Sandals Photographers

[gt_diesel]

I did a search but could not really find the information that I am looking for...

My fiance and I are going to get married at Sandals Grande Rivera in Jamaica next spring and are having a hard time deciding what to do about the photographer.

We can bring a friend to do the photo's (paying for them to be there for three days) for $1200... The cheapest package from Sandals is $1400. My friend is fairly new to weddings, but the stuff she has done to this point has been very nice.

I have heard mixed reviews about the photos taken there, and the examples I have seen have not been stelar. I am by no means a portrait photographer ( I do drag racing photography ) but I feel like I would dissapointed if they were my photos.

I feel like it would be much easier to use the Sandals photographer as we would not have to entertain guests during our wedding / honeymoon.

Any opinions would be fantastic.

[PeaceFire]

I got married at Beaches which is the sister resort to Sandals. Our original plan was to fly in our own photographer and have them shoot the wedding. I believe the cost was going to be about the same as yours. She ended up having to cancel (totally legit reason) a few weeks before and we couldn't afford a new photog since flights had been jacked up. So, instead, we sort of did our own photography with my Mom's cousins using my gear and me editing the pictures. In the end, going that route was better than what we got from their photographer. Not that their photographer wasn't "good", but they are very generic. No creativity and they didn't even ask me what *I* wanted as far as photos go. They have their image list and they stick to it.

The thing to note is that their photographer will likely still be there. He showed up at ours even though I requested they not send a photographer (I said we were just going to have family snap some shots for us, which was technically true). And he made it a point to get in the way of my Mom's cousins until I made him leave after the ceremony. Also, outside photography is not allowed at Sandals resorts because of their contracts with Kodak or whoever it is now. We got around it by saying we didn't have a photographer, just some family members who had cameras. But while they didn't tell them to stop taking pictures, he literally would move in order to step in front of them. It was very blatant.

So if you go the route of the outside photographer it's possible you'll be faced with a little harassment. You'll get away with it, but certain things may be "ruined" by their photographer. So just be aware of that possibility. Also I was married at Beaches in 2008 and haven't been following their photographer trends since then, so my info is pretty old.

[SMP_Homer]

On one hand, your friend may get an amazing opportunity for a destination wedding for her portfolio, and you seem to trust her

On the other hand, the unknow person(s) from Sandals should be experienced with weddings and the area... But that you don't know...

I was in Curaçao for a wedding (as a guest) 4.5 years ago. They hired the local resort photog. He showed up with a body, 1 mega zoom lens, and a flash.
The photos were a step up from beach guests, but not worth paying for. Couple ended up talking him into buying all the RAWs and I did some editing to salvage some into nice ones (and shot plenty of my own too).

I'd go with the friend.....

[umphotography]

The one I saw photographing in Jamaica were using 50d,s,,random 18-270 variables,, 580,s pointed at the client in ettl,,,, all day long and they didn't change the glass,, thet were shooting in av mode,,,, if that gives you an idea

[patrick clarke]

not trying to be defensive here mike but just wondering
the 18-270 obviously is unsuitable for a wedding but 50 d in av mode --is there a problem here ?
was it an indoor wedding or outdoor and if outdoor in daylight would aiming the 580 straight at client be alright?

[Red Tie Photography]

Originally Posted by patrick clarke

not trying to be defensive here mike but just wondering
the 18-270 obviously is unsuitable for a wedding but 50 d in av mode --is there a problem here ?
was it an indoor wedding or outdoor and if outdoor in daylight would aiming the 580 straight at client be alright?

My thought is he saw the combination of all of the pieces and made an educated guess that they arent as serious as some other photographers and their work may reflect that.

[patrick clarke]

thanks for the response bryan
was actually reading your article today on how to shoot a wadding and are you ready to shoot a wedding
very informative
keep up the excellent work

[umphotography]

Patrick. Nothing wrong with a 50D. I used on for an entire season. The photographers that are there are very green. They were using a Tamron 18-270 variable zoom with a 580 in ettl more... Every day. We were there 9 days. There were a few nights when a couple guys came up and starting talking photography with me. I had my MKIV and a 100-400 on taking some shots and was also doing some sunset shots while we were there. The pics were just OK. Its just a very basic set up and very basic photography on most of the islands... definitely not what they put in he magazine. They hire a crew to come in and get stuff for publication. Kind of Bella like if you know what I mean.

[PeaceFire]

I believe Sandals photographers actually shoot with Nikon. At least they have at the few Sandals/Beaches resorts I've been to (3 of them) And while I am not familiar with Nikon AT ALL I do recall the cameras being really nice. The problem is, their work is generic. From what I can tell they are employees of the resort assigned to take pictures of weddings, not photographers hired to photograph weddings for the resort. So they are "trained" how to shoot weddings (in a generic way), told how to shoot them (in a generic way), and then they turn the RAW images over to the resort who then puts it into a slide show without any editing. And that's basically all they are.

However, you can fly someone in from the US, pay a ton of money to do that, and also get generic photos on a beach. Just because they are a "photographer" from somewhere else doesn't mean their work is going to be any better. It really is a tough call. Also, you CAN hit the jackpot with those photographers. I had a friend use them and she got the coolest guy who was THRILLED when she asked for some non-generic shots and just went with it and her pictures were awesome. But you won't know whether or not you get that until it's literally wedding time because you don't get the meet the photographers ahead of time there.

[Josh_30]

I didn't get married at Sandals, but my honeymoon was to their Regency La Toc resort in St Lucia. While we were there they had a "honeymooners photo session" where we were followed around by a teenage girl with a G10 + 580EX, lol. The shots were good enough, but certainly not what a paid experienced photographer could do. You then got to look at them in the photo shop and pick/choose which shots (if any) you wanted to purchase.

[umphotography]

Originally Posted by Josh_30

I didn't get married at Sandals, but my honeymoon was to their Regency La Toc resort in St Lucia. While we were there they had a "honeymooners photo session" where we were followed around by a teenage girl with a G10 + 580EX, lol. The shots were good enough, but certainly not what a paid experienced photographer could do. You then got to look at them in the photo shop and pick/choose which shots (if any) you wanted to purchase.

^^^^^^

This

My wife and i got married in St Lucia 6 yrs ago at a sandals. We went for 10 days and i didnt reasearch the situation and just figured I would use a photographer at the resort..........Big Mistake. Generic pics,poor processing, basicaly straight off the camera with a tone curve. The kid that was doing the photography was as green as they get. He was using a 20D which is not a bad camera but I think the 40D and 5D was the rage at that time. I got real concerned when i saw the camera in "P" mode . I helped with the settings after he found out i was a photographer. And I baught the files and processed them when i got home.....they were not raw files either.....Full size JPEG. The photographers at the resorts we staying in at Jaimaica were all using 50D's. Ive been to the islands 3 times. Everytime ive gone, the staff photographers are generally people hire for the season who may or may not have photography experience. Its as basic as your going to get. At least thats what i have seen the 3 times ive been there.

[Master of Defenestration]

Originally Posted by PeaceFire

I got married at Beaches which is the sister resort to Sandals. Our original plan was to fly in our own photographer and have them shoot the wedding. I believe the cost was going to be about the same as yours. She ended up having to cancel (totally legit reason) a few weeks before and we couldn't afford a new photog since flights had been jacked up. So, instead, we sort of did our own photography with my Mom's cousins using my gear and me editing the pictures. In the end, going that route was better than what we got from their photographer. Not that their photographer wasn't "good", but they are very generic. No creativity and they didn't even ask me what *I* wanted as far as photos go. They have their image list and they stick to it.

The thing to note is that their photographer will likely still be there. He showed up at ours even though I requested they not send a photographer (I said we were just going to have family snap some shots for us, which was technically true). And he made it a point to get in the way of my Mom's cousins until I made him leave after the ceremony. Also, outside photography is not allowed at Sandals resorts because of their contracts with Kodak or whoever it is now. We got around it by saying we didn't have a photographer, just some family members who had cameras. But while they didn't tell them to stop taking pictures, he literally would move in order to step in front of them. It was very blatant.

So if you go the route of the outside photographer it's possible you'll be faced with a little harassment. You'll get away with it, but certain things may be "ruined" by their photographer. So just be aware of that possibility. Also I was married at Beaches in 2008 and haven't been following their photographer trends since then, so my info is pretty old.

I got married at a Sandals in Jamaica, and we just went with their photographer (we didn't really care much, as long as it was documented...We'd hired a great photographer back home for the reception where all of our friends were and the REAL party took place), and the part that I bolded is very true.

OP, if you'd like to see some samples of their work, PM me your email and I'll send you a few (not posting them online ) to show you what they put out.

[carshop]

My son got married in Jamaica 2 years ago. We had about 40 close friends and family there.
I brought my dear friend Matt, a wedding photographer (I paid his fare and he agreed to do the shoot and have a vacay). He also brought his wife.
But the resort sent their photographer, even though we said we would shoot our own wedding.
He was annoying, always got in the way of Matt.
I finally lost it and asked him to leave. He was reluctant at first but after 3 or 4 of the men surrounded him, he left.
I took some of my own shots, but Matt's were fantastic.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...2377596&type=3

[PeaceFire]

Originally Posted by umphotography

^^^^^^

This

My wife and i got married in St Lucia 6 yrs ago at a sandals. We went for 10 days and i didnt reasearch the situation and just figured I would use a photographer at the resort..........Big Mistake. Generic pics,poor processing, basicaly straight off the camera with a tone curve. The kid that was doing the photography was as green as they get. He was using a 20D which is not a bad camera but I think the 40D and 5D was the rage at that time. I got real concerned when i saw the camera in "P" mode . I helped with the settings after he found out i was a photographer. And I baught the files and processed them when i got home.....they were not raw files either.....Full size JPEG. The photographers at the resorts we staying in at Jaimaica were all using 50D's. Ive been to the islands 3 times. Everytime ive gone, the staff photographers are generally people hire for the season who may or may not have photography experience. Its as basic as your going to get. At least thats what i have seen the 3 times ive been there.

I stand corrected. It does seem most of them use Canon from the research I did last night. At the Beaches we got married at it was definitely nice, new Nikons but that seems to be the only resort that uses Nikon.

[jameswillett]

I dont know what everyone said above b/c I havent read through them, but I just returned from a honeymoon at Sandals Antigua and it seems like they just give cameras to all their workers who randomly take pictures. I saw one wedding and the photographer there was the same that took pictures at one of the restaurants. We looked through the work at the end of the trip on their displays...for what they are asking I would definitely fly your friend there, everything looked like it was shot with a point and shoot.