Trina Carnett

working this shoot with my wife should have been exciting. instead it left us frustrated, exhausted, and honestly hurt. organization was a mess from the start, every other model couple had their hair, makeup, and outfits fully planned out ahead of time. we had nothing. we began to realize it was because we were queer and an afterthought. i was texting trina 15 minutes before start time just trying to find out what we were supposed to wear, and got ignored. my wife finally walked over to ask in person and trina snapped at her. we ended up starting the shoot 30-45 minutes late because of it, and that set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

it only got more chaotic from there. we were on our feet modeling for 8 hours a day, two days straight, and never got fed. we asked for water over the walkie and it never came. we watched other model couples work on sets that were clearly planned and cared for, while ours felt like an afterthought, and other attendees noticed it too, we weren't imagining it. again, because we were queer.

every single other set had props, jewelry, shoes, backdrop, decor, flatlay, wardrobe, all of it ready to go. even the male models got makeup done. we had to go buy our own shoes and jewelry at walmart. other couples had full vision boards done in advance for their hair, makeup, and attire. we got whatever was left over, because it became obvious no one had actually planned anything for us. we were also given separate hair/makeup vendors instead of using the event's main vendor like everyone else, which didn't feel like special treatment, it felt like we were being kept separate.

and then trina showed up for maybe 3-5 minutes total during the entire shoot. the one thing she said while photographing my wife was "wowwww i love the diversity." the room went quiet. people were visibly uncomfortable and side-eyeing each other because none of us knew what to do with that. she never once gave hair/makeup a heads up that they'd be working with a woman of color, so they had zero products or tools ready for her hair, we had to figure that out ourselves in the moment.

on top of all of it, people on the team kept assuming we were girlfriends instead of a married couple. and at one point someone told us "you should feel so honored and lucky to be here," like we should be grateful just to be tolerated.

by the end we were exhausted, underprepared for, and made to feel like an afterthought at best and a spectacle at worst. this wasn't just disorganization. it was disorganization plus being treated differently because of who we are, and that's not something we're willing to just brush off.

host made comment "wowwww i love the diversity" while photographing my wife (poc model), making the room visibly uncomfortable. hair/makeup vendor was not informed they'd be working with a poc model and had no products/tools prepared for her hair texture. our set was the only one not provided props, wardrobe, jewelry, or shoes in advance (had to buy our own at walmart) while white/straight couples' sets were fully provided for, including the male models getting makeup done.

team members repeatedly assumed we were girlfriends rather than a married couple. we were also given separate hair/makeup vendors instead of using the event's main vendor like everyone else, and told "you should feel so honored and lucky to be here," which read as othering rather than welcoming.

i recommend trina either sticks to what she actually knows/supports (don’t hire queer couples) OR if she truly aspires to be inclusive/ally take the time to genuinely educate herself on what an actual ally looks like.

Just do your research before booking content days.

This content day from start to finish was just absolutely unprofessional/chaotic.
Throughout the day, I heard people saying they needed to “I need to take this for Trina,” which created some confusion around the purpose and flow of the content day. We were assigned to groups of six, but many times, our group had eight or more people, which made it difficult to get adequate time and space.
There were also multiple occasions where several couples were placed in the same area at once, which made it nearly impossible to capture the wide, open shots I was hoping for. For example, when I was working with Ray and Shar, my group planned to use the balcony for photos, but the ceremony couple’s group was already up there, taking overhead shots. We had to wait about seven minutes and ask multiple times for them to move before we could use the space, which cut into our shooting time.
There were also a few other situations that added to the challenge for example, one of the grooms was barefoot, and we were instructed to hide his feet, which disrupted the shooting process. I was also told that multiple individuals were allowed to attend for free, which felt unfair given the level of investment others made.
Also, people who were taking photos for you often stepped in front of us while I was shooting, and others who weren’t in our group would step in, take over, and begin posing. Our fourth group session was cut short (Ray and Shar), and during the sunset ceremony, it became a “free for all,” making it very difficult to capture intentional content.
I invested a significant amount of money into this experience, and while I did walk away with some photos, I did not get the results I had hoped for or expected.

What infuriated me the most was how Ray and Shar were treated. I have followed them on social media for years and they were a huge reason I booked this specific content day and to show up and it feel like they were hidden and their set just thrown together was very disheartening. They didn't receive food or water and I went and grabbed them some water. Just everything with them felt as if they were not welcome and it made me so sad.

The two positive reviews on here being from bestfriends of the host speak for itself in my opinion.
The host has absolutely poor communication skills. I was ghosted multiple times by asking for very legitimate things… like a receipt, asking for start time, end time.. quite literally anything I just wanted to feel safer in my $850 purchase. Ultimately I was convinced I was being scammed. Until about 1 week before she sent out a “day of schedule”. Do some review research on Facebook and you’ll see the similar takes.

Upon arriving- no one was greeted. Nothing was done being set up and I didn’t arrive early by any means I think I got there 10-15 mins before start time to use the restroom and get my camera ready.
It immediately created an uncomfortable space for MANY. It’s a room full of a bunch of strangers standing in a room.. with NO direction, no introduction, no greeting.. if leads to a lot awkwardness / uncomfortable feelings.
We were then taken into the atrium where we split into groups, given group leaders, and told about the different stations.
When we got to the “inside station” is what she called it.. is where the queer couple was.
They had no props, they had no backdrop, it was very obvious to my group immediately they were not a priority this shoot at all.
I could tell the vibes were off- it was hot this day and this was their second day modeling from what I understand. We radioed to the host for the couple to get brought food & water to help their energy + make sure they were staying taken care of. We radioed not once but three times to no response. To then I myself walked inside and asked for water & food to be taken to them to which the response was “there’s no food left”
WHICH leads me to my next problem. We were promised a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres & mocktails. While there were mocktails there was celery in a ranch cup & bell peppers as food. For the money I had spent I found this absolutely appalling.
But back to the queer couple’s station- we also were interrupted not once, not twice, but three times by either the host herself or the “giveaway winner” (< which turns out there were multiple? Or just friends shooting for free) not a single time were these interruptions things we could work off of we had to halt our entire process which ultimately left me with max 10 edited images from this station- the station I was most excited to capture.
I could truly go on and on but this was absolutely the most unorganized, unwelcoming, and distasteful styled shoot I have ever been to and I will not book another one through this host.

Equal efforts to all parties. I feel as though some parties were an absolute after thought.
Provide what you are selling.

Wish I could share more oof

Very unorganized from start to finish
When we first arrived the host was nowhere to be found for a solid 30-40min after the start time of the event, we would ask other vendors where to find her and even they were trying to hunt her down themselves. No food was provided till the VERY end of the event, they completely skipped over the meet & greet/cocktail hour & we were just all standing in the hot sun waiting to be guided or welcomed. The groups/time limit was very unorganized and some people would hop between groups as they please to get more time at certain sets (later found out they were friends of the host). Even worse the queer model couple they hired were an extreme afterthought in every way possible it gave “we just hired them to have them in the portfolio but we could give a less crap about them” the “styling” or lack of styling was extremely underwhelming compared to all the other intricate set ups that were there, and was very disheartening and sad to witness so blatantly, especially considering the reason I booked this event was to capture the queer couple…

Educate herself..