He left us high and dry! Our situation is somewhat unique. After getting married in a civil…read moreceremony a couple of years ago, we are getting re-married in a simple religious Church ceremony. We wanted a photographer there to capture pictures of us and our children. As a result, we only needed a photographer for about an hour on a Saturday afternoon. I contacted Christopher via email on September 20 and explained our situation, and he said he was available for our October 20 date. Christopher sent us his contract via email. After that, I tried to contact him several times to follow up both via email and phone. I left several voicemail messages in the ensuing weeks, but he never returned any of the phone calls. Plus, time was running out to find someone new. Our wedding is in less than a week and Christopher is MIA. We can't find a replacement. Horrible! Thanks a lot Christopher! Maybe some day you will get around to reading these reviews and realize how badly you dropped the ball and let us down. If you couldn't do the job you set out to do, then you should have notified us ASAP so that we could make alternative arrangements.

Finding a Chicago wedding photographer is a difficult task with so many options in this city!…read moreLuckily, I stumbled upon Christopher's photos on the JuneBug Wedding Blog while researching Chicago photographers. We love his style - bold and bright colors with our beautiful city as the background. He captures candid photos as well as comfortable posed shots. His prices are affordable compared to many photographers in the city. I believe the investment is worth it. The turnaround with the wedding photos was quick. He replied to our questions right away and was extremely professional and authentic. Wedding photographers are definitely a difficult task to find in the city of Chicago...I'm so grateful we were able to have Christopher photograph our engagement and wedding!

I needed a custom digital photo to meet some very specific passport and visa requirements for…read moreinternational travel. Studio Soo was competent, careful, pleasant and detail oriented. Just what I needed. Excellent service.

So my wife and I were looking last year for the perfect photographer since coming from New Jersey…read morewe had worked with one for several years and he did an amazing job with our Wedding, Engagement photo, infant photos and etc. In fact, we were just going to fly our old photographer into Chicago for our Baby's 1st Birthday Party because we trusted our photographer in NJ. If anyone knows me - I am extremely particular in who I work with and the type of product I want (only the best) since you are spending hundreds and literally thousands of dollars so you want to make sure the end product is what you pay for! Usually, it is customary for the Korean's 1st Bday to have great photos! These are memories that will last a lifetime and you want a great photographer to work with! So this is an investment we were worth spending some money on. Moving to Chicago I was bit nervous working with a new photographer since I am very particular and want someone that will capture the right moments! In fact it's very hard! We wanted someone who understood our needs and the design element ideas that would capture that perfect moment! Luckily after 7 calls with various different photographers around the Chicago land area we were glad we found Studio Soo Chicago Baby! He was the only a few who actually responded timely, flexible with scheduling and accommodating! Soo does an amazing job with trying to get shots that we are looking for - see below some of his fabulous work! We also went with their photo booth at the Birthday party since Soo was very accommodating and upgrading things we didn't even think we wanted! While the overall cost was a bit more than what we wanted to spend I look at these things as an investment! Overall, if you are looking for great baby photographer -Chicago Baby is the best in Chicago! If you are looking at photographers who can create and take amazing shots- Chicago baby is the best around here! Moving forward this is the only studio that I would do business with since I trust not only their product, but I know Soo is flexible, transparent with pricing and easy to work with!! I absolutely recommend this studio - See the photos and the type of professional quality you get!

We had a great experience working with Alex for our engagement photos! He made us feel comfortable…read morein front of the camera and guided us through poses. The shoot was easy and fun! The turn around time was so fast and every picture was edited beautifully. Everyone that has looked at the photo gallery has told us how amazing our photographer was! I highly recommend Alex!

I saw Alex's Yelp/Google page with a ton of amazing reviews and looked over his portfolio on his…read morewebsite which helped me decide that he was the one I wanted to photograph my fiancée and I's proposal/engagement. This was my first time hiring a professional photographer, and Alex was just so lovely to work with. He helped with the setup process and made planning so easy and convenient with just a couple of phone calls. During the shoot, he was so friendly and made us feel comfortable and knew the best angles and poses for us. The pictures came out beautifully and we could not have asked for better. On the same day, he made sure to send us a handful of highlight pics. Within just a few days, he sent over the whole gallery! I highly highly recommend him for any proposals/engagement shoots!

Wes was an absolute pleasure to work with for our wedding. From the start, his communication was…read moredetailed, and thorough, putting our minds at ease. He did a wonderful job of taking our inspiration ideas and turning them into a cohesive concept. His process for discussing the photopgrahic aesthethic we preferred was straightforward and the resulting outcome was extraordinary - guests continue to share how stunning our photos are months after the event! Wes was available for us, and patient throughout the entire planning process. Additionally, Wes was incredibly flexible and responsive to our wishes as a same-sex couple. He used his industry expertise to steer us when we needed the guidance and took our feedback to heart to make sure the day was ours. We are so grateful to Wes and his team for making our wedding day perfect. We had all the faith that Wes was going to do right by us and make our day exactly as we hoped.

Where do I begin…read more.. Wes Craft and his wife Necia are the most underrated photography duo ever. Their hard work and attention to detail are truly remarkable. We have gotten so many compliments from all our friends and family about both our engagement and wedding photos from Wes. They were able to capture so many emotions from our beautiful wedding day. Even his slideshow brought my maid-of-honor and I to tears. Working with Wes from the very beginning has been a dream and he is by far our most favorite vendor. During our initial meeting, Wes took extensive time to explain his photography style and show us examples. The icing on the cake was his experience working with cultural weddings. My husband and I were planning on having a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and wanted to have it captured on photos. It was so refreshing for Wes to already be familiar with the ceremony and even examples of past tea ceremonies he captured! My husband and I were floored by how the photos turned out and all the neat little moments he captured of our loved ones in the background of the ceremony. Our wedding day could not have gone better. His experience helped us plan a nice wedding day timeline that eased the nerves of an anxious bride. He is so detail-oriented and fantastic with communication - which I value so much in a wedding vendor. Wes and Necia were so patient and went the extra mile to capture all the best shots. All of the photos turned out amazing and was a true artwork of our love story. We are beyond excited to work with Wes again to put together our album. Wes and Necia was the best wedding investment by far and we would recommend them in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a talented photographer!

I was referred to Maha Studios by a friend and was quite nervous as they are based out of Chicago…read moreand I was getting married in Pittsburgh, PA. I knew it would be hard to coordinate travel, meetings etc, due to the distance and I was certainly the bride that wanted to meet and get to know her vendors prior to booking them.   On the initial call, both Zainab and Aaqib were very kind and answered all of my questions regarding price, travel, different packages and hours and everything that would be included. I felt very comfortable moving forward with a team I hadn't met, only having seen their work on their website or social media accounts.   I knew I wanted to work with a company that was an expert South Asian weddings. In Pittsburgh, there aren't many (if any) photographers/videographers that focus or know the South Asian wedding traditions and photography was my husband and I's number one priority. Knowing that the Maha team has extensive experience and almost exclusively works on South Asian weddings made us feel even more comfortable in our decision to work with them.   Maha Studios included a free one hour engagement session if my husband and I visited Chicago prior to getting married. That didn't end up happening, BUT they were kind enough to drive to Pittsburgh the day before the wedding weekend and use that one hour to photograph my Mayoon event! They drove to the location, set everything up and took tons of amazing shots and video that were used in my wedding trailer.   Zainab, Aaqib and Raheel (associate videographer) worked with me the entire weekend (and suggested a few timeline changes, etc) to make sure everything went smoothly. I loved that they made time for both me AND my husband to get "getting ready" shots and made me feel comfortable in front of the camera (otherwise I am so awkward!). I asked them to focus on family members and after seeing the final photos and video, I can see that they definitely did.  They blended in and zipped around like crazy the entire weekend, while I was making sure they had food to eat and a comfortable hotel room!   Post wedding: WOW. JUST WOW. My husband and I are blown away by the photos that Zainab took and the trailer and final video that Aaqib and Raheel filmed. The photo quality is amazing, the photo album we received is beautiful, the trailer is perfect and the 3 hour long video has been playing nonstop. Aaqib responded to all of my requests on minor changes to the video on the same day and confirmed the changes were made. The follow up from everyone was incredible and I cannot wait to use Maha Studios again!

Maha studio's team is one the best Chicago wedding photographer and videographers in the…read moreChicagoland area. Seriously, stop looking and BOOK THEM NOW! They are so easy to work with, and make you feel extremely comfortable. They make the experience so much fun and are able to work and any weather condition with so many great ideas. I honestly couldn't be any happier with the level or attention they took to capture every detail. They didn't miss anything and captured every detail and every emotion. I have never seen such a beautiful album. The quality is so high end and the editing is flawless. The videographer is amazing. When first meeting him I could see how passionate he was and his work is beautiful. They were able to even use a drone to capture beautiful clips of Chicago and our wedding party. When I say they went above and beyond, they truly did. Our wedding was in November and on the first snow of they year they helped me walk through snow, ice, and all the salt. They even put up with all my ideas and climbed slippery icy steps to get out first look on top of London house downtown. I seriously love them and still hire them to all my events since. Zainab is just the sweetest, so humble and talented. Thank you again and again for capturing our wedding and for continuing to be apart of our love story. BOOK THEM NOW!! Don't miss out on this amazing team and wonderful people to work with!

Choosing our wedding photographer was one of the most important decisions we made for our big day,…read moreand we could not be happier with our choice! From the very beginning, Michelle was incredibly responsive and a joy to work with. She made the entire process so easy, always answering our questions quickly and following up with us to make sure we were on the same page. On the wedding day, Michelle was a true professional. She arrived early and was able to effortlessly handle the chaos of a large wedding party. Her ability to quickly and efficiently organize our family and friends for group photos was truly impressive, saving us so much time and stress. The final images are absolutely outstanding. The quality is breathtaking, and Michelle captured every single moment we could have wanted, and then some. We were amazed at how many beautiful photos we received; there were more than enough to perfectly tell the story of our day. Additionally, she captured unexpected (but flattering) moments of people in their natural states without anyone knowing it was being done! We are so grateful to have such incredible photos to remember our wedding by. Thank you for everything!

When my now husband and I began looking for a wedding photographer, we weren't sure where to start…read more Luckily, we discovered Michelle Lytle Photography because Michelle is a co-owner of the wedding venue we chose. We loved Michelle's photography style as we explored her website as she offers a mix of traditional posed photographs as well as unique perspectives. She described her approach as photo-journalistic. Michelle was able to work with us to find a package that fit our budget and captured the images we would cherish. On the day of the wedding, we met Michelle at the Lytle House (where we were dropping some items off) and she traveled with us by train to Loyola University Chicago to capture some photos of the two of us before heading back to the venue for family photos before the ceremony. At Loyola, we ran into an issue with one of our boutonnieres and -after catching the moment for posterity- Michelle helped us get it properly situated. We only spent about 20 minutes at Loyola, but Michelle was able to capture us in various poses, with a variety of backdrops as well as candid moments walking to and riding the train. We had about 30 minutes set aside for family photos and Michelle moved everyone around with a gentle command to capture all of the posed photos we listed in advance and some we hadn't thought of. Although our ceremony and reception were all in one location, Michelle expertly captured us from different angles and with different backgrounds to differentiate each moment. After family photos, Michelle took the two of us to a unique location under the 'L' tracks nearby to capture a few more couples shots. This served the dual purpose of getting us out of the venue as more guests arrived. During the ceremony, Michelle moved quickly and stealthy about capturing so many beautiful photos from various perspectives that when we received the photos later, it seemed like there must have been multiple photographers. After the ceremony, we had requested a photo of us with all of our friends and family, again Michelle was able to gently usher everyone together to capture a big group shot. After that, Michelle captured candid shots of our guests mingling, the table settings, and food truck set-up. Since we had only booked Michelle through cocktail hour, she found a moment as she wrapped up to congratulate us before ducking out. Michelle captured all of the key moments of the ceremony and cocktail hour but also had a deft eye for subtle details. For example, she snapped a close-up photo of the anklet my mother was wearing, which happened to be a gift my grandfather had given to my grandmother. It was small moments like these that brought a flood of emotions as we reviewed the photos online about 2.5 weeks after the ceremony. Michelle also sent a preview of her favorite shot the morning after the wedding, which was a great surprise on the way to our honeymoon. All of the photographs Michelle captured were processed beautifully in black and white and color and provided to us in an online gallery that is available to us forever. Michelle offers options to purchase photo books or prints, but also allows a limited number of downloads so you can do what you wish with the photos. Michelle was wonderful to work with and the images she captured will be treasured forever. The only "regret" we have is that we decided to save some money in our budget by not booking her through our entire reception, which is the only thing we would do differently. We highly recommend Michelle for all of your photographic needs.

I've been a full-time working actor for over 30 years, and just got the best headshots of my career…read morewith Chris Popio. Chris does an amazing job of explaining every step of the process and checking to make sure you're happy with the results you're getting. Even better, he has a way of engaging with you that brings out your authentic self. When I was considering who to work with for my new headshots, I looked at the portfolios of a handful of photographers as recommended by my agents. The thing that sold me on working with Chris was that I saw something special in the EYES of his subjects that was often missing with the others. They popped with life! My agents are thrilled with the pictures from Chris that I presented to them, and I have 4 good, specific looks. I could not be happier!

OUTSTANDING! Great with kids! Chris is truly gifted. I was hoping for one or two photos that would…read morebe workable, but he got so many incredible pictures that we now have the (awesome) problem of having to choose from a large portfolio of amazing options. His laid back style made our child feel comfortable throughout the entire process. His stylist who worked with our daughter was terrific as well. Thank you, Chris. You're the best!

If a picture is worth a thousand words and you don't have two chances to make a first impression,…read moreyou'll want someone who deftly creates Shakespearan verses with each snap of the camera. You'll want to go with Michael Schacht at 312 Elements. I'm the type that will research a big-ticket purchase for six months to get an idea of the market--and then spend another three months trying to convince myself why I don't need it. I didn't need nine months to be convinced to go with Michael. An initial look through his portfolio and you'll notice that he not only knows how to take a picture, he knows how to make you look good. Visit him in the studio and you'll also notice that it's not just knowing facial expressions, angles, body positioning, spacing, and lighting that creates his elevated works. I already knew Michael was good behind the camera, I was genuinely surprised by how good he is in connecting with clients in the studio. These days we frequently meet each other online before getting together in person. Michael will draw out your best self and capture the parts of your personality that are sure to leave a lasting impression.

Having worked with several photographers at this point I have to say Mike's working style is…read moreunique. I walked into the shoot expecting the standard "stand over there and do this pose" shtick. Instead, Mike spent about the first 10 minutes getting to know me. By understanding who I am, what I wanted to accomplish, he understood what I want to portray through the shoot. The rest of it was a breeze, Mike was able to capture I was envisioning, and help me bring out my best. If you want to end up with a stereotypical headshot, feel free to find your run-of-the-mill portrait photographer. But if you want an unique experience with quality headshots you can use in years to come, Mike's service is well worth the price.