Kramer Photographers

In response to the review dated April 18, 2013. This review is highly suspect as ""Kieran"" has not been an employee of Kramer Photographers for almost 7 years and as as far as we know, no longer resides in the United States. Per the last sentence of the review cited, It's probably been made by a frustrated competitor who has consistently lost business to Kramer Photographers. more

I used Kramer - Palatine for my wedding pictures. My husband was from Palatine and we chose them because they were local. Very expensive, Ugly photo albums and the photographer, Kiren, some Irish photographer, who had many years of experience, did an awful job of taking our once in a lifetime pictures. He fumbled between two cameras, had sunlight shining on our guest faces during reception portraits. When I got my proofs back, some didn't turn out at all. Others were blurry and my bride photos inside the church made me look like a white porcelain doll. He apparently did not adjust his stance or flash for the lighting in the church. Some of the pictures I really wanted did not turn out. Though they included the blurry pictures in the proofs for me to review, not one person apologized for the poor selection I had to choose from. Expensive is not better. I should have used Studio One in Crystal Lake. more

Made a big mistake here, and should have read the comments below. This message is to warn future patrons of this establishment. Initially I was treated fairly and nicely by the nice lady who is a photographer there, and agreed on photos, pricing, etc. She got sick and the owner Bob took over which is where my troubles began. He tripled the price, would not give me the negatives, which was agreed upon previously, and tried to charge me $200.00 for 50 simple Christmas Cards that you could do at Walgreens for 25.00. He wasted my time taking pictures of my 14yo with ELMO, which we repeatedly said was ridiculous. He has ruined my wife's birthday, because these photo were of my son's in tuxedoes to surprise her with. Now I have no pictures, out the tuxedo/boutonniere money, and scrambling to find Christmas cards. DO NOT DEAL WITH THE OWNER/MANAGER named BOB unless you want to be ""Bait and Switched"". more

Taking (and printing) good wedding photos is a true craft, which should not be left to amateurs with a decent digital camera. Kramer was truly professional throughout the whole process. From the planning stages to the "big day," from the proof stage to the actual production of the final album and stand-alone prints, our photographer worked with us closely and made sure to capture not only the formal photos but the special moments - a kiss, a glance, a cool candid, a lighthearted moment, a small nephew running around with a sugar buzz, and a special slow dance at the end of the night. True professionals, we were very happy with both the process and the product! more

I used Kramer Photographers for my wedding because my sister had heard that they were good. And her information was correct. They were professional, took all the pictures I wanted, and even thought of some pictures that my groom and I did not think of. Before the wedding, we told the photographer about all the special people who we needed pictures of and he got all of those and then some. I was extremely impressed with how personable and approachable the photographer was; for example, he knew all of the wedding party members? names. After it was all done, the photos were fantastic; they captured the feel of our wedding perfectly. We can?t wait to get our album! more

When it came time to find a photographer, I didn't compare prices and packages as I did with everything else. I chose Kramer because my cousin, and 3 friends all used them over a 10 year span, and were all very happy. By reputation, they are dependable and customer service oriented. more

I wish I could go back in time and chose a different photographer for my wedding. Pros: Can't think of even one Cons: Terrible Customer Service more

Hired to shoot wedding and all example albums looked great. What we got was a rude photographer who didn't listen and horrible pictures. Missed all the important moments and only took 400 photos over a 12 hour period. About 40 of them were decent. Then the owner tried to blame it on us. The photographer didn't even have a digital camera. He had to wheel around a shot and a light pole for his flash for every pic. Don't make the same mistake we did. Pros: Good Salesman Cons: Rude, Arrogant, Awful Work more

Mr. Kramer and his staff were difficult to deal with 10 years ago for our wedding with our pictures turning out o.k. I recently called to use 6-8 pictures in DVD's for two significant family birthdays and he would only release two pictures for the first DVD and said I had to pay for all the negatives (250.00) or for four on the second DVD (150.00) despite the fact that they are proof pictures and I already paid thousands of dollars 10 years ago. I will never recommend these photographers to anyone. don't waste your time!!! Cons: Mr. Kramer and his staff were very difficult to deal with more

I don't really know where to begin. We went to Kramer in Palatine to hire them as our photographer for our wedding because my husband's sister used them 2 years earlier and had great results, plus we live out of town, so this was the most convenient choice for us. I am kicking myself for choosing them because I really believe we were swindled into bad service by Bob Kramer himself. I requested black and white shots and "action" shots and did not receive either. Our photographer Sam was no good and not sure why Kramer hired this guy. Plus the proof book is a joke. Yes, they probably caught on to people scanning their proof book pictures and that is why with the new proof books they write "Kramer Photography" DIAGONALLY across the picture, and plus they use low quality print for the proof book, so one - you can't see, especially with large group shots if everyone is staring and smiling at the camera because all you see is "Kramer Photography" across the entire picture, and you don't know how the end result will look because you're not sure what sort of difference in quality from the proof book and final print there actually is between the two. My mother-in-law complained to Kramer she didn't know if she was choosing the right picture from the proof book because it was soooo small, so the lady behind the counter pulled out a special magnifying glass for my mother-in-law to look at the pictures, but in reality, who has one of those magnifying glasses at their disposal?? Plus Bob Kramer gave us this whole spiel that they don't do digital because of the quality and the chance the pictures could be lost, but get with it, Bob. This is the 21st century and all or your competitors are using digital and posting their pictures online, and not splashing their name across the picture so you can't see it! Absolutely horrible! I regret using them and will never refer or use them to capture memories. Please, I beg you to go elsewhere for those special pictures in your life! Pros: Nothing Cons: Low quality for the price more

Not happy with anything they "promised". They will take your money upfront and not give any other service to you. Too much money for nothing. Take your own camera and take pictures developed at your local store. Not worth the money- and the people are not worth talking about- no service at all. All lies - no truth -complete waste of money and all around disaster. Thank god for our own digital cameras, that caught every moment!!!!!!!!!!! hire someone who knows what they are doing. This place is not the one. more

You will be told what you want to hear to sign a contract. Once signed, you are at their mercy. Good luck with ever with the owner Bob Kramer- he will only acknowledge the signed contract. BE AWARE BEFORE YOU SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE!!! Good luck and get your photography elsewhere! more

We hired Kramer Photographers to photograph our Wedding, and althougth our photographer was very nice, and the pictures decent, our overall experience was a total nightmare. When all was said and done, we ended up paying twice what we agreed to, photos we didn't choose were printed in our wedding album and some that we chose were omitted. (Kramer refused to rectify this and we are stuck with the wrong pictures in our book.) We showed up 15 minutes late for our consultation because of bad traffic, and were literally yelled at by a customer service rep who then refused to sit down with us, (although she did have time to yell at us some more and give us a lecture about the importance of being on time.) The entire experience was as ridiculous as it was frustrating. Cons: Customer Service more

Customer service is non-existant! While the end product was very nice, what I went through to get the photos is unacceptable. The photographer was great, the proofs lovely, and then it fell apart. My order was promised in 12-16 weeks from the order date. My calls to check on the progress of the order were never returned (3-4 calls.) Finally, after 5 months a partial order was delivered. I suggested to Nicole( the wedding manager) that a truer estimate of delivery time, or explanation of the delay would be common courtesy. Nicole is very unprofessional and started yelling at me that it was NOT her problem, call the owner. The final order was delivered after almost 6 months with no apology. Pros: Great Photographers Cons: Very poor customer service and delivery times more