Photographer Woes

Last night we had the second photographer come to our place after work so we could meet her, and see more pictures. After Thursday's meeting with the guy from ArtStudio 21 I was sort of hoping that Karen McNeil would smell bad or be really annoying, or that the rest of her pictures wouldn't be even as good as the ones on her website.

Unfortunately, she was really nice, her pictures that aren't on her website are better than the ones that are, and now we have a really tough decision on our hands.

In one corner we have David from ArtStudio21. His pictures are gorgeous, he's very frank with his suggestions, and Chris and I both really liked him. His wife is his assistant and also takes pictures, and we saw some that he identified as hers, and they are lovely. Anyone can log into his website if they have the event name and password, and order pictures of the event directly from him without having to go through the bride and groom, which is neat. He's very professional, and approaches potential clients with the idea that he wants clients for life, not just for one event. Prices are reasonable, by Victoria standards (if we were doing this in Campbell River I could probably get Paul Judson Stobe for about the same coin) and I think the value for money is good.
In the other corner is Karen McNeil. She's younger, and her pictures are a little bit fresher, but in some ways she's more traditional than David- she works from a list of groupings for the portraits. Her prices are about 20% cheaper than David's, but negatives are only digital, no proof album. Her assistant and second camera changes, because she hires photography students and people just starting out in the business, so no guarantee that the second person will be any good.
I keep seesawing about which one I think we should choose. They are both available on our date, and they're both really great. I really think I'd be happy with either…

Decisions decisions!