Timothy Whalley and Associates

I booked Timothy Whaley Photography for our weeding day 9÷11÷15. We started off with a consultation with Deanne. She was very knowledgeable and kind. We ended up biking with them for photography services as well as videography. They were great! Sal my photographer came early just for me to have a little extra time for some photos I wanted! He was very helpful and accommodating! Our videographer was so great I barely noticed he was there, yet he captured every single important detail we asked for and then some! If you want a company who goes above and beyond the call of duty, then choose TWA!!!

I would not recommend Timothy Whaley and Associates or TWA Photography unless they change their contract or photo delivery timeline. My old coworker recommended them as they took her wedding photos. However, she had won a wedding package so did not have to pay for them.
My fiancé and I met with them at the Loop studio and were initially impressed with their work. We liked the salesperson we met with who was outgoing and offered us promotions. We then learned that he would not be our photographer and we would not meet the photographer until a couple weeks or month before the wedding. They contract with a number of photographers so you do not know which photographer took the showcased photos.
We were sent a copy of the contract which differed from what we were told in person. The font was small. The contract essentially provided that we would not be provided proofs to review and select for the wedding album until 6 months after the wedding. What was more upsetting is that we would not receive jpeg images until 14 months — over a year — after the wedding. You could potentially receive them in less than a year if you and your family and friends spent a certain amount on photos and products. There were other provisions that gave us pause.
We tried to negotiate with the salesperson and his manager to revise the contract to allow us to receive the photos sooner, but they would only take a couple months off of the timeline.
When we sat down and did the math, they would actually be a lot more expensive than other photographers since they charge a lot for albums, extras, and force you to buy photos and products so you can obtain the jpegs.
We ended up utilizing a solo photographer who made us feel more comfortable. We paid slightly more for the photography in order to obtain all of the jpegs in a short time frame at no additional charge.
Before utilizing Timothy Whaley or TWA Photography, ask questions and carefully review the contract.

Horrible. We got married 8 months ago and haven’t received the album or digital copies. They up charge for everything and it was already a very expensive package. Also the Chicago office is only open Thursdays which is inconvenient and our photographer was rude. I would never recommend this service to anyone, ever.

I don’t know why I didn’t check Unilocal before I booked them. I basically have 10 good pics from my entire wedding. They trick/​confuse you into buying a $ 700 album when the pics literally stink! We asked for a photo-​journalistic style photographer and let me tell you… that was exactly the opposite as what we received. The proofs came back unedited and then we were pushed and pushed to choose pics from the crap they took. I would not refer this company to any bride. I’m really upset that the best pics from our big day were the ones my friends took on their iphones. Do not book them. I wish I knew that.

This outfit screwed up and completely lost my friend’s wedding video. No need to say more. I would give less than one star if I could.

Horrible, and confusing. I am getting married in January with only 20 people, and just the church. I asked for Sal, and probably only going to be 2 hours… they were going to make me buy a $ 400 package, on top of $ 390 for 2 hours of phography (one photographer– and no traipsing around Chicago– just at the church).
I love the pictures, loved the site, and hated the customer service… i’m sure they do a good job, but when you are asking for 2 hours in the DEAD of winter, they were not accomodating at all…
SO after about 50 emails back and forth… they pretty much told me to kiss off. too bad.

I planned on using them for my wedding photography but had to cancel my contract after I met with my photographer and did a bit more research on TWA. I recommend you do the same and make up your own mind about this company. They are not cheap services and you are paying good money for your wedding photography and you should definitely get what you pay for.
I met with my photographer and he was very nice. He explained to me that he takes photos at the weddings and gives raw images to the studio for them to edit. He has no control over the edits that take place. I later found an add on Craig’s List from TWA looking for photograph editors «NO experience necessary» this did not sit well with me, mostly because during their sales pitch they specifically say they are «experienced company with experienced photographers» First Lie… I usually never give the opportunity for a second lie.
After all this I asked to see a wedding album from start to finish and not just the best images of random events, which they could not do. Furthermore, they could not provide me with credentials for their «experienced» photographers. How long have they been shooting wedding? How have your photojournalistic photographer gained their experience? etc. I was disappointed with the lack of answers to my questions and quickly asked for my deposit back. It is true that not everyone with a camera is a photographer and you should definitely take the time to find a good photographer/​company to work with. Everything about this company feels like a sale and not an experience.
I will say that once I asked for my deposit back they were pretty quick about helping me through that process.

We used Timothy Whaley & Associates for our wedding and were extremely pleased with the people and services! Nick was very helpful with getting everything set-​up and taking care of us before the wedding. I hardly had to think because the whole team gave us answer before we knew the question and reminded us of things to do or deadlines. They also got us an amazing photogragher — Gokhan — who took amazing pictures and was such a joy to be around! Afterwards, Annie has taken great care of us, getting our proofs, explaining all the options and checking in with us. We have our best memories captured and couldn’t have done it without the TWA team. We would use them again in a heartbeat!!!

Search «Timothy Whaley and Associates» on Unilocal with one «L» in «Whaley» — currently a 1.5 star rating with many more reviews than this listing.
I had a consultation with Bill in the loop.
–Expect a major sales pitch. If you ask if you’re speaking to your photographer (my first question out of the gate), they say you «could be» if that’s who you select. You will not talk to your photographer who will be your photographer until you have paid money. (Incidentally, Bill told me at the end of my consultation «you can’t find a good photographer who will meet you until you have already paid them» which is how I know his line at the beginning of the meeting was a lie)
–Expect to hear «we’re not trying to get you to sign now, but…» –insert streams of pressure to sign on the dotted line now–
–Expect numbers that are difficult to add up — this cost, minus this cost, plus the number of sides of a page you buy, minus an album discount, plus a cover… Actual dialogue from our conversation: Me: «How much does it cost to purchase the minimum number of printed pictures?» Bill: «Well, it’s $ 30-​$ 35.» Me: «$ 30 – 35 what? per picture?» Bill: «Yes, well if you get a 10×10 that’s more, but it depends.» Me: «Ok, how much does it cost to get 20 10×10 pictures.» Bill: «$ 30 – 35, so, $ 600.» –I start writing down $ 600– «Well, if you’re writing it down, write $ 700.»
Basically it was the least professional sales pitch I’ve ever heard — literally, all the classic «used car salesman» lines and pitches. I walked away with a slimy feeling from the meeting and will never look back.

Amazingly professional and great bargain !! Our wedding was August 4,2012 and our proofs were available within 3 weeks which is amazing compared to other couples who used other companies. The pictures came out amazing and there were so many taken it is hard to narrow it down. We had two photographers cover the wedding to capture different perspectives and we definitely had our personalities captured. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Now its time to work on the wedding album… I’ll update when we are finished with the experience, but as of now I Highly recommend !!!

My parents, fiancé and I had our initial meeting at the Chicago location. While I wasn’t overly impressed, I also couldn’t pinpoint my dislike for the company. In the end, the price, especially to get a second photographer, was worth the money to me and we booked them. I wish we hadn’t. We were matched with Larry and met with him right away so I could determine if I liked him. He told me he couldn’t bring an entire wedding album to our meeting because he was contracted and asked me to request it through Timothy Whaley. They sent me a link to see 6 – 10 of his best photographs, not an entire wedding shoot, as is recommended. Larry is cocky – although he claims he isn’t. He said at least a few times that he’s good and he knows it, but he never proved it to me. In fact, I thought it was quite the opposite. Upon first meeting the bridesmaids on the day of the wedding, he immediately questioned who my sister-​in-​law was using for her wedding when he found out she was getting married a few months later. More importantly, Larry took too long to put together formal portraits. We don’t have a complicated family: no divorces or separations. It should not take so long to get siblings, parents, and grandparents together for a couple shots. His poses were pathetically boring, stiff, and awkward, even for formal poses. We only have one pose of the entire bridal party because it took him so long to put any group together even though our bridal party was an average size (7 each side). He also didn’t pay too much attention to detail (like I was starting to squint in the sun) even though he occasionally looked at his camera after a picture and admired his own work. Some of his pictures are on a very slight angle as well, and it was definitely not on purpose. In some pictures, the guests’ eyes are closed and he didn’t take another, although he did tend to take multiple pictures of the attractive guests.
Our photojournalist, Mark, was much more creative and artistic. It was a shame we only had him for four hours. In hindsight, getting a second photographer for only four hours of the entire day was not enough. He arrived moments before the ceremony started and jumped right in but left too early in the night. While we admittedly had a large guest list, both photographers missed half of the table shots, which we specifically requested. They even missed tables of the older adults that didn’t get up to dance.
The company is not horrendous, but it would have definitely been better to work with an individual. One of the advantages of engagement photos is to get to know your photographer, however with Timothy Whaley they have one photographer who is assigned to take all of the engagement pictures scheduled for that location that day. The bells and whistles that you get for free for booking with them are not worthwhile either. I don’t know when we’ll ever watch the cheesy Journey to Love video with the really bad transitions. The save-​the-​date cards were partially our engagement photo but had huge Timothy Whaley logos surrounding it. The wedding album was costly and therefore the entire photography price ended up comparing to smaller companies.
To summarize:
Photographer Larry was cocky, didn’t pay attention to detail, and didn’t know how to put formal poses together.
The company isn’t very personable and the free items are not worthwhile. They also didn’t show me an entire album of my photographer’s work and the engagement shoot is taken by someone who won’t be your photographer.
If you value artistic photography, you will be MUCH happier if you stay away from the big «cookie cutter» companies.

Completely changed my tune… for the positive! This was the single best experience I’ve ever had when it comes to customer service.
My wedding was in June of 2006 and when it came time for us to order our prints and albums we didn’t have a great experience because of the person we were working with. It turned out that the person we were working with was no longer there and the owner, Tim, had no idea that we’d had a negative experiance until he read my previous review. After reading my negative review Tim reached out to me personally to find out what had happened. He was sincerely apologetic and willing to do what it takes to get us what we wanted and paid for.
At no cost, he offered to completely redo our wedding album and after I told him it wasn’t necessary, he insisted. The album is unbelievable and truly beautiful!

Now that I have EVERYTHING from Timothy Whaley that I need from my wedding day pictures I can finally write my review truthfully and not be called on Christmas Day Eve to tell me he can sue me for writing a bad review and not give me any pictures.
In that same sentence, after learning of my complaints and worries, TWA did treat me very well and I’m glad I used them. First and foremost, my photographers did an outstanding job. I could not have asked for better pictures for my big day. I had two — one for 12 hours, one for 6 hours. I felt like I was a hollywood starlet in front of the papparazzi they took so many shots. They captured the essence of my day in every way imaginable. Which, I was VERY thankful for, because our engagement photo session was HORRIBLE.
My one thing that I want to tell EVERY bride out there is this — If you go with TWA, make sure you read every fine line in the contract. Much to my horror, I signed then read if I didn’t buy a bridal album of some value in upwards of $ 1000, I would not get my proofs and basically not have ANY pictures of my wedding day.
I spent roughly $ 4000 for my package. It included a 10×16 that came out incredibly beautiful and looks like it should be on the front page of a style magazine. I love it. I had two photographers, a 32 sided bridal album, a picture DVD and 2 8×10s. I also get free potraits for the rest of my life.
Today, I received my digital negatives. 1 year and two months after my wedding day. I had to wait but, in all honesty, it was fun to get them and relive one of the greatest days of my life yet. I waited for a month ½ to get my online proofs from the day of the wedding… not too bad.
TWA is good at what they do — well, my photographers were. They’re a bit on the pricey expensive side, BUT I have a lot of great shots and awesome memories because of them.