Captured Memories Photography by Nathan Weist

After reviewing about 20 photographers online, I ended up choosing Nathan based upon his portfolio and reviews. Nathan's portfolio is filled with beautiful, artistic, and nature driven photos. Additionally, Nathan said he was very familiar with my venue, Raystown Lake Resort. Nathan arrived the day of early and set to work. He has a friendly and casual demeanor and overall was pleasant to work with. He does make up nicknames for people throughout the day and chose the nickname "Baldy" for our Best Man, which multiple people found rude. He says he uses nicknames because it's easier to remember then names. When I received my photos back, I was very surprised and disappointed. In many photos, there are large poles, banisters, or railings front and center in the frame. At times, my bouquet was even covered by them; at times I was partially covered by them! I'm unclear why Nathan would pose us this way. There was plenty of space to avoid that. When I raised this concern to Nathan, he said it was "his signature style" which I did not see any of in his portfolio. Prior to the big day, Nathan had said he was so happy we weren't getting married by the marina because it's just a big boat parking lot. Welp, guess where he "scouted" our photoshoot to be. I am unclear why, in a park of 9k+ beautiful acers, Nathan chose to take most of our photos in a boat parking lot, especially after he expressed relief that we weren't getting married there. Additionally, Nathan's frames were often crooked/off centered, but not in an intentional way. Overall, I was really disappointed with the photos. I was downright shocked and heart broken; I legitimately feel like I could have framed the photos better, albeit Nathan does have a very high-quality camera. I would not recommend Nathan based on my experience. I did share these concerns with him, and he pretty much denied all of my feelings and opinions but did end up editing a few photos to correct and sending me a partial refund (without me asking for one, so that was nice). I think Nathan certainly has the ability, but it seems like maybe he has too much on his plate. He also owns his own wedding venue and has an infant. He was so busy that he was not able to take a phone call with me to discuss my concerns post wedding; he insisted it had to be through email. Lastly, Nathan informed me later that he was colorblind. This was surprising to hear for a photographer and could explain why there was a disconnect between some of our opinions.