. I firmly believe that this was, in part, the reason why my wedding photos turned out so poorly. I believe that she held a personal grudge against me for daring to suggest something outside her line of thinking so she essentially sabotaged her work).
During my wedding weekend Zainab showed up with her crew and took pictures. My family welcomed her with open arms and offered her and the crew food and drink every other minute (as we usually do). Zainab seemed upset, aloof, and not interested in being there. My sisters commented that she seemed to have an exasperated attitude. Thinking that maybe she was in work mode, I happily went about my wedding weekend and looked forward to getting back my pictures. Zainab even sent me a few examples and they were beautiful so I was really excited. When I got the email saying my pictures were ready, I looked through them immediately. And then I looked through them again, and again, and again. I was in shock. The pictures had turned out so badly. The lighting was flat and the pictures all had a grayish tinge to them. It looked like no editing had occurred. There were flares of light in nearly every single picture. There were no full length pictures of my husband and me from either day. There were hundreds of candid shots of people hugging so you couldn't see their faces or with their backs to the camera. Out of 2,000+ pictures, I could barely select 130 pictures to include in an album. I even asked if I could back out of the album, but when Zainab said she would only give me a pittance, I decided to go ahead with it (side note: be aware that the album you are buying is not from an outside company, it is through Zainab). I thought I was being overly critical, but after my entire family, my husband's family, close friends, and coworkers had seen the photos and had nothing to say for them, I knew that my wedding pictures had turned out badly.
Things turned from bad to worse when I tried to talk to Zainab about my pictures. I was told that if I didn't like the photos it was my fault because my wedding was disorganized and everything was behind schedule. I fully admitted to Zainab that we had to cut short our photo shoot during the wedding, but it still did not explain the low quality of the pictures that she did manage to take. Zainab disrespected my family and our wedding planner (with whom she has an ongoing working relationship with). Zainab told me that she showed up and did the best she could under the circumstances and that there was nothing she could do about it. I was made to feel like a criminal and totally at fault for the low quality of my pictures. She also made me second guess my wedding, which I worked hard to make beautiful and fun for all of my family and friends. It seems like she was unable to handle any critique or comment on her work.
I experienced the same issues with my trailer and full length wedding video. Zainab's videographer insulted my younger brother's speech by saying it wasn't emotional enough (as an explanation for why I was not moved by the first draft of my trailer). When I asked for raw footage of my wedding, I was told no without so much as a reason (I was willing to pay for it). (Another note - This studio has only been doing videography for one year which we were not aware of and would have influenced our decision immensely).
It is truly an honor to be asked to step into the most private, intimate, and important day of a couple's life to document it. These are the pictures and videos your children will see, that your spouse and you will watch to relive the glory days. You should be sure and trust your photographer. read more
