It is with regret that I have to post this rebuttal to a blog that has been posted by someone intent upon harming my professional reputation and demand money from me. The blog I refer to is www.badexperiencewithweddingphotographer.com, posted by "K".
Interestingly, "K" has chosen to create inaccuracies and slander while hiding behind the scene in an anonymous fashion, all the while pretending that it "hurts her to resort to this". Meanwhile, she has demanded payments in order to "take down her blog". The amount of money is not the issue, it is insignificant in the big picture. Her intent is to harm, and I have chosen to not capitulate to her demands. With this rebuttal, I intend to shine the light on her. KIMBERLY JAG, OF KIMBERLYJAGSTUDIO in Atlanta, http://www.kimberlyjagstudio.com/contact.html , is the author of the slanderous blog who has attempted to demand money from me and harm my business, by demanding hundreds of dollars in order to "take down her blog".
Here are the facts:
I was introduced to KIMBERLY JAG, kimberlyjag@gmail.com, by a mutual friend who highly recommended my wedding photography services. I have dozens of extremely happy and multiple repeat customers who provide testimonials to my creativity and customer satisfaction.
Here is the introductory email that KIMBERLY JAG sent to me:
Kimberly Jag <kimberlyjag@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Lisa Marie,
Claudia (deleted) is a friend of mine and she has talked about your photography for several years. She just recently sent your portfolio of your wedding photos and they are beautiful! My daughter is getting married May 12 of this year at Calloway Gardens, outside at the Horticultural Center around 6:30pm.
I have done some art photography myself and a few weddings but I don't think doing my daughter's wedding would be a good idea! We really like the artsy / creative ideas you have done...we're not the traditional wedding type. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful.
I wanted to check to see if you have this date open. If so, what do you require for a deposit to hold this date. :) We are looking at the $2500 wedding package.
Thank you so much! I hope to meet you some day...I'm surprised I haven't met you at Claudia's birthday parties.
Take care,
Kim Jag
6xxxxxxxxx cell
==================
I was "warned" by Claudia that Kim Jag can be difficult; I should have heeded that warning and passed on this assignment. To complicate matters more, the groom, Andrew Howard's mother was very uncooperative regarding the wedding and photos. It is very difficult to capture the mood when some guests are reluctant or unhappy. The weather this particular day was torrential downpour, and the wedding was outdoors. This also required a last minute change in reception site.
I drove 2 1/2 hours each way to the wedding site at no additional charge. I stayed over an hour later than initially agreed upon at no additional charge. When the bride arrived, her makeup was very unflattering. I am also a professional makeup artist and usually charge $250 for this service alone, I offered to fix the bride's makeup at no additional charge, since I wanted her to have good pictures, and her makeup was harsh and yes, garish. Very unflattering, and would have compromised her photos. I did NOT tell the bride, Taylor Jag, now Taylor Howard, that her makeup looked garish... this statement was made months later to her mother, KIMBERLY JAG of www.kimberlyjagstudio.com, when she verbally insulted me over the phone.
We had no contract regarding the photo album. This was negotiated after the wedding event. I gave Taylor Howard the choice of an art photo book, or an 8x10 album. The art photo book only comes in a square format, 7x7. Taylor chose the square format, which is what she received.
As for the typos, Taylor was responsible for the proofing of the type and the photo layout. She okayed the proof, and I reminded her to double check all the type since it is italic and difficult to see. She had a very difficult time choosing the photos for this book, but the ones she chose are the ones she received.
As for number of photos: wedding photographers will shoot up to 800 images at a typical wedding. Many of these are unflattering, since it is very dynamic and you often capture someone who may have a facial expression that is "off", or any other of variables. We take the best photos, spend hundreds of hours digitally editing these, and present them to the client. So when KIMBERLY JAG of www.kimberlyjagstudio.com states that they didn't receive ALL the photos on her disc, this is quite normal.
Bottom line: Kim Jag has/had extremely unrealistic expectations of what is the norm. Her daughter's mistakes with regard to the photo album could have been resolved with the typical communication between myself and the bride, but Kim Jag chose to intervene and became obstinate, since she was paying for the package.
As an example of why we photographers don't always include every photo, I have a few posted here from this wedding to illustrate that there are some images that we choose to delete rather than show our clients since they will likely not appreciate them.
Makeup BEFORE I fixed it for free Me fixing makeup
==================
I was "warned" by Claudia that Kim Jag can be difficult; I should have heeded that warning and passed on this assignment. To complicate matters more, the groom, Andrew Howard's mother was very uncooperative regarding the wedding and photos. It is very difficult to capture the mood when some guests are reluctant or unhappy. The weather this particular day was torrential downpour, and the wedding was outdoors. This also required a last minute change in reception site.
I drove 2 1/2 hours each way to the wedding site at no additional charge. I stayed over an hour later than initially agreed upon at no additional charge. When the bride arrived, her makeup was very unflattering. I am also a professional makeup artist and usually charge $250 for this service alone, I offered to fix the bride's makeup at no additional charge, since I wanted her to have good pictures, and her makeup was harsh and yes, garish. Very unflattering, and would have compromised her photos. I did NOT tell the bride, Taylor Jag, now Taylor Howard, that her makeup looked garish... this statement was made months later to her mother, KIMBERLY JAG of www.kimberlyjagstudio.com, when she verbally insulted me over the phone.
We had no contract regarding the photo album. This was negotiated after the wedding event. I gave Taylor Howard the choice of an art photo book, or an 8x10 album. The art photo book only comes in a square format, 7x7. Taylor chose the square format, which is what she received.
As for the typos, Taylor was responsible for the proofing of the type and the photo layout. She okayed the proof, and I reminded her to double check all the type since it is italic and difficult to see. She had a very difficult time choosing the photos for this book, but the ones she chose are the ones she received.
As for number of photos: wedding photographers will shoot up to 800 images at a typical wedding. Many of these are unflattering, since it is very dynamic and you often capture someone who may have a facial expression that is "off", or any other of variables. We take the best photos, spend hundreds of hours digitally editing these, and present them to the client. So when KIMBERLY JAG of www.kimberlyjagstudio.com states that they didn't receive ALL the photos on her disc, this is quite normal.
Bottom line: Kim Jag has/had extremely unrealistic expectations of what is the norm. Her daughter's mistakes with regard to the photo album could have been resolved with the typical communication between myself and the bride, but Kim Jag chose to intervene and became obstinate, since she was paying for the package.
As an example of why we photographers don't always include every photo, I have a few posted here from this wedding to illustrate that there are some images that we choose to delete rather than show our clients since they will likely not appreciate them.
Makeup BEFORE I fixed it for free Me fixing makeup
After makeup repair
More examples of photos that were digitally edited and included on the disc:
Kim complains that she didn't get ALL the pictures on her disc. Photographers never include them all since some are just not that flattering. Here are some examples of images that are not included on the disc or in any album since most clients just don't want to see unflattering images:
