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Chris Nelson, photog based in NI - reviews?

aunt pol

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone has any personal experience of working with/ hiring/commissioning this photographer, good or bad. Contemporary photojournalistic style, based in Antrim.
Thanks.

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aunt pol

*Bump*

Nobody ever heard of him? That's not good!

clint_silver

There doesnt seem to be other service providors being queried about for the area which may indicate theres not a large demographic of antrim posters on here, so while I think you dont mean any bad by it, it maybe not fair to say its not good noones heard of him.

Like any other providor, have you seen his work and compared it to others? Could ask on local boards for the area.

aunt pol

Thanks Clint. It's not the quality of his work I'm querying, I just wanted to find other previous customers to see what their personal experience had been like re: communication, time scale etc.

GeorgeBailey

I do a bit of videography part time and have worked with Chris twice. Really sound guy to work with and a great attitude to the work he's doing. Would highly reccomend him.

aunt pol

Thanks for that George, I appreciate it.

ms60

@Aunt Pol - I am having similar frustrations with his communication and timescale.

aunt pol

It's terrible, isn't it! I've found Facebook the only "reliable" means of contact. I'm due wonderful pics this weekend, SIXTEEN weeks late... Fingers crossed!

ms60

Yes it has been very disappointing

I hope the photos are worth it! We are also due ours this weekend... also 4 months later.. I will believe it when I see them. fingers crossed for you too!

aunt pol

Jeez it's so frustrating isn't it! When did you get married? We were in may, he said they'd be done in six weeks... I've been told "Another week" regularly and often since then. I've learned my lesson anyway, I'll never hire anyone again that's not covered by some sort of professional association!

ms60

We got married in May too and similarly lots of deadlines have come and gone. I feel really stupid for paying in full (in March!!) Have definately learnt my lesson and had a few sleepless nights worrying that he'd done a runner or hadn't backed up the photos or something. I'm sorry that you're in this situation too but a little relieved to hear that we're not the only ones.. I imagine he must have June, July & August after him too!

aunt pol

He does indeed, I know one girl (who only booked him after I sent her the blog link!) who got married at the beginning of sept and she's freaking now.
Don't feel bad about the full payment- I was stressing about it too and our caterer explained that it's complete industry standard, to protect photogs from being stuck with pics and never getting paid! It's so annoying that they're the only vendor you have to deal with after the wedding and the whole deck is stacked in their favour...:(
fingers crossed for this weekend for both of us!

ms60

Any luck with your photos this weekend? Unfortunately not for us :-(

aunt pol wrote: »

He does indeed, I know one girl (who only booked him after I sent her the blog link!) who got married at the beginning of sept and she's freaking now.
Don't feel bad about the full payment- I was stressing about it too and our caterer explained that it's complete industry standard, to protect photogs from being stuck with pics and never getting paid! It's so annoying that they're the only vendor you have to deal with after the wedding and the whole deck is stacked in their favour...:(
fingers crossed for this weekend for both of us!

aunt pol

Today, apparently... Will let you know!

aunt pol

We got the link, our pics are done. You must be next!

ms60

Brilliant! That gives me some hope! Hope they were worth the wait?! :-)

D3PO

even if they are great I dont think hes done his reputation any enhancement in this thread.

Georgest

Dear All I am so shocked! Is this the same guy? Chrisnelsonphoto.com? I have been having dreadful trouble getting photos from him!! How long did you wait?
Really shocked this is a problem not just with me!

daisyd1

I am so glad to see this thread posted!! I got married in June 2011 and am still waiting for my photos. I'm quite a relaxed person in general so didn't expect them back straight away, but 5 months later I'm still waiting. Patience is a virtue. There is a serious lack of communication, it's incredibly frustrating, and beyond disappointing. I'm so relieved to read that people who got married in May have received their pictures, so things are looking up!!

Georgest

Seems like he is getting quite a reputation.

I have actually got my photographs now after hounding him on email, Facebook and phone. I am also a reasonable person and the fact that any of us are waiting over 5 months for photographs is an utter disgrace, never mind being unprofessional and downright bad manners....he wasnt so slow to take money from us!
What makes me more angry is the whole line of "...i've just taken too much on this year...". He must really think we are all fools.
The photos, now I have them, are really good but a seriously bad taste has been left. I am going to now do everything I can to warn people off this guy.....the photos are good but the service is the worst imagionable. He as actually recommeneded to me from other photographers in NI. I will be telling them not to recommend him again!
Apologies for the rant. The only advise i can give is to hound the man.

PCPhoto

people .... you do realise that if/when you signed a contract with your photographer you agree a timeframe for delivery of images - and if he/she breaks that contract you are well entitled to compensation.

I do work as a photographer full-time but do not do wedding photos, quite simply - a photographer working has overheads one of these should be insurance (some hotels wont allow photographs unless the photographer has their own insurance) ....anyway - the point is you have rights under the law to seek compensation if you are not satisfied with the quality or service given by your photographer - worst case you should be able to get some money back because no-one should have to wait MONTHS for their wedding photos.

EDIT: After taking a look at some of the wedding stuff on his site - I'm not overly impressed (lots of backgrounds tilted, shallow depth of field - one small bit is sharp and the rest is out of focus, loads of shots from the ground level, some images out of focus/blurry and thats just the opening 3 wedding pics on his site) ..... I hope he was cheap because some of his clients did not get what I would consider a proper professional service the most obvious downfall is the topic discussed here - the painfully slow distribution of images - taking months to deliver.....most professional photographers will agree a time-frame and final payment is on delivery of the images.

Georgest

Thanks PC Photo, really helpful info! I have actually just read the terms and conditions (I have copied and pasted all it says about timing - surprise surprise no mention of the photographers responsibilities) and althugh it states 2 weeks on his website (still) it does not say it in the contract. I am still waiting for the album even though I have the photos. I will be doing some research into how I can go about getting some money back off him. Really determined not to let this go.

just a tip to those still waiting - his address (I have just noticed) is on the contract. if the album does not produce itself soon i will be making a visit!

Placing order and receipt of goods:
a) Any alterations to orders must be notified either by phone or e-mail and confirmed in
writing (sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery) within three working days of the order being
placed. The photographer will not be held liable for any costs incurred due to alterations to the
order made by the client after this time. E-mail is not a reliable method of notification due to
the unpredictable operation of message scanners.
You MUST request and receive a confirmation by email if you choose to use this method.
b) The main wedding image print order may take up to six weeks to complete. Where you
choose to design your album through the photographer you will be notified of the estimated
completion date on a case by case basis.
c) The photographer must be notified either by telephone or email and confirmed in writing
(sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery) within three working days of the client being in receipt of
their order in the case of error, shortage or damage as mistakes cannot be rectified after this
period.
d) Due to the nature of the product the photographer is unable to give exchanges or refunds.
This does not affect your statutory rights.

GeorgeBailey

PCPhoto wrote: »

EDIT: After taking a look at some of the wedding stuff on his site - I'm not overly impressed (lots of backgrounds tilted, shallow depth of field - one small bit is sharp and the rest is out of focus, loads of shots from the ground level, some images out of focus/blurry and thats just the opening 3 wedding pics on his site) ..... I hope he was cheap because some of his clients did not get what I would consider a proper professional service the most obvious downfall is the topic discussed here - the painfully slow distribution of images - taking months to deliver.....most professional photographers will agree a time-frame and final payment is on delivery of the images.

Whilst I wouldn't argue with your first 2 paragraphs, the edit at the end seems harsh and looks like bashing for bashing's sake.

Criticising the quality of his work when the brides who've gotten their photos back have actually said they like the pictures (just a shame about the time it took to get them!)

Also, final payment on delivery is common enough but equally as common is payment on or before the day of the wedding. As you say you're not a wedding photographer yourself so perhaps it would be best not to comment on something you don't have enough experience in.

Just to stress though I'm not trying to defend the slow delivery of photos.

GeorgeBailey

Seems unfair that you'd delete Chris' attempt to defend himself but allow the criticisms to stay.

ms60

I haven't followed this post for a while. Did Chris try to defend his actions and were his comments taken down?

Dostoevsky

ms60 wrote: »

I haven't followed this post for a while. Did Chris try to defend his actions and were his comments taken down?

He wrote a good post explaining things, and it was then removed. By whom I don't know.

Whatever about the delay, there's a certain lack of class and fairness to the guy above who anonymously attacks the professional work of this named photographer.

Zaph

All businesses posting as themselves on Boards are expected to contact the office to obtain a verified rep account. This is to ensure that the person posting is actually who they say they are. Posters are informed of this when their post is deleted, so once Chris Nelson applies for and obtains a verified rep account he'll be able to post here again.

GeorgeBailey

Zaph wrote: »

All businesses posting as themselves on Boards are expected to contact the office to obtain a verified rep account. This is to ensure that the person posting is actually who they say they are. Posters are informed of this when their post is deleted, so once Chris Nelson applies for and obtains a verified rep account he'll be able to post here again.

Can't say fairer than that. Thanks for the explanation.

hb77

Interested to see updates on this thread. We have had awful trouble with Chris Nelson since we got married last June. We only got a link to the online photos in December, never received the disk of images and ended up having to cancel the two parent albums we ordered because of the length of time it was taking to get things done. We sent a formal letter of complaint to Chris Nelson (as per his contract instructions) a month ago outlining why we were disappointed with the service and quality of the photos. Despite numerous phone calls and emails since then we have heard nothing in response. I have never come across someone as unprofessional and blatantly rude in my life.
Be warned - do not use this photographer.
If you want to PM me for further details on what happened please feel free to do so.

MrsSunshine

We wish we had read this thread last year

I got married last year and are still waiting for photos.

We have had lots of trouble with communicating with Chris Nelson and have numerous deadlines which have come and gone.

The photos will be good no doubt but it's just disappointing that they are taking so long.

Reassuring though that it's just not us!

Georgest

Mrs Sunshine - the only way is to go to his house and hound him. What a fraud. I would recommend NO ONE uses this guy...If you can't find his address on the contract PM me and Ill send it to you.

MrsSunshine wrote: »

We wish we had read this thread last year

I got married last year and are still waiting for photos.

We have had lots of trouble with communicating with Chris Nelson and have numerous deadlines which have come and gone.

The photos will be good no doubt but it's just disappointing that they are taking so long.

Reassuring though that it's just not us!