All posts by photostealers

Vendor

Empress Ember aka Soul Haven Boutique aka The Studio Haven aka Sweet Nora Photography in Vacaville, CA

Empress Ember: https://empressember.com/
Sweet Nora Photography Yelp Page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-nora-photography-vacaville-4

THIS PHOTOGRAPHER HAS NOT STOLEN PHOTOS

Back in February I got a lot of messages about this vendor, Empress Ember, who sells garments to boudoir photographers. Their pasties sell for $50+ and their body cages sell for upwards of $250+. Often these items are heavily bejeweled. It seems their primary area for selling their items is via their Facebook Group which has about 4K members.

The gist is that these luxury pieces are falling apart and the company isn’t making things right with their clients.

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Photo

Outer Banks Photography aka Duck Photography by Vincent Gross in Carova, NC

Website: https://outerbanksphotography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outerbanksphoto

I started Photo Stealers before Google Lens was a thing and it was all due to my ability to be able to guess who the original photographer on a thief’s website was. While there are SO MANY new photographers now that it’s impossible I am still often able to do this with photographers whose body of work I’m familiar with.

Case in point, Brooke Mayo.

Brooke is not only an immensely talented and AMAZING human, she was my wedding photographer and who I looked up to SO much when starting out and through to today. I love her work and who she is.

So when I came across this website I didn’t have to Google Lens shit, I knew in my soul that this was Brooke’s work (of course the one image he didn’t crop the logo out of helped prove me right). I also know Brooke and I verified that Vincent Gross was not her employee.

I’m guessing that Vincent is rebranding from Outer Banks Photography to Duck Photography to get away from the bad reviews out there but who knows really the thought behind it.

Also fun fact, I’ve actually met this guy. His (ex?) wife was an officiant at a wedding I photographed in the Outer Banks and lets just say he didn’t leave a favorable impression.

Case in point of why I do what I do, when searching to find the source link for the first image on Vincent’s page, the source URLs Google comes back with don’t link to Brooke despite the image being on her homepage. Google thinks the image belong to Vincent and may be punishing Brooke’s page for the duplicate content even though it’s her image.

I don’t know what Vincent’s intention was here but it’s kind of creepy to use a Brooke’s images AND images OF Brooke and her family/children.

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SJC Photography in Scottsburg, IN and Panama City Beach, FL

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091772649802
USession: https://book.usesession.com/i/zsanwtUauU

It’s another pay-what-you-can photographer!

Irony:

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Photo

Sweet Magnolia Shoots aka Sweetwater Sessions in Seminary, MS

Website: https://sweetmagnoliashoots.zenfoliosite.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetmagnoliareshoots
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swmssessions

It’s been a week… so this will be brief.

I cut it off because I need to do my own work!

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Photo, Photo Shyster

White Oak Images aka White Oak Photo Co aka 422 photo + film in Warren, OH

Website: https://www.whiteoak-images.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteOakImages
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whiteoak_images
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/white.oak.images/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/white.oak.photoco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/422photofilm/

**THIS IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH WHITE OAK PHOTOGRAPHY IN MORROW, OH WHO IS A REPUTABLE PHOTOGRAPHER!**

The story here isn’t stolen images, although there are those at play here too but mostly it’s just ads that I’m aware of that have images not taken by Tori / White Oak Images originally.

I live in the same service area as White Oak Images and I’ve been watching over the past few years as the complaints roll in on the local wedding groups and then curiously disappear just as quickly. Today was one of those days where one bride posted their experience with White Oak Images / Tori and then the floodgates opened and the comments were lit.

The OP posted that Tori / White Oak Images canceled on them last minute for their engagement session and then the night before their wedding said she wasn’t going to be able to make it but then she ended up showing up, although she was late. Then after the wedding there was a delay in getting the video to them and the whole experience with Tori was not professional in the least.

Other clients commented similar stories – down to the same excuse for canceling on them last minute despite their weddings being years apart. In the past the complaints have been the same but since the posts are now gone you’ll have to take my word for it.

Photographers commented and privately messaged me about how White Oak Images was consistently reaching out last minute (anything from 2 days before to hours before) to cover as a main or second photographer at weddings.

Photographers also told me how there was a styled shoot (possibly more than one) that didn’t take place and wasn’t refunded.

Photographers also reached out to me privately to state that Tori was slow to pay them when they did fill in last minute and getting their memory cards back was another hassle.

Wedding Planners chimed in stating their clients have had issues with this company as well, particularly with cancelations at the last minute.

While the original client posted in a few places, one post was removed, one post had comments turned off and one post remains that I can see. I’m sure they will all be gone soon enough so I’m just done watching local brides not have all the information prior to booking. So here we are. Now they can make informed decisions on their wedding photographer.

Total last minute cancellations for weddings starting in 2022 due to being sick/injured/dog emergency/misc: 35 (so far)

TLDR; This photographer often bails at the last minute sending in someone that she likely found the night before or day of to cover for her, usually when she’s overbooked herself. Often claims to be sick but also has a lot of dog emergencies and random other excuses.

Update 1/12/2024 – I’m told that Tori is working out refunds and cancellation agreements with clients for 2025. There’s already at least 2 dates she is/was double booked for for 2025 and all thought they were booking Tori not the associate package.

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