Rhea Photography

Hi Harsha. While this review is disappointing, it is not a surprise. The “blame” and “poor customer service” you speak of is simply me expecting you to pay me what you contractually agreed to pay me. And to take accountability appropriately. These are not unreasonable expectations nor do they reflect poor service. Quite the opposite. I sent you a quote prior to any work being done and clearly outlined my hourly rate of $350/hr for an estimated time of 2.5 hours. I let you know that I did not believe 2.5 hours would be enough time but that we could play it by ear, and so we contractually agreed that, should we need to add time/adjust cost, we could do so — I also kept my books open that day to accommodate for this possibility. You had a total of 9 outfit changes and insisted on a unique location for each outfit. I scouted 9 central locations — nearly all within a 5-mile radius — to limit transit time. You also had a hairstylist and makeup artist on set who stopped frequently to do touch ups. Due to drive time, parking, outfit changes, hair & makeup touch ups, and time in front of the camera, the total shoot time ended up being 10 hours (which you have agreed with and confirmed in writing.) My rate is $350/hr — which you also acknowledged and agreed to when you received your quote and paid your deposit. This means your total should have been $3,500. However, because I enjoyed our time on set, I offered to discount it to $3,168.50 as a kindness. You refused to pay and proceeded to slash the total simply because "it doesn't work for you" as well as demand more images than contracted. Additionally, prior to shooting, I requested in writing for you to arrive on set camera-ready with hair and makeup done. You confirmed you would. When you arrived on set, I asked if we were ready to go and you said yes. — we began shooting right away. From my vantage point, the real issue arose when I sent you a preview of your images a few days later. It was only then that you realized your makeup artist had used makeup that was far too light for your skin. When I asked if you had previewed and approved your makeup prior to arriving on set, you said no — that you hadn’t looked at it and that you regretted not doing so. As I have clearly explained, I am not responsible for the mistakes of another professional that you hired independently — no one should be. I expect all clients to vet their pros ahead of time and to approve their work. I have offered multiple times to put you in touch with a professional retoucher who can perform the complex edits that would be necessary. I am not a retoucher — most photographers are not. You acknowledged verbally and in writing that you liked your images "other than the makeup issue". Additionally, I showed you in-camera previews throughout our shoot and you continued to express excitement about how they were turning out. It is beyond clear to me that what ultimately happened is, you realized that the faulty makeup had degraded the quality of your images... and so you no longer wanted to pay full price for them. However, that is not the way the world works. If you buy a car and then put bad oil in it, you don't get to take it back to the dealership for a refund. As I have said, this is an issue that needs to be resolved with your makeup artist. The fact that expected me to charge less for someone else's mistakes is wild. I provided you with beautiful, professional images that met and exceeded quality standards as well as your goals for the shoot. I truly empathize with your situation and would be frustrated too if I were you — however I had zero control over who you decided to hire for makeup, their work, or your failure to preview it. Not to mention, I had never met you prior to your arrival on set and had zero frame of reference for your actual skin tone. Additionally, not only did I not know that it wasn't the desired color of your skin, the two other people on set with us the entire day (your close childhood friend and the makeup artist himself) also did not say anything about it. In no world should I be held responsible. You have behaved in a way that makes me scared to work with future clients — doing something I love so deeply and have been doing for nearly 15 years. Not only did you not pay me anywhere near what I should have been paid, but you have now left a public review wrongly defaming my work and dragging me (even more than you already have) through what should be someone else’s mud. I truly hope you go into your next professional partnership with greater awareness, fairness, and accountability and that you do not take advantage of another future client the way you have me.