MODERNlite Photography

As you, dear review-​reader, have probably surmised from the other reviews, MODERNlite Photography are great at photography, but über-​slow on the post-​event work. From my experience, both are absolutely true. I got my photos almost 7 months after my wedding, but they are so beautiful that I really can’t be mad.
What can I say, I’m a perpetual optimist. :) Also, it helps that I didn’t have a time-​constrained wedding album discount on the line. Definitely don’t do that if you’re booking them!
So let’s start from the beginning…
Photography was really important to me. When we thought we’d cheap it out and go DIY, photography was afforded the biggest piece of our budget pie. (We half-​DIYed it once we realized that DIYing an entire venue and catering was going to be more trouble than it was worth, but that’s a story for another day!)
MODERNlite was the first vendor we booked for our wedding, even before we’d nailed down a venue. We chose them mostly because of their natural photojournalistic style — I’m not a big fan of super-​produced photos, nor the overexposed wedding sheen. Plus, they were quite affordable considering the area, they travel for free to the Bay Area, and I loved their printing policy — if we paid $ 500 extra, we would get DVDs with the proofs and have them printed wherever we wanted. Now, $ 500 may seem a lot for a few DVDs, but they’re signing away their printing rights, which is actually a big deal if you consider that getting ONE album from a wedding photographer can run into the hundreds. Right now, I’m planning to print my albums on Blurb for about $ 50 each.
(Of course, getting a wedding album from a photographer involves sitting down with said photographer to choose photos, retouch them, and design the layout, not to mention printing is not cheap either. I’m a designer myself so I can do it myself and cut out the middleman. Either way, you have to know what you yourself are or are not capable of doing. Good rule when planning weddings in general!)
The photographer was super-​professional the day of. He got to the venue on time, with the notes that I’d emailed about the wants/don’t wants and the shot list. He got shots that I don’t remember him getting (some of which were really awesome!) and even my camera-​shy husband felt very comfortable around him.
But yeah, afterwards was basically crickets. I’m a creative and I understand being overwhelmed and missing deadlines, but hey, a quick email would be really appreciated! I finally got progress after sending two emails — one asking for a date when the photos would be ready, and after not receiving a reply in a a week, then a second half-​joking/​asking if they were still in business. I’m not sure if my unspoken «Please don’t make me ask my lawyer friends/​relatives for a favor!» was implied, but perhaps they got the message!
I do hope they get their business end sorted out, because the photography is really quite good. Many photographers leave the wedding business because they can’t hack the business side, and it would be sad if MODERNlite went that way. Mostly, if the 3-​month contract isn’t going to work out, they should just change it.
In conclusion, think of the adage «fast, cheap, good — pick two.» They are definitely the latter two!

My husband and I were married 9÷17÷11 at the Flower Farm Inn in Loomis, CA. We hired MODERNLite and couldn’t have been happier! They were personable, took amazing shots and had literally thousands of photos for us to keep. Looking back a year and a half later, they captured special moments with family members that have since passed away that will be cherished forever. We love how a lot of the shots are candid, natural and not posed. They captured us as us in our element instead of stuffy, posed and unnatural. We received our photos back in a timely manner, even though I could hardly stand the wait. Every dollar spent was worth it, especially for the add on of the photo booth. We’d hire them again in a second and have recommended them countless times. Keep up the good work. :)

If I could give my photographer, five stars and the administrator, Shawn zero stars, I would.
Our photographer did our engagement session and wedding last year and he was SO friendly and fun and easy to work with. We had a fabulous rapport right off the bat and it was so easy to have him follow me around for the full day. We joked and laughed and he got so many awesome shots.
Shawn, on the other hand is doing a terrible job of running the business. Their prices are great and the photos are great, but her customer service was severely lacking.
When I returned from my honeymoon I sent her an email just letting her know we were back and that the day had gone great and we were so happy with having worked with Mike. I also asked her what to expect as far as a timeline of receiving our files. She told me 12 weeks. That seemed long, but I was willing to wait and I left her alone for those 12 weeks.
At the 12 week mark I emailed her to check the status. No response. I emailed again. No response. I called everyday for 5 days and never heard back. I started to worry that she had skipped the country with my money and my wedding photos forever.
All she needed to say was that they were running behind and that she needed another couple weeks. I would have been fine with her just reaching out and LETTING ME KNOW.
Instead she made me crazy and made me stalk her. I just didn’t think it was necessary to be treated that way.
We finally got our discs and all was well (except they weren’t labelled, and they were scratched). I love the shots, but Shawn was just the epitome of rudeness.

First of all, our photographer deserves 5+ stars. Professional, on time, great all around guy. Our pictures turned out beautiful and are exactly what I had hoped for.
BUT-​MODERNlite Photography was a huge disappointment.
Our wedding was August 4, 2012. On our contract we were told pictures would be received within 12 weeks of our event.
After 13 weeks (Nov 5) I emailed and called MODERNlite Photography to ask what the status was on our pictures. My emails (2) were not returned and neither was my voicemail and missed calls.
Finally a week+ later (Nov 13^th), Shawn King emailed me back saying «I’m so busy and still working on your photos». Unprofessional and unacceptable. No time line was given on when I would receive my photos, no explanation at all.
After emailing her back for more detailed information and explaining my frustration (we had purchased a groupon for a photobook online that expired the following week-​I was not able to redeem it because I didn’t get my photos on time) I did not hear back until Nov 19^th when I received a faulty web link to my pictures.
I finally received my photographs on CD in the mail Nov 23^rd. Shawn King sent me the link to my online gallery on Dec 5^th, a full 4 months after our wedding.
Obviously, MODERNlite Photohgraphy overbooked their summer, and instead of owning up to mistakes they simply ignore their clients and their contracts. Unfortunate for everyone because even though their pictures are amazing, I would not recommend them to anyone else.

My wedding took place on July 21, 2012 and here it is over 4 months later and I have yet to see a single shot that was taken at the event, even though they were paid prior to the wedding.
It’s unfortunate because I had a great experience with them leading up to the event, and even at the event itself. Afterwards I was told it would take 12 weeks to receive my photos, but 12 weeks came and went and I didn’t receive anything. When I reached out I was told it would take an additional 3 weeks. Those 3 weeks past and now MODERNlite has gone completely radio silent. I’ve called and emailed multiple times and have yet to receive a single response from them.
I can’t review their photos because as I said, I haven’t seen anything that they shot, but I can review their service — which is extremely unprofessional and some of the worst I have ever experienced.
My advice for future brides is to use a different photographer…

So, I never got to book Modernlite because they never got back to me :/
I had sent them an inquiry to their email and received an email telling me they still had my wedding date in 2013. I sent another email the next day (sept 15) asking how I can book and reserve the date. On Sept 17 They sent me a link to a reference form to fill out and that they would draft a contract and send it to me for review.
I filled out the form and hit the submit button and never heard back.
I gave them the two stars because they have a nice portfolio and good prices but unfortunately I wasn’t good enough for their business.
Good luck!

my husband and i cannot say enough about how wonderful it was to work with MODERNlite Photography. our one-​year anniversary is on 09.10.12, and we are so grateful that MODERNlite Photography captured the essence of who we are individually, as a couple, and that we have a minute-​by-​minute account of the entire day.
things to note about our experience:
–our package included: one photojournalist, unlimited coverage, unlimited images, editing+enhancing of images, and a password-​protected website for viewing + ordering images, and a DVD of print-​ready images.
–our photojournalist was with us from ~9.30AM-10PM
–although i was a little bit worried about having only 1 photojournalist, my worries were put to rest when we got daily peeks of our images through their blog (
). our images still leave us speechless.
–our photojournalist really understood our vision, photojournalistic + modern, and it is truly apparent in our images.
–our photojournalist was really easy to work with, non-​intrusive, and blended so well in the background that i, and our guests, barely remember him being around (in a good way!)
–our photojournalist was also quite intuitive as he helped us move swiftly through our family photos. i was starting to feel overwhelmed, and he totally read it– i’ll never forget it.
–the customer service provided by the the president of MODERNlite Photography and by our photojournalist was top-​notch. when i had a question, my email was answered promptly.
–we hit the jackpot when we stumbled upon our package because the unlimited coverage allowed us to capture the entire day from start to finish including everything that happened in between and within the bigger moments.
–our engagement photos were just as fantastic!
–check out more of our photos:
finally, my husband and i want to extend our appreciation to MODERNlite Photography for providing us with images that remain true to our vision of our wedding day, and for providing us with images that will allow us to relive and recount such an important day… we are eternally grateful!

I hate to be the one to give the (seemingly) first bad review, but my husband and I are really disappointed at the service we have received from MODERNlite. I really hope that this review isn’t deleted because it is a bad review.
We purchased a deal through
that offered a huge wedding package for a very good price, so we were excited. The package did not come with an engagement session, so we decided to add an engagement shoot so that we could meet our wedding photographer and get a feel for what things would be like.
Everything had been good up to this point — it was a relaxing shoot, the pictures came out beautiful and on time.
The wedding day came (we got married on a rainy day in March), and things were still pretty good. The photographer came on time, took good shots, didn’t get in the way, and even though a lot of my family and wedding guests were in his face and not cooperating, he kept his composure.
Here is where it gets bad:
— The package we purchased came with a second photographer for the ceremony — but no second photographer came.
— We double checked the contract after the wedding, and notified them that there was no second photographer. I received an email about a day later stating that a $ 100 credit had been issued in the form of a gift certificate (to a website that we had no intention of ever using). No apology, nothing but an issued credit.
— We received our full resolution photos on DVDs in mail, and we were really unimpressed at the envelope all 3 DVDs were placed into (no case, not even a sleeve for the discs) and they were all scratched.
I’ve written another pointed email to see if they want to take the opportunity to make things right, but we will see what happens. I really tried to love everything, even gave an extra star because things were OK up until after the wedding. We are really disappointed at the poor business practice of MODERNlite Photography.

another update! we got our wedding pics back yesterday and they are amazing! our photographers were perfect for our personalities and we had a lot of fun with them. i am so glad we picked modernlite!