We hired a photographer through Snappr for my grandson Gideon’s 1st birthday party and, unfortunately, it was a very disappointing experience.
The session was booked from 1:00–3:00 PM. Communication was minimal from the start—she only reached out the morning of the event to confirm it was still happening, with no prior planning or coordination.
When she arrived, I explained that while I didn’t have a strict timeline, I wanted a mix of posed family photos (matching shirts) and candid shots—especially of the kids, the pool activities, and key moments like cake smash. Instead of taking initiative, she suggested that if I didn’t have a plan, I could cancel the session altogether, which felt very unprofessional given we were hosting a full party and had booked her for a reason.
Throughout the event, there was little direction or engagement. Family photos were poorly framed—many shots cut people out entirely (missing faces, partial bodies, or even babies not visible in photos). It was honestly surprising to see such basic composition issues.
During the pool portion, she positioned herself in a way that missed the main action entirely. There are no photos of kids going down the slide, jumping into the pool, or many of the key moments we expected. Even close family members were missing entirely from the gallery—my son isn’t in a single photo.
Most of the images ended up being wide, unfocused shots or photos of the backs of people’s heads, with very few meaningful or usable moments captured. Out of hundreds of images, none initially included the cake smash—we had to request those separately, and they arrived days later.
At about 2 hours and 20 minutes into the session, she asked if she could leave early, despite the most important moment (cake smash) not even happening yet. Afterward, she stated her camera was overheating and was unable to continue shooting, leaving her inactive for the final portion of the booking.
Overall, this did not feel like a professional event photography experience. There was a lack of communication, direction, awareness of key moments, and basic composition. For a once-in-a-lifetime milestone like a first birthday, this was extremely disappointing.
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