Category Archives: Photo Shyster

Photo Shyster

Photo Shyster: SEOtographer aka Michael Thomas Ireland aka Michael Thomas in Tampa, FL

Website: https://seotographer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seotographer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelthomas0821
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hostographer
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seotographer
Google Reviews: https://tinyurl.com/2za9mpuw
BBB: https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/tampa/profile/commercial-photographer/seotographer-0653-90435327/complaints

PS Facebook Page Discussion

THIS PHOTOGRAPHER HAS NOT STOLEN IMAGES

Guess we’re back with another entry into the Photo Shyster category with another person trying to be an industry leader but instead takes money and doesn’t always deliver. SIGH.

Today we’re here to talk about Michael Thomas Ireland who ran “SEOtographer” but now is focusing on his new business Tanooki Marketing.

The summary is SEOtographer has taken a lot of money from people and not always delivered the goods.

This post is an attempt to reach more possible clients who are also waiting for work that hasn’t been completed.

Update 7/14/2023 @ 9AM EST:

  • Michael sent me his rebuttal, you can read and judge for yourself here. The clients all maintain their stories are true as posted.
  • Added Client #6
  • Added supporting evidence that Michael may be behind Tanooki

Continue reading Photo Shyster: SEOtographer aka Michael Thomas Ireland aka Michael Thomas in Tampa, FL →
Photo Shyster

Photo Shyster: Sallee Photography

THIS IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER WHO HAS STOLEN IMAGES

TLDR; Is it OK to take people’s money then reschedule workshops to different years (sometimes multiple times) without refunding?

PS Facebook Page Discussion

I don’t even know where to start with this post about Sallee Photography other than knowing NOT to name any child of mine Brinkley.

I’ve been in the industry for about 16 years and for all of them Sallee Photography has always been humming along in the background. JB and DeEtte run Sallee Photography out of Texas and often seem to be running workshops with a few weddings and portrait sessions mingled in.

Sallee Photography is a well-decorated member of the PPA, WPPI and probably a million other organizations that I don’t know. JB especially is (or was) the darling of the Texas PPA which is how I actually found out about him after somehow stumbling into their party at my first WPPI.

JB Sallee, who is the main man running Salle Photography, is also a ProFoto Legend of Light.

DeEtte, tends to run the backend of the business and is generally not at the forefront of a lot of the drama but she *is* still a part of the business and is at many of the workshops.

Sallee Photography workshops have been sponsored by WPPI, Queensberry, Sew Trendy, and LaCie.

Continue reading Photo Shyster: Sallee Photography →
Photo, Photo Shyster, Scam

Whitney Slusser Photography in Lancaster, PA

Website: https://www.whitneyslusserphotography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitneyslusserphotography [
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1037237566984504
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitneyelizabethknott/

Past Business Names: Whitney Elizabeth Photography, Whitney Jones Photography, Whitney Smith Photography, Irish Twins Photography, Don’t Blink Photography

Past Locations: California, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland

PS Facebook Page Discussion Post

Holy moly.

Whitney has been submitted to me a few various times over the years but generally when I’ve had her dumped into my lap I’ve been too busy with the job that actually pays me to invest time into unraveling the mess that is Whitney Slusser / Whitney Slusser-Smith / Whitney Elizabeth / Whitney Elizabeth Knott / Whitney Elizabeth Knøtt.

There is some photo stealing here, she does like her some inspiration pics! However, the bigger picture here is the problematic history that Whitney has as a professional photographer.

I prefer things to be told chronologically so I’m going to attempt to tell this story in a timeline format so the sourcing format for stolen images will be a bit differet.

While I tried to mostly stick to things related to photography there are some other parts of this story that play into the photography parts so I’ve included it.

Grab your popcorn. It’s a (long) ride below the cut but I promise that it’s a story that needs telling.

Summary: In the past ~8 years of being in business that I can find online, Whitney Elizabeth Knøtt / Whitney Elizabeth / Whitney Slusser Photography (aka Don’t Blink Photography and Irish Twins Photography) has cancelled or no showed to many weddings and sessions. If she does show there has been problems getting photos and/or prints. Refunds are few and far between. She has also at times used images that were not her own to represent her business.

Canceled/No Show/Undelivered Sessions: 14+
Canceled/No Show/Undelivered Weddings: 22+

Trigger Warning: infant loss, child loss, cancer, sexual assault, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt

Last Updated 11/9/2023: Ugh. I wish I could say that I’m surprised to hear that Whitney is up to her shit again this fall but I’m not. I’m mostly sorry for the clients she’s burned, yet again.

• Added four more weddings for 2023. One from July with photos and a refund that weren’t delivered until this week after the client posted online, three for October that she cancelled last minute on (as per usual, two were for the same date).

• Here’s hoping that maybe she’ll be prosecuted like CP Family Photography who has a similar history to Whitney (but with less clients affected).

Update 7/14/2023:
• Added another client who Whitney sent in a last minute replacement for on 10/22/2022

• Added a post of Whitney needing last minute second photographer coverage for a wedding 5/27/2023

• More proof Whitney is still pursuing photography despite her claiming to be stepping back

Update 5/10/2023: Whitney is back to replying to ISO’s and posting ads for her photography business.

Update 2/20/2023 @ 10AM: even more receipts including a rebuttal from Whitney via email and Facebook (spoiler alert: she doesn’t refute anything with the sessions, only asserts the medical history is factual). Also included a chat message from Whitney telling her friends that she’s stepping back from photography in 2023.

Continue reading Whitney Slusser Photography in Lancaster, PA →
Photo, Photo Shyster

Zeenople Productions aka Casanova Images in Miami, FL

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeenople_productions/

Here’s a thought – if you feel the need to go onto photographers’ instagram pages and bash other photographers work, make sure you don’t have stolen images on your own page.

It sounds like he’s recently rebranded after getting a slew of bad reviews for his prior company named Casanova Images. There’s a lot of clients that seemed to never receive their images.

As I was making this post the stolen images (confirmed and suspected) disappeared from their instagram.

Continue reading Zeenople Productions aka Casanova Images in Miami, FL →
Photo Shyster

Photo Shyster: Ryan Schembri

Ryan Schembri has not stolen images!

This is another entry into the photo shyster category which is reserved for industry leaders in the photography world that are doing shady shit that is NOT stealing images. Shady shit is qualified as things such as not delivering products or images to clients in the promised time, not delivering what photographers pay for with mentorships or workshops and so forth.

Enter Ryan Schembri.

For those who don’t know him, Ryan Schembri entered into the photography world about 10 years ago or so. Not long after dipping his toes into wedding photography he began to collect lots of awards including big ones such as the Grand Award at WPPI, Photographer of the Year with AIPP and also was a Grand Master of AIPP. He began to speak at various conferences and lead his own workshops shortly after, as many do. He’s pretty well known within the industry, especially to those in the awards circuit and in Australia (where he is based).

Now that you have a gist of who he is, lets get into the thick of it.

TLDR: Ryan Schembri allegedly has dozens of photography clients waiting on images and/or products, allegedly left at least one workshop early, allegedly failed to properly cancel another workshop where at least one student is still waiting for a refund, and allegedly has at least mentee waiting for a refund after not delivering what was promised. Despite all of this, Ryan has recently posted he’ll be traveling the world workshopping before retiring from teaching photography despite being based in Australia where travel to/from the country is difficult due to the pandemic and slow rollout of the vaccine.

Continue reading Photo Shyster: Ryan Schembri →