I did a Boudoir shoot with Dan July 2024. Loved the experience Dan was great, I set up the date for the shoot got my hair and makeup professionally done. A week later or so I went for the viewing of the images. They came out beautiful. I did a payment plan and once you pay everything in full you can receive your pictures. However, I was told via email that Dan would reach out to me once they were ready to pick up. I never heard back. I sent numerous emails with no response. I just want an update on the black book and digital photos. This was not my first shoot. The last one I did with another photographer and received my images via link two weeks later. Not sure what the hold up is. I'm ok waiting for my images I just want an update. Just poor customer service. read more

One year later, I've never heard from Dan, and the experience with him brings up just as many feelings of frustration and disappointment as it did then. I will remember this experience as being one of the worst things that happened in 2019, hands down. $2600 for one photo still is insane and aggravating to me. Send me the digital pictures for a reasonable amount of money and I'll gladly remove this review. read more

I met with Daniel Doke on the recommendation of a friend who used him for her wedding. She went with Curtis - one of Daniel's "employees," as he was more within her price range. Daniel was out of our range as well, so we set up a meeting with Daniel. A few days before our appointment, I told another friend that we were meeting him and she immediately started telling me horror stories about her cousin's wedding, when Curtis was the photographer. She said he took photos she didn't want, didn't take photos she did want, held them too long so they missed part of the party, etc. I figured everyone's experience is difference and despite our hesitation from this review, my fiance & I met with Curtis anyway. When we showed up, we were very impressed with the studio. It's a guest house off Daniel's real house and is very warm and inviting - nice couch, fireplace, framed pictures all over - very neat and clean. Daniel and Curtis were both there and left us for a few minutes to peruse their albums. Once they came back to chat with us, we found it a bit weird that Daniel did 98% of the talking. Yes, it's his business, but they both knew we were there to meet with Curtis, as he was the one we were interested in hiring. Curtis said one or two things, but we were not able to really get a feel for him, except to see that he wasn't very "forward" - which is something I feel a photographer needs to be. They need to feel comfortable jumping in at any moment to get a shot, but not ruin that moment. This was the main reason we didn't go with them. Yes, I had my friend's horror stories in the back of my mind, but if we had been able to chat with him - with Daniel jumping in every so often, instead of the other way around - we might have hired him. I think it's good that Daniel was there to support his employee and try to sell his business, but I think he should have let the photographer we were there to meet with do the talking. read more

This experience was wonderful. I wasn't sure how I would feel having a boudoir shoot with a male. He was attentive, sweet, very professional! I would definitely recommend Dan. He captured my spunky personality well, but strayed away from what I thought my flaws were. My photos are outstanding. Rita read more

My wife and I had Dan and Pam do our wedding photography and we can't say enough good things about the experience of working with them. My wife's parents had come from Brazil and didn't speak any English, but Dan made them feel very comfortable and was able to communicate in creative ways in order to get amazing pictures. During the reception, Dan was seemingly everywhere, getting pictures at all the right moments, but still you barely noticed him! He was in stealth mode. He handled everything very deftly like a true professional. Dan and Pam have both been wonderful to work with, both on the phone and in person, before, during, and after the wedding. I would highly recommend their services to absolutely everyone. read more

My husband and I were married on 10/3/08 and used Curtis Caldwell of Dan Doke Photography. I chose not to meet Curtis prior to the wedding as I was so bogged down with other details. I sent a list of must take photos to the office a few weeks before the big day. Any questions I had were answered by the wonderful staff (Pam) within a few short days of my sending an email. Curtis arrived about 10 minutes prior to the requested time in order to get set up. He took one beautiful photo after another. I did not have many "ideas" as to what I liked, other than candids, but Curtis came up with several for me. Shots of my dress, a long shot of the bouquets, our wedding rings on the flowers, etc. I was amazed! Curtis was also very outgoing and friendly, putting everyone at ease. My grandmother is rather elderly and had a hard time focusing at what was going on, so he would say "grandma" and snap his fingers- it might sound crude but my brother and I still think it is hysterical. He did it in a very "nice" and very funny way. I chose my photos for my wedding album on December 8th and was told by Pam that editing time would take about 4 months- well my photos were on-line as of today! I only want to make a few minor changes and should probably have my album by the spring. I would recommend this photography studio to anyone that asked. If you'd like to see my album or photos, please let me know. ***Update 3/10/09: I received my wedding album on Saturday March 7th. It is unbelievable. The layout is beautiful, perfect, and exactly what I was looking for. I do not know how anyone could be disappointed with this studio. I'm not the easiest person to please and this was a great experience from start to finish. read more

Daniel was amazing! A friend and I booked our sessions back to back and it was such a pleasure getting our hair & makeup done & then having professional boudoir photos taken. I highly recommend both Daniel Doke Photography & the Axel Color Studio both located in North Reading. Dan took creative & beautiful photos, directed us in how to pose, made sure we were comfortable the entire time and was such a pleasure to work with. I honestly felt I had reconnected with an old friend despite never having met Dan before. The amazing ladies at Axel completed my transformation to pinup girl and checked in to make sure my look was going in the direction I wanted & I couldn't have asked for a better experience overall. We got a glimpse of a few of our photos before we left and we were like "who are those chicks?!" but in the best way possible. We can't wait to see the final products. I highly recommend if you're looking to get beautiful photos taken and/or just need a confidence boost. read more

Horrible customer service!! When i first met with Dan i was excited and couldn't wait to work with him. My wedding then changed gears and became a smaller thing (meaning smaller photography package) i tried to get in contact with them several times over the course of a month only to be ignored and sent "sorry we are really busy right now" emails. I repeatedly asked if the job was too small to just be told the truth so i could work on looking for another more suitable vendor for my needs i was never answered. I tried for over a month to get my dream photographer for my wedding but i still to this very moment have not got a phone call back. I am so disappointed. Dan Doke was highly recommended by multiple fiends and family and when i personally met him he seemed like such a nice guy. Good luck to future brides!!! UPDATE- the day after i post this review and one on their Facebook page, i finally get a reply with rates and the information i had been looking for, along with excuses of personal staffing problems they are experiencing. Its sad it took a negative review to get any attention at. i have no intention of working with a business who doesn't put their clients first. just a follow up to how horrible this experience has been. read more

Worked with them twice, once to shoot my son's wedding. They are THE BEST!!! Period. You have to laugh at some of the reviews here. Like they can read someone else's mind. I worked with Dan personally both times and he is terrific. Look at the photos yourself. A true artist. read more

Daniel Doke Fine Art donated gift certificates to a silent auction for the 2019 Junior League of Portland, ME Gala. Had I known *exactly* what was included in the $500 Portrait Certificate I bid on "($250 goes towards the session & $250 goes towards your purchase)" I wouldn't have bothered. An 8x10 is $300 and since I'm single and have no children, a print of any size of myself is useless. The studio was disinterested in providing any amount of digital images in replacement for the one 8x10 print and had I known as much I wouldn't have bothered bidding on it. Horrible customer service and inflexible. I would have made the two hour drive to actually use the gift certificates, but there's no point in sitting for a portrait session if you don't have the image(s) in a form that works for you. Maybe I should get the 8x10 and build a shrine to myself as a successful professional woman... read more

Ruined my wedding day. Couldn't get a hold of him to have my final meeting. his wife would make final appointment phone call times and then I would never hear from her. I told the venue (who referred him) that i couldn't get a hold of him and then all of a sudden i hear from his wife the next day. He had the Gaul to YELL at me on my wedding day for telling the venue i was having difficulty getting in touch with him. He ruined our wedding day and didn't even touch up the pictures to tell that i was clearly crying for 40 minutes because of him. DON'T USE HIM. We went to the venue the day after our wedding to complain again about him and we were told they were reviewing weather to keep him on as a preferred provider. Look at the previous reviews, they are horrible. I didn't check reviews because the venue suggested him. Huge mistake on my part. He is a pig. read more

My reviews keep getting filtered... WHY? I am a regular Yelper! Dan Doke is great and deserves my good review!

Not sure about the low rated reviews but I have worked with them him/them and couldn't be happier. There's a reason why they are known for being the best. It's not hype. They are sensational. You have to decide what's important to you. If it's true love and you want to look back and see the love of your life on "the" day, looking radiantly beautiful, you've made your decision. read more

Hey, bride talking here! I don't have enough words to thank Dan and Pam for making my wedding day so special. I had a lot of problems with other vendors at the event but, really, they saved my day. Dan and Pam were very punctual. We had ceremony and reception done in different locations (around 20 minutes apart) and they were so great moving from one place to the other. The impression we had was that they were little early everywhere. Everywhere you looked at you could see Pam or Dan doing photos. It's so important having the second photographer! I strongly recommend that. They don't miss any shot! My family is from Brazil and they don't speak English at all but Dan was so great with them, making them laugh and feel comfortable taking pictures in 30 degree weather. We are glad we booked them 10 months ahead of the wedding and didn't leave it for the last minute. They are absolutely worth the investment! read more

We had an amazing time photographing our family with Dan. The property is amazing for fall pictures. We were all done in 40 minutes and got some great photos. We went back the next week to order and had a ton to choose from. We were in and out of ordering within 15 minutes and loved our choices. I definitely recommend him for amazing family photos. I have never seen such a beautiful property as his home office. read more

I hate to say negative things about this place, since Zac, our photographer, was such a good guy... but of the 800 photos we got back of our wedding, 200 were of inanimate objects and of the remaining 600, over half of the usable photos had a smudge across someone's face. I called and talked to them about it. They said that we didn't pay for photos without smudges, essentially. Very disappointed. They come highly recommended by Promises to Keep, and we had a fine time with PTK, but they were way off base with this recommendation. In fairness, they said that they had both negative and positive feedback, but that is to be expected since it is such an emotional subject. Nothing emotional about having the bride's face obscured by a black spot. We are both pretty disappointed. I would advise you to avoid this studio, with so many alternatives around. From what I hear, if you pay for Dan himself you are in safe hands. Still, I doubt that a place without standards is a safe bet at all. ---------------------------- Update 113007 Dan would not respond to either me or my wife via phone, but I guess he saw this and finally returned an email. He offered to redo all the photos. Indeed, he had something in the mail to us the very next day (why didn't they do this in the first place?) What we got was a subset of the original photos. Where there were spots, Dan applied Sepia or made some photos black and white. This isn't what I had in mind by "fixing" - and although he did, in fairness, remove spots from quite a few pictures, the few that were any good from the original DVD were conspicuously absent from this "fixed" DVD. Now he is not responding, again. It was funny to me that we paid 1000 to his studio and 1000 to Promises to Keep, despite the fact that there was no package deal involved. It makes me wonder if they don't have some kind of deal (which would explain a few things). Dan's emails were almost combative, and I invite you to email me if you would like to see them. josh@mittechnical.com I will post the photos online and put a link here, just to show people what they have in store for them if they go with Dan's basic package. My Mother actually cried when she saw the pictures the second time. Not because she was happy. It's almost personally insulting at this point. read more

My wife and I used Dan Doke's studio for our wedding. To clarify, Dan did not shoot our wedding. One of his associates and her partner did. They were actually decent and we're not too invasive during our wedding. The problems started after our wedding. After selecting our photos several months later we had massive communication issues with their studio. The secretary would frequently ignore my email correspondence with her and it would take several calls to Dan himself to receive any type of reply. At one point (about 8 months after our wedding) Dan and I ended up in a very unpleasant conversation where he thought I was being unreasonable (I'd argue a little defensive) and that his contract states that it can take this long to receive our album. I tried to explain that my frustration had to do with poor communication above all else and I had no problems waiting for great work, but huge ones with being ignored. In the end, we got married the end of November and didn't receive our album until the following August. Around 9 (!) months. As far as the quality goes, I'd call it mediocre. Not bad, not great. Part of the problem I think was that Dan edited the photos himself but he wasn't the person who actually took the photographs. I wish I had better things to say, but good and professional communication are big things for me. Not sure I'd recommend. read more

Dan Doke Photographed my son's wedding. Amazing Job!!! Absolutely the best. Period.

We used Paul Streeter from Dan Doke Photography for our 12/31/11 Wedding. The customer service, attention to detail, and his desire to capture exactly what we wanted was amazing and very professional. Paul and his partner were on time, dressed appropriately for our "Black Tie" wedding, and were both excellent in their execution. We stayed on time throughout the night. We went over the timeline twice with Paul over the phone before the wedding - his recommendation and follow up. From 2:30 PM-12:30 AM Paul captured Getting Ready, Our First Look, Our Trolley Ride, Wedding Party Photos, Family Photos, Greeting Line in the Church, Our Ceremony, Our Cocktail Hour, Our Reception, and Our Balloon Drop at Midnight (New Years Eve Wedding). Paul was even able to steal us for a quick photo outside by the outdoor lighting that we had requested. I was a great shot and we only missed 5 mins of the night. Paul had us fill out a form of what type of attention we wanted to have at our wedding. We had said we didn't even want to know they were there once the Ceremony started. We explained that we loved action/candid shots. When we got our proofs - a week after our wedding - we were shocked at how many excellent photos we had. The best part was we didn't see Paul or his partner all night. The got everything. They didn't miss one moment. Paul gave us memories to have forever. Not to mention within two weeks of the wedding we had the CD to share our photos on email/Facebook with friends and family. You are spending a ton on your wedding. Hire the best photographer. That is what you will have to look back on to remember your day. Hire Paul - I promise. You will not be disappointed. read more

Horrible customer service If you don't spend a fortune they don't know you. They don't care about you just money. Stay away. read more

After almost finding a photographer we were recommended by Dan by the venue we were getting married at. Dan took the time to explain the differences of what he offers vs other photographers especially since we did not know anything about choosing a photographer. We were very happy we chose Dan, he was on time and kept the day moving with his experience. He made sure to get the shots that we wanted but also the shots that he knows would work. He was very attentive to us while asking how we were doing, if he was missing anything etc. We would highly recommend Dan to anyone looking for a true professional. read more

Dan photographed our wedding last year and I am so happy with our photos! Yesterday was our anniversary and I was looking through them again and noticed so many subtle details that he caught that I hadn't noticed before, like the way he framed the subjects, and the background expressions and actions that he caught. He was also such a ninja- I didn't even notice him during the ceremony or the reception, but the photos speak for themselves in how many special moments he caught on film. Thank you, Dan, for capturing these memories for us. read more

Dan Doke is an amazing photographer who takes beautiful pictures. Dan and his colleague Ramzi shot our wedding at Searles Castle in Windham, NH and we got truly beautiful, some too good to be true pictures! Dan is a very down to earth guy who was very easy to work with through planning as well as the day of our wedding! Dan was extremely knowledgeable about the venue and was great about keeping us for as little time as possible so that we did not miss out on major parts of our wedding day due to pictures. read more

From the pictures i have seen, if you use Daniel Doke Photography, Use Dan himself. We used Zac for our wedding, and pictures are terrible. the only usable pics are the ones of us alone. He didn't go to every table and take pics of guests, in fact out of 180 guests, i probably have less than 10 pics of them. If you want a portrait, use zac, if you want wedding photographs, DO NOT USE HIM!!!!! read more

I had both Dan and Ramzi as my photographers up at Searles Castle on October 9. To put it simply, they are INCREDIBLE. My husband and I decided to allow both Dan and Ramzi to just take photos as they see fit; in other words allow them to utilize their creative licenses. We didn't come in with a list of ideas we had seen on pinterest, but rather just an idea of the various locations we wanted to go on the castle grounds and maybe a list of 5 pictures we definitely wanted that we had seen from Dan's other work at the castle. Both Dan and Ramzi are super personable and will do anything you ask, but I highly suggest you allow them to be creative. Dan captured some of the most stunning photos I have ever seen. In fact, some of our friends say many of the pictures Dan and Ramzi captured belong in the wedding hall of fame! :) There is one photo in particular that is just breathtaking. Dan and Ramzi are genuinely excited about what they do, which make them so easy and fun to work with. We had the photographers for 6 hours and they took 1500+ pictures... WHAT?! That's a full day's worth in a fraction of the time. They captured every single moment perfectly. The pictures tell our wedding story and we are able to relive our day over and over again. They both even agreed to take pictures outside in the pouring rain because I was dying to have umbrella pictures. They went above and beyond anything I could have asked for. Dan is top notch - he has photographed numerous magazine covers, gets excited about his own work, and really captures pictures you will love. We received all of our photos first on an online viewing gallery and then later on a flash drive in the mail within 2 or 3 weeks. Dan and his staff are excellent. I'm sure anyone that works under Dan is amazing, but these 2 gentlemen in particular are worth every penny. Photos last a lifetime, be sure you go with someone that you know will produce unreal photos and Dan is DEFINITELY that! read more

Daniel Doke Photography - Photographers Near Me - North Reading, Massachusetts

Daniel Doke is only interested in the big, elaborate venue weddings where he'll make megabucks. This is not a person you want to do business with. He disappointed my son and daughter-in-law. When their wedding went from big & elaborate to a smaller scale, they were shoved aside. He ignored emails, telephone calls, etc. Stay away from Daniel Doke!!! read more

I truly don't know where to start. I got married on August 1, 2014 and STILL TO THIS DAY have not even been able to view pictures from our wedding day. Although I do feel partly at fault, our picture package was not fully paid on our wedding day due to a miscommunication between my mom and I with Searles Castle and Dan Doke Photography but Daniel still allowed his employee Samantha to photograph our day. We were told payment arrangements needed to be made after the wedding. I have tried on multiple occasions to pay the remaining balance since our wedding day, even providing them with my debit card information. I have called multiple times, emailed (many gone unanswered), and even personally visited their Salem, NH studio trying to get this issue resolved. My last communication with Dans wife (Pam) she told me she would be charging my card and would provide me with a link to my photos and even that I'd be getting a thumb drive in the mail. I was also told my photos have already been finished and are ready. THAT WAS A YEAR AGO. I've tried to get in touch with them since and have had no luck. At this point it feels as though I'm being punished and it's ridiculous. I was told they have my photos but at this point I'm starting to believe they lost them. I'm normally a very reasonable, understanding person and I dislike any form of disagreement/conflict but I feel as though this has gone on long enough and I'm tired of this not going anywhere. If I don't hear anything from them I will be filing a complaint and I will take legal action. This has gone too far and I'm very unimpressed with their office. read more

One of the best photographers I've ever worked with. Always professional and every single picture that was taken was amazing!

I hired Dan Doke to photograph my wedding on November 27 this year and was so impressed with his professionalism, skills, character, and ability to make everyone comfortable. He was not only on time but early and was ready to go right away. He did not keep me too long taking the family shots, he knew exactly what he was doing and was able to make everything go as smoothly as possible. He made me, my wedding party, my husband, and our families so comfortable, no one said anything negative about him--only very positive feedback. He would ask me if he was bothersome, and I could honestly respond no. We had a blast and it was like Dan and his assistant were not there. They were not in your face photographs AT ALL. AND they captured the wedding BEAUTIFULLY. I have never seen such wonderful wedding photographs in my life. He knows everything about photography and got some amazing night shots of my husband and I that I will cherish forever. He is traditional, yet modern, natural, yet artistic. I believe he could capture anyone's personal style. He did not miss a beat and if I asked him to take a certain shot he made sure he did it before the end of the night and did it amazingly well. I would highly recommend him, I was beyond impressed. read more

HORRIBLE! Get ready to be set up! These people are so fake. They set you up and treat you well when you go for your first meeting. but they are too pricey $$$$ for NO PRODUCT they basically charge thousands of dollars to show up. then you have to pay for everything else! they show you amazing bridal albums but those are not what you get in their packages. they DO NOT CUSTOMIZE anything at all! THEY design the album.. you dont get to pick your own pictures that you want in there! and if you want any changes to it they charge you $$$ to change EACH PAGE! WHAT! ITS WAS MY WEDDING! MY PICTURES AND MY MONEY! AND THE pictures that they "give" you are not even the same ones in the albums. IF they already worked on them... why cant they just include them in the DVD.... this guy is STINGY not personable. DO NOT GO WITH DANIEL... I dont know about his associates... but this guy is sneaky be careful... read more

I absolutely would not recommend Dan Doke Photography of North Reading, MA. We hired Dan to cover our wedding and, in reflection, the only word that comes to mind is disappointment.. What a shame. Our disappointment was not only with the photos but, in our opinion, with the shabby treatment that we felt we received once our payment was rendered and out of our hands. My significant other and I agree that our choice of photographer will probably go down in history as the biggest mistake we made when it came to planning our wedding, but perhaps we would've gotten better results with Curtis or one of the other photographers offered through that same business. Bottom line is, make sure you do your homework when choosing a photographer. Generally speaking, a wedding is such an important event in your life that you should be entitled to the best coverage that your money can buy, whatever that budget may be. Remember that photographers likely showcase only their best photos out of what are probably thousands and thousands that they have to choose from, when they are attempting to acquire your business - so do your homework ahead of time, make sure you have all the facts, and make sure you have something in writing that illustrates what recourse you're entitled to if you're not happy with the results. Lastly, you should always feel respected and important to a vendor that you're shelling out thousands of dollars to, as their customer. If you don't, you may want to seriously think about moving on before it's too late. Again, this review is based on personal opinion relative to my experience, but if it helps anyone, then I'm glad to offer it. read more

Already wrote a long review which mysteriously dissapered so wanted to let all know...do NOT let the beautiful photos at the venues persuade you to use this photographer, he is UNPROFESSIONAL! There were countless issues with my photos including forgetting to take pictures of my husband and I with either one of our families! Yes, that is right, I only have pictures of myself and my family and my husband with his...no pictures of entire bridal party, left my husbands grandmother out of photo's altogether and much more! Dan Doke handled this matter extremely unprofessionally, ignored my calls and never even acknowledged these mistakes or apologized! When I think about what I pad to this studio it makes me sick! The one thing I wanted most when all was said and done was photographs that my husband and I could cherish....now I have photo's I paid twice as much for and cant even look at because they remind me of how much drama and dissapointment they brought into my wedding....dont make the same mistake I did! read more