09/29/09

Bella Pictures captures memories that will last a lifetime

by JeneyaH

Bella Pictures delivers the BEST wedding photos in the industry. My husband and I chose Bella to capture our wedding in July 2008 and we could not be happier.

We wanted a wedding photographer that would document the story of our day and each important element of not just who was in attendance but all the small details. Bella's approach to photojournalism was exactly what we were looking for and to be matched with a photographer that specialized in our style was perfect!

Bella offered us a wonderful engagement session at a location of our choice which provided us with some great intimate shots of us at the Osaka Japanese Garden. Then we had two photographers for 10 hours of coverage that were our paparazzi for our wedding day. My husband and I each had a separate photographer for pre-wedding photos. Then we whisked off to a beautiful location for our photowalk which provided us with an opportunity to enjoy each other and capture some intimate moments. Followed by the wedding ceremony, location shots with the bridal party and the cocktail reception. Both photographers did an AMAZING job at capturing all the details of our day that we able to relive it over and over again.

Needless to say, we ended up with approximately 3500 images from our wedding day and 125 engagement shots. The best part of it all is that we received ALL of the images on cd-roms for us to keep.

Thanks to Bella Pictures for capturing my wedding day memories that will last a lifetime!

• Pros: BEST wedding photographers in the business

09/16/09

Would highly recommend

by maddie9977

I would recommend Bella Pictures to anyone. From the first time I met with my consultant, Ashley Altman, it was a great experience! I was hesitant to spend several thousand dollars on photos, but looking back, wouldn't trade it for anything and think it was the best investment of our wedding day we could have made. Our photographer, Andrew Van Derek, was beyond wonderful. He has an extraordinary eye for detail--the shots I thought would turn out a little cheesy ended up being my favorites. :) I admit to thinking they deserve front-page viewing since they are so well done and make us look just perfect! :) If you want professionalism and great quality photos, Bella is the place to go.

• Pros: good communication; great quality, artistic photos
• Cons: A little pricey

11/28/08

Album layout issues

by AudreyBaucko

The album that we ordered caused what seemed like a never ending nightmare, and working with them on the phone in San Francisco (they don't promote that they are a national chain) made things difficult because we could never talk to someone or discuss in person. Would go elsewhere next time, it has to be easier.

• Pros: Lots of pictures
• Cons: Time limit and expensive relative to local photographers. Find out photographer at last minute only.

08/16/08

Extremely disappointed in Bella photographers sent to photograph my daughter's wedding.

by MASTOCKING

My daughter and her fiance selected Bella for their Oct.6, 2007 wedding based on the advertising and sales pitch of an International Studio. The day of the wedding began fairly well but I had to ask for photos that a professional would automatically set up. They had a special 1940s limo that was poorly photographed at home and the church. The church photos were adequate but not what a professional would produce. At the reception, the photographer totally disregarded my request for photos of groups seated at family tables. He said that he would get them later but didn't. They claim there were 2000+ photos taken but this is not accurate since there are many doubles and triples of the same scene. The color of the photos is wanting. Many are too red and others too dark. For such an important day, I was

only able to select about 13 photos to order. I sincerely wish my daughter and her fiance had chosen the photography studio that my nephew had which is not well known but their pictures are superb, truly professional. As the mother of the bride, I strongly recommend that anyone considering this studio look for another.

• Pros: Can order photos on line.
• Cons: Photographers didn't follow through on requests and photos poorly done

04/29/08

Don't be fooled by a professional front... Avoid the agency!

by DeputyJess

I live in South Bend, IN (which is about an hour and a half east of Chicago). I was married last June and hired Bella to do my wedding photos. They were all over bridal magazines and bridal websites alike. I thought that I was choosing a top-notch service. WRONG! All the coordination before the wedding went smooth and I was confident.

An hour before my wedding, I got a call letting me know my photographer was late because he didn't know that they was a time change (we are an hour ahead of Chicago). He missed the "getting ready" part of the day, missed me walking down the aisle with my father and the first 20 minutes of my wedding ceremony. Those are just things that you can't re-shoot. I was calm at the time because there was nothing that I could do. Needless to say, after my husband and I got back from our honeymoon we were on the phone getting a portion of our money back. Then I saw the pictures. They weren't bad, but they aren't that great either - I mean nothing compared to the pictures they have advertised all over.

One of the things that I liked about Bella were the albums. They are flush-mounted and look really pro. I had to go through a very confusing process of picking out pictures for the album (and I didn't know where to start since the fist part of my day was not photographed). I sent my pictures in and got a rough draft back for my album which looked like a grade-schooler put it together. It wasn't organized and they used pictures multiple time and disregarded the pictures that I wanted in the album. GRR! Now, with about 2 months to go until my first year wedding anniversary, I don't have a photo album, nor do my mom and my mother-in-law have theirs. Bella has really screwed me over on this one and I just hope a future bride will see this review and opt for a different agency.

• Pros: Everyone you talk to is nice
• Cons: They screwed up my wedding photos

04/18/08

Beautiful photography and fantastic customer service!

by Brooke3782

As a very picky "Bride-to-Be", it was a tough sell going with what originally seemed like a larger photography chain. I had read all the message boards on theknot about what to look for in a photography company and I have to admit, I was skeptic. Much to my surprise, Bella Pictures exceeded my expectations in both the competence of their customer service and professionalism of their photographers. My consultant was incredible during the planning phase and leading up to my wedding day, and the photographer that I was matched with couldn't have been a better fit had I hand-selected him myself. Bella takes a lot of time to listen to what you're looking for and there is even an online photo rating system that helps to pin-point your exact photography style. They claim to only work with "the best," and I am here to affirm that that is true. My photographer was not only super friendly and a lot of fun to work with, the photos turned out beautiful and I barely remembered him being there! My only complaint was that I had too many favorite photos to fit into my 40 page album.

My wedding book is in the final stages of being printed and bound and I will be sure to follow up on here once I receive it. The way that the photography comes together in this "storyboard-like" format is amazing to me as paging through my online album proof was like reliving the day all over again. Best of all, I own all of my digital photos on printable discs and I received them right away. When shopping around, there was really nothing that compared... at least not for the quality I wanted and the professionalism that I couldn't afford to compromise. For the best value and overall experience = Bella Pictures A++

• Pros: Copyrights on DVD given immediately, fantastic talent and really sweet consultant
• Cons: Its not really a con, seeing as I loved my photographer, but there's a need to trust their "matching" system.

Editorial Review by Citysearch Editors

by Contributor

Digital negatives, albums and DVD photomontages available; shoots weddings and engagement portraits in digital black-and-white and color.