WARNING Misti Abner aka Douglas Studios

oh wow. I'm in tennessee and thought of using her for some pre-wedding photos. There are some beautiful places in TN to shoot, so I wanted to get some here. Glad I came across this thread. Yo saved me a lot of drama.

This is horrible!!! and to me pics is one of the most important things about a wedding. that is one thing you can look back on to give others some memory of the day. and with that gone there's nothing to show your children or even look back on yourself. oh man! I couldn't even imagine.

You're in the same state, so she wouldn't be able to dodge you as easily as the rest of us. But, with so many other reputable photographers out there, it's probably best to go with someone who has a solid reputation. Pictage is a great site - it lists photogs and their work from all over. Check it out, I'm sure you'll find someone suitable!

Misti was our photographer for our July 2009 wedding in Mexico. I had some issues with her as well, but made a lot of excuses for her at the time. She was professional, and we did get all our pictures on a disc. I hadn't ordered anything extra so I can't speak to that. I was a recipient of the special she ran on BDW and only had to pay travel costs. I was able to split her flight with another bride getting married a few days after us, and I think I ended up spending $1300 total. Overall I was happy with our photos, although there were a few key shots that were missed. Getting the discs took longer than promised, and Misti was difficult to get ahold of. When we finally received the disc it was only 300 pictures total. I was disappointed both with the amount, knowing that many more were taken, and with the quality of some of them. In some pictures, they were over-brightened and my dress blended right in with the sky. After looking at pictures my family took, I realized the sky really was as blue as I remembered it, and not white! After contacting her, she did agree to send a disc with all the images taken, as long as I promised not to hold the quality against her since they would be unedited. Of course I agreed because I wanted the pictures, and we did receive the disc. When we received the disc, it had 900 images total, all unedited as expected. However, I realized how much work was put into the editing process. Every single one of our pictures that was taken outside had little gray spots all over the image. I am not a professional and do not know if this could have been avoided, but to me it seemed as simple as wiping the lens with a cloth. Being new at destination weddings, maybe she was unaware of the added complications of humidity, but maybe that's just the way it is. I did appreciate the work she did in editing the 300, because it must have been a large amount of time (although it seemed with some that she just brightened it to the max to make the spots disappear). I spent over an hour to edit the spots out of just one picture. She had also agreed to re-edit a few pictures, but never did. She also never refunded our deposit of $150, which was to hold the date until we booked her travel costs. I didn't even realize we were supposed to get it back until I looked at the contract again after the wedding. Once I contacted her about it, I never heard from her again. Luckily we have all the pictures, and it was only $150, but still! I am so sorry to everyone who has lost so much more!

Really sorry to hear that. Pictures are definately memories that are caught only in that moment. I know your message will reach others and help them beware of issues such as this one. SHAME SHAME on her!!

I have to agree with you and found there were more than a few key shots missing from ours. Now, when I compare my pics to some of the other couples on here, I realise just how amateurish mine are. She was inexpensive, and it shows in the quality, substance and style of her shots. I can't say that even one was original, and I hardly have any of just my husband and I and of those few, I can truly say none wowed me. NONE. Hiring her was the biggest planning mistake I made. As for the $150 refundable deposit -- I missed out on that too! GEESH!!!!!

This thread makes me sad for all you brides who got disappointed by her unprofessionalism and poor ethics What she did to you guys is really terrible, but I'm a true believer of karma!!!

 

I'm glad you are all speaking out because it will be a huge help for brides/grooms planning their big day. BDW is a great source for research*

I'm sorry you had to go through this!!! No part of a wedding should be negative due a vendor! Thank you for thinking enough of us B2B's to share this info. Best of luck to you!

It's funny that you mention the "amateurish-ness" because when we first got the pictures I thought the same thing. And then I looked through them again and was like ok, I guess there are some good ones. But the more I see pictures on the forum, it makes me want to cry. I was on a budget and I wish I hadn't sacrificed my photos because of it. Looking back now I would have payed anything to have amazing pictures. I thought I did enough research at the time, but I guess not. There are some pictures I love, but they are not anything different, and I wish there were so many more. I guess I have to be happy to have something, and I just hope we are able to help someone else and save them from disappointment. And I am so sorry that I didn't post something earlier.

I can't BELIEVE that Misti ended up being a fraud!! I was ALSO one of the brides who got the FREE names-in-the-sand pics from her and I thought she would have been totally legit! WHO KNEW?!?

 

I AM SOOOOO SORRY that all of you have had these nightmarish experiences with her -- some of my photos with the photographer I booked in Jamaica for our TTD weren't exactly what you'd "see in a magazine", but I felt like I knew what I was getting into for what I paid, and I was prepared to deal with the consequences of not having the photo budget I would have preferred.

 

But, I am so upset that she is messing around with your memories of the most important day of your lives....SHAME ON YOU, MISTI ABNER DOUGLAS!!