Steven Pisano – Photographer

Basically, I wish it worked out better — but it didn’t.
Wasn’t actually looking for a photographer initially for my event, but a friend had saw a post from «Steven Pisano» who was advertising as a professional photographer looking to start doing more family friendly photography… and hey — i was gonna have my first «non baby shower» (we just had a gathering of friends, and didn’t want a «traditional baby shower») and didn’t have a photographer lined up, so what the hell!
He advertised as being a professional sports and performing arts photographer who was looking to start switching to Family and Event Photography. All he asked was to have a chance to shoot some family events and in return we allow him to use our photos to start his portfolio. Figured i had nothing to lose, so got in contact with him.
Don’t get me wrong, the guy was nice, he was initially VERY responsive via email and we confirmed all details 3 wks in advance. So i felt good about this. The day of he showed up on time and he had all his lenses ready to go. So even though I had brought a camera with me, i figured — we have a photographer WHY would i need to take the time to take other pics when i could be socializing and catching up with old friends during my event!
So all seemed well, and the event was over. I reassured him that we were in no rush to have the pictures, but to just let us know when he would have them ready and we could work out how to receive my finalized pics.
This is where the problem begins. I contacted Steven about 3 – 4 wks after the photos were taken to check in on the status, and he responds saying that he was swamped with work and hasn’t had a chance to get to our photos. This is totally understandable being that he did offer his time and work for free — so i was sure i wasn’t the only person who took him up on this offer. He tells me he thinks he has time this wknd and that i should receive them early next wk.
Totes, magotes I say and wait for another wk to pass. 2 weeks later i contact him again after not hearing from him, and wanted to see what the status was, once again not trying to rush him but just wanted to know if he got around to processing our photos. Now, he’s not as «responsive» as he was before, and I had to send a follow up email a couple days later, to which he responds again that he would have it «early next wk» because he was swamped again with work. I respond with an ok, and hope to receive that email confirmation that week.
And of course, no response, no emails of updates or apologies. it is now about 8 – 9 wks after the event, AND I HAD THE BABY AND still haven’t had the baby shower pics to share with friends and family. I send two final emails asking about the photos, and have accepted the fact that i won’t be getting ANY photos. which is exactly where i’m at now.
We get that we didn’t pay for services; but there comes a basic expectation of responsiveness/​updates. To be honest, we would have rather he not showed up and we took our own pictures. He’s got a LONG WAY to go to meet the professional standards of the other qualified photographers in this city. not to mention now he has pics of me and my friends that he has no right to use for his own personal reasons and kinda creeps me out that i dont know what hes actually taken pictures of.