We originally went through JB Photography because the price was unbeatable and our budget was tight. Unfortunately, we soon found out why the price was so “right” (the price has now gone up since we signed in 2016. Expected but maybe not earned...). Upon meeting with Janalee, we initially found that the flow for the day-of that she runs her wedding shoots by was exactly what we were looking for. The sample pictures she had out were impressive, so we signed that day. We were made aware that she, herself, had already been booked for a different wedding, but she assured us that her employee,
Katherine, would do just as well.
Fast forward to engagement pictures, the first time we ever met Katherine. She turned out to be a wonderful and personable person; we were elated. Unfortunately, we found out she didn’t make us feel as comfortable in front of the camera as promised. Having intimate photos taken of oneself is not a very comfortable or normal experience for most, so it’s important to have that direction and rapport between photographer and client that we soon found was lacking. Regardless, we got some pretty great photos back and were fairly pleased with the final outcome, lack of direction or no.
As we got closer to the wedding, I started following up with my vendors and getting so many quick responses from everyone but Janalee. It sometimes took days for an answer, which could be chalked up to the busy wedding season, but was never an excuse any of our other vendors used. The lack of correspondance on their part made me feel as if we weren’t worth their time. As a bride, that is such an unsettling feeling to have.
My biggest grievance is something I should have been more wary of after the engagement shoot. Even though Katherine is a very sweet person, we found that she lacked the ability to command the photographic sessions one would ideally want from their wedding. Although I appreciated that maybe she was trying to respect what I wanted, what I really wanted most was to be told what to do for photos so that we wouldn’t miss out on the memories. I wanted to trust in a photographer’s instinct and experience to get those classic shots. I didn’t want the burden or responsibility of creating the atmosphere I had entrusted her with, but that’s what happened. For example, I had to tell her I wanted photos of my accessories, my dress, the venue, when I thought those were pretty standard photos to take. We missed out on cute getting ready pictures because we weren’t told to get our matching robes on for a picture...my bridal party didn’t get those quintessential photos of goofing off because we weren’t directed to once the formal ones were taken. And at the time I was so preoccupied, I wasn’t even thinking about asking for them, which I truly believe a bride shouldn’t have to do anyway.
My final issue was when I got the photos back. It seemed none of them were edited, when I know this to be untrue as that is the purpose of lag time before getting them back. Maybe I had too high of standards, but I legitimately had to edit the photos with my own software for two, 2-hour long sessions, before I was comfortable sharing them with family and friends. When I showed my best friend the before and afters of my personal editing, she was stunned that I had to make so many changes on these “professional” photos.
All in all, we were not happy with our experience with JB. It was too much hassle for even the price we paid.