Photog Help - B R E T T M A T T H E W S or Dan Loh

Hi Ladies,

Another photog question...

Any comments/feedback/info on either Brett M A T T H E W S or Dan Loh (located in Manhattan)???

We were ready to sign on the X and commit to BM but the guy we met with and worked with mysteriously left without notice and we kinda got a shady vibe...after doing some extra research we uncovered some less than favorable reviews...

We LOVE their style and work but we are kinda put off at the moment...help!!

Dan Loh is a smaller place in NYC...he does all the weddings himself (pulitzer prize photojournalist. Not holding my breath on any info on him but figured it was worth a shot).

Thanks in advance!
Heather

I'm using BM!! Who was the guy you initially met with that left?!?!?! FM me if you don't want to post.
I absolutely love BM's pictures and I'm so excited that they are my photographers. I have heard nothing but favorable reviews and I think the quality of their pictures speak for themselves. I've also referred 2 of my very good friends who are getting married to them also.

I'm new to the boards, so apologies for any 'newbie-ness.' (I don't think that's a real word, but I'm going with it). This is my first post!

I had a friend who worked for BM as a receptionist and also dealt with choosing photos for the albums. While she said their pictures are great, she quit wokring there because the management were horrible to the customers and they expected her to lie and be rude, which she was not going to do.
I don't have my photographer yet, and I haven't been to BM, but I would hate for you to chose them and then have to deal with their unprofessionalism.
Good luck!

I used BM and would not recommend them. Although we love our photos, we can't share any of them because they only give you the physical proofs, rather than giving you a CD of all the images to show to your friends and family. They are very expensive and then expect you to always buy every single picture from them at very high prices (to preserve the 'artistic' quality of the prints). I get very worked up about this topic b/c I had no idea that I would not get my pictures on a CD and I hate that I can't show anyone unless they come to my house and look through 900 pictures (a huge problem since we live in a different state than our families).

I also found them to be very rude and condescending to me most times I spoke with them. Any time I had an idea about something I wanted to do (a certain picture to take, a type of album) I was basically told that I was stupid for wanting that. This weekend we did our album layout (which we had put off for almost a year because we were dreading it) and it was essentially a sales pitch. We were told that the albums they make now are so much better than what was included in our package and that no labor is involved in what they originally contracted to give us. Basically telling us that they are giving us crappy albums unless we choose to upgrade for $700. It wasn't even the price that bothered me so much as their approach. They kept saying $700 is nothing, you can't even go away for a weekend on that. Well to me, $700 is not nothing, and I can't afford to go away for a wknd so what are you talking about?? Same thing when we were over the 50 images allotted for the album. She kept telling us to just keep the extra images in, it's 'only' $500 extra. Maybe in different circumstances I would agree, but I refused to give them a single dime more of my money.

We also asked if we could exchange what was included in our package (1 11x14 and 3 8x10's) for a few smaller prints at the same price and were told no. So now we are going to get an 11x14 that I dont' even know what we'll do with and will probably sit in storage forever, rather than displaying multiple smaller prints of their work. I guess they expected that when they said no I would just buy the smaller prints anyway, but, like I said, I refuse to give them any more of my money. They are just completely unwilling to work with you.

Finally, although they told us no labor was involved in our crappy version of their albums, we were told to expect our album to be ready for approval in 10 months. Also because they don't do anything online, we have to go up to NY every time we have to do something with them (which is an expensive trip).

Moral of the story - I wouldn't use BM and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone else. I hope that anyone who has already contracted with them has a better experience than we did but that's my take.

Good luck!

I booked with BM and have not experienced any of the things that some of the other posters have mentioned. Actually, I have had all good experiences and they have lived up to everthing they have. (I am an OOT bride and they have been very accomodating for this).

I will tell you that our photographer is very mater of fact. This doesn't bother me - I actually prefer this.

You should know that you will not get any of your digital proofs until years later. If this is important to you its something to consider.

FM if you want to see some examples of there work - I can send you some of my e-pics that I scanned.

Who was everyone's photographer for BM?

I am using John...

two of FH's borthers used BM and their photos came out AMAZING!!!

his one brother was married 12 years ago and the other was 3 years ago and even though there was 9 years between the albums they both look great! the quality is amazing!