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MJS Studios RUINED my wedding memories.
First of all, when we signed the contract with them, they were called Lindelle. Lindelle had been around forever and was, I thought, a reputable company. We met with them at a David's Bridal location, and signed a contract that day. BIGGEST MISTAKE I EVER MADE! Shortly after signing the contract, we received an email and a letter in the mail letting us know they'd changed their name to MJS Studios. No big deal, right? Well, kiddies, it seems that they just can't practice good business and have YET AGAIN changed their name, this time to Timeless Image Studios. We were never notified of this change, so when I went online today to send the link to my photos to my sister, imagine my shock and dismay when there IS NO WEBSITE for MJS Studios. It took some research and a call to David's Bridal to confirm, but I was eventually able to find out the new name these slimeballs are hiding under. I went to their website to get the link to the photos to send to my sister, only to find that as far as their event library is concerned, my photos do not exist.
Now, our wedding was on September 19th of 2009, and my husband and I have yet to pick out our wedding albums. We haven't been able to get more than 100 photos in without my breaking into tears and him becoming enraged. The photos are HORRIBLE. SO many of our friends and family took pictures that day (one of our friends even followed around the MJS photographer, who was extremely rude and poorly dressed, and took most of the same pics the "professional" did) and ALL of the photos we received from family and friends are better than the ones we paid OVER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS for.
We were married outdoors on a beautiful cloudless Autumn day. This "professional" took MANY photos using an infrared camera. For those of you not familiar with this little beauty, the photos it takes turn out looking basically like a sepia-toned NEGATIVE! They are HORRIBLE PHOTOS, and we NEVER approved use of that type of photography. We also requested a more "photo journalistic" style of photography, assuming that would give us more "real" and less "posed" photographs. There was NO photo journalistic quality to ANY of the photos. I also have no idea who was actually at my wedding, because this "professional" didn't take pictures of all the tables. We were very disappointed in this aspect, because my husband and I put a lot of work into making each table's centerpiece look very unique. Most of the shots he took that didn't have people in them -our rings, the cake, THE PLACECARD TABLE!- were not framed properly and therefore came out crooked and would require A LOT of cropping before they could even be halfway useable.
The salon I got my hair done at that day, where my bridesmaids came to celebrate with me and also get their updos, was 2.5 miles down the road from our venue. We had EVERYTHING - cocktail hour, ceremony, and reception - at one venue. The studio said that the salon would NOT be part of the package; something we couldn't understand inasmuch as if I'd been dressing at home, marrying at a church, and receptioning somewhere else, they'd have gone along for the ride entirely. However, I was told that the photographer would spend my salon time at our venue, photographing the cocktail hour. That did not happen.
Before I went to the salon, I purposely stopped at the bridal suite and displayed my gown and shoes in a way that BEAUTIFUL pictures could have been taken of them. He DID take pictures of the gown as I'd displayed it on the rack, but with complete disregard for the art of FRAMING A PHOTO PROPERLY, so the gown photos clearly include the ugly metal rack the gown was hung on. I REALLY wanted a photo of my gown to be the cover of our wedding album, but now, that's an impossibility.
While I was "dressing, " the photographer was taking photos of my husband and our groomsmen. He took very few of those photos and they were very poorly thought out with respect to lighting and location. Most of them were awful, and the few that we DID like that had a more photo journalistic feel to them, were taken with that damn infrared camera, rendering them UNUSEABLE! Moreover, the photographer kept coming up to the bridal suite to check to see if I was ready for pictures, and each time we told him we weren't ready yet, he was quite rude and told me we were "running out of time" to get the bridal suite pictures taken. (Sorry sir, but I'm the bride. They're not going to start without me. I don't think we're running out of anything except your very short supply of patience.) Each time we told him we weren't ready, he went back down and took more careless photos of my husband and the groomsmen, all of which are poorly positioned and come across as afterthoughts of someone who couldn't care less about what he was doing. When we announced we finally were ready for bridal suite photos, they were very rushed. He was rude about it and wasn't interested in any of the poses I was trying to get him to take pictures of. KNOWING that we requested a more photo journalistic point of view, I purposely kept making "accidental" beautiful poses, expecting that he'd have been shooting EVERYTHING. He didn't. He even YELLED at my sister in the bridal suite because she had her camera out and HE was the photographer there, NOT HER!
The ceremony pictures aren't good, but they're not awful. The reception photos are just plain awful.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are going to spend at least $1, 000 dollars on wedding photography unless you know a professional photographer personally who wants to do that as a gift to you. PLEASE SPEND YOUR MONEY WISELY. DO NOT USE MJS STUDIOS, or as they're calling themselves now, TIMELESS IMAGE STUDIOS. They are horribly unprofessional and neglect to to the bare minimum you'd expect from a wedding photographer. You'd expect that someone who does wedding photography for a living would grasp that this is the most special (and most expensive) day of your life and would respect that enough to try to capture everything in a beautiful and professional way, and to give the bride and groom exactly what they ask for to the best of his ability. Our photographer did not do that.
YOU CANNOT GET THIS DAY BACK, FOLKS! YOU ONLY GET ONE DAY TO HAVE YOUR WEDDING AND MAKE THOSE MEMORIES, AND ONE DAY FOR THE PEOPLE YOU PAY TO MAKE YOUR DAY POSSIBLE TO DO IT RIGHT. DO NOT WASTE A PENNY OF YOUR WEDDING BUDGET ON THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS.
Also, as a hint/warning, in case these jerks change their name AGAIN... these folks have a contract with David's Bridal, so they sit in David's Bridal locations and pounce on unsuspecting couples. If you ever run into problems, like I did, where you visit their website and it no longer exists, you can find out through David's Bridal what their current name is.
Also, their website is 1800bridal6.com. There is a company out there called Timeless Images Photography, whose website is timelessimagesstudio.com. I cannot figure out if they're the same company, though, because their website is sparse and gives very little information, not to mention that their listed phone number is disconnected.
BUYER BEWARE OF MJS STUDIOS / TIMELESS IMAGE STUDIOS!
Lindell -> MJS ->Timeless Images -> Photography by David's Bridal, In each case, as far as photographers go, it's pot luck. Neither of the organizations had or have permanent photographers that actually shoot weddings. They post on Craigslist looking for anyone to fill a spot. Now I will have to tell you that there are many skilled photographers that shoot for David's, unfortunately the majority are hacks with little or no experience. Photographers submit their photos and that's it, the art department then takes over, here again it's hit and miss. Like many of the the photographers, the editors are a mix of a few who are extremely talented, the majority are mediocre with a few who are so horrid it boggles the mind. How do I know this? I shot for all four organizations and quite frankly the business model has not changed. Last year, for David's Bridal, I had two brides contact me complaining of the poor photographs, I've never had a complaint from any of my non-David's clients and with the exception of editing, I provide the same service to all. I've been in business for 25+ years and to get a complaint really bothers me. The brides provided me with the website link to their photos and quite frankly, I didn't even recognize the photos. The editing was unbelievably horrid, I would bet that a blind person could do better; what ever happened to quality control. In each case the bride was unable to get any satisfaction from David's Bridal and were really disgusted. I felt really bad since this was a record of their special day and while I wouldn't redo their albums due to cost, I did provide them with a complete set of edited photos of their wedding. They were quite delighted with my work, but still couldn't understand how a company could screw up the original photos so bad. The real loser's are the unsuspecting brides. Would I ever recommend David's Bridal for wedding photography? NEVER. The good news is that I booked 5 new brides who were referred to me by the 2 brides whoes wedding memories I saved. After seeing what David's Bridal did to my photos I terminated my association with them last year. I just couldn't bear the thought of someone butchering my photographs.
I know how these bait and switch scams work, it's been going on for years. Photography studios that are "respected" market their reputation and show the best albums, sell you on that, then stick you with their $10. an hour hired amateur! Buyer Beware, make sure it is in your contract WHO your PHOTOGRAPHER will be, and MEET HIM OR HER in ADVANCE, and see their ACTUAL WORK - better yet, consider having them take some engagement or "lifestyle" photos of you as a couple to see their results in a less risky situation. That can be repeated, your wedding day cannot. This David's Bridal thing of featuring photography is such a marketing rip off, why would a high end photographer team up with them? In any case, again, MEET the photographer who will do your wedding, and see their work! Don't be sold by albums shown by a high pressure, or any, sales person, in a fancy studio! It's a big rip-off to charge you outrageous prices while they use hobbyists for YOUR wedding, pay them cheap and you suffer the consequences. I am a professional photographer, who has done weddings since the 80's, and I also do fine art, architectural, pet and child photography. Good Luck to all of you out there! Do your research! One more thing: Shop around, try to hire the photographer who provides TWO photographers for your wedding from start to finish. It's usually a minimal additional expense, but it ensures you have full coverage, PLUS, it's insurance in case one of the photographer's gets sick or something - things do happen. See the work of both photographers, in case you wind up with only one of them. Hope this helps! Hate to see how these places get away with ripping people off time and time again yet stay in business. As for the comment above who "claims" to have had a great experience with Timeless Images, I suspect they had someone post that for them - it does happen! I don't believe anyone is getting quality work from them because NO photographer worth their work, will work for close to minimum wage UNDER ANOTHER STUDIO's NAME - why would anyone who takes great photos do that? Think about it? That's your answer. They go that route because their work is lousy and they can't market themselves on their own. Please shop around, ask questions, view samples, and beware of what that contract says! HAVE the PHOTOGRAPHER'S NAME you MET, whose work you viewed and like, LISTED in your CONTRACT as guaranteed to be the one you will have at your wedding, if there's backup, meet them in advance too, in case they wind up being your photographer.
I am sorry that you had such a negative experience with Timeless images. I have had quite the opposite. Photographers in my area are outrageously priced and I decided to take the "crap shoot" and contract them. My Photographer was amazing and I am very pleased with my photos. He was actually my first choice Photographer in my area and I would have never been able to afford him if he had not contracted out through Timeless images. We were able to meet before the wedding, he showed me more of his work, and I knew that I had done the right thing. Everyone I spoke with at Timeless Images was very professional and it has only been 2 weeks since my event and I will have my disk in my hands in 2 days.
Thank you so much for your review I went into David's Bridal to look at wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses and right away they grabbed me (as if I had a target on my forehead) and asked me to look at their photo options and at first I thought they were reasonable and was considering them. I then made an appointment to go back with my fiancee to talk to the same consultant, and show him what they had to offer. Right off the bat he didn't like her and her attitude she was very pushy and wanted to know why we weren't going to sign the contract at that moment. He explained to her very nicely that we were paying for our wedding on our own and wanted to get the most for our money. At that point she was very aggervated ( I am assuming becasue she gets some form of comission off of every contract that she makes) however we both left the store unhappy and I no longer feel the same way about Timeless Images photography! The worst part is that she keeps calling the house asking me if we are booking with them and I keep telling here that we haven't decided and that we are still looking at all of our options. Thank you again for your help and I am so sorry that you had to go through this.
I have also been in contact with them about being a photographer. The others are correct: you take all the risk and have to provide your own insurance. After doing some checking and looking into all the name changes, I see this is the same company (two name changes later) that sent the horrible photographer to my sisters wedding. As the complain says above, the photos lacked any composition or cropping to fix it. Color balance was frequently off as well. You can bet I have lost all interest in shooting for them.
Timeless Images contacted me to join their team. The above post is correct: Timeless doesn't actually employ any photographers.
I have to tell you that the contract they wanted me to sign was preposterous! Only a fool would sign it, and I suspect that's who does.
They wanted to pay me a pittance, yet assume all the liability and risk. Some of the clauses in the contract were downright laughable. They wanted me to wear a tux for every shoot. Can you imagine that? They also stipulate a $5000 fine if you take a referral from the job, and they fine you if you take "personal" photos while on assignment. The list goes on.
Nobody in their right mind would sign that photographer's contract, which is why, I suppose, you end up with photographers like the one in this complaint. Naturally, your mileage may vary. I'll grant that there may be some credible photographer out there that is desperate enough to assume all the risk, do all the work, take a tiny paycheck, then hand over all his photos to somebody else without any credit or images for their portfolio. Not me! I suspect that most of their hired guns are rank amateurs, kids and bored soccer moms that thought it would be fun to buy a consumer-grade camera at Best Buy and call themselves a photographer.
Taking a look at Timeless Images web site, the photos look like snapshots, and you have to think that these are the best of the best that they put on their site. Seriously, anybody could have taken them, but don't take my word for it: http://www.timelessimagesevents.com/photography/
For the price they charge, you can get a real photographer that you can meet and discuss your wedding with, somebody you can partner with. I wouldn't touch Timeless Images/David's Bridal if my life depended on it...and I'm speaking as somebody they approached to partner with. I really don't have a dog in this fight. Of course, this is just my opinion. You pay your money and you take your chances!
THANK YOU for posting this! I am getting married this September, and they contacted me today. I am SO GLAD I googled the name of the company and found this. Good lookin' out! :)
I have to comment as the first photographer did. They do sub out work, some to good photographers and apparently some to not so good. I am surprised that the company has not offered some solution to your album completion. I wish I was closer I would collect your familes images and help you come up with an album. I am glad to see you are not sour on all photographers and hope this gets worked out. There are labs that can help you make beautiful coffee table books, or actual albums with your digital images. You should check out Nations Photo out of Maryland, they will even design the album for you.
From all the goods guys out there, I am so sorry this happened to you.
The biggest problem with MJS Studios or Timeless Image studios is that they sub out 100% of their work. Timeless doesn't actually employ photographers. They contact people in your local area, and attempt to hire them. So, they may get someone good in Miami, but a photographer in Boston may be terrible. The truth is, noone really knows until you see your photos. If their inexpensive packages are all that you can afford, then so be it, but don't be surprised at your results - good or bad!
PS: I am a Pro photographer in California, they attempted to contact me for a shoot in my area :)