Before writing this review I have thought really hard whether to provide feedback or not and what rating to give. In the end I decided to write this review as I would not like to see anyone else make the same mistake considering the money that we spent ($1800) as we did not come out with 100% of what we had asked for.

Firstly, we would like to say that we are really pleased with the result of the photos taken of our daughter. There is nothing that I can fault with how they have turned out.

However there are a number of reason why I have given a very low rating, so I will start at the beginning.

1. I won 2nd Prize at an Exhibition where Urban Life Photography had a stand. I registered the prize but was not able to have the photos taken. A month later I was contacted by Urban Life Photography and told they would honour the prize if I had the photoshoot in April plus they would also allow me to use the current promotion of $200 discount. Of course I clarified that I could use both discounts together which I was told yes definitely I could use both. This was NOT honoured, and they had no record of either discount so they would only apply one of the discounts which was the 2nd prize as it was the highest discount.

2. I had a lot of pressure from the staff to be in the photos, to which I gave in and agreed so we could have some family shots. I really should have stood my ground as I HATED the photos of me, and the one decent one they took had my hair sticking up in a very odd way. Of course, we were advised that they could fix the hair, so agreed to 3 family photos ONLY if they could fix up a few problems with them.
When the photos arrived today, they had not fixed the photos like was written down in their notes so there is ABSOLUTELY no way that these photos can ever be seen by anyone. I felt so pressured into getting these photos and I feel sick just looking at them.

3. Another customer with child, dog and rabbit turned up towards the end of our photoshoot. Urban Life and the other customer allowed the dog to run around without being on a leash. My daughter was frightened of the dog, but they would not put it in a room away from us. When the dog then started biting on my clothes they all just laughed. All the owner could say was "oh".
Honestly I should have walked the family out right then and there. I still don't know why I didn't.
We were moved to a separate room but the dog was still able to get in and bother us. Complaining was no use.

4. The Photos came with a softcopy so we could get further prints done if we so choose. The average size of the photos was only 2000kb - not very big when considering the cost. There were 8 under 1500kb with the smallest being 679kb.

5. The pressure put on to buy the photos and telling us that they are going to delete them immediately, so if we don't agreed to a purchase we will not have an opportunity to come back. The gentleman doing the selling just didn't give up.

At the end all I wanted to do was walk out and I paid the money to get out. I don't believe that we received any discount as they worded everything to very carefully to make it look like we were getting out $695 discount but they didn't want to show that on the invoice. It was only once we had agreed to a purchase (which we signed) did it turn out the $695 discount was not actually discounted, instead $150 was discounted.

Yes I was suckered and should have not paid over such money. This is why I am writing this review. When a number of photos cannot be used and the overall experience was not positive, I honestly would not recommend Urban Live Photography for anyone. The money has been paid and I can't get a refund on the photos that were not as we agreed to.

This was a very expensive exercise and I will NEVER be getting family photos done again.

My only contemplation is whether I have a burning of the really bad photos or to hide them for someone to find after I die. No chance they will ever see the light of day.

As the saying goes the best and worst publicity is by the Word of Mouth.

Approximate cost: $1800

I had my shoot a few months ago, and even though I am happy with my final images I have to leave a negative review, I've hesitated writing anything, but I think people should be aware of a service before they try.

Before I begin I must say I have done numerous shoots and worked with various photographers, some great and some not so great.

I found the photographer to be overly friendly and very unprofessional. He spoke of ex partners and how his relationship was with them. I felt very awkward lost for words. He kept trying to sexualise my shoot, when I had specifically asked for a casual shoot. He also insulted me a few times when I raised an opinion.

I am really happy with the images I received (I picked the images that I felt weren't too revealing), they are of excellent quality and my partner loved them.

The make-up artist; although doing a fantastic job with make-up, used the mascara wand straight from the bottle. All I could think was how many girls had, had the same wand used on them. I question the cleanliness of the brushes as they appeared to have old make up on them. Same with lip liner and eye liner - it was not very hygienic at all and I wonder if she had completed a course at all, as I know that hygiene is a huge part of doing a beauty course of any kind.

After my uncomfortable shoot they then had me sit in a waiting room to then view the images, and you are asked to choose these images immediately. Previous shoots I have had have send you a link at a later date for you to view the images comfortably in your home. I felt rushed and pressured. The screen was also horrible for viewing and I could hardly make out my face in the images and had to go by the pose. Although the girl showing me the images was lovely and bubbly and full of compliments. I really felt pressured to buy images, and at $250 just for a digital image and $1000 for 10 it was WAY out of my price range. Yes, I gave into the pressure just so I didn't feel cheap and brought one digital image for the $250. I now understand why there is no price list available online.

So before you consider buying a package from Urban Life I would also consider what is worth more. Self respect or some overpriced images.

Severely disappointed, but glad I will not make the same mistake twice.

I was given a photoshoot as a present; as I had never had an experience like it I was very nervous. The staff was very accommodating, most of them were really friendly and made me feel at ease with it.

My only problems were while I was getting my make-up and hair done, I didn't mind the hair but the make-up wasn't as nice as it could have been; the place felt like it could do with a clean, predominately the make-up/hair area.

I came away with a few shots I'm very happy with.

Working as a makeup-artist means I spend a lot of time with photographers and models but I've never been in front of the camera until I won a shoot with Urban Life Photography. The prize package included makeup and hair and a mounted canvas print.

I found the shooting experience lovely - the photographer is very friendly and funny, which is excellent because a relaxed subject makes a beautiful picture. The in-house makeup artist is very experienced but I thought the hygiene of the brushes could improve a little more. After the shoot they take you to a small room to show you the pictures which you have to choose immediately and I felt very pressured to buy. I understand this is necessary but it made me very uncomfortable (especially on a tight budget).

We split my shoot into an indoors headshot 30mins session and an outdoors 30mins session with my car. The photographer is definitely better with close-range, indoors photography. My headshots looked wonderful but my full-length, outdoor ones did not.

Approximate cost: $200+

Great experience with the guys. They did our makeup and hair and snapped pictures. Gave us really good deals for purchase and were not pushy like other places when we didn't buy a lot.

Approximate cost: $100