Professional Pictures
Wow, it's been over a month since I last made an entry. That's crazy! In my defense, Sam and I just moved to a new apartment, and I've been dealing with a nasty skin condition ever since late May, so between all of that and trying to find some time to relax and enjoy being newlyweds, the post-wedding stuff hasn't really been on my mind.
But, to make up for it, I come bearing professional pictures! They arrived on CD (or a DVD... I forget...) sometime in mid-June. You can view them in a slideshow here: My Wedding KodakGallery. (There are repeats, but they came to me that way. So I'm not sure if they just forgot which pictures they had already given me, or if they just took many multiples of the same thing...)
I'm really quite pleased with the pictures, especially for the price. All of them are beautiful, and some of them are even gorgeous, if I do say so myself. ^_^ I notice a quality difference between the pictures, though, so I'm wondering if it's because the better pictures were taken by Joannessa (my photographer) and the lesser quality (yet still very nice) pictures were taken by her assistant? Or maybe it's because they had various different cameras that were good for portrait shots and stills, and therefore could take better quality pictures, as opposed to action shots or candids, which would need a faster shutter, but thus came out in a lesser quality?
I still have yet to hear back from her about prints (which I'm quite positive came with my package), but since this is a major wedding season, I'm thinking it's probably because she's busy with many other weddings, all at the same time. I'll be sure to bug her periodically about it, though.
Other things in my post-wedding agenda:
- Thank You Cards - We still haven't done this, and I'm a little afraid we'll forget who gave us what in all the moving mayhem. I'll try to track down all the cards and make notes as best I can...
- Guestbook/Scrapbook - I plan on putting the pictures from the disposable cameras in here alongside the cards people filled out for our guestbook. I need to go to a craft store to get papers, a scrapbook, various decorative doodads... It'll be quite a project!
- Wedding Album - Once I find out about the prints, I'll buy or make a nice album and put them in there. I've also been wondering about those coffeetable book albums that you create online and have sent to you. If I don't get one for me and Sam, I might get one for each set of our parents.
- Sell Extra Wedding Supplies - I've got a ton of candles and lanterns and paper and envelopes and tulle that I didn't use. (Some of which I don't get... How didn't they get used?) Almost all of it is brand new. If anybody sees this and is interested, send me an email at hotaru888 [AT] yahoo . com (take out spaces, and use the @)
- What to Do with a Wedding Dress - I really want to keep mine, but I'm a little concerned about it taking up too much space in our already packed closet. I should probably get it drycleaned, first and foremost.
Okay, back to work!
posted by Kristine N. @ 12:38 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Hi, I googled Joanessa and your blog came up! Finally one good review about her - have been hearing not so good ones lately... and that makes me a bit nervous since i also booked her for my wedding.
Would you mind posting your review and comments to this website?
www.labridezilla.com
Thanks!
I noticed that you used Joannessa Clawson for your photgrapher. Consider yourself lucky if she actually stayed at your entire wedding. She left my wedding before the ceremony started (said she didn't feel well) and left her husband to take the rest of the pictures. My wedding was 6 weeks ago... 2 weeks ago they said they were sending out our disc with the pictures. I've called 3 times since then to find out where the disc is. Supposedly FedEx lost the disc. Anyway, I'm glad she worked out for you, but I wouldn't recommend her to any friends. (There are more complaints I have, but I'll leave it at that.)
Anonymous 1: I think the best thing to keep in mind when booking Joannessa is the quality for the price. Is she the best of the best? No. But did she give me lovely pictures of my wedding day on my terribly limited budget? She sure did. I'll try to post this at that website if I get a moment. Thanks for stopping by!
Anonymous 2: I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Joannessa. But if she didn't feel well, what could be done about it? You could probably ask her to give you some of your money back, since you were promised 2 photographers at your wedding. At mine, she left right after the 6 hours were up because her son was in the hospital, but I didn't expect more than that. She left her assistant to stay a little over the 6 hours to take some pictures of me and my guests dancing, since the reception was running long. And I was terribly grateful for that. And it's not really Joannessa's fault that Fed Ex lost the disc. You should ask for a replacement disc. It's only been 6 weeks, after all, and it's easy enough to burn a DVD. I understand it's more legwork on your part, but if you're unhappy with what you got or didn't get, you should discuss it with her. She's pretty good about responding to her emails, so I suggest contacting her that way too.
I am glad you had a good experience with Joannessa, unfortunately there are a number of brides that are having serious problems with her. There has been some serious misrepresentation on her part. There also seems to be a pattern of sicknesses, lack of response and overall unprofessionalism.
Were you pleased with the product versus what she showed you when you booked her? Also, did you ever receive your prints or anything else you promised in your package?
I'm wondering if you have any current contact information for Joannessa. Her husband did my wedding in March '06. I FINALLY got a disc of acceptable work in July, after many tense telephone calls and negotiations. I was told to get back to them when I was ready to make an order of duplicates. They seem to have vanished in the wind...
I cannot begin to tell you what a disappointment my experience has been. One excuse/personal crisis after another with them...
Let me answer all questions in a general sense.
Yes, I have had some trouble getting a hold of her in some cases, but I've always been able to get a hold of her through her MSN email address after 2 or 3 tries. Usually it will take just 1 email.
No, I have not received my prints yet. While she is partly to blame for not answering my first two emails on the matter, my life has gotten a deal more hectic since the wedding, so I have not followed through as promptly as I should have. I received the disc approximately 6-7 weeks after the wedding.
The samples of her work that she showed me were all from one wedding, but I liked what she showed me. I thought the quality of my pictures were at times as good as the samples and at times less so. Many of the candids looked like something anyone with a steady hand could take if they had a high end camera. But I paid $650 for them (because I opted out of the album), so I'm very pleased. Compared to the quality of other photographers asking for a similar price, she was by far superior. Like I've said before, not the best. But great for the money, because I could not have afforded a photographer otherwise.
Finally, I don't mean to be rude, but frankly, I don't see what all of you have to gain from coming here simply to complain about Joannessa. I sympathize that she was not what any of you had wanted out of your photographer, and I'm happy to answer questions about her service if I can, but many of you seem to be coming here just to complain about her. What can you hope to gain by that? I don't see the point. I already used her services, so you're not saving me from any potential trouble, and I already said that I liked what I've gotten from her so far. Again, questions are cool, and I'm sorry you had bad experiences with her, but why are you telling me about it on my personal blog? If you have complaints, email Joannessa about them. She has never been unreasonable to me. The email I've been using is her first name @msn.com.
Thank you for your response. I'm sorry to have taken up time and space on your blog. I guess my frustrations got the best of me. Good luck.
Hi there,
After hearing about all the negativity with J. Clawson, I just wanted to see an actual work of hers. I came across your blog as a recommended through another person's post somewhere on another board. I must say that your pictures came out quite nice. I did not book Clawson and had gotten married already. I paid $2K for my professional pictures but noticed that I could've taken better pictures myself.
With a little photoshop, you can actually turn those pictures into quite a piece of graphics art.
There is a responsibility that accompanies online recommendations and readership. Readers- Joanessa takes great shots, but may not be for you if expecting immediate turnaround of images and albums. Expect at least 6 months for turnaround. I want to be up front with readers who have a higher expectation. They say "You get what you pay for"...but you PAID...remember that!
In general, I don't think some brides want to believe that J&J Clawson are bad people. And honestly, they aren't bad people, but its their choices that have caused an uproar with everything. They have become so maniuplative, and great liars and decievers, and unforutnately I have had to learn this the hard away. They honestly take your money and run away and like now, cut all communication off. Phone is off, fax is off, emails are off, website is down, and letters in the mail really don't do shit. I'm sorry but I will be giving horrible referrals to CLawson Photography from now on, which is sad that I am resorting to that. I believed and had faith that they would deliver, and months after my wedding, they haven't. I am just posting this here because me and 20+ other brides who got jilted by Clawson photography, really don't want any future brides having the nightmare experience as we had.
That's really all.
After being another victim of J.Clawson photography fraud, I'm indifferent when I hear of brides who have received favorable reponses from the Clawsons. Months after my wedding and many excuses later, I'm sick of not having my pictures and no contact w/ the Clawsons which is difficult since their phone, fax, email, website have been disconnected. Nice.
Don't get me wrong - I am all for warning brides about potentially bad vendors. If I wasn't trying to be fair, if I was trying to censor responses, do you think I'd allow 10+ posts on my personal wedding blog about complaints against the Clawsons? Brides should definitely hear about bad experiences. The only reason why I moderate comments is because I don't want my blog cluttered with spam.
But while I am 100% behind warning brides about what they may be getting themselves into if they choose a vendor, and while 20+ or however many brides had bad experiences with these photographers, I am offended at the implication that my experience with the Clawsons is somehow invalid, just because it was a pleasant one. It's like you all are trying to convince me that I should have had a bad experience, that I must be mistaken in my praise of her and her work, and that I should be outraged. How dare I lead brides astray by saying I like my wedding pictures? How could I possibly say that I was overall satisfied with what I got for what I paid, or that I don't particularly mind the slow turnaround so long as I follow up with her? Except all of these things are true. Like I've said about 3 or 4 times already, am I saying that she's the best photographer ever? No. I'm just giving one side of the same coin. I completely encourage any bride to email or comment with questions about the Clawsons. I want brides to make absolutely informed decisions about what vendors they hire for their weddings.
That said, let me be perfectly frank - please stop coming here just to complain about the Clawsons. There are many other places where you can do just that. The boards at the Wedding Channel have a whole thread devoted to talking about them. And most of you are acting like this is a wedding forum where you can vent and debate. But it's not. This is my personal wedding blog. And I'm willing to bet that most of you didn't even bother to read past this one entry. My intention in writing this entry was to record my thoughts about Joannessa's work and share my pictures (which maybe 2 of you have looked at, I'm sure) because I was so happy to have them. And I wasn't even looking to share them with the world, I just wanted some of my online friends to see them.
So, please don't come here just to complain. I'm pretty tired of it. And it's truly sad that there are 12 comments on this entry of people complaining and complaining (And what am I supposed to do about it?), whereas those entries where I was giddy about trying on dresses or crying my eyes out about my mom not coming to the wedding only got 4 comments at most. I know misery loves company, but honestly? That's enough now.
(And I truly apologize to anybody who came here wanting questions answered. I still want to help if I can.)
http://www.sandiego.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=23003176&language=1)
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