The Headshot GentleMan

Wow! Looking at all of the reviews, I cannot say I’m surprised! What a horrendous businessman! An elitist, snooty attitude! He places blame everywhere but on himself! Next month marks my 5^th wedding anniversary! I have yet to receive any photos from my wedding! Why would I wait so late to write this review you ask? Ven Sherrod threatened to sue me for defamation after I filed a BBB report on him! He told my husband at our ceremony that he «didn’t feel inspired to take photos because there weren’t enough women there.» How nice coming from a married man! He sure was inspired to cash my $ 5000 check!!! He was rude and nasty to my wedding planner and family! I asked him to make sure he photographed my Grandparents and my 90 year old Great Aunt (She died this year by the way Ven!) I got my engagement album almost a year after the wedding and the photo to be signed by my guests sits blank on my living room wall because it never made it to the wedding! And if you’re not a member of a Black Greek Letter Organization he really doesn’t have time for you (Although my husband is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated!!). My Uncle is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and was quite upset to hear about how Ven Sherrod treated his niece! So to celebrate my anniversary I will be filing a lawsuit and a report with the Illinois State Attorney General! And changing your name won’t help Ven! A gentleman you ARE NOT!!!

As a US Air Force officer, I am very disturbed by Ven Sherrod’s deplorable level of professionalism. I will not recommend him to any of my Chicagoan colleagues. I love supporting black-​owned businesses, especially in Chicago, but I will not support this one again. My fiancé & I began to sit for a photo shoot yesterday for our save-​the-​date/​engagement photos, but did not complete the shoot after insurmountable tensions/​frustrations reached a boiling point; all of which were predicated on Ven’s extreme tardiness. We were initially ecstatic that Ven was able to take us on such short notice & on New Years Eve at that. Our appointment was initially scheduled for 4:00pm. We received a text from Ven at aprroximately 3:20pm saying that he was running 30 minutes late. When my fiancé replied requesting to confirm the new reservation time, we received no confirmation. After a few texts updating his status, an associate finally arrived at the studio to let us in at 4:50pm. Ven himself did not arrive until approximately 5:45pm. His apology/​attitude for his tardiness was very unsincere & nonchalant. During the almost 60 minute wait for him to finally show, we had a chance to review his work, one of his albums being my fraternity brother’s wedding. I did like the album’s layout & quality, but grew more frustrated as we spent one of my last nights in the States waiting! The Unilocal photos of his studio are a bit manipulative. The studio looked like a houseparty aftermath & the bathroom/​changing room was trashed. Had he or his associates not had the chance to clean up, he should’ve rescheduled us.
At a point during the shoot, he asked if we wanted to halt the shoot or continue. When my fiancé inquired about price change if we halted the shoot, we were both taken back that he was not willing to discount our sitting fee after we waited over an hour for him to arrive. A sitting fee discount should not have been out of the question. The real profit would’ve come in the $ 1K+ photo packages (which we were prepared to order), not a $ 125.00 sitting fee. This is a very common sense business practice – if the businessman is in the wrong, repair the relationship w/​the customer to ensure the business continues. The final amicable resolution was for us to halt the shoot & leave the studio without any proofs, thus not paying any money.
I can look past the tardiness & studio condition b/​c he was accomodating enough to take us at a last minute’s request. In addition, his work is descent. However, his nonchalant attitude & reluctancy to discount the sitting fee to keep our business outweigh the benefits of working w/​him. Based on previous reviews in the «not recommended» section, we will continue to monitor his website to ensure that the pics he did take will not be used w/​o our permission.

We hired Ven to capture our wedding day and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Ven has an amazing eye for great pictures and angles, and is really laid back to work with. He offered a wide array of wedding packages and worked with our price range without making us feel cheap.
He provided us time for engagement pictures in October of 2012 and was on time, professionally dressed, and brought his A game to our wedding on 7÷6÷13. There were times when he was hard to get ahold of and planning a meeting took a couple of unreturned calls to get through to him, but his wife had a child during that time and he was doing a lot of work on his studio. He’s not someone that calls you on his own and is proactively setting up appointments, but he followed through on everything we agreed to and had a light hearted, comfortable approach to his craft.
Him and his crew have a keen eye for set piece pictures and we have many photographs of people in the moment at our wedding, which is what we really asked him to capture. Also, we took a trolley from our ceremony to reception and it was his idea to stop at the Chicago Theater and grab some of our favorite shots of the day.
We were very happy to have him aboard on our wedding day!
John

If there was an option to rate this business a zero, I certainly would. I encountered the studio during Podmajersky’s Second Friday event, and thought it would be a great place to have my 25^th birthday party. After learning that he and my boyfriend were from the same fraternity, he offered us the space at a discounted rate. We booked the space immediately and hired the DJ he uses for all his events. The deal was this: I would use the space for my party, send Ven a list of the alcohol I would like served, send the DJ a list of all of the songs I would like, and Ven would take pictures during the event and send them to us one week after. A week prior to the event, I sent Ven a list with photographs of the wine selections and a Vodka brand I wanted served at the cash bar and sent the DJ a detailed list of the music I would like to be played during the event. I received a confirmation from the both of them stating that everything would be taken care of.
When I arrived at the party (2 hours into the event), I was greeted by a room full of my closest friends and a round of cheers and applause. When the applause subsided, I was shocked by what I was hearing. The DJ was playing 80s and 90s songs… none of which were on my list. My friends confirmed that he had been playing that music from the moment the party began. I complained to my boyfriend, who then told the DJ that he needs to play the songs on the list. He played TWO of the songs I requested then continued to play outdated music that I never requested. Completely embarrassed, I walked to the bar to have my first drink, a vodka tonic. The vodka I requested was nowhere in sight. There were new bottles of Hennessy, Remy, and Amsterdam (major disappointment), but NONE of the wine selections I sent Ven were offered. None. I was so upset because I offered to purchase them and have them delivered to the studio the day before the party. I couldn’t believe they both told me everything would be taken care of. Nonetheless, with the presence of all of my close friends, I was able to enjoy the last two hours of my party.
One week after the event, my boyfriend contacted Ven about the photos from the party. Ven never got back to us. My boyfriend contacted him several times with no response, and when he finally replied, his response was filled with excuses about how he has been having family problems and went out of town, and that when he returns, we will receive the photos. After a few WEEKS, my boyfriend contacted him again. He responded almost two weeks later with the excuse that his iPad had been stolen and he was going through his hard drive to locate my photos. He said it would take a few days because he has several terabytes of photos (as if technology isn’t advanced enough to search photos by date). We waited and waited and still… nothing. We even went to his studio several times in hopes of catching him there, but no one answered. We emailed. No response.
Yesterday, we noticed a group of people near our backdoor, in our garden. We pulled the curtains back and its none other than Ven himself in the middle of a photo session. My boyfriend immediately went outside to inquire about the photos. Ven offered the same excuse and said to give him more time. Annoyed at the fact that he keeps blowing off my boyfriend, I decided it was finally time for me to ask him myself. When I approached him, he was wrapping up. Perfect. I asked him when exactly we should be expecting the photos and he yelled at me saying, «I don’t want to discuss the photos. I’m not going to talk to you about this, I talked to your boyfriend.» I told him, «I know, but the communication is distinctly the problem. We still don’t have photos Ven.» He yelled at me again.
Completely offended, I walked away. After a few paces, I turned around to catch up to him and asked him when would be best to contact him. He completely ignored me. I addressed him again, he ignored me again while walking away. I said, «Ven, are you ignoring me when all I want to know is when I’ll receive my photos?» He says nothing. «Ven, seriously, it’s been 4 months and I don’t have a single photo from my 25^th birthday party.» I assume this angered him because he had a client with him and he yelled at me again and completely insulted me then walked away. As he walked away, I told him his level of unprofessionalism was appalling and said to his client, «I truly hope you get your photos… but it may take at least 4 months.»
An hour later (the fastest we’d ever heard back from him), he emailed a letter full of insults. He called me nasty names and referenced that he gave us a discount, saying «he was doing us a favor» by promising photos. As if that wasn’t enough, he said that he «normally charges ppl more», and that we shouldn’t have «champagne tastes with RC Cola budgets». What?!? We didn’t beg for a discount, he offered it. I still can’t believe I don’t have a single photo from my 25^th bday… DO NOT support this business!

I must say I am very pleased! I was recommended to this studio by a business affiliate. It was all he said… and more. I purchased the Unilocal deal and used that towards my sitting fee yesterday evening for a product shoot. Ven shot our line of organic hair care products (CurlyGirl™ by LifeOrganics) — we are all set to create our catalog and update our website
with the quality of images that he produced. I always love to see creative genius at work. I was impressed by the level of expertise he has in this area, and I love his «eye» in bringing my vision to life for the look we needed. It was truly a pleasure working with him on the project and I believe the first of many to come. Kudos, Ven!

Do not support this business. I’m not sure why Unilocal has filtered all of the negative reviews because they’re true!
I attended a wedding in which my daughter was part of the ceremony. This photographer takes beautiful pictures and the on-​line proofs are readily available for viewing and purchase.
It Initially Seemed to be an organized establishment. I ordered and paid for my pictures and received my email order confirmation. After approximately one month, I telephoned and spoke with sherrod regarding not receiving my order. He stated that because he wanted to address my special request for a picture modification, he would have his special photographers make the adjustment. Telephoned five times since and could only speak with his receptionist who stated that he would return my call. He never returned ANY of my calls. I EVEN stopped by his location, rang his doorbell, and called one more time from outside his studio. Receptionist would NOT let me in and gave me the same drill. he would call me. It has now been 3 months since I placed my order and I still do not have my pictures. I have asked for a refund and haven’t gotten that either. At this point, I believe I have been screwed.
Based on the aforementioned, I would not recommend this photographer. I am a fan of supporting Black businesses just not this one. Completely unprofessional! Please check out the filtered reviews that Unilocal is hiding they depict a much different picture than the 2 positive ones you initially see.
Oh…I even had the bride get involved to contact him. He told her he had spoken to me a few days before and told me my pics were on the way. Uuuuummm no such conversation occurred and when she continued to contact him regarding the pics he even stopped answering her. Unbelievable!

Ven is a very friendly professional photog. I highly recommend his services.

My husband and I have been waiting over a year for our wedding album. Ven and his staff have been unresponsive to my calls and emails. Our biggest mistake was paying in full before we received the final product. I am really disappointed as I was trying to support a Black owned business. I would not recommend photography services from this studio.