Shannon Cunningham Photography

I am writing this letter to inform you that I had a very negative experience with a photographer in the Austin, Texas area while trying to plan my recent wedding. Having lived in Austin for 7+ years, I know this photographer is well-known in our region, however, I do not feel that this vendor demonstrates the core values and beliefs that a professional wedding photographer should embody. For this reason, I would like to share my experience with you: My fiancé and I booked our wedding photography services with Shannon Cunningham in January of 2011 for our December 10, 2011 wedding. Upon our initial meeting, Shannon and I got along very well, and I was excited to be working with a photographer whom I had “blog-followed” for years! I attempted to e-mail Shannon 2 months later in March to set-up my bridal portrait shoot for October. While I admit this was far in advance, I needed to request time off from work and my Mom needed to arrange travel into Austin from Houston. After receiving a short response from Shannon Cunningham, I e-mailed her again that month and received no response. I e-mailed her again in May (no response) and again in June. I finally received a response in June and I quickly responded to her again. No response was received from this point forward. After having a heart-to-heart with my fiancé, we decided that we were not comfortable spending a large portion of our budget on a vendor who would not respond to us in a timely manner. I contacted Shannon Cunningham in August to let her know that we would no longer be working with her due to Shannon’s poor communication, and to see if we would be able to recoup any portion of our substantial deposit back. Shannon was unprofessional (in my opinion) at this point and demanded to know if we could just “not afford her photography skills” anymore and insinuated that it was not her fault that we could no longer afford her services. This was not the issue – my fiancé and I simply were uncomfortable working with someone who would not respond back to us after repeated attempts to contact her. In the end, we canceled our contract with Shannon Cunningham and booked the services of a young, up-and-coming photographer from the Houston area. At this time, we have not received our deposit back from Shannon Cunningham, nor do I think we ever will. She threatened to sue me for libel if I left online reviews regarding my experience with her. Please take to heart that what I am telling you is the full truth – there are no exaggerations contained in this letter. I simply wished to inform you that this particular vendor does not (in my opinion) embody grace, kindness, or goodness as demonstrated with our experience with her.

Shannon was a complete dear to work with. Everything from our engagement shoot to bridal portraits and day of were just amazing. So down to earth, and easy to work with - she had all our ideas ready and waiting to be executed. I would more than recommend her to anyone in Austin looking for a wedding, or family photographer.

It is hard to sum up in words how talented Shannon is. Her photos are breathtaking and she flawlessly captures raw emotion that when you look at the photo time and time again it takes you right back to the feeling of that moment. I could go on and on about Shannon’s talent but what we also found important in our hiring decision was how likeable she is… witty, funny, punctual, professional, PATIENT and classy. Shannon is a true artist. So likeable that you don’t even notice she is taking pictures. After the wedding, Shannon sent us a video of our wedding that was a collection of photos that summed up the whole night perfectly. It was unexpected and a fabulous surprise. We cannot wait to book future sessions with Shannon as we grow our family.

Shannon was amazing to work with! We used her services for both our wedding and engagement photos. For our engagement shoot she was able to make us feel relaxed, comfortable and happy while shooting on the coldest day of the year in Austin (it was in the 30s during the outdoor shoot!). Shannon also took our ideas and not only made them happen, but made them better than we imagined! I have received numerous compliments on our engagement and wedding pictures. Family members who were not able to attend have viewed the pictures and commented that it "felt like they were there". Which is an amazing compliment to Shannon and her ability to capture not only posed pictures but real moments and emotion as well. While the photography took up a chunk of our budget, it was money well spent. I would work with her again!