Mike was great to work with for our wedding day and I would HIGHLY recommend him. He is great at getting you to look natural and smile without having to force anything. He helped a lot with the flow of the day and took BEAUTIFUL pictures. Of all of our vendors, Mike was our favorite to work with. read more

Michael Stephens Photography - Event Photography Near Me

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We were so grateful to have Michael Stephens document our special day! His 5 star ratings on the Knot, Wedding Wire and Yelp prove that many others feel the same way. Our first thought is that Michael is SO KIND, calm, patient, and professional. He was instantly like a friend that we wanted around! He has a great sense of humor that makes you feel at ease from the second he walks in, yet he still manages the shoot. This results in beautiful and creative pictues that perfectly document those special moments. Michael was very respectful of our wedding day timeline and knew that we wanted to hang with our guests. He accomplished all the specific shots that we wanted and captured many more that we hadn't even thought about. He captured shots while blending into the background and we even forgot he was around since he wasn't too much in our face which made for very natural yet incredible shots. To our surprise, we received a preview within two days that just stole our hearts. The pictures were so crisp and creative and completely captured the emotions of the day. Whenever we share our pictures, others can't help but say how beautiful our photos are! We look forward to using Michael for future opportunities. In the meantime, so many others have asked for his info for their own events. The photographer is THE key documenter of the day. We couldn't be any happier with how he has forever captured our special moments. read more

Michael is an absolutely amazing photographer. We were so blessed to have come across his page when we were searching for a wedding photographer. He made the entire experience of our wedding even better and we are so grateful he was part of our big day. He has an incredible sense of humor and an amazing eye for beautiful shots. He is the only photographer I would recommend to any of my friends. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for app your help Michael. May God bless you always. read more

I want to go on every review page and say how amazing Michael was! My husband and I both chose Michael, simply because he captures the essence of a relationship in a picture. Not only is Michael a great photographer, he is/was exceptionally well liked by our families and friends. And for me, that means a lot. He helped everyone feel comfortable including myself and my little niece and nephew (who are the two who we were the most nervous about). He really is a great person. Also, the photo booth was an absolute hit! The booth printed out 2 strips and one copy was put into the book with notes from our guests. It was nice later on to look back and see our guests with the notes from our big day. read more

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I think mike was the best part of our wedding. His photos speak for themselves, check out his gallery. We're not big into photos and don't have social media so was not expecting to like our pictures so much. We did an engagement session with mike at Monte de Oro and he went over time, taking pictures with so many backdrops. We felt like we had gotten six photos sessions in one. As I mentioned, we are not very good at taking pictures but mike made us feel very comfortable with candid laughs and tips on how to "pose" in a way that was flattering yet natural. He turned the photos quickly and WOW they were freaking fantastic. His photos aren't just pictures with a fancy camera, mike has a special eye to capture unique beautiful photos that span close ups to landscape views (again, check out his gallery!) In prep for wedding day, Mike had us fill out a questionnaire to ensure we got all the photo variations we wanted and followed the timeline to a tee. Again, super natural and made everyone crack up for candid photos. Every time we had a call with mike, we jived and ended up shooting the sht. Just a genuine guy. Mike was a bit pricier than others but well worth it and to be honest, worth much more than what we paid. We feel lucky he was available for our wedding date and that we decided to splurge to book him vs another basic photographer. Mike has converted us and we will be coming back for more! BOOK MIKE! read more

If you are looking for a GREAT wedding photographer BOOK MICHAEL! Now! You will not regret it! Michael is professional, super cool, calm and organized. Joey and I went to a bridal show at the Madonna Inn and Michael Stephens made an impression on us. His style of photographing weddings was just what we were looking for: photojournalistic. Also, we were looking for a photo booth, because who doesn't like those!? So we booked Michael's Beard Booth in addition to his photography services. He provided a cute album with all the photo booth pictures that were taken. Michael knows and understands how crazy and stressful it is for the bride and groom on their wedding day and he was so helpful in keeping us calm and on schedule. He made us and our whole wedding party comfortable. He just does his work so effortlessly. We had numerous comments from our guests of how professional and great Michael was at our wedding. When we received our wedding photos, we smiled, laughed, and teared up while looking through the digital album. Michael did an amazing job capturing our whole day, from our ceremony to the last second of the last song. He captured all the little details. He even posted a sneak peak of our wedding the day after! Thank you Michael for the amazing photos which we can look back and share with our loved ones. read more

Michael made my wedding day easy and fun! This man knows exactly what he is doing and I guarantee you will have a stress free day if he is involved. Michael is a generous gentleman and a visionary. His creativity and expertise gave me such confidence, he really knows what he is doing! I got married recently (9/1/18) and Michael had chatted to me before hand to make sure that he had all the information he needed to be successful. Please join me in supporting him - you will not regret it! read more

Mike is one of the best photographers around SLO (and anywhere else you want to take him)! He has an amazing personality and will seriously feel like part of the family. My wife and I let our first photographer go after a disastrous engagement shoot, and Michael was available to step in during our time of need. We met at a pub before our engagement shoot and he set out nerves at ease. The photos turned out amazing, and we will always cherish them. Mike worked seamlessly with our other vendors, making the night go by flawlessly. His second shooter Paul was great, and we got some really cool night shots. All in all, we recommend Mike to all of our newly engaged friends, as they wont find better!!! read more

We're SO glad that we hired Mike to shoot our wedding in SLO in November. He's laid-back, flexible, funny, and professional. He made us feel comfortable in front of the camera and helped us relax. He brings a calm energy to what can be a stressful and hectic day. He's also great at managing large group photos with lots of family members. He made our wedding party laugh and gave good direction. Mike and his second shooter, Mark, really went above and beyond for us. When the groomsmen didn't have their boutonnieres, Mike and Mark got that done. When my feet were killing me, Mark ran up to the house to grab my comfier sandals. All of our engagement pictures and wedding preview photos were incredible--we can't wait to see the rest! THANK YOU Mike and Mark! read more

Michael was perfect. His great sense of humor made us calm and relaxed enough that all of our photos look true and real instead of posed. He was incredibly professional and I have heard nothing but amazing things about him from our guests. There is not a single thing I could say about his work or him that I might have wanted different, he is amazing. Michael spent so much time making sure that everything was perfect for us. I cannot recommend him enough! His photos are truly amazing and it is all pure talent, not photoshop. Professionalism, value, personality, and product, Michael is the best photographer in the central coast area of California if not the entire state. Every bride deserves to know that she is getting the most amazing photos of her special day like I did with Michael! read more

Great job on my daughters wedding photo's. You helped make the wedding fun with the photo booth!

I'd seen Michael's work on a friend's gender reveal that included a large, group, but we were hoping for a more intimate moment of just my husband and I finding out we were having a Baby Boy together - and Michael made it happen. He can make any situation (large or small) work and turnout amazing photos! The best part was his positive energy and professionalism. Our photos feel REAL because we were REALLY laughing, we were REALLY enjoying the moments, and we have Michael to thank for bringing it all together. It wasn't easy - his busy wedding schedule and ours didn't leave us many dates, the sun was setting fast, the location had a few spectators, and we were both tired from long days at work, but you wouldn't know any of this from the photos. Michael made the milestone of finding out we were having a Baby Boy one to remember and I'm so thankful he made the time to work with us! If you choose him to capture your special moments, you will not be disappointed. read more

Michael was a wonderful photographer. We felt immediately at ease with him. He took our engagement photos at Avila Beach and our wedding photos at El Presidio de Santa Barbara. I would definitely recommend getting an engagement session so you can get used to the photoshoot process. Our photographs were beautiful and we will certainly treasure them for years. I cannot recommend him enough and would suggest him to any of my friends. read more