Sadie Rob (Sadie Wats)

No

I attended a retreat hosted by Sadie Rob in 2024. As a fellow photographer, I was so excited to meet someone in this industry with so much influence and talent. The shoot consisted of 3 photoshoots and “education”.
I was the first attendee to arrive at the Airbnb with my friend. To my surprise no one was there. I text Sadie for the info on how to get in. Other attendees arrived, but Sadie did not get there until very late in the day. There was about 15 of us staying in an Airbnb, all of the attendees split the cost. We got to choose our rooms, but some people still ended up on the couches due to extra people being there. Which I’m assuming were Sadie’s friends. The gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores near us were very limited and all closed early. This was pretty inconvenient for us all. I would’ve loved to have known this before arriving. The entire trip we didn’t get to eat at a single restaurant. I can’t remember what happened, but even our dinner ended up being quick gas station or grocery snacks.
Every single shoot we had either ran late, or we were completed crammed together as photographers. She didn’t direct us or split us off into groups which made every shoot harder. We recieved no educational course or information.

Sadie told us she shoots on a 50mm or 35mm and edits on her phone. No back up cameras. This all makes me believe she doesn’t have a single real client. Everything is for social media and a viral post. Which she gets because all of her “models” are her friends who she hangs out with who are obviously comfortable around her. Her work is truly amazing but these are not real clients. They all look, walk and talk the same. They all have similar body shapes. There is no variety. She got lucky going extremely viral and knew how to profit off of it by keeping the same “models” who do what she asks.

It just sucks being a photographer in this industry and seeing someone profit SOOOOO much off of shoots where she is late to everything and provides no education on. She also refuses to admit her business thrived because of social media vitality and has been blessed for it.

She should tell people the truth of how her work blew up and that most of her “models” are her friends. She should recognize most photographers don’t make $100-200k+ per year. Or whatever she is making. She is blessed.

*I wrote all of this in my notes app in 2024, I have moved on from this let down of an experience but felt this was the right space to finally share these thoughts!

Sadie Rob is robbing people. (Currently known as sadiewatphoto)

I attended one of her retreats in 2024 and it was the worst experience I could have had. Going into the retreat I had such high hopes of learning from one of the most viral photographers of the time, exploring a state I had never been to before, meeting other photographers, and walking away with some travel portfolio. This trip failed on almost every front.

Sadie was late to everything. We had to let ourselves into the airbnb and it was nearly 4 hours before she arrived. She was late to every shoot. Not sure how because we were all at the same starting locations. A host should always be the first to arrive so they can greet everyone and set the energy for the trip. Not only was she late to arriving to the airbnb but she told us to hold off on getting food until everyone arrived. by the time she got there all the local restaurants were closed and the grocery store was our only option. many of us were traveling from different times zones and had long travel days so this was very irresponsible on her part.

speaking of food... there was not a day where i consumed more than one real meal the entire week we were there. there was no dedicated meal time worked into the schedule, nor any consideration for what would be close by shoot locations. because she was late to everything, all the shoots ran long and by the time we would be done shooting for the day everywhere was closed and a gas station was the only hope to eat anything. Based on how many attendees were present and the amount we all paid, at least some meals should have been included.

There were over 16 attendees... all staying in one little house. there were some girls sleeping on couches and no forewarning about who would have to be sharing beds. She advertised this retreat as only having 10 attendees. 16 photographers for 1 couples shoot is absolutely ridiculous and overwhelming.

Driving time did not seem to be factored into the itinerary at all. we averaged about 7 hours a day in the car. SEVEN. Being in her home state she should have chosen locations closer to each other and where we were staying.

There was no formal education or sit down q+a like she promised. Most of the education she was offering during the shoots was camera settings.... the first two shoots she didn’t lead in any way. We had to tell her on day 2 that we were there to learn how she did things. That was what we were all paying for... There was no conversation of how she warms up her couples and gets them comfy. There was no talk of how she approaches the planning of her sessions or how she picks outfits for the locations. She vaguely talked about location scouting when I asked but generally not very helpful. She also told us repeatedly there would be an editing night but we were getting back each night at midnight or later. Overall just so many empty promises.

I don’t think Sadie actually has real work anymore. Everything she does now is styled. I don’t think people actually pay her for her work. She has stepped into this education space with nothing of value to give to anyone. She literally just got lucky going viral and capitalizes on it. She edits all her photos on her phone (what photographer with real full-time client work is editing on their phone, that is ridiculous). and when asked about shooting techniques or editing help, she was not able to properly teach someone else.

All of her models, with the exception of the one couple she uses at every. single. retreat., was sourced last minute and had no prior modeling experience. which is fine but easy for them to get overwhelmed with 16 photographers in their faces.

She made over $25,000 from this retreat and where did it all go? not to styling, not to models, not to location fees, not to food, not to education, and its a stretch to say it went to the planning considering there was very minimal planning.

If you are a young photographer idolizing her work and you think one of her retreats can help you achieve the photos and portfolio you are looking for or you think you can learn something from her, save yourself and your money.

Due your due diligence on hosts and retreats. Make sure inclusion is actual practice. Message other photographers who have been to the retreats or content days you are looking at. ALWAYS make sure there is a contract. And that the contract outlines what they promise to deliver.

For a photographer that is very well known, this was the most disorganized retreat. Had one couple for three shoots. While we were promised 4 sessions with diff couples. We got three with the same couple. And one what she called "bonus" but it was actually a couple that flew to Oregon for her and she ended up using them last minute for her retreat. It's Oregon so it rained. And the problem wasn't the rain, the problem was that she had no plans for the rain or the models that didn't work out. The shoots were constantly late to the itinerary we were given. She promised a night of education which we basically had to remind her of the last night together. She had only scouted one location, she took us to. Models were expected to just lead the sessions.

The weirdest part of this experience was photographers paid for the Airbnb stay. She not only had more people than the Airbnb allowed but half of them were her friends. some were modeling. Some mentioned they paid less to stay so that justified the couch. Her friends slept in the living room which had the space smaller and inaccessible to the people that split the cost of the house.

It was such an uncomfortable environment especially because she was so disorganized, lacked time management and tried to make this a "hang out" trip. This was an investment. It was one of the most disorganized, cliqué retreats I've ever been to.

Feedback was provided privately. She blasted photographers who privately messaged her about the disappointment and outed their feedback on the larger group of that retreat. Blocked anyone that gave her notes and feedback she didn't agree to.

I provided feedback privately.