Just curious...was anyone else a little disapointed with Randy?

[PrincessJewel]

I know most people here have nothing but wonderful things to say about Randy, but I was curious if anyone else were a little disappointed?

I feel like maybe I had him really hyped up in my head because of everything that was said here. But to be honest I just wasn't 100% pleased. Looking back now I think I would have gone with someone else. And it has been months now, but it is hard because I'm trying to make coffee table books for xmas gifts and I just find myself getting really sad.

He took hundreds of pictures, but I feel he missed out on a lot of things. He is only one person but there are a lot of moments that I feel are missing. I said I was a detail person and there are no pics of our rings and things like programs or favors. We have no close up shots of us during the ceremony of us saying our vows or anything. There is only like one pic of our first dance and we did a lot of special dance moves, there are more pics of me dancing with my dad. I feel like all the reception shots were just randomly taken. Plus a lot of pics seem to vary in lighting. Some our faces are too shadowy, or the beach pics look washed out, the ones in the church look very yellow. I have been doing tons of photoshop work trying to correct them. I feel like I shouldn't have to do that when I paid for professional package. And also it sucks to know I had an 8 hour package yeat it seems some intimate brides ended up with more shots than I did. And it seems he takes the time to do more photoshop work to certain people that others. I mean there are some pics that are really nice, but I just feel like I was let down compared to other brides that post here. I am an artist and have a critical eye, but I do feel that there shouldn't be hundreds of photos that are useless to me.

Sorry to complain I just wanted to know if anyone felt the same way? Or give me suggestions of what I can do to feel better?

 

[Skylarr29]

First off, I am so sorry you are disappointed with your wedding photos.

I know we are in probably in the minority but I did not use Randy for my wedding after we had engagement photos taken. I think Randy is a great photographer but is very inconsistent with his work. You are spot on about some people getting lots of photo shop and some getting only a few etc. There should be some sort of standard. Also, I find his photo shop photos to be very strange. He also doesn't edit and I wanted a photographer that will edit the photos for color and quality. I think he gets hyped up too much here.

And once again, he has done some great work, he just doesn't do great work every time.

 

[Lynn5700]

No I was happy with all of the pictures he took. I'm sorry your not, that has to stink. Randy did take some awesome shots and some of those shots were not posed...natural shots. Like this one of Tim I just love..Lisa..and my mom. I love them.

They are juat a couple.. I guess for us he did an amazing job capturing the emotions of our wedding day.

I do wish that I would have looked into Misty more though because I do love her photos. Her colors are beautiful and I love how soft her pictures are...but I'm still happy I went with Randy.

Could it be that you are looking at all the other girls pics on here and comparing your and that is why you are getting dissapointed? That can happen, we all do that I think lol.

oh and I also love the fact that Randy had some pics up for me the next day..he called me and emailed me with some photoshopped pics which I thought was awesome and he also sent my pics to me in less like 4 weeks.

 

[padisneyfour]

I just wanted to say that I am sorry you are disappointed with your photos.

 

[prince&princess]

I am so sorry you are unhappy but I have to say
I LOVE RANDY
He is amazing to work with and we could not be happier with our pictures!!

 

[Keira1387]

I am so sorry you are unhappy but I have to say
I LOVE RANDY
He is amazing to work with and we could not be happier with our pictures!!

I agree! He was wonderful!

 

[figmentfan814]

I'm also sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your pictures. We had Randy and found him to be amazing! But, in the end everyone has a different opinion and preference of style that meets their needs.

I would definitely suggest contacting Linda (his wife) to see if there are any other photos that you didn't receive. I really wanted a shot of my bridesmaid's bouquets alone and when she went back to look she found some shots that weren't included on our original CD

Also, if you have any images that you want Photoshopped differently just call. I made a few requests to Linda and she made sure that I got them right away.

I think the one thing that is important advice for any future brides reading this is to have open communication with your photographer (regardless of who they might be) in advance of your needs.

I'm a details person too, so I told Randy in advance that I wanted shots of everything including the food, programs, bubbles etc. We also have closeups of our hands with the rings and we have shots of them with our cake. Also make sure to pick someone who fits your style the best. Plus, we were in the LS, so I told him that I wanted tank shots. As I saw pictures that other people had taken at their weddings on the boards I started compiling a list that I shared with him before the wedding.

I myself choose Randy over Misty because I felt her shots were too digitally enhanced with Photoshop, but that was just my personal preference.

 

[Lynn5700]

Yeah you have to talk to your photographer and tell them what is important to you!

 

[orangetiggs]

we didnt go with randy as we also felt that some of his photos we inconsistant. we firstly decided on him through recommendation on here but then discovered misty

I do agree though talk to him, there may be things he can do

 

[pixie08]

We loved Randy. I also expailned to him that I wanted a more photjournalistic style (and some portraits) he was fine with that. Not everyone has the same chemistry with every vendor. I am so sorry that you do not love your photos but I know Randy enough to know that if you wanted some more specific shots in photoshop he would do it if you explained your feelings. Also did you get your CD's yet?

 

[PrincessJewel]

First off, I am so sorry you are disappointed with your wedding photos.

I know we are in probably in the minority but I did not use Randy for my wedding after we had engagement photos taken. I think Randy is a great photographer but is very inconsistent with his work. You are spot on about some people getting lots of photo shop and some getting only a few etc. There should be some sort of standard. Also, I find his photo shop photos to be very strange. He also doesn't edit and I wanted a photographer that will edit the photos for color and quality. I think he gets hyped up too much here.

And once again, he has done some great work, he just doesn't do great work every time.

I do agree with you, and I do think we are in the minority. I'm glad that so many brides are very satisfied with their experiences, just sad that I happened to be one of the inconsistent ones I guess.

No I was happy with all of the pictures he took. I'm sorry your not, that has to stink. Randy did take some awesome shots and some of those shots were not posed...natural shots. Like this one of Tim I just love..Lisa..and my mom. I love them.

They are juat a couple.. I guess for us he did an amazing job capturing the emotions of our wedding day.

I do wish that I would have looked into Misty more though because I do love her photos. Her colors are beautiful and I love how soft her pictures are...but I'm still happy I went with Randy.

Could it be that you are looking at all the other girls pics on here and comparing your and that is why you are getting dissapointed? That can happen, we all do that I think lol.

oh and I also love the fact that Randy had some pics up for me the next day..he called me and emailed me with some photoshopped pics which I thought was awesome and he also sent my pics to me in less like 4 weeks.

Your pics did turn out great and it is wonderful you are so pleased with them. I don't think it is so much me comparing pictures to others, it is hard to compare weddings when each is unique and beautiful in its own way. But when I compare some of the differences in services it does vary. Some people get more pictures, or more photoshopped/color corrected photos, or get their pics way sooner, it is just hard when it isn't consistent.

I'm also sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your pictures. We had Randy and found him to be amazing! But, in the end everyone has a different opinion and preference of style that meets their needs.

I would definitely suggest contacting Linda (his wife) to see if there are any other photos that you didn't receive. I really wanted a shot of my bridesmaid's bouquets alone and when she went back to look she found some shots that weren't included on our original CD

Also, if you have any images that you want Photoshopped differently just call. I made a few requests to Linda and she made sure that I got them right away.

I think the one thing that is important advice for any future brides reading this is to have open communication with your photographer (regardless of who they might be) in advance of your needs.

I'm a details person too, so I told Randy in advance that I wanted shots of everything including the food, programs, bubbles etc. We also have closeups of our hands with the rings and we have shots of them with our cake. Also make sure to pick someone who fits your style the best. Plus, we were in the LS, so I told him that I wanted tank shots. As I saw pictures that other people had taken at their weddings on the boards I started compiling a list that I shared with him before the wedding.

I myself choose Randy over Misty because I felt her shots were too digitally enhanced with Photoshop, but that was just my personal preference.

That is a good idea to see if other pictures existed. When I was planning my album I asked if there were generic pictures from other weddings I could use of the wedding pavilion and such. She kept saying "Randy didn't take a picture of that? That is weird." It almost makes me wonder if he was off that day or something.

And I did discuss with him what i wanted. I specified style, the details, what was important. I even questioned how can you possibly capture everything. He said that he would capture everything that was important. I would have thought that us saying our vows would have been something important to capture.

We loved Randy. I also expailned to him that I wanted a more photjournalistic style (and some portraits) he was fine with that. Not everyone has the same chemistry with every vendor. I am so sorry that you do not love your photos but I know Randy enough to know that if you wanted some more specific shots in photoshop he would do it if you explained your feelings. Also did you get your CD's yet?

I do have my cds and I've been trying to fix a lot of the images. I guess I just feel frustrated that I'm having to put so much work into them and trying to fill the holes some how.


Thanks for the replies and honesty everyone, and sorry to be down. The truth is my wedding was wonderful and so much exceeded my expectations, but when the photos didn't quite reflect that it was hard, because I didn't even think to question Randy. It's not that I hate my pics, it's just that it was a disappointment to get a standard experience when so many others had sensational ones. I guess I'll just have to have a vow renewal down the road and experiment with someone different. At least I was able to have my dream disney wedding and marry my prince charming.

 

[beachprincess23]

I'm sorry to hear you are disappointed with your pix! I'm sure there are still some great ones that you can use

We ended up not going with Randy because we didn't feel he was accommodating to us at all when we were trying to hire him. We also didn't particularly like his work but were willing to give him a shot to see what else he could show us. He ended up not being able to meet with us so whatever. I thought the pictures I did see were washed out. I know how you feel with detail -- that's exactly what I want and I barely saw any of his pictures with details. I'm sure he's great with a lot of brides, but he didn't impress me.

 

[IndyBride]

That must be so dissapointing! After the weddings all over you only have photos and memories. I only have one photographer because it's not in the budget to hire a second one so I am a bit nervous that my photographer will miss out on somethings. I hope you are able to resolve this somehow...

 

[Ember]

Firstly, I'm sorry. I know you're not feeling distraught or anything, but I'm still terribly sorry that your wedding pictures didn't live up to your expectations. I feel that way about my Magic Kingdom pictures.

Truthfully, while I've been impressed with individual images and even whole weddings that I've seen of Randy's, I was not impressed with him overall. I found him less creative then several other photographers and many of his shots seem to be standard...

As for your pictures, are they high enough resolution that you can crop into them? I noticed when I went through my pictures that I didn't have a close up our hands during the exchanging of the rings and simply cropped in to get the detail.

 

[RumblyTummy]

I feel like maybe I had him really hyped up in my head because of everything that was said here. But to be honest I just wasn't 100% pleased. Looking back now I think I would have gone with someone else. And it has been months now, but it is hard because I'm trying to make coffee table books for xmas gifts and I just find myself getting really sad.

He took hundreds of pictures, but I feel he missed out on a lot of things. He is only one person but there are a lot of moments that I feel are missing. I said I was a detail person and there are no pics of our rings and things like programs or favors. We have no close up shots of us during the ceremony of us saying our vows or anything. There is only like one pic of our first dance and we did a lot of special dance moves, there are more pics of me dancing with my dad. I feel like all the reception shots were just randomly taken. Plus a lot of pics seem to vary in lighting. Some our faces are too shadowy, or the beach pics look washed out, the ones in the church look very yellow. I have been doing tons of photoshop work trying to correct them. I feel like I shouldn't have to do that when I paid for professional package. And also it sucks to know I had an 8 hour package yeat it seems some intimate brides ended up with more shots than I did. And it seems he takes the time to do more photoshop work to certain people that others. I mean there are some pics that are really nice, but I just feel like I was let down compared to other brides that post here. I am an artist and have a critical eye, but I do feel that there shouldn't be hundreds of photos that are useless to me.

I'm so glad you posted this. I feel the same way, but due to Randy's popularity I was a little nervous to post something on the here.
I was so excited to our pics when I finally did - almost 3 mths later - all I could say was "oh". My stomach sank. I actually took it personally for awhile.
I thought maybe I wasn't a "pretty" enough bride, that's why there were no close ups of the ceremony or no photoshop ones. How come he did "this" for these people and not us, ran through my head several times a day.
We have only one pic with our DD and our bridal party we have 3 pics all in the same pose. No hands as well, no favors, no little moments caught on film.
We too spent quite a bit of time talking to Randy about what we would like, so I thought everything was going to be fine.
We got one of his 8 hr pkgs, and it's almost been a year and I still haven't been able to pick out pics for our album. I have thought about calling them so many times but I don't quite know what to say for they are extremely nice people. As of right now I probably just leave things the way the are and hope I can work with some of them myself.

I know exactly how you are feeling and it is such a difficult situation to be in.
Sending you a and some hoping you feel better soon!

 

[osxgirl]

You know, I think this gets back to some of my issues with the Disney photography even. It may not even be so much the photographer as it is how well they "click" with the subject - and might not have anything to do with looks or anything, just with the artistic eye of the photographer.

Or if the photographer is having an "off" day.

And maybe some photographers are better at "clicking" with everyone than others.

Maybe some are less likely to have an off day.

Or it's just luck of the draw if you get them on a bad day or not.

And you hate to think of it that way, because it's your big day, but....


Even meeting with them ahead of time may not help, or expressing what you want. My sister did that with hers, and she was still disappointed, and she really liked the photographer, and the pictures she got. She just didn't quite get all she expected. It's part of the reason I sort of "shared" our photography with her and her DH. (When we went around to different locations to get different shots, she and her DH came with us and got pics too, as her MOH present.)

I don't know if there is a complete answer to it all. I know when we were picking, I thought Randy's looked nice and all, but I didn't see as much as others what all the fuss was about. We considered him, but in the end, Misty's style was more to my taste.

And I think I actually liked the fact that she wasn't as popular as Randy. Not quite as much in demand, but still recommended and very good. That usually means the person is still working hard to build a reputation. I sometimes worry that once someone does start getting so much praise for their work that it can sometimes be a little over the top, that they start believing it too much and might not work as hard at what they are doing anymore.

I'm not saying that's the case with Randy - I don't know. I just tend to figure the one who is still working to build that reputation has more to prove and more reason to really work hard, even if it's a small job, you know?

 

[disneypolybride2008]

That's dissapointing to hear that you didnt like most of your photos.
Being an artist, we are more critical though. Personally i booked Randy after seeing his website and the photos posted here. I hope he does a great job for our wedding! I just love his dramatic effects. This will be the first time i've ever had a professional photographer for anything! My df's brother got married and all they had were the cameras other people brought, so as long as they're better than that, lol.

 

[OKWDVCMagic]

I went to view Randy's website to see if he had many pictures of the actual wedding ceremony. I found very few. Is this typical? We want to catch most of the ceremony not only on video but with still photos. The shots I saw seemed to be taken from the back of the WP. Does anyone know if Randy ever uses two photographers for weddings?

 

[Lynn5700]

He took a bunch of pics of our actual ceremony.

 

[Keira1387]

I also have pictures of EVERYTHING from the ceremony. We received alot more pictures then were posted on Randy's website. I think he did a fabulous job!!!