I really can't recommend Clay enough. In the months leading up to our covid-delayed reception, he was super communicative, easy to talk to, and all around on top of things. Our reception was a bit unconventional, the timeline was packed, and the last minute return of the mask mandate added some logistical challenges. It was a stressful time, but it was so reassuring working with Clay and knowing things were covered on his end. I never felt like I had to worry about him, he just got it. The day-of, he arrived early and got straight to it, capturing candids as people arrived. The best complement I can give is that for most of the day, I really didn't see or think about him =) I trusted that he'd be wherever he needed to be capturing special moments. Occasionally I'd think, "oh, we should get a picture of this!" and then look around and see he's already all over it. When the pictures arrived I saw he captured everything I wanted and more! (And somehow from multiple angles... I swear he's part ninja!) The best part is the quality of the pictures he took. There's so much life and emotion in the faces of the people in his shots. I think that him being a ninja who's also so good at putting people at ease makes him the perfect person for capturing genuine moments, which is what it's all about. Hire this man. read more

We booked Clay for our engagement photoshoot and Wedding ceremony. He is great at what he does! If you need a photographer this is your guy. He can easily imagine a great composition anywhere he looks and will take a great shot of it. He then edits his pictures in a way that makes them look magical. We really love his style and you can see this on the pictures he took of us. He was awesome at our wedding and was able to take a picture of all the portraits and groups we requested beforehand. We will be recommending him to anyone who who needs a photographer in the bay area and we will use him again if we plan anymore special occasions :) read more

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Clay has done multiple jobs for my family and we have been blown away by how perfect the photos turned out. He is extremely professional, punctual, and makes the entire experience fun and enjoyable. Aside from shooting events, I have had him do multiple projects for me including headshots, photos for my website, and even perfect large scale photos for a billboard. You can most definitely count on him to deliver excellent results to capture you and your family's special moments. We will be clients for life! read more

It's hard to put into words just what I recommend. Clay was friendly, and put everyone at ease so quickly. He was so great to work with. He was open to any ideas we had, and was also able to give us his ideas if he saw something that worked better. It was so easy to trust him with our photographs for our big day. And when we got the results of his hard work, we were even more impressed! We got a large variety of photos and we are so happy with how they all turned out! Now comes the hardest part - choosing which ones to print! Hire him - he knows what he is doing. read more

Sorry this is a bit overdue! We had our wedding in a couple months ago and Clay was our wonderful photographer! Both professional and also a genuinely awesome guy. Thank you for making a very special day memorable with lovely photos and hanging with the bride to sneak away from crazy family photos. read more

Clay and his assistant, George, shot our wedding last month and we are so glad we chose them to be our photographers. We didn't have any particular poses in mind, and Clay led the way like a pro. It was also unexpectedly hot that day, and although they were glistening and stuck in their long-sleeved button ups, it didn't affect their work as the resulting photographs were beautiful and were ready less than a month later! Plus, we really appreciated that they were troopers in the sun for us. We (bride and groom) were making an effort to not see each other until the ceremony for fun, and both Clay and George helped sneak the guys and gals around the venue to avoid each other during the separate bridal party photos. They were cool, fun, and friendly and they made everyone feel comfortable in front of their cameras. We would definitely hire them again or recommend them to anyone in need of photography! read more

Clay and his assistant did an incredible job at capturing our wedding day. He was professional, friendly, flexible with what we needed, and knew exactly what moments to capture. The photos are lovely and really capture the happiness of our day. Having him as our photographer was one of the best decisions we made. Thank you so much, Clay! read more

I can't say enough wonderful things about Clay. He was great to communicate with before the wedding and his personality came through on all the emails. The day of the wedding, he felt like an old friend and his assistant was lovely. He captured our personalities and our day perfectly! Hiring him made the day truly stress free. He blended in and was so accommodating with all that we wanted to shoot that day. He has a great eye and point of view and I can't wait to see what he does in the future. So happy he was with us and documenting our day. Thanks a million. You were amazing. read more

I 100% recommend Clay for anyone in need of a great photographer! He photographed my wedding this past November at The Gardens at Heather Farm in Walnut Creek and the pictures turned out even better than I imagined they would :) Not only were his photos amazing, he was also SO easy to work with! Leading up to the event, Clay was always super helpful and responsive any time I e-mailed him with questions. When we finally met in person at the wedding, he was so nice! Even though my husband and I normally get pretty camera-shy, Clay's friendly and easy-going personality made us feel really comfortable and we had so much fun taking pictures. He made friends with everyone at the wedding and it really felt like he was one of our guests, though he never dropped professionalism and took great photos throughout the entire event. I'd love to work with Clay again sometime and will definitely suggest him to all my friends in the area. Thanks Clay! read more

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Clay is the consummate professional, both in demeanor and in talent. I've seen his work from multiple relatives' wedding ceremonies and he is LEGIT. As an aspiring photographer, i gain motivation from all his work and cannot recommend him highly enough. I wish I could give him 10 stars. read more

Clay did the photography for our wedding last June, as well as our engagement shoot. First of all, clay's work is phenomenal, especially for the price! Great product, reasonably priced. But more importantly, clay is a down to earth, laid back, fun guy. With all the stress and chaos that inherently comes from planning a wedding, clay is a breath of fresh air. He was flexible and accommodating with our needs, and understood how to simultaneously lead and work with the large crowds involved in weddings. So to sum up, he's a fantastic dude to work with, competitively priced, and delivers a fantastic product. Hire Clay!!! read more

Clay is AWESOME! He made the booking process fun and easy, the price was SO right for my husband and I, who were on a budget to say the least. On the day of the wedding Clay arrived on time, was dressed professionally, and had his assistant, George, along with him who was also great. Clay was calm and professional but had a way about him that made us feel super comfortable to be followed around by a camera all night (a more difficult accomplishment when it comes to my husband than with me). Clay gave us a heads up that he'd be there for another 30 minutes to make sure we could get other shots before he left for the evening which was majorly appreciated. Every single photo turned out so beautifully and we have received a TON of compliments! Thanks, Clay!! read more

Clay was our photographer for our engagement photos and our wedding. He did a great job with both of them! I looked at a lot of different photographers online. After narrowing it down to a few good ones in our price point, we ended up selecting Clay because his photos stood out. They're not just typical romantic photos that you see everywhere, though he does capture romantic moments. They're also playful and colorful, which we really liked. First, communicating/planning was always easy. While planning my wedding, I had to reach out to so many people for quotes, questions, planning, etc. so it helps a lot to work with someone who responds promptly, which he always did. For our engagement photos, we met in San Francisco. We had a few places in mind ahead of time, which we visited, and we found a few other good locations/backgrounds along the way. Working with Clay was nice because he tried to give us the shots we were asking for, but also made suggestions along the way. Clay brought his assistant George to the wedding. My husband loved hanging out with both of them. They were fast friends by the end of the day! Clay worked hard to get the shots we wanted, running around and even enduring sun in his eyes to get the perfect shot. We were very happy with the photos we got back! Overall, I definitely recommend hiring Clay! read more

We hired Clay and George to shoot our wedding. As the groom I was not that concerned with the photos. But after meeting with Clay and talking to him and hearing what his thoughts were for photo opportunities, I was excited. I know how important capturing "the moment" is, and after meeting with Clay, I knew he was the guy for the Job. Fast forward to my wedding day. He showed up well before the time we asked him to and was ready to get to work!! His photos were far beyond my expectations!!! Everyone sees their wedding in their head and Clay captured it on film! It is great that the bride and groom were happy, but our guests raved about him as well!! I can not recommend Clay enough! You will not be disappointed! read more

I just got married at The Geyserville Inn up by Healdsburg, however, I live in Los Angeles and was planning my wedding from here. After searching through TONS of photographers and thinking I'd never find the right person - I found Clay on Yelp! I was impressed by his OUTSTANDING reviews and after checking out his websites and portfolio I couldn't wait to hire him! I loved that his wedding photos were colorful and showed everyone having an amazing time. A wedding should be a great party! I was sick of the dramatic and serious photos I had seen in other portfolios. I also loved that he has photographed concerts - I was confident that if we were dancing and moving he would capture beautiful photos. I mean, if he was good enough for Dave Grohl, he was probably good enough for us. :p I was unfortunate to have a problem with forgetful vendors... but Clay was the complete opposite. He was professional AND laid back. Of all of my vendors, he was the only one I didn't have to worry about. He put the stressed out bride at ease and my friends and family all adored him and his assistant, George. They kept talking about them after they left, and that says something HUGE. I think wedding photos turn out even better when you feel comfortable around your photographer. I appreciated that if I suddenly had an idea of another photo I wanted he would say "sure!" and do it. Nothing was a battle (unlike my other vendors). He was collaborative, creative, charming and has great sense of humor. I can't say enough wonderful things about Clay. I am so sooooooo lucky. My husband and I took a 'Thank you' photo while on our honeymoon that came out too dark and we asked if we could hire him to retouch it for us. He did it for free just because he's a nice person. He's not just our photographer. He became our friend. Stop the search!!! You've found the BEST wedding photographer. Hire him!!!! You won't regret it. read more

Clay really captured the joy of our wedding. We had books made of our photos, shared them with family, and we always see them on coffee tables. Clay is so easy to work with, he accommodated our requests and he had some great suggestions too. read more

Our pictures look so great!! Thank you Clay! It is hard to find an affordable, talented and professional photographer; we will definitely always come to Clay for our family photos and I recommend him for anyone wanting the effortless candid or staged shoots. Clay was patient with our toddlers we booked the shoot for and made the session fun as well as efficiently using our time for the session. Not a moment of our time was wasted and will absolutely use him again. read more

Lancaster Photography - Event Photography Near Me

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Clay was amazing. He shot photos for our band. Complete professional. Arrived earlier than we did for the shoot, kept us smiling the entire time, spent more time than we'd asked of him and got us our proofs and finals back sooner than he'd said he would and they were amazing. We use them all the time. Basically, went above and beyond in every aspect. Highly recommend his services. read more

Clay was so easy to work with and very quick to respond to emails. Our engagement photos and our wedding photos turned out amazing. He is a really nice guy and very easy to talk to. In terms of the quality of the photos, the price and the turnaround time to get the photos back...I couldn't have asked for more. If I had one improvement to suggest it would just be that he could be a little more aggressive in terms of wrangling the family members and placing them to make the photos look a little better and have a few more ideas for the bride and groom shots ready in advance. As the bride, my head was so full of other thoughts that I just couldn't think straight to be creative when we were so pressed for time. I would recommend Clay to anyone looking for a talented, fun and reliable photographer for their special occasion. Thanks Clay! We had a great day. read more

Well after a postponement and reschedule my daughter & son in law were able to be married and Clay Lancaster was the photographer. I am not the best writer but I cannot say enough positive things about Clay. He was so easy to work with from the engagement shoot to the rescheduling to the actual wedding. He was kind, unassuming and professional. He was on time ( a bit early- so appreciated) and very easy to work with. We found him because he did my nieces wedding and I thought he did a wonderful job. Loved the pictures. So I was pretty confident in his work. We requested a 2nd photographer and he used George- another wonderful young man. They work so well together. Watching them work was a pleasure. So if you are looking for a photographer, look no further. His prices are reasonable and I admire his work ethic. I know my son ( & future daughter in law) will be using Clay for their engagement photos soon too. Clay & George are the best! read more

Clay just shot my wedding in September and shot my engagement photos last year. He did an incredible job with both of them!! He is professional, easy to work with, and produces amazing photos! His photos are creative and artistic and he is willing to shoot whatever you want (we had him climb through a dark tunnel for our engagement shoot and he was totally on board) :). For our wedding, Clay was such a calming presence and was very easy going. He was always there to get all of the important moments, without being overbearing and in the way. He always shows up early or on time, has great communication, and you can't beat his prices for the quality product you will get! Use Lancaster Photography for your wedding needs, you will be very happy with the lasting memories that Clay creates with his wonderful photographs! read more

Lancaster Photography - Event Photography Near Me

Clay and his assistant George photographed our July wedding, and I couldn't recommend them more. We had a great experience from beginning to end, and our photos turned out wonderfully! Clay was quick and easy to communicate with via phone or email in the time leading up to and after the big day. They arrived on time and had a great vibe all throughout the day that put everyone at ease. Professional and easy to get along with, Clay was open to any shots we wanted and also stepped in to give us some guidance too. He captured some amazing candid shots that perfectly encapsulated some of our favorite moments of the night. The icing on the cake was that he turned our photos around even more quickly than we'd hoped. Thanks for doing such an impeccable job capturing the day! read more

My husband and I got married on 9/13/13. Prior to this, we had been looking for a quality photographer who wouldn't break the bank. We skimmed through yelp and came across Clay. I e-mailed back and forth a few times and signed the contract and anticipated our big day. Clay was always very quick about getting back to me inbetween that time with little questions I had here and there. On the day of the wedding, there was shear chaos with everything, but Clay. He arrived early with his partner and began to scan out our venue and get ideas for good shots to take throughout the night. He was very friendly when he met me for the first time..Of all places, freaking out in the bridal suite. He was very professional and did whatever I asked and took whatever pictures I wanted through out the night. They blended in perfectly with our guests and weren't those ackward people with giant cameras. He even let me borrow his camera to take pictures later in the night :) He captured some of our fondest memories and things we will treature for the rest of our lives. We could not wait to get the proofs of our pictures and have been through them about 5 times now just smiling and laughing..just remembering our day. We can't wait to get the CD with the HD pictures to start blowing them up and posting everywhere. We couldn't be more proud of our pictures and we have Clay(and George his partner) to thank for it. I would 100% recommend Clay for any wedding shoot..or any shoot for that matter. I promise you won't be anything but happy and satisfied. read more

You really can't go wrong if you go with Clay as your wedding photographer. He's a rare combination of consummate professionalism and artistic flair. He'll show up on time (or earlier), he's familiar enough with the process that he's able to direct you and your wedding party in the most efficient way possible, AND he definitely has an eye for both the small subtleties and the big dramatic moments. We hired Clay for our wedding in April 2014, and having seen the pictures, couldn't be happier with his work. He got great shots of the ceremony and wedding party, STUNNING shots of us as a couple, and AWESOME shots of the musicians playing at the reception. He went above and beyond the call of duty for us. Can't recommend him highly enough. read more

Like most future brides, I looked through a lot of wedding photographers before eventually going with Clay at Lancaster Photography, and I can tell you, I'm VERY glad I did. 1. He's extremely professional. He and his second photographer showed up early and scoped out the venue, so by the time we were ready to take pictures, he already had good backgrounds in mind. And they were seriously on top of things. Every time I saw something happening that I wanted a picture of, they were already there snapping away, or they'd already gotten it. Whenever a guest took a group photo, they swooped in to capture the moment with a professional shot. I feel confident I could have completely ignored them the whole night and still gotten every shot I wanted. 2. He's talented. I'm a creative director and I know a thing or two about photo editing. I knew I wanted a fair amount of post processing on my photos, but not too much. Clay's photos have just the right amount of editing to highlight the moment, not the technique. 3. His prices were very reasonable. I'm not going to say much on this fact other than he could charge a lot more, especially here in the bay area. (If you're considering him at all, I say book him while you can still afford him!) 4. He was easy to work with and be around. He had the right personality and spirit for the event, and I'd say he fit in very well with my guests. I would recommend Lancaster Photography 100%. read more

Having my picture taken can be a painful process to put myself through, but Clay turns that around. Both when I'm playing music or posing with my wife for wedding photos, Clay makes it fun to look back on those memories by how good he makes them look. read more

Clay shot our wedding in June of 2016 and we are THRILLED with the photos. He captured all of the smiles and fun and emotions in such a beautiful way. Friends and family have complimented us on all of the photos, and he is really such a fun guy to be a around - we loved having him at our wedding! read more

This review is way way way overdue - he shot our wedding in September 2012. But better late than never! Clay was super friendly and easy to work with. We loved the pictures we ended up with and the price was ridiculously affordable for what we got. It felt so important to us to have the option of just getting the images and being able to make our own album. Clay was mellow and fun but also very professional. He shares our aesthetic for candid shots that captured the action of our wedding with less emphasis on the posed portraits. However the posed portraits were great too! His assistant was also great. He captured some wonderful moments. Highly recommended! read more

Clay & his assistant George recently photographed our wedding in Oakland. They did an amazing job capturing all of the most important moments of the wedding, in addition to some unique & creative shots as well. They made everyone at the wedding feel at ease with their friendly & outgoing personalities. Clay provided us with high quality photos & memories that will last forever. He made the planning & preparation for the wedding very simple and delivered exactly what we expected. I highly recommend Lancaster photography for your wedding. read more

Clay made us feel very comfortable. He was fun to work with, had a lot of good ideas, and took direction well! We love the photos he took of our wedding! Would definitely recommend him! (My best friend hired him for her wedding and loved his work too!) read more

If you are looking for a photographer that shows up in a tired ten-year old suit and then proceeds to crap out every single wedding pose and positioning you have seen in every wedding photo since the time you were born, you need not hire Clay. This guy is young, hip and a great dresser. The wedding photos he takes will be timeless without being time stamped. Every time you look at your photos you'll say to yourself, daaayum, we look good. Of all the wedding pictures Clay has taken to date, ours are some of his best work. Why? Because he posseses two very important things when it comes to being a great photographer: 1. The ability to collaborate with his clients and understand the mood they want to convey and 2. Having his photographs express exactly that. We couldn't have been happier with his work. Clay's professionalism is balanced by his great personality and his ability to make you feel at ease. Your wedding day is already stressful enough and Clay makes taking some of the most treasured pictures of your life a cake walk. We had a ton of fun! read more

I was very hesitant in booking a photographer for my wedding as I hadn't had the best of luck before. I also was on a limited budget, similar to most people, and knew that wedding photography can be CrAzy expensive! When I came across Clay's Yelp reviews and website I had a feeling that this was who I wanted to do our photos. We ended up emailing back and forth discussing some of my questions and I ended up moving forward with using him. The day of our wedding it was POURING rain. I know with a December wedding that should have crossed my mind but it didn't. Despite the weather, Clay and his assistant had great attitudes and were very easy to get along with. Clay has such a fun-loving personality, he makes you feel like you have known him for years. After our ceremony we decided to take a few pictures outside - in the rain - soaking the both of them but they didn't complain! I appreciated that he was willing to go above and beyond in order to create memories for us. The wedding day goes by so fast, and as the bride and groom you often miss out on a lot of what it happening. When I got our photos back I was truly appreciative of the opportunity to revisit the day through his eyes and feel that he captured our day perfectly. read more

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Clay is a blast to work with and takes amazing photos. He's shot for two of my bands (live and promo shots) and we're always satisfied. Keep up the great work Mr. Lancaster!! read more

Clay was really nice to have our our wedding, and all in all did a very good job with our photography. When we got the photos I found myself wishing that we had more photos of the little details like flower arrangements and the guest book. In hindsight, this was entirely a function of our communication and not a shortcoming on Clay's part, but it does highlight an important point. Clay is laid back and pretty easy going, so be prepared to be a better communicator than I was and be really clear about what you want, rather than assuming (like goofy me) that as a wedding photographer of course he knows you want pictures of the centerpieces (for example). The photos were beautiful, he did a really great job, and our guests really liked him. He did a good job blending in and feeling like one of the group instead of standing out and feeling awkward. The four stars instead of five is because the photo sharing service he uses after he's processes proofs is ridiculously overpriced for prints and is really annoying for the constant heckling sales emails. read more

My husband and I couldn't have worked with a better photographer. We hired Clay for our wedding event on June 28th. Clay was all smiles during the whole process, and very fun to work with. He took pictures anywhere we wanted, and also chose areas around the venue that he thought would look great in the photos. We're very excited to see how the pictures turned out, but I'm sure they'll look amazing like all his other photos! read more

Clay brings this truly wonderful combination of skill-sets as a photographer that made our wedding photos fun and unique. Some photos had that wonderful, soft, romantic essence to them, and others made us look like we could be on an album cover. Both Clay and George (his second photographer) were kind, funny and easy to work with--which meant we didn't look stiff in our photos. They were also able to capture the area and make the most of background settings. I will admit to a personal bias, because I knew Clay in high school (though had lost track for a decade--yay facebook for helping me find old friends) but there's no way I'd give him a great plug unless he also happened to be a killer photographer as well as a genuinely nice guy. Beyond the photos, Clay was really available to answer questions about how much time we might need, the kind of photos that typically happen at weddings (I was not the kind of bride that spent hours pursuing other people's weddings for ideas) and being open to things that we wanted and our time frame for our day. He also traveled to Sacramento for us...in august...and survived the heat--so bonus points for that! On the day of he was early, knew what he needed to do and magically was present without being obvious (these photographers are ninjas). He got us our photos quickly and we had several printing options as well as the disc of photos. I love our wedding photos, they really captured OUR day and the feel of the whole ceremony/reception and even our relationship. I will treasure the work Clay and George did my whole life. Seriously, if you know anyone getting married, I can't recommend Lancaster Photography more highly! read more

Clay was our wedding photographer and we could not have been more pleased with the experience. Clay and his assistant were very professional yet relaxed and really helped make a potentially stressful day a lot easier. I was also impressed by how easy Clay was to work with and how he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to get the perfect candid shot. Everything turned out great and I highly recommend Lancaster Photography! read more

Without a doubt, the best experience I have had with a photographer! Before getting married myself, I planned and executed hundreds of weddings as a Catering Manager and worked with a variety of photographers, all of which were fine but never "WOWed" me. When planning for my own wedding I almost went with a bargain basement service, but it was so impersonal and bland I just couldn't commit. I did a quick search within a small radius of our wedding venue and up popped Clay. His photos were inventive and different and really stood out from other sites I had searched. From the first e-mail I knew he was the right person, and now that the wedding is over and we have received our photos I could not be more thrilled with our choice. Clay immediately felt like an old friend, and was totally on board with our unconventional wedding and was able to capture everything we were hoping for. He was flexible and accommodating, and the end result of photos are absolutely to die for. They are such a perfect representation of our day full of love, music and celebration. In addition - all of our guests raved about how awesome he and his assistant George were, and how much fun they were interacting with everyone. I may have to have another party just so I can hire him again! read more

Clay is awesome. His work is very artistic. He's extremely professional, reliable, and because of him we will always have beautiful wedding photos to look back on throughout the years. Today is my husband and my 2 year anniversary. I was just looking at our photos thinking how beautiful they are. I highly recommend Clay for anyone needing a great photographer and gorgeous photos. Thank you Clay for everything. Hope your doing fabulous!!! read more

We were both very pleased with Clay's personality and of course all of his final products. We had some preliminary conversations with him before we ever got started and he was very clear about his process from the get go. We started with an engagement shoot which led to us selecting him over other photographers when it came to our wedding. We essentially chose Clay, right then and there, as our wedding photographer. Clay has a very fun personality, is easy to get along with and was very flexible with our schedule and the style of pictures we wanted. He gave valuable feedback and opinions when needed (as we wanted) them and was just great all around. On the day of our wedding Clay was very calm, but also was efficient with his work and his second shooter, George was also very easy to get along with. 5 stars Clay! We're very happy. Thank you so much!! read more