Corinna’s Camera

We’ve used Corinna for years, since our 6-​year old was a few months old. We do family photos with her every year. She’s always been great on the photo shoots, and we are ALWAYS very happy with the pictures we get. I don’t have any horror stories of waiting months & months, but I do agree that sometimes it takes a bit longer than we’d want, and we have to prompt her a few times. But we’ve always been so pleased with the pictures that we’ve never considered the delay/​response that big of an issue.

I wanted to love Corinna’s Camera – I really did. And I did love her before and during the photo session, but after that it went downhill. In a big way. But let me tell you the whole story…
Last year (July 2009), a mom friend of mine used Corinna’s Camera with great results! The best thing was that she would come TO YOUR HOUSE for the photo shoot, which was great since I had a baby! So in August I visited the website (not the current one; it’s been redesigned since) and the editor in me found a major spelling error on the front page… so I sent a nice email, blaming my English degree, and saying I might be interested in her services. She wrote back within two days, thanking me and even joking around a bit. She told me to let her know when we were ready for photos (I had to convince hubby to spend the money)!
Fast forward to September 2009 when she approached me out of the blue (via email) and mentioned she was going to be launching a new website and redoing her marketing materials, and asked if I might be willing to work out a trade – her photography for my editing and design work. I was thrilled, because it meant I could do something I love (editing and design) and receive something I wanted (her photos – she said either a proof set or a specific package of photos) without having to spend a dime! It was a perfect arrangement.
So we scheduled a shoot date (October 6), and in the meantime, I started my half of the bargain by sending her a list of things to change and ideas for the website, which she loved. We corresponded on a somewhat regular basis about the website.
The photo shoot went really well, and she was very good with my 8-​month-​old son – talking to him, making funny noises, and whatever she needed to do to try and get his attention. She seemed to know what she was doing – she had a variety of cameras and lenses and she even brought some of her own props. I think she was there for about two hours, and we did multiple outfit changes and scenery changes. She even waited for 15 minutes while I fed him because he was getting fussy! I was thrilled, and couldn’t wait to see the pictures. She did tell me it would probably take 2 – 3 weeks to see the proofs because she was (I think) going on vacation plus she had some other clients to get caught up with.
So I waited. And waited. At 4 weeks I emailed her saying I was ready to start working on her marketing materials and go over the new website… and asked if the photos were done yet because my entire family was excited to see them! She emailed me back the same day telling me she was working on his pictures that week, but she also had two other shoots to get done from the weeks before she did our photo shoot… and that she was really swamped and was behind so she didn’t have time to get any of the marketing stuff to me, and it would likely be January before she got to that. I was okay with that, since she said our photos would be done that week.
Except they weren’t. I emailed again a few weeks later (end of November) asking about the photos (and offering again to help with the marketing stuff) – and didn’t get a response. ANY response. At that point I honestly forgot about her. Fast forward to March 2010 when someone asked me if I ever got the photos… Ha. It had been SIX months since the photo shoot and FIVE months since she had last contacted me (saying the photos would be done «that week») so I decided it was time for an email.
I mentioned it had been six months, and I understood that she was likely busy and that I wasn’t an actual cash-​paying client… but that I found it a bit ridiculous that it had been this long AND that I hadn’t heard ONE word from her. I told her it just didn’t seem like good business practice to alienate a[ny] client, but that I’d still like to at least SEE the photos if she still had them.
I waited a week and there was no response. I then sent the same message to her via her website contact form. Another week with no response. Then I posted the same thing on her Facebook page, thinking that a public comment would surely get a response. Nope – she deleted it without one comment or email to me!
I am just STUNNED at the complete and total lack of communication from Corinna in this matter. If there are extenuating circumstances or if she had just changed her mind on the trade, all she would have had to do is email and tell me and I surely would have been understanding. But she didn’t. And really? They are DIGITAL photos, so not really that much work to either email low-​res versions to me to choose what I wanted or upload them somewhere. It’s not like they required darkroom processing, retouching, or a photo lab.
I thought about giving her two stars because she WAS nice and SEEMED professional and knowledgeable during the photo shoot… and I have seen some of her photos and they were really good. And I did initially give her two stars. But now I realize she only deserves one.
This is definitely a case of buyer beware.