Mike Hari is amazing. We are really picky about wedding photos (don't want the photos to look too cheesy or staged, wanted a photographer to capture the moment, didn't want weird "artsy" angles that look like a college kid took the photos, etc.), so we searched for a very long time for a wedding photographer in the Chicago area. Even though Mike has a background in music and taking photos of musicians/bands, we were nothing but confident that Mike was the perfect wedding photographer when we met him. He has a great eye for photography, a great sense of aesthetics. I think the 5 star reviews others have written speak for themselves, but I wanted to sing Mike's praises too because his work deserves it!
Mike offered a variety of wedding packages, but ultimately we kept things simple and opted for the engagement photo shoot (which Mike insists on so he can see how you work together) and then our wedding day photos. Mike was a lot of fun to work with during the engagement photos. He traveled with us to our chosen location and everything. Even though my fiance and I are definitely not models, the photos turned out so cute!
Before the wedding, we had another meeting or conference call to go over the timeline for the day. Mike was so organized and accessible with his emails. He was definitely, hands down, the easiest "vendor" to work with and we had NO stress at all when coordinating things with him.
On the wedding day, Mike and his associate were waiting and ready at our venue as my husband and I arrived (separately). Mike and his associate Sara helped keep my husband and I separate while we were waiting to do our "first look" photos (highly suggest doing so by the way!). When I started doing a fake smile in some family photos later, I remember Mike stopped shooting and we took a short break so I could get my smile back to normal. He has a really good eye for these things. He stayed calm under pressure and stress and helped keep our wedding party organized so we could be on time for our ceremony.
Our guests also had many great things to say about Mike and his associate, saying how they didn't even notice that they were there and how well they fit in with our wedding and how nice they were. Within a week or so, Mike already emailed us a preview of some photos from our wedding day, and I can't wait to see the rest. One of the photos is already my favorite wedding photo ever, a photo we took toward the end of the night when Mike pulled us aside to get a few quick shots away from all the guests after we had been able to unwind a little bit. My husband and I are reluctant to have photos taken of us generally, but Mike did a great job balancing our camera-shyness with getting some very cool photots.
Although Mike is a ton of fun to hang out with when meeting and talking about photography, at a wedding, he is never "off the clock." He is so professional and you can tell that he truly loves what he does -- and he is so good at it. He stayed for almost the entire wedding to capture the fun, which was above and beyond what we expected. I would not hesitate for a minute to recommend Mike Hari and his associates to anyone who needs a photographer for any occasion. read more