It seems that the Milwaukee area as a whole is having an issue with wedding photographers in the market – SB Photography, who I’m told is pretty popular, has been getting called out for a few months for missing deadlines. The owner made a 2ish HOUR “apology” on You Tube. Gotta monetize that shit! There’s a thread on Reddit that’s been getting continued comments from more and more brides.
Updated 8/21/2024: Britany decided to threaten a lawsuit against me claiming slander but then chose to come to the original Facebook Post about her to lie about me/Photo Stealers (apparently a guy named Ed works with me on this page? NEWS TO ME!) and just being an absolute menace.
Since she’s being such an utter chaos gremlin I’m updating this post with not only more proof of her using images on her website that she did not create but also stories from one of her “clients” who is rightfully upset with the images they received from Britany’s ‘associate’ that she sent that had never photographed a wedding before.
There are a lot of images I didn’t find sources for that I suspect are likely not originally his work but searching is failing me (or maybe my covid brain?) so definitely peruse the galleries to see if anything is familiar.
When I start a post with so many AKAs known already you know it’s going to be a long one.
*nmp* is a new one to me for what I am assuming means “not my photos.” Even if it was widely known what nmp meant even spelling it out doesn’t matter – you can’t use photos to advertise your own work without permission from the copyright holder. Full stop.
There’s at least one post in a local group that was found with stolen wedding photos and no disclaimer about these not being her photos and I’m sure there’s more that I haven’t been sent (yet).
One thing I noticed when searching this photographer out is that she posts *everywhere* so check your local Facebook Groups to make sure she’s not in there. She’s based in North Carolina but I found posts in Pennsylvania, New York, Montana, Tulsa, Colorado, Tennessee, Salt Lake City, Pensacola, Chattanooga, Outer Banks, basically everywhere in the United States she’s in a local wedding group.
While the copyright infringement is the main story here, there is also a side story that Courtney allegedly has a history of not delivering photos/is slow to refund and is why she’s changed her business name in mid 2023 after conversations like this popped up in local groups. This story is at the bottom of the page with the update.
Update 1/29/2024:
It turns out the above was just the tip of the iceberg and there’s a lot of people out there who have had issues with Courtney.
In summary – she has allegedly canceled many times on clients at the last minute for boudoir sessions and weddings. She has allegedly sometimes sent in subpar photographers but sometimes she hasn’t sent in anyone at all. This girl allegedly gets covid a LOT. She allegedly rarely delivers albums. She allegedly owes a LOT of refunds.
She also posted this as an excuse before unpublishing her Facebook page.
Update 2/14/2025: Southern Silos Photography by Courtney Smith was not deterred by her post here and unfortunately has continued on.
Today I was notified that Boston’s 25 news has posted an article (and also aired the same) about a couple in Boston who hired Courtney for $1200 which was to include the travel from North Carolina. They mention Photo Stealers in the article! Anyway, the couple hired Courtney who called shortly before the wedding claiming that she ‘accidentally’ booked her flight for the wrong year and she ended up hiring another photographer for $700. Unfortunately she didn’t pay the photographer she sent so those images haven’t been sent to the client. What a mess.
After seeing the article and recognizing the name I looked Courtney / Southern Silos up on Facebook and there’s been a few posts since my original post about her from various clients.
Allegedly she’s rebranded to ‘Bloom Again Photography’ which still, at this time, does have an Instagram link. I’ve also seen “Always Yours Photography” may possibly be hers as well.
One of her brides made a TikTok about this in January when stuff started coming out, yet again, that Courtney Christine Smith of Southern Silos Photography was not fulfilling her contracts. This bride hired Courtney for their 2025 wedding. The night before their engagement session Courtney replied to a message confirming their location (in Philadelphia) stating she was having a “co shooter” do the engagement session because she had the flu and claimed she’d still be editing. The bride goes on to show screen captures of Courtney bailing on a wedding due to “somebody” dying. The comments have other clients who had bad interactions with Courtney as well.
It’s wild seeing how often my post about her was shared in conjunction with the story being spread on Facebook.
Another PSA post from a bride who had a similar story about Courtney canceling the morning of the wedding because her “family was in need of me for a very serious thing” but she assured the client she was in good hands and promised extra product to make up for it.
The bride reached out to the photographer that she worked with the day of after Courtney made it sound like Jill (the fill in photographer) didn’t send over all the photos correctly. In the end she was able to send over some photos that she was able to recover from the cloud from the wedding but Courtney never delivered herself.
On the above post another client appeared in the comments. Courtney no showed at their wedding along with the coordinator (unclear if they were hired through Courtney or not).
There are a LOT of clients who chimed in on that thread all with similar stories of Courtney either ghosting completely or sending in someone at the last minute and not delivering the files.
So yeah, I think I can confidently say that Courtney is still on her bullshit and is likely in the middle of a rebrand. She has seemingly branched out from North Carolina though and people all along the East Coast are reporting issues so keep an eye on local groups and report to the admin if you see her posting (and screencap it for me before you do!).
This wall of shame is dedicated to photographers that feel that it's okay to steal others' work and post it as their own. Oh I'm sorry, it's okay to let their "web designer" do it.
