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Rosy123

Terrible wedding photographer- Kurt Ahs

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Our wedding was May 2016, in the Tuscan hills of Italy. It has been almost a year and to this day, I still am very unhappy when I look at the photos. Prior to our wedding day, I communicated with Kurt through WhatsApp for over half a year, showing him photos I loved and even suggested an idea of having a list of photos I definitely wanted to have on my wedding day. He constantly told me to stop worrying and to trust him and his job. I really regret not being more outspoken on the day of my wedding, but what bride and groom has time to micromanage their photographer. I felt since I communicated with him an entire YEAR before the wedding, showing him examples of what I loved, he would be able to envision the day the way I have asked. 

- I wish my ceremony photos were not all far away and from the ground looking up. The angles was unflattering and the photos did not represent how the event went. I felt my friends captured better shots from their phone cameras with a more direct angle. The first kiss was shot from so far away. The photo of my parents and I walking down the aisle was slanted and from a very unflattering angle. If all the shots were not from the ground looking up, it would have probably been better.
- During the ceremony, I only have photos of my guests and nothing close up of the bride and groom. The photos were SO zoomed out, showing all my guests covering their faces from the sunlight and wiping their tears. Honestly, that's great, but that's not what a photographer should have focused on! Where are the shots of the two of us up-close and smiling at each other? Why don't I have a photo with my officiant, one of the more important people of the day? I should NOT need to crop my own photos so I can find what the main focus point should be. 
- The poses taken when the bride and bridesmaids were getting ready are SO awkward. What ever happened to just the girls smiling at the camera in our dresses and looking at each other and pretending to laugh? We had to stand in the awkward poses that my maid of honor felt her body shaking when Kurt took over 5 minutes to take a shot. 
- There are far more photos of the groom and groomsmen taking photos. Guys do not care about photos!! As a bride, I would have assumed the attention would have been upon myself, but I do not have real-time photos being taken of me getting ready! There isn't even a single shot of myself in my bridal gown holding my bouquet. ZERO. Why would a photographer not have a photo of a bride in her gown, alone, on her very special day?? It's not hard to remember... 
- Zero photos with my family, especially my mother and father alone. 
- Harsh lighting for photos after ceremony. As a photographer, I counted on Kurt to tell us to move out of the harsh light and to take better group photos in the shade or even indoors. He rushed through those photos, that all of our photos have the guests squinting unhappily. Not once we were suggested to move elsewhere.
- We only had a handful of photos as a bride and groom. We didn't get to take photos because Kurt's excuse was the sun being harsh. I felt we had a lot of time to move around the compound and find better areas, but I felt he didn't bother to scout out the location (although he was on premise with us for 3 days prior to the event). 
 
I understand Kurt did not have an assistant that day, but there were many points that were missed. He could have spent more time taking photos of the bridal party, and not the groomsmen because the boys obviously do not care about the wedding photos after the event. Hell, the boys just look at them with a glance! My engagement photos and elopement photos were done by one photographer and I loved 90% of her photos because she was attentive and really asked me what kind of shots I would like. 
 
 
As a bride, I did not have time to think of the nitty gritty. I assumed Kurt knew since we been in contact since May 2015 for my May 2016 wedding and that is where I really focused on the details I wanted. He spent the entire weekend with my friends and I, eating and drinking, and treated as if he was our friend. We showed him hospitality and I thought by then, he would understand what my husband and I envisioned for the wedding. Out of the 600+ photos, I wholeheartedly believe I love about 5-1o photos, but they are not photos I would want to frame to put in my house. The rest of the photos I have been really impressed with our photos from my guests as they really had the eye to capture the moments the way I wanted. I've cried several times about this matter because how much I regret moving forward with Kurt as the photographer.  People elsewhere may love this type of photography, and I truly did from the samples he posts on his blog, but I can tell you from looking at hundreds of my own photos, they are not what any of my friends and family expected. I spoke so highly of his work and trusted him SO MUCH, only to be disappointed by the $4000 we spent. Our wedding is once in a lifetime, especially since this wedding was held over 5000 miles away from home, I expected captures I could feel proud of and share with my friends and relatives. More than half of my friends, even ones at the wedding, agreed the photos could have taken differently and with more detail.

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