Shelby Phillips Photography Reviews
Reviews
4.7 out of 5 rating
4.7 out of 5 rating
25 Reviews
94% recommend it
Awards
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![Morgan]()
Morgan Sent on 10/14/2022The most beautiful pictures and experience!
We booked Shelby after finding her via Wedding Wire and checking out her Instagram and website portfolio. Initially, we were going to use her for the proposal but due to timing ended up using her for our engagement photos. Shelby was incredibly sweet and responsive throughout our communication. No question was too small, and she helped us solidify our location based on the vibe we were looking for.
On the day of our pictures, Shelby was very good at helping us relax and ensuring we had fun. We were both a little nervous as we didn't know what to expect but the time went by so quickly, and our photo session was so fun and romantic. Shelby is hilarious, sweet, compassionate, and high-energy. We completely trusted her vision and we were rewarded with wonderful photos for it.
She sent over a preview incredibly fast and those pictures were gorgeous! She truly captured the essence of our relationship in her photography. We received our full album a month or so later and are so happy with how the photos turned out. Our friends and family LOVE them and were so impressed. You can genuinely feel the love jumping off the screen, as well as the overall New York energy. If we hadn't hired a photographer for our (CA) wedding by our session, we would have hands-down hired Shelby for that as well.
That being said, we look forward to taking pictures with her again! Without a doubt - hire her! You won't regret it. -
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![Kristina]()
Kristina M. Sent on 12/29/2022The Photos You Want!
Where to start with Shelby! From the moment my fiance and I first met with Shelby, we knew she was our photographer. Shelby made us feel so comfortable from our first convo and that completely transferred to when we were front and center. We felt like we had one of our best friends behind the camera and our photos show that! The day was full of joy and Shelby captured it with seeming ease. Another plus, Shelby is not afraid to take charge of the room when things need to get done but still is kind and always made us feel totally on track!! Loved our day and loved our decision to use Shelby! -
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![Jake]()
Jake E. Sent on 04/26/2022Shelby is clearly talented, communicative, and professional
We hired Shelby for our wedding in Brooklyn and undoubtedly made the best choice for photographer. She was professional, communicative, and obviously talented (her work speaks for itself!)
We chose one of her higher packages that included a second photographer so we could have our groomsmen and bridesmaids both photographed getting ready at separate locations. Throughout the event, she was like a fly on the wall, and captured so many amazing moments without us even taking notice. When our guests engaged with her, she was fun and interactive.
In the end, her photos somehow turned out better than we expected, clearly illustrating her talent and attention to detail.
We have and would highly recommend Shelby to anyone looking for a wedding photographer! -
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Mckayla L. Sent on 09/29/2022
Amazing person & photographer !!!
I met Shelby from actually working with her at a couple weddings! I loved their style overall and when I decided I wanted to get graduation photos done, she was my obvious choice! She was super flexible when planning when to do the session and willing to drive all the way out to Pennsylvania for me!! We had to reschedule a couple times due to rain, but they were open to reserving a couple dates for me in this scenario which meant a lot to me because these photos were so important to me. I didn’t get any good high school graduation photos so I needed to make up for it for college and she did not disappoint. She made sure I got everything I wanted and even spent an extra 20 or 30 minutes with me so we could get everything.
Not too long after, my boyfriend at the time hired them to do our proposal photos and I can’t speak to the planning of this, but the photos were absolutely incredible and everything I’ve ever dreamed of. And I had no idea she was there, which I feel like is even harder since we already knew each other pretty well. Overall, she is such a sweet and flexible person and amazing photographer. I couldn’t recommend them enough! -
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![Brittany]()
Brittany C. Sent on 08/22/2020Fantastic from the start!
Shelby was fantastic to work with from the start. She has a great eye for capturing those natural, tender moments. She totally worked with us even when we wanted to just be our goofy selves. Can’t imagine a better experience or better photographs. She really made us feel special (she even brought someone to watch our dog).Shelby Phillips Photography's reply:
Thank you both! Your goofiness was such a joy, and Cecilia was the perfect touch! I wish you both nothing but the best. -
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![Liana]()
Liana S. Sent on 10/30/2020The most patient COVID photographer!
Shelby was the perfect photographer. She knew exactly where to go, how to pose us, and also how to make good shots out of the candid moments. Whatever we asked her for, she was able to do, and, especially when COVID hit, she was flexible for whatever we needed. She reached out during the down times of COVID and during the "we're not sure what is happening" times. If you're looking for a photographer who will just take beautiful pictures and not make you feel awkward, this is your photographer. She will be my photographer for every big life moment to come. You should make her yours too. -
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![Corinna]()
Corinna D. Sent on 02/15/2019Engagement Photos
To be honest, I didn’t want anything elaborate for our engagement photos. I knew I would be spending a lot of money elsewhere on our wedding. I decided to check out Instagram to find someone local and Shelby was the perfect find! She exceeded our expectations by far. She knew all the best iconic spots in Dumbo. I was really nervous about the weather but she was consistently responsive and we decided to keep our original scheduled date. As soon as we started we saw the rain clouds starting to come. But she took us to about 5 of the best spots all within an hour and a half and we just missed the rain! My fiancé and I aren’t really camera people but she made us feel so comfortable from the second we met her. Got all our photos very fast and she was reasonbily priced. Would definitely recommend!Shelby Phillips Photography's reply:
Corinna, thank you so much for your kind words. You two were so lovely and the overcast worked perfectly for us! I wish you both the best, and thank you again for sharing your time with me.
Cheers,
Shelby -
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Ann-Marie P. Sent on 05/03/2019
Shelby is so much more than a photographer...
You just don't have a professional 'service' situation with Shelby; you have a relationship. She takes the time to get to know and understanding you, what brings you joy and how best to share this with the world. Her enthusiasm for capturing the moment made us so relaxed and as such, we now have memories that are a true reflection of who we are. Thank you so much Shelby.Shelby Phillips Photography's reply:
Ann-Marie and Michael: I cannot thank you enough for the kind words. Having you in my life has brought me so much joy, and I am so grateful we have each other in our lives now. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Cheers,
Shelby -
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Brianna V. Sent on 02/14/2019
Perfect love photos
My boyfriend and I had a great experience! We were both so nervous because this was our first photoshoot! Shelby made it so personal and intimate for ben and I! We can’t wait to do it again!Shelby Phillips Photography's reply:
Bri, thank you so much! You and Ben were truly adorable, and your relationship really showed in how much fun you both had being awkward together. I had such a fun morning with you both, and thank you again!
Cheers,
Shelby -
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![Anna]()
Anna L. Sent on 12/02/2021Beautiful candid shots and glowing editing
My husband and our families were SO impressed by the beautiful quality of Shelby's photos. The day was captured so beautifully, and I appreciated how many photos she got of our guests and the pure candid action of the day. There were so many shots in our album where we both said... "How did she get there? When was she over here?" She really moves intentionally and gets great shots. My husband and I are not often photographed, so we were both a little nervous about how to "pose," but Shelby really specialized in capturing the candid moments beautifully that made us feel so at ease. It helped make the day such a relaxing experience, even though Shelby's second shooter had canceled and a replacement wasn't available, which was the only hiccup. Shelby handled it very well.
The main thing I wish had been done differently was that there were a few shots missing from the shot list we gave Shelby the week of the wedding. We had a small microwedding in a very tight space, so I focused a lot on small details, like the candlesticks and tapers (which were handmade by a couple of guests) and the table numbers (which I painted myself), which were not captured. We were also missing a shot of the guestbook table, which had a guestbook I designed and a hand-turned pen a guest made. The guestbook area was also the only fully decorated part of the reception space, with huge prop flowers, signage I designed, and thousands of dollars worth of bouquets, and we are disappointed that it was not captured. I consulted some guests, but nobody else got photos of it, and the day was such a blur I wish I could remember it all. That did leave us a little heartbroken.
I also wish the communication had been different regarding when we'd have our edited photos. We were assured on several occasions that we would definitely have them before Thanksgiving (10 weeks from our wedding day) so we could beat the influx of holiday orders for printed albums, but we didn't get them until after, so I had to put my albums together in a really short amount of time. I know this was a busy wedding season and that the editing process takes a lot of time, so I was trying to be gracious, but I was surprised as we only had 4 hours of photography with one shooter. I ended up sending our holiday cards without wedding photos because I was worried about post delays.
Regardless of the missed shots or long editing process, the photos that we received met and exceeded our expectations, and we'll treasure them forever. -
![Loreto]()
Loreto Sent on 12/03/2018Total fail
I always believed that if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all, but what happened with Shelby has been really hard to process and I feel the need to give the warning to other couples.
We booked Shelby because we liked her portfolio and because she was affordable. She is a good couples’ photographer, however, she is a terrible “wedding” photographer. Our wedding was tiny, we had 27 guests, and we were having a small ceremony at Central Park followed by dinner at a restaurant. The plan was to take bride & groom and family photos before the ceremony, as the ceremony was going to be an hour before sunset and we needed all the daylight. After we booked her, we met her in person to show her the place so she could prepare (1.5 months before the wedding). We told her about the plan and she seemed excited. When she realized it was such a small wedding, she offered (and insisted) in “hanging out” with us all day and do “getting ready” photos at our home/hotel and so on. She said it was such a small and easy wedding and that she didn’t have anything else to do that day so she was more than happy to do it. We were thrilled about this, so that became the plan. But I should say that on that day we met, besides being late, she started to speak poorly about other brides -definitely not cool, but we thought those things were not going to happen with us-. Additionally, we had sent her a super detailed email about us as well, our wedding website + how we met, our whole story; countries, families, etc., but she barely knew our names when she first met us in person. Totally unprepared, but we had already given her our deposit so we decided to trust her anyways since she seemed confident.
Four days before the wedding we sent her the timeline for our wedding day and her reply shocked us. She was asking for more money if we wanted more time (she never, ever, mentioned this before) and denying she ever said she was going to stay with us the full day. It felt like a trap. She had also booked another job right before our wedding - after our meeting-. We couldn’t believe it. At that point, 4 days before the wedding was too late to do anything, although we felt like canceling. She was super rude on her emails and treated us like we invented that whole conversation. On the emails, she would constantly take out my fiancé from the email thread as he didn’t have a say. On top of that, every time I would show her photos as reference for the look we liked, she would reply in a diva-manner, saying basically “I have my style and I don’t care if that is what you want, I do what I do”. Her replies were always rude or unprofessional. I have dealt with many photographers in the past and this has never been a response, on the contrary, the more specific the client is, the better.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. We told her, “okay, lets stick to the contract then”, and try to make it work in the 4 hours we had booked initially and trying to keep a positive attitude despite her unprofessionalism. The day of the wedding, she knew we had a tight schedule and still got to Central Park 15 minutes late. Fifteen minutes!! After she finally arrived, with her useless apologies, everything was rushed. She took a few photos of us (which in the end were the only decent ones) and with our families, and then we had to run to the Ladies Pavilion (where the ceremony was going to take place at the park). She had not planned the shoot at all, and everything felt super improvised. On her contract, she states that she won’t be responsible for missing shots if you don’t specify them before the shoot and that the client should provide a list of desired shots so she doesn’t miss anything. But guess what! I sent her the list (email that she replied with a dry “GOT IT”) and we probably got 40% of it, if not less. She is taking ZERO responsibility for this. And not just that, we were very specific on asking to take photos with our family and friends (like you do in normal weddings), since almost everyone was coming to NY from abroad/other states specially for our wedding and it was very important to have those. ALL of the photos of us with our guests, all of them are blurry! And it is very evident! In all the photos there is one person who is in focus (usually me or a guest on the right side) and everybody else is heavily blurred, including the groom. Wrong lens? Don’t know how to focus? Perhaps, but this wouldn’t happen to a professional photographer. I was thinking of sending them with our thank you cards, but honestly, they are just too embarrassing to show. We took a big group photo as well, in which everybody is blurry and there is people you can’t even see! It would be funny if they weren’t the only photos we have from our wedding, but they are, and when I saw them I just wanted to cry. On the only full body photos I have with my husband, he is blurry. The one photo she sent of me walking to the pavilion with my mom, she is cut in half (she sent other selects after I begged her later but all of them were blurry).
We also put on our shot list that we wanted to have photos of the restaurant room, the flowers -we had amazing fall flowers everywhere and the room was candlelit, beautiful-, favors -colorful hand painted alebrijes from Mexico-. We got ONE photo in color of one single flower arrangement and ONE alebrije (there were many different ones and they were all so beautiful!) After she sent these photos over I tried asking (begging) for more but she only sent duplicates of the same photos just with a different crop. As for all the group blurry photos, I asked her to please send the photos she took of us with our families before the wedding (In my estimation, she probably took around 100 and she didn’t send any of those!) but she refused many times, saying they were not good. If the ones I got were the “good” ones, I cannot even imagine how those are. But still, I wanted to see them, but she refused several times again. Her EGO is bigger than trying to make up for her mistakes. I had to BEG her to send some of the photos she took of us at the restaurant in color (because she couldn’t be bothered to process them in color, she delivered all the restaurant images in black & white; all the mood was lost, candlelit room gone, our beautiful fall flowers in gray). Her response to all of this was “Mistakes happen”. WHAT?? These kind of mistakes do not happen to a professional, for sure. Not on a wedding that is never going to happen again! She never offered a partial refund, she never offered a re-do, nothing!! (of course this is besides the point, with such a terrible experience the last thing we want is to deal with her again), and she kept giving us her diva attitude until the end. In summary, dealing with her was a nightmare, and we ended up paying $1,000 for 13 good photos of us, not our wedding and certainly not our guests. Shelby seemed like a qualified individual from her site but from our experience she was only an unexperienced kid with a camera pretending to be a professional photographer. Total fail, total scam.
Shelby Phillips Photography's reply:
Hi, Loreto,
I am again sorry that our experience together went less than we expected it to. I truly did my best to suit your needs, and your husband's needs. I sent you multiple apologies, and offered to make up for my mistake. I am young, and I have limited experience, but I assure you that I am more than a kid with a camera pretending to be anything. I wish you both the best, and am again sorry.
Cheers,
Shelby
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