Akil Bennett Photography Reviews
Reviews
4.7 out of 5 rating
4.7 out of 5 rating
22 Reviews
95% recommend it
Awards
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![Amily]()
Amily Sent on 01/29/2021Great for engagement photos!
We worked with Akil on our engagement photos. He produced incredible photos and made us feel so comfortable! We typically don't take a lot of photos so worried about the photo shoot and looking or feeling awkward. After meeting with Akil we were immediately at ease and had such a fun time during our shoot! I would definitely work with him again, and if we were getting married in Texas, would hire him for the wedding! -
Allison Sent on 07/13/2018Akil was so wonderful to work with throughout our engagement photos, bridals and of course: our wedding day! Akil is not only super friendly, but also extremely talented. My husband Eric and I were so blown away by our photos and how Akil was able to capture our love in perfect lighting with perfect backgrounds :) I highly recommend him and always enjoy seeing his work!
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User2125287 Sent on 05/10/2015Working with Akil was such a pleasure for our engagement photos, rehearsal dinner, and entire wedding process. He exudes a calmness that is directly transferred to his subjects, causing a fun and enjoyable photographing experience. We all loved having Akil around on such a crazy day, because he brought such positivity to a somewhat stressful and crazy environment. His photos are absolutely beautiful, and we received so many compliments after day one when the engagement photos came out. We are so excited for our wedding photo book! Definitely use Akil if you have the chance! -
User2197329 Sent on 06/25/2015We picked Akil because his wedding photo examples had a spontaneous spark that captured everyone's excitement and enjoyment of the wedding. Akil captured our wedding perfectly. The photos were flawless and he directed everyone in the portraits so it looked great but still not staged. Akil and Christin captured every detail and special moment perfectly! So glad we chose him because we love our photos and couldn't imagine them turning out better! -
![Ally]()
Ally C. Sent on 05/02/2022WARNING! We Do Not Recommend Akil.
We do not recommend Akil as a wedding or engagement shoot photographer, and I am writing this review to warn other brides.
• Thursday February 24 – I wrote Akil an email checking in about booking an engagement shoot with him since we had paid our deposit and I figured his weekends in May were getting full.
• Saturday February 26 – Akil wrote back asking about May 7th
• Saturday February 26 – I said May 7th would be great and asked about having a call a head of time to confirm the details.
• Thursday March 3 – Akil asked about having a call the next day.
• Tuesday March 8th – Followed up about a call on a different day asking about his availability this week or next.
• Thursday April 29th – Had not heard from Akil and asked about a call since our engagement shoot was supposedly agreed for the May 7th and we had no real plan in place.
• Monday May 2nd – Still had not heard from Akil and the shoot was going to be this week. I emailed Akil and called him trying to follow up. My finance sent him a text and he texted him back right away that we were scheduled for May 7th at 8am but would need, to get a permit to shoot a Rice. Both the 8am and permit were surprises for us and 8am would not work for getting ready in the morning.
Bottom line: We should never have had to initiate a discussion regarding our engagement shoot or follow up with Akil to get a plan in place. His lack of communication and organization was unprofessional. When I pressed him about his lack of communication to plan our engagement shoot, he told me that he doesn’t do that kind of hand holding with his brides. We have since fired him as our photographer, knowing that if this is how he treats engagement shoots, we can’t rely on him to be communicative and organized for our wedding.
As a previous professional photographer, I know what good service looks like: reliable, communicative, and organized to capture the clients’ vision and keep them informed of expectations. While his photos are beautiful, there are photographers in the Houston area that provide a much better experience. If you are considering Akil, save yourself some stress and look elsewhere.
Akil Bennett Photography's reply:
As a busy wedding photographer that primarily photographs weddings/events on the weekend, I’m not always able to respond to emails received at the end of the week right away. I typically do my best to respond them at the beginning of the next week. I’ll admit that I’m not always perfect at doing this during the busy wedding season. It is something that I can work at.
This review is a little misleading as it does not contain all the previous communication received through text, along with a phone call that I rather not discuss thoroughly publicly. It is my understanding that the preferred location, along with information about general times for engagement sessions was discussed through text messages previously. When I communicated with the client to confirm location/time, which I had in my notes, and inquired on if she would still like to move forward with her preferred location (location requires a permit…simply wanted to confirm and then book the time through their online portal) along with another option (which does not require a permit/fee, that might also be a good fit) I was a little surprised at how quickly the relationship deteriorated.
I’ve never seen a relationship decline that quickly in my 15 years of photographing weddings. I’ve never raised my voice, spoken condescendingly or have been openly rude to a client. When I called to confirm details at the beginning of the week for the shoot, I was genuinely shocked and truthfully never expected the conversation would go the way it went. While I’m sorry things didn’t work out and wish this could have ended differently, I wholeheartedly believe that in some situations a split is for the best for both parties. I wish her all the best in finding the right photographer that is the best fit for her wedding.
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