Ben Garvin Photography

ompositions. You'd be lucky to get him for your wedding.

with, he just knew all the special moments to catch and caught a lot of intimate up close shots. I love his more photo journalist style. All our family and friends raved about the results. He is the best!

otos remind me just how much fun I had that day. He has a knack for shooting events as they unfold because that's what he does every day as a professional news photographer. My husband and I knew we didn't want to spend hours on our wedding day posing for photos; those pictures generally seem staged and lifeless. Having said that, Ben took some of the most creative group wedding shots that I have ever seen. His idea to have our entire wedding party jump up in the air in front of the Weisman Art Museum produced images that still make us grin ear to ear. Ben is also a genuinely nice guy and doesn't mind fading into the background on your big day. But once you get your photos back, you'll see why he is a rock star at his craft. And the fact that he hands over all the digital images, unlike some photographers who charge for prints, made him a bargain in our eyes. Finally, it's important to note that Ben is highly skilled. He has been named Minnesota Photographer of the Year, has won numerous awards, and regularly shoots for the New York Times. It was an honor to have him document our wedding.

ome have been framed and are displayed in our home). Ben captured so many important moments of our day and really tapped into the emotion of it all. I remember being surprised when we first got our photos from Ben as I didn't even remember him taking certain photos. We could not have been happier with his work and were so fortunate to have him as our photographer.

as a sniper because he seemed to get photos at our wedding when we had no idea he was present), which tends to make things more natural and less contrived, and skilled at recognizing and capturing those nuances and moments and details that define an evening. I tell people that I didn't know what my wedding was like until I saw Ben's pictures. My wife and I were looking for a journalistic approach. We did the obligatory posed shots (Ben worked quickly and efficiently so we could get all the combos of people we wanted without spending all day posing, and everyone loved working with him as he's a fun guy), but the photos we cherish most are when Ben caught us and our loved ones in attitudes most indicative of our and their personalities. He has an eye for that. Basically, his photos look like they belong more in Time than in a frame for sale at Target, meaning instead of awkward posing and cheese faces, they are active and natural and accurate to the true feeling of that moment. If you want an intelligent approach to the recordation of your wedding and are reluctant to hire someone because you don't want the typical Hallmark-ish wedding photographer faire, I strongly suggest you hire Ben. He's a journalist that does weddings as opposed to a wedding photographer. That being said, he listens very closely to what you want and makes it happen. My wife and I agree that hiring Ben was the best money we spent for our wedding. I've come to think of that expense not just as paying for our wedding photographer but as also buying gifts for all our family and friends, who have striking photos of themselves and their family that Ben took at our wedding hanging on their walls to enjoy forever.