Wedding Manila: Osep and Mimi Photography Bad Exp

Osep and Mimi Photography - So for an overseas bride like me I relied looking for suppliers with search engines - google, yahoo, bing, etc. After a thorough of search I found Osep and Mimi photography. I asked for their rates. I immediately got their rates on that day. Their rate is "abot kaya". I searched for reviews about them - "osep and mimi photography reviews", osep and mimi photography experience, om weddings reviews, etc. So I only got few reviews and those few reviews seemed okay. According to some reviews, some couples found them accommodating etc. So I thought osep and mimi photography was for me or i should say us (me and h2b). So I immediately booked them since Osep said if we booked them right away makakahabol pa sa "promo" nila. We immediately placed a down payment and I sent him the copy of the deposit slip. But I received no reply or email confirming that he received the deposit. So I sent him messages twice thru email, once through viber and two times of sms. After sometime, he replied that he received it (without any acknowledgement receipt attached). 

We set a meeting sometime - end of January 2014 para sa contract because he did not send any contract pa or acknowledgement receipt (even though I asked him). So he told me to meet sa end ng January para sa contract and to talk about the pre-wedding shoot. 10 days before I went back I emailed him asking kung kelan sya meet but he did not reply. So okay busy siguro kaya hindi nag rereply. 

Then, bago ako umuwi ng Phil, I tried to call him but no answer. Nasa Phil na ako I called him and texted him kung nasaan na sya at ano na meeting but walang reply. On my birthday I even emailed him but walang reply. After 4 days he texted me gabi nun saying "bukas po ba kaya nyong makipagmeet 10am sa may Mindanao Avenue. Kaya ba ng 10am? Ha?? What the hell is wrong with this guy? Nag set sya ng time at place ng agad agad. Ako ba ang supplier or sya? So I told him na hindi ako familiar sa mindanao ave at nakaset ang umagang yun sa pagkuha ko ng PRC license. May ibang time pa ba na pwede at place. Then after nun he did not reply na. So isipin mo, I emailed him to set a meeting before pa ako umuwi. Days na nasa pinas ako but he was not replying. Then agad agad magtext sya nga ganun. So sabi ko sige next uwi ko na lang. I asked him to email me the contract na lang at acknowledgement receipt sa payment namin. So nakabalik na ako ng SG, lahat lahat na, I emailed him again and again. After almost 3 weeks he sent me this:

Isang blankong kontrata. Even date man lang at yung down payment ay wala. So narealize ko na OM weddings photography or Osep and Mimi Weddings Photography could be good in their craft as wedding photographers (based on the pictures I saw) but they don't know how to do good business (based on my experience). So I emailed him to cancel na lang and if we could get the down payment since wala pang kontrata as in wala pa kahit resibo. But I did not get any response kahit man lang apology na hindi na nila mababalik ang down payment or something as in wala!

For those who are going to get photographers na hindi pa nila nakikita or meet in person specially kung overseas kayo take time or mag papencil book muna kayo para hindi kayo maloko or maisahan. Ang photo industry ngayon maraming nag sulputan na wedding photographers in Philippines, freelance wedding photographers etc. The thing is, sabihin na nating they could be could in what they do, but wedding photography is hindi lang craft yun; business ang wedding photography at yun ang hindi narerealize ng wedding photographers na nag join the business ng photography. May time ka dapat sa clients, alam mo dapat na after nag send sayo mag sesend ka ng acknowledgement receipt, etc. Ito ang consequence kung kukuha ka ng wedding photographers na parang Osep and Mimi photography because ikaw yung laging mag follow up. Sobrang hassle in terms sa pag follow up etc - taas ang anxiety level nyo. Kuha ng kuha ng clients kapag nag bayad na ang clients eh wala ang eagerness na mapunoan ang pagkukulang in terms of business. Ako sa din naging freelancer sa Pinas back in my "pariwara" days so kahit gusto mo din intindihin na walang time na ang tao sa sobrang dami ng ginagawa edi sana hindi na lang tanggapin. Usually naman tlaga nakaka overwhelm ang kapag maraming clients na gustong kumuha. Mas maraming clients mas maraming kita. Pero sana mag set lang ng quota siya per month na pwede. Hindi yung okay ng okay at the end walang makukuha ang clients kundi pag taas ng anxiety. Tapos hindi pa ibabalik yung money kahit reply man lang eh wala.

CONCLUSION:
 1. In getting a freelance photographer like Osep and Mimi Wedding Photography you should be prepared with the following:
A. bag of patience -  because you have to follow them up like forever! If a bag of patience is not enough, then you should be prepared an extra bag.
B. time - they are usually busy and do not have for meetings, so you have to adjust your time for them.
2. You have to meet them first in person before paying them. Just look what happened to me! I never got a email after asking them about the payment. There was no contract nor acknowledgement receipt so wala akong mahabol or something.