I don’t get to do much in the way of travel photography anymore, but photographs and documenting memories and milestones have always been important to me. On August 3, 2022, in preparation for my son turning a year old, I made an appointment with Kristin Cochran Photography in Pampa, TX, to have family photos and 1 year portraits taken on Friday, November 4, 2022.
The morning of the 4th, I received a message from Kristin informing me that her son was sick and that she would have to reschedule. I responded to her message immediately — gave condolences and well wishes with regards to her son’s sickness and then asked if we could reschedule for Friday, November 11, 2022. By Monday morning she hadn’t responded (which is understandable), so I messaged her again to see what her availability was. She said that she has a wedding “all day” Friday, November 11, and is unavailable. She sent me a screenshot of her calendar and told me to pick a day that works for us. After seeing her calendar, I figured we’d find something that would work because there was a lot of blank space, so I picked out a couple of days and messaged her. She told me that she couldn’t take our photos on November 9, 2022, because she has a newborn shoot that day and that she couldn’t take our photos on November 10, 2022, because she is editing pictures that day. She then told me that she could schedule us for November 28, 2022. I told her that scheduling for the end of the month made me a bit nervous because I was planning on using the pictures for our Christmas cards. I asked her if we could book for November 14, 2022, (because that day was completely open on her calendar), and she said yes…and then came back and said that she checked her personal calendar and can’t do the 14th because her son has a therapy appointment that day, so I said, fine, we’ll take the 28th. Then she came back and said that she checked her personal calendar (keep in mind that she’s already offered me the 28th at this point), and she can’t do the 28th because they have family in town that day.
I told her that I was disappointed and that I thought maybe she’d try to be a little flexible since she cancelled our appointment, and this made her very angry. She made it quite evident that because she cancelled our appointment due to her son’s illness, she feels no obligation at all to reschedule our appointment within a timely manner. She even put the blame on *my* schedule. I told her that I couldn’t believe that she was doing this to us, and her response was, “I’m not doing anything TO you. I simply cannot find a coordinating time that suits your schedule and mine and while I can appreciate your frustration, I am not intentionally doing anything TO you.” She’s obviously kind, compassionate, and professional.
We’ve used Kristin for photos in the past (yes, I would have been a repeat customer), and I love her photographs and style, but I cannot with good conscience recommend anyone who would cancel a client’s appointment at the last minute and then leave that client without an appointment during the busiest time of year (especially given that they were supposed to be one year photos of a baby…it’s not like I can just reschedule them for the spring when she’s finally less busy). I would have gladly left this review on her Facebook page, but she blocked me, so I’m unable to do so. I’d hate for her to do this to another family. I’m sure that Kristin will say that I wasn’t respecting her boundaries, but at the end of the day, this is an integrity issue, not a boundaries issue.
Each time I go back and read through my conversation with Kristin, I get angrier and angrier. She cancelled a milestone photography session and in the end she didn’t give me one single time where I could re-book. She offered up two dates, then came back and said never mind…then recommended other photographers and said that she’d refund my deposit. All I needed was one hour of her time some time during the month of November, and she was completely unwilling to make herself available. If there is any doubt as to whether or not my account of how Kristin treated us is true or not, please feel free to take a look at the screenshots from our conversation. I’m sure that Kristine would claim that I wasn’t respecting her boundaries; however, I maintain that this is an integrity issue — not a boundary issue. Professional people do not treat their clients the way that Kristin treated me.




