189 Five-Star Reviews and Everything We've Learned Getting Here

The honest version - what clients say, what we missed, and what a white contact form almost cost us

Lewis Whittenbury & Frankie Whittenbury

One hundred and eighty-nine five-star Google reviews. Eight years of Frankie The Creative. Fifteen years of the two of us behind a camera - first separately, then together, then as a studio, then as a business, then as a family business, which is its own particular adventure entirely.

We've been reflecting on what those reviews actually say - not the individual words, but the patterns underneath them. What clients consistently notice. What they value that we didn't expect. And honestly, what we've missed along the way - because a business that's been going this long has missed things, and pretending otherwise would be the least interesting version of this post.

A quick history

Frankie started shooting professionally around fifteen years ago - long before Frankie The Creative existed as a studio name, long before Lewis joined the business, long before the Canon R5s and the Godox systems and the 189 reviews. She was building a client base and a body of work the old-fashioned way - one booking at a time, one referral at a time.

Lewis was doing the same thing from a different angle - a degree in International Studies and Media at the University of Adelaide that was supposed to lead somewhere diplomatic, a stint lecturing in filmmaking, and a growing realisation that the camera was where he actually wanted to be.

Frankie The Creative as a named, operating studio launched in 2018. The eight years since have taken us from an emerging Adelaide photography studio to a team that has photographed Red Bull, Qatar Airways, the South Australian Tourism Commission, LIV Golf Adelaide, the Premier of South Australia, the Governor of South Australia and the Dutch Ambassador to Australia. The reviews accumulated alongside all of that - one shoot at a time, one relationship at a time, until we looked up and there were 189 of them.

What 189 clients say about us

When you read enough five-star reviews you start to see the same things come up again and again - not because people are copying each other, but because these are the things that actually matter when you hire a photographer.

We respond fast. Multiple clients have specifically mentioned getting a response within the hour. Chelsie Loader from a Melbourne video production company flagged it for a last-minute weekend shoot. Andrea Lucena-Orr mentioned it for the Dulux launch. It's not something we set out to make a brand differentiator - it's just how we operate - but clearly it matters enormously in a world where people send three enquiries and book whoever responds first.

We make people comfortable. This one comes up across almost every category we shoot - from corporate headshots to proposal photography to awards nights. Emily Emmett wrote that Frankie has a secret talent for complimenting your insecurities. Josh Antony said his headshot session was professional and prompt. Daniel Antony wrote that Frankie blended into the scenery perfectly for his surprise proposal. The through-line is the same: the experience of being photographed felt easy rather than uncomfortable.

We understand the brief. Peta Kirby from Eventage Group has worked with us across more events than either of us can count, and the line she keeps coming back to is they hit the nail on the brief every single time. Nathan Crane, after a creative campaign shoot, wrote that we effortlessly understood the creative direction. What these clients are really describing is trust - the confidence that you don't have to micromanage the photographer because they already know what you need.

We turn it around fast. The speed of gallery delivery comes up constantly - sometimes almost with surprise, as if clients expected to wait weeks and were caught off guard by days. Laura Fountain mentioned receiving photos three days after an awards night as unexpected but awesome. Jackson Bentley had his proposal gallery barely two hours after the moment itself. Fast turnaround isn't just a service feature - for clients whose social media teams are waiting, whose press releases are drafted, whose families are overseas, it's the thing that makes the whole experience feel complete rather than suspended.

We show up with energy. This one surprised us a little when we first noticed it. Reviews from Clubs SA, Fatima Reyes at Carnegie Mellon, WorldSkills Australia - they all mention energy, friendliness, warmth, the experience of having someone genuinely enthusiastic in the room. Tania Verbeeck from SATC described it as their energy, passion and positivity always make it a delight to work closely with. In an industry where photographers can sometimes feel like a necessary inconvenience at their own events, apparently just being a genuinely enjoyable presence is worth noting.

What we've missed along the way

Here's the part that's harder to write.

The shots we wanted versus the shots they needed.

Eight years of Frankie The Creative, fifteen years of professional photography between us - and one of the honest tensions we sit with is that the images we're proudest of aren't always the images that made it into the client's gallery. The shot we wanted, the one with the interesting light or the unexpected angle or the quiet moment nobody else noticed - sometimes that's not the image a marketing team needs for their LinkedIn post or their annual report.

We've gotten better at getting both. But it took years to understand that the discipline of getting the client's brief right and the discipline of building a portfolio you're genuinely proud of are two different practices that both need deliberate attention. We haven't always given the second one enough.

The client who liked us because we were cheap.

Early on - back when Frankie The Creative was still finding its feet - a client told us they chose us because we were the cheapest option. That was uncomfortable to hear - not because of the honesty, but because of what it revealed about how we were positioning ourselves at the time. We've never wanted to compete on price. We're not the cheapest option and we never will be. That conversation changed how we operate - it clarified what kind of studio we wanted to build and who we wanted to build it for. We're grateful for it, even if it stung.

The social media content question.

We get asked about social media content packages regularly. Short-form video, Reels, same-day social content, Stories coverage - clients want it and we can deliver it. The honest tension is packaging it. Offer it too cheaply and it positions the whole studio as a content commodity. Don't offer it clearly enough and clients go elsewhere for the piece that should sit alongside the photography naturally. We haven't fully solved this one yet. The trade-off between accessible pricing for consistent work and protecting the premium positioning we've spent eight years building is a genuinely hard problem. We're working on it.

The contact form.

This one is both mortifying and instructive. At some point - we genuinely don't know when - the text input colour on our contact form changed to white. On a white background. Meaning anyone trying to type an enquiry couldn't see what they were writing. We have no idea how long it was like that. We have no idea how many enquiries we lost. When we discovered it, fixed it, and watched enquiries pick back up, it was one of those small technical failures that reminds you that all the great photography and five-star reviews in the world are undermined by a broken contact form. Check yours.

Events never go to plan. That's the point.

The most honest thing we can say after fifteen years behind a camera and eight years running a studio is that events almost never go exactly as planned. The speaker runs late. The venue lighting is different from the site visit. The media wall arrives on a flight that almost didn't happen. The VIP has fifteen minutes, not thirty. The ceremony is the fastest anyone has ever seen. The best-laid run sheets meet the reality of a room full of people.

What we've learned - and what the best event photographers understand - is that the plan isn't the point. The plan is just the frame. The job is to be ready for what actually happens inside it, which is almost always different from what was supposed to happen, and almost always more interesting.

That's true of events. It's true of running a business. It's probably true of most things worth doing.

Frankie The Creative has been operating since 2018 - an Adelaide-based photography and videography studio with 189 five-star Google reviews, fifteen years of combined experience behind the lens, and a contact form that now definitely works. If you'd like to work with us, get in touch.