Hey Teri, thank you for taking the time to write a review. Thought it was not "glowing" I do appreciate the feedback and felt your words were fair. It allows me to continue to try to do our best at every wedding and in every circumstance.

I wanted to explain/address a few things on my end per your comments in your review. Jen (the videographer) and I were on the lawn and we both decided the best location for her was where she was before the wedding. We knew you were coming in the direction you were coming, but we anticipated that once the bridal party came from the fountain, they would come towards the lake and then turn up the aisle, which did not happen. In weddings we can guesstimate and go with knowledge we have but sometimes it is not 100% perfect due to the nature of it being a live event. In hindsight, her being right at the end of the aisle would have been a better spot, but with all the beautiful lawn, we moved her and that is why she was where she was.

I would like to also comment on the mic system: During the beginning of the wedding, we had a nasty noice come in immediately and we turned off the mic and the live sound ended up being fine. I told Jen not to use it until we could figure out what was going on. It was a newer system, and I didn't have time during the reception to work on it. We always asked each client to be as loud as they could and Jen did try to pull each guest away from the sound inside the reception, but as you mentioned, the venue in spots has echo due to the architecture.

We usually don't do a lot of panning during the reception dancing (and you would not have known to ask for this) as when it is darker as it was that night (after dark) the light on the video camera goes up to 8-10 feet max. We find focusing on clusters of people dancing is preferred and that is the way I ask the videographers shoot. Beyond the 1st dances, and toasts shot mostly in their entirety except when we need to move, we shoot 5-10 second captions of people dancing... sometimes with the crazy fun parts of the night (like during Sweet Caroline at the end of the night) we try to get in the mix and shoot more. We try to focus on the fun and interesting stuff. For instance, during the time when your guests could dance with you and your husband: She did right by getting 5-7 seconds of you dancing with different individuals. The alternative would be shooting for 7 minutes straight panning left to right and we feel it looks more like a ship rocking when one shoots like that.

Lastly, if you are having a lot of problems with the dvd sticking, pausing, etc, please call me and mail the dvd back. It says in the note, "If you are having severe problems to please let us know and we will take the dvd back to the duplication house to be sure it is burned correctly and there are no imperfections on it." Sometimes it is a problem in the burn or literally with the exact dvd.

***All dvds are not compatible with all dvd players... not sure why this is, but when we burn the dvd here on our computer, we then take it to a duplication house where they burn it to a "more universal" dvd and they burn on a really hi-tech burner like real movies (for lack of a better word) to minimize this but sometimes there could be a bad dvd in the batch, etc. I would be happy to take it back and have them redo. We used to have 1 out of 10 have a problem before we did the extra step/cost of the duplication house, but now we rarely hear this problem.... maybe 1 in 50 or 60? So please let me know if it is excessive.

I am sad you are not super happy. I know with video as with photography, we are really clear on what we can offer as it is a live situation. I truly appreciate your comments and thank you for taking the time to do it. Please mail the dvd's back if you would like us to have them checked. This is the first I have heard from you that they are having a problem.

Please call me if you would like to talk further.
Thanks much and I hope you are enjoying married life thus far! :)

When I met with the client in question, I boldly stated that she must start on time if she wanted to pay for 1.5 hours.  She agreed.  I did not have it written on my contract that I would work for free beyond that time frame.  Unfortunately, the client paid me to work from 4:30 to 6pm.  She walked down the aisle @ 6:10pm instead of 5pm which was the original start time. This was ten minutes after I was to leave per the contract .  She KNEW she would accrue extra charges if she had me stay longer per our original meeting conversation.  When I left @ 7:30 pm, I told them I was going to charge for the extra 1.5 hours and they agreed.  I mentioned to the groom before the wedding (at about 5:50) that I obviously was going to need to stay longer and he agreed.

I have photographed just about every different ethnicity and have enjoyed every event.  I treat every client with respect and dignity and expect it in return as found in any NORMAL business relationship.  I go above and beyond the photographer's duty when necessary. For example: This particular bride needed help getting her vail on as she was having trouble, so I put down my camera and helped her and also picked flakes off of her forehead.  She vented to me on her wedding day about how she was late getting down the aisle because she and her maid of honor had had a rather large fight.  (using nice words not hers)

In almost ten years, I have never had this problem while shooting other intimate weddings or weddings where the client wanted to only pay for a small amount of time.  They all know that they are paying by the hour per my pricing sheet and our discussions.  The contract states the start time and the end time.  I always verbally talk with them about extending as I would never trap someone into using me longer than they want to.  About 10% of the weddings we cover go over and they all understand that when they extend their time, they will need to pay for it and they do.

The poor content comment:  please feel free to view the pictures on my website:  (They will be online for a few more months)
goto: www.adamsvideography.com
click on view/buy photos
the password is daryharr

You will see that I did a great job of capturing the event as well as I could with the time that I had.  Unfortunately, the only thing READY for the first 45 minutes were the chairs, the florals, the cake, the tables, etc.  I did attempt to visit the bride @ 4:30 and at 5, and at 5:30 and she was still in her undergarments until 6pm.  I also went to the groom's room a few times, and actually photographed him getting his jacket on, but not until after 5pm.  For the first half hour, the only person ready to be photographed was the ring bearer.  How could I have photographed pictures from our check sheet per her comments when the bride and/or groom were supposed to be in every shot but neither were ready?  I was able to photograph the flower girl (the bride's daughter) after she was ready at 5:15.  She is smiling and was sweet and fun to photograph.  Unfortunately, she was not as happy after the wedding.  I offered her stickers and she did have a more pleasant smile in some of the pictures.  I cannot as photographer be responsible for someone else's demeanor.  I am upbeat and friendly while taking the pictures. The bridal party is not looking down at their feet as she states.  

During the formal portraits, the groups I called for and posed are looking as when you view the pictures you can see this!  I did do a 2nd position for all the bridal party on steps and they were not as responsive to me but I was calling out for them all to look.  We did attempt a shot of all the bridal party on the street, but I told her after we came off the street, that it was a busy street and it was not blocked off, and cars were coming and it would not work out. Furthermore it was LATE and she would not smile as you can see at that point as she was mad at her husband for giving gifts to the groomsmen during time when we could have been taking photographs.

There are SEVERAL shots of the bride and groom alone.  There are 42 images online for her to choose from.  She is smiling or is being kissed in 32 of them.  At the venue, there are several lovely spots to shoot from, however, I chose the best spot to shoot the majority of the formal portraits for several reasons.  It is a pretty spot with steps for small or larger groups, as well as free of guests and in the shade.  In years past when I have shot there, I usually shoot in that same spot. All she had to do was ask, and I would have explained why I shot in that spot and we could have tried to find an alternate location.  

The contract never stated I would be bringing a second photographer as she states and that was never discussed or offered.  It would not have helped anyway as the initial and only problem was that the bride was over an hour late getting down the aisle.

When I left her wedding they seemed content. The groom was a delight to work with all evening, and quite frankly the bride was pleasant most of the time. There was a few times when she was upset that they were behind on the timeline and was upset that the photography was cutting into the eating time.

Where she describes she "discussed her concerns" with me:  She sent a very nasty email which shocked me as I thought she would have been happy with her final product. Before I could respond back to her email, she called me and she proceeded to literally SCREAM at me for 20 minutes.  She says in her review that I spoke over her:  I did correct her when she contradicted herself:  She had asked why I would take pictures of her when she was not smiling. She stated she was not smiling because she knew I was going to be charging her for the extra time.  

During this conversation, I also asked her to lower her tone about 4 times or that I would need to hang up until we could have a more normal business call.  When I did hang up, she called me back, and left a threatening message stating she was going to get in her car and come to my home on my voicemail.   I then called the local police department, and they came and took care of the matter.  She stated she was going to take me to court to get the stuff she did not pay for.  I told her I would see her in court.  What else can I do with a client like this? I never stated I would take her to court.

Her final resolution to "the matter" she created was for me to give her everything and receive nothing in return beyond the payment for the first 1.5 hours. My resolution was more than fair: I offered her an extra half hour for free so she could at least get the pictures thru the wedding on cd and she doesn't have to pay for anything more but she would not be getting anything else for free either. I also offered her the ability to purchase whatever prints she wants online for the last hour of posed photography but would not be giving her the copyrights as she did not pay for this time.  A 4x6 is only $2, and an 8x10 is only $10.  She can purchase what she wants and the she does not need to pay for the "bad pictures".  She should be thankful, but instead she is continuing this nastiness and went on this website.  Ironically she placed an order for $90+ dollars last week and ordered several BEAUTIFUL pictures.

She also wrote, "I feel that this issue began because I initially booked her for videography as well but cancelled to take on another vendor who provided more for my money."  I actually collected a deposit for video from her when she originally chose my company and when she changed her mind, I APPLIED that $100 towards her final photography bill.  Again, instead of being thankful, she is twisting the facts and making it another issue.  

Wedding wire has refused to pull down this post because I actually was her photographer, and all posts that ANYONE has ever posted are on here. The only time we have ever had someone not happy is when they want something for free or wanted to get out of a contract and I am sorry, especially in this economy, people want to be paid for the hard work they do.

I strive to make every client is happy as I go above and beyond. My clients MUST be reasonable with their expectations as well.  

Always My Best,
Jen Adams
Jen Adams & Associates, Inc.