HORROR PICTURE

I JUST WANTED TO POST THAT I WAS GOING TO USE A PHOTOGRAPHER GIVEN BY JOHN ANTHONY'S THE NAME IS PATKIN'S IN LINDENHUSRT. MY FRIEND ALSO USED THEM. THEY WERE TERRIBLE, CAN YOU BELEIVE THAT THE PICTURES CAME OUT TERRIBLE. AND WHEN SHE TOLD THEM HOW SHE FELT THEY DIDNT CARE .THEY GOT PAID ALREADY THEY DID NOT TRY TO FIX ANYTHING OR OFFER HER ANYTHING. THEIR BUSINESS TACTICS ARE VERY POOR . THEY ARE LIKE A TYPICAL CAR SALESMAN. THEY DIDNT EVEN GET A PICTURE OF THE KISS IN THE CHURCH - WELL THEY DID BUT IT WAS BLURRY. NO PICTURE OF HER AND HER ELDERLY GRANDMOTHER.I AM JUST TRYING TO WARN ANYONE ELSE WHO MAY USE THEM. YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT AT THIS AND MAKE SURE YOU PICK THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER. YOU CANNOT DO THE DAY OVER.

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I don't know anything about Patkin, but this piece of advice goes to all brides..

MAKE A LIST of who you want in pictures...your photographer doesn't know you THAT well to know who your grandmother is from the husband of your mother's friend from work.

After the wedding I realized that our officiant (who would have been a GM if he didn't perform the ceremony) was not included in all of the GM pictures...b/c I never put his name on the list...how could my photographer read my mind?

just a head's up!!

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Look at the profile...

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interesting profile

Re: HORROR PICTURE Patken

Did this happen to be Laura's wedding in June? If so I saw her pictures and alot of them were blurry. She had signed her contract with Steve being the photographer but some guy from Ohio (strange they would have someone from out of town) ended up being the photographer. The kiss at the altar was super blurry. She didn't even have a picture of the full length of her gown. She also gave them a list of all the pictures she wanted taken the day before. I used Patken myself and liked my pictures, but Steve was the photographer. I did have some problems with the parent albums but I spoke to Doug about it. I will let eveyone know how the albums turn out in a few months. Just be careful when booking your photographer.

Re: HORROR PICTURE Patken

YES IT WAS, ITS JUST SUCH A SHAME THIS HAPPENED. IM NOT EVEN GOING TO ATTEMPT TO USE THEM- THEY BROKE THEIR CONTRACT WHEN STEVE DIDNT SHOW UP.

Re: HORROR PICTURE Patken

I am using Patken (Correct spelling!) And I took engagement pictures with Steve 2 weeks ago.....I'll see how they came out, I am sure they are ok

Re: HORROR PICTURE Patken

now that i booked my photographer ( a smaller company)--i can say this--i have been waiting........i was even considering patken (i saw their work and liked it @ an expo) but one of my family members used them (i didn't know that it was patken til i mentioned using them to my mom ) and she told me the photographer that was supposed to show up didn't and the one that did was late---AND unpleasant.....that is all i will say---there is bad and good in all and i know that even the best vendor has a bad day too---but i held patken pretty highly and now don't-----PS i was also the one who wrote about the online posting and their reply was that was what the bride wanted--which was true (i guess) but their was also another bride on that site too from patken (so that service was offered more than once unlike they said)........that 's it!!

Re: HORROR PICTURE Patken

First let me say that I am NOT using Patken, so I am not particularly bias towards them...

Two of my best friends did use them though. One used Steve and the other used Doug. Both of their pictures came out amazing and their albums were beautiful. Do I think that all vendors are perfect?...no. And that's my point, things happen but it doesn't mean that a vendor is horrible and should be labeled as such. Just my opinion!

I would agree with Yabbobay...it is extremely important to make sure that your photographer is aware of who should be photographed. I saw a cute idea in Martha Stewart for this...you take pictures that you have of all the people you want definite shots of, you label them with their name & relationship to you (ie: Grandmother, Cousin, etc.) and you put them in plastic sleeves. This can eliminate the possibility of the photographer not capturing the shots you would really like.

Re: HORROR PICTURE Patken

I spoke to Doug from Patken. Steve, the photographer we chose, is written in my contract and Doug assured me my contract wouldn't be broken.
I have researched photographers for several months before booking Patken, and I feel I have made the right decision.To each their own.

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Hi...
I am the 'Laura' this whole thing is about...I just saw all these postings. I have always looked at this site, but have never posted. Seeing how this is about me, I figured I should write something.
I have no doubt that from the pictures Patken took, that I can't make a good album. The pictures my Ohio photographer took, for the most part were fine...other than a few blurry ones. It's the pictures that he didn't take that really upset me.
It said 'Steve' on my contract, but they had the date wrong at the top of the contract and filed it as July 30th rather than June 30th. They told us this about 3 weeks prior to the wedding when my fiancé at the time called to find out why we didn't get a bill yet. They neglected to tell us that this raised a problem, and could no longer have 'Steve' as our photographer. The photographer who did show up that day said he was flown in from Ohio just to do my wedding.
The infamous 'kiss' shot at the church was completely blurry....Doug's response was that it is always a tough shot for photographer's to take, and the subjects were probably moving too quickly - That is NOT true. How fast does anyone lean in for a kiss? All my dancing pictures were crystal clear! My husband and I held that kiss too - for about a good 5 seconds...Why he couldn't have snapped two in that time is beyond me. Anyway, his second excuse was that, the 'kiss shot' is not a picture most people put into their albums anyway. Someone from Patken called a few days before the wedding to get the scoop on the VIP people, so they know who they have to get pictures of. They asked about grandparents. I told them that both me and my husband each have a grandmother. He NEVER got one of me and my grandmother!!! The only reason we even have one with my husband's grandmother is because we pulled him aside in the middle of the reception and asked if he could take it. Doug's response was that he would speak to the photographer. Doug said he trains his photographers to ALWAYS get grandparent photo's because he can make a lot of money with them. !!! Nice. I do not have one photo of me in my dress in it's entirety! I paid $450 to have trumpeters at the church. I told the photographer that I wanted a picture of them... Never happened.
When I met with Doug to discuss all that I was unhappy about, I wasn't expecting any compensation (which is good because he didn't offer any)... I just wanted answers as to why I paid, in full, for the things that I did not get. He only fed me excuses. He is a salesman to the truest sense of the word. My mother came along, as she is more outspoken than I am. She said that at the very least he should throw the blurry 'kiss shot' into my album for free... He said he couldn't do that. !!! So...when asked, I will tell people nothing but the truth. I was not fully happy with Patken and I would not recommend them. They did not meet my expectations.
To all brides-to-be, thanks for reading this, and Good Luck with ALL your planning.

Re: HORROR PICTURE

Thanks for sharing your story. I am using them for my wedding next month and will take it into advisement. I used them based on recommendations from 2 friends that were extremely happy and had beautiful pictures. I guess I will have to hope for the same.
Sorry Laura, that your experience was so poor with them.

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For anybody that booked with them, I wouldn't worry about it. I am SURE they will be on their very best behavior and will perform perfectly. There is like NOTHING worse than reading a bad review of a vendor you have booked! (even though that's part of the reason we all search this board!)

However, and I shouldnt' get involved here, two things really bother me about this story. My FH is a photographer on the side and has tons of local friends that freelance through companies. I think it's really weird that somebody had to come from OHIO. That would freak me out. I mean - what if there had been a delay (what with traveling these days) or God forbid, something worse? I mean OHIO?!? THe only other comment I have is I have NEVER heard of a bride that wrote down the wrong date for her own wedding. NEVER. (see vendor board).

That's all I have to say. I have seen Patken's photos and they have always been supreme. I have read tons of posts on them and people have always been thrilled. But the above are just a few things I would want to get straight with them before the date!

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I agree with Jenny 100%! I am getting married in July and cannot imagine writing JUNE on a contract. I thought that was very commical. However, I find it disturbing that just because a new poster had something negative to say, her identity is being verified! Looks like the vendors are Big Brother Better be careful, Doug is watching!

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I think I'm missing something...

what is suspicious about the profile??

I'm just being nosy!

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Jenny - its not really correct to say that Patken's customers have 'always been thrilled'. There have been a few (but still the minority) brides here who were not happy with their results.

Nothing wrong with being leary of a poster who has no history here but I think its a little farfetched to assume that someone has come on this site and completely made up the story about the ohio photographer. Not to mention the fact that I think 'laura' has come on here to clarify and answer questions which is not the usual MO of a phatom poster.

Re: HORROR PICTURE

After reveiwing the logs we are locking this thread. Three brides have the same IP address!
This means they are all coming from the same place.

Re: HORROR PICTURE

Stef - I think I confused everybody because I posted based on the vendor board. I don't think the girl is a phony at all. I think the vendor is wrong to have the back-up be somebody from Ohio. I re-read my post and realized it might be confusing....I certainly think the posters are legit!

I haven't done a major search on people's responses from Patken - just things i remember hearing. I can only remember good things...but maybe a search would prove different!