$3,600 starting price
Videography services available
About this vendor
Shelby Hunter
Owner
In business: 1+ years
Team: 1 member
Languages: English
Business: Woman-owned Business
A friend that's here for you!
Based in Princeton, NJ, Dear Heart Films is a wedding photography company. Founded in 2016, this company is owned and operated by Shelby Staub Hunter. Shelby graduated from the Grand Canyon University, with a degree in Film. She now offers both photography and videography services to engaged couples throughout the Tri-State area and is also available for destination weddings.
Shelby will work to help you feel comfortable and confident in front of her lens. This helps your true personality to shine through her camera, resulting in natural and authentic images that you can cherish for a lifetime. From wedding portraits to the small, carefully-chosen details such as centerpieces and decor, this photography will capture it all.
Dear Heart Films offers a choice of three photography packages for engaged couples. Videography packages are also available, along with combined options that provide both services. All packages are customizable, allowing you to tailor them to suit your specific needs. This flexible photographer can be available for additional hours, and bring along a second person to ensure that every moment is captured. Along with ceremonies and receptions, Shelby can also cater to engagement photoshoots and videos, including interviews of the happy couple discussing the start of their future together.
Awards
Prices & packages
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Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Bridal Portraits
- Day After Session
- Engagement
- Trash The Dress
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Photo
- Printed Enlargements
- Same-Day Edits
- Second Shooter Available
- Social Media Sharing
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Lifestyle
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Wedding
Reviews
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5
out of 5.017 reviews
Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Shelby from Dear Heart Film and Portraits receives high praise from multiple reviewers for her exceptional photography skills, professionalism, and attentiveness. Reviewers commend her for making the photography process smooth, capturing natural and candid moments, and displaying commitment and passion, even in challenging situations such as inclement weather. Shelby's ability to make couples feel comfortable, understand their vision, and deliver stunning photos promptly receives widespread appreciation, leading to strong recommendations for those seeking skilled and dedicated wedding photography services.Review photos
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Shelby exceeded our photography, personal and overall talent expectations. Not only did our photos from both our engagement and wedding sessions turn out incredible, but Shelby made the entire process go smoothly in an organized fashion and made both my husband and I feel secure in our decision of choosing Dear Heart Film and Portraits as our wedding photographer.
Shelby was incredibly friendly, down-to-earth and personable. She made my shy husband, and I feel completely comfortable the entire time. She made us feel natural and really enhanced the candid style photography we asked for. During our meetings she truly listened and took our desired style of photography to heart and executed our vision perfectly.
In addition, it poured on our wedding day at our completely outside farm venue. Shelby and her partner, Casey, acted like it was totally okay and completely made the best out of our situation. I watched Shelby and Casey run back and forth from the tent in the rain to get certain shots, not only were they troopers, but truly showed commitment and passion for the job. Shelby even captured incredible rainbow pictures that our guests talked about for days after the event.
Alex and I can’t thank Shelby enough for her skills, expertise and kindness throughout the whole process. We will be without a doubt recommending Shelby and her photography business to all our friends/family getting married and will be sure to use her business again for future photography needs. She was amazing, if you are looking, just book her and you won’t regret it.
We recently had the pleasure of working with Shelby for our wedding and engagement session, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. From the initial consultation to the sneak peaks of our photos, Shelby was professional, attentive, and incredibly talented. She understood what was important to us and made sure to capture them.
On the day of the wedding, Shelby captured every special moment with such creativity and attention to detail. They made us feel comfortable and at ease, allowing us to be ourselves and enjoy the day. The photos are absolutely stunning, perfectly capturing the emotions and beauty of our special day.
The turnaround time for receiving our photos was impressive, and the quality exceeded our expectations. Each image is a work of art that we will cherish forever.
We highly recommend Dear Heart to anyone looking for a skilled and dedicated wedding photographer. Thank you for making our wedding day unforgettable!
Shelby was absolutely amazing! From the beginning, she was organized, professional, and made us so incredibly comfortable. Her photos are amazing compositionally, and she was great at directing us to get the best shots. We chose her because her photos have a natural vibe and warm tone. We knew we could rely on her to capture the day perfectly. So happy we chose her, highly recommend!
Any questions?
My partner and I worked with Dear Heart for our wedding photography, and Shelby was a delight to work with from start to finish. We are not a couple that is usually comfortable on camera, but Shelby gave just enough direction to help get some wonderfully romantic shots while still feeling organic and personal. Engagement photoshoot was a ton of fun and great practice for the day-of. She and her second shooter had a great knack for finding the right place and time to take some incredible photos. They did a great job capturing the energy and silliness on our wedding day. Extremely happy with our photographer decision!
Shelby was my favorite vendor to work with!
Even now over a month after our wedding, I still gush about how great she was! A great wedding photographer was one of my biggest wishlist items for our wedding, I had interviewed so many photographers and after talking to Shelby I knew I had found what we were looking for.
She was so awesome to work with. She was detailed, she gave suggestions so I didn’t to work to decide anything I didn’t want to and she was open to things I did want to decide on!
I loved her engagement packet that helped us pick a fantastic location to have our engagement photos.
She was really reasonable and worked with our budget…even customizing a small videography package at the last minute, just so we can get some video too.
One of the things that stood out to me the most was how much she listened to our requests and made them ALL happen. I told her that I wanted to go to a specific separate location for after ceremony photos and she met up with me beforehand at that location and we scouted out the perfect spots to do the photos together. When she asked what photos we wanted and our final touch base meeting before the wedding, I was really lofty with my photo requests and was worried we might not get to everything within the time she was with us.
The day of our wedding, she showed up a few mins early and between that time and the time she left, she made sure we got every photo we possibly requested, from getting ready to family photos and reception photos, she made it all happen and I was so grateful. My entire family was so impressed too with her kindness and attention to detail!
We already received our sneak peaks and they are so beautiful, I haven’t been able to stop looking at them. I can’t wait to see the rest and our video.
Thank you so much Shelby, you made our wedding photography dreams come true. I highly recommend Shelby to all future brides!
We just had our wedding on 11/17/2023 and I cannot say enough amazing things about Shelby and her team who worked with us on our big day!
From the very beginning Shelby was literally amazing, she is super supportive, kind, and organized. When we first got engaged, I talked with a few different photographers over email but Shelby was the only one I felt like matched our style, vibes, and her personality was also a great fit for us. When we did the intro zoom call, I felt like we were a great fit! My husband and I are more on the casual side of things for photography, never big fans of posing for the cameras but Shelby made us feel comfortable during our engagement session so I knew she was the right fit and I couldn’t wait for the wedding photos!
Fast forward almost 1.5 years later, Shelby created detailed schedules and met with us a few times to go over the details of the wedding day. She has super detailed forms that you get to fill out to make sure you get everything you want on the day of. I will say, the schedule that she made was SUPER helpful, I sent it to Hair/MUA as well as my bridal party so everyone knew where and when to be at certain times throughout the day.
Finally it was the big day! Shelby was scoping out the venue early and started taking the detail shots (dresses, perfume, rings, etc)! We also had a second photographer and videography included in our package. What I loved most about our experience with Shelby is that she was just a calm and confident presence during our big day. I feel like sometimes people get flustered, nervous, jittery, etc with everything going on but Shelby was there for us whether it be cheering us on to get the perfect shot, encouraging us to get that kiss, directing family members so we didn’t have to, or holding on to our tissues for all the happy tears. Shelby also is mindful of what YOU (the couple) want on your big day. If you change your mind about certain poses or things you want to do throughout the night, no big deal, Shelby goes with the flow! I loved all of the natural poses that she put us in and we are literally IN LOVE with all the sneak peeks she sent us. We can’t wait to see the entire gallery as well as our wedding video in a few months!
Shelby, thank you for everything you and your team did, you are so incredibly talented and amazing! I would HIGHLY recommend using Shelby at Dear Heart Films for your wedding!! 100000/10!!
We've been working with Shelby since 2021 and in all this time she continues to be the best vendor we booked for our wedding! Shelby is a MIRACLE WORKER. I was absolutely terrified to get our engagement photos done because I’m probably the least photogenic person alive. I always feel like I’m fairly awkward in photos, but we received our sneak peeks (literally 3 days after our session over a HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!!!), and I am SO IN LOVE. She perfectly captured my fiancé and I exactly how I perceive ourselves in my imagination. Not only that, but Shelby was so easy to work with. From the very first photo, she had me totally calm and she was the right amount of professional and fun! I can not wait to continue working with her!!!! From first consult, to first meeting, Shelby has been 100% genuine and kind. It was clear even from her website what kind of person she was. I am blown away and could not have picked a better person to help capture one of the most important moments in my life!
Our wedding day was perfect, and she captured it perfectly. When I suggested she come with us to the venue for the open house to scout out the area, she agreed and she spent her FREE TIME hanging out with us to scope out the scene! She didn't have to do that, but she did and it meant the world to me to put me at ease on our big day. As always, Shelby is quick, and she already got me our sneak peaks for the wedding 3 days after the event and I can't wait to see the full album!!!! I can not recommend Shelby enough. She truly was incredible and I never want to get photos taken by anyone else ever again. I can't wait to book her again soon! THANK YOU!
Shelby was a pleasure to work with, bringing enthusiasm and fun to every shoot and always open and responsive to requests and ideas.
Shelby and Marlena were amazing, kind, patient and fun to be around. Shelby was able to get all the shots I asked for and more! She was on top of the time and yet super flexible adjusting as needed throughout the day. She was amazing at making me feel comfortable and at ease and deal with my family's craziness. She fit right into the party and made herself present but yet non intrusive during the reception which is exactly what we wanted. The pictures were amazing and she was able to capture our natural selves! I highly recommend hiring her for any event!
We were referred Shelby from Dear Heart Film + Portraits and it was definitely the best referral we got for our wedding! Shelby and her second photographer (Maria) were such a pleasure to work with. They made all the pictures and the day itself so smooth and happy! They even took a polaroid picture and wrote us the sweetest note in our wedding guest book. The communication, timing, product execution and pricing of this business was on point every step of the way. We were able to relax and let them do their jobs and Shelby truly delivered. Her kindness, happiness and sincerity made it feel as though she just wasn't doing her job but truly cared. We were so happy with our engagement photos as well and truly are loving our sneak peaks before we get our full gallery of the wedding day.
We found Dear Heart Film + Portraits randomly from the knot. The things that stood out and made choosing Shelby an easy choice was how kind, honest, and organized she is. Every step of the way her communication was clear and she delivered above and beyond expectations. She made us feel so comfortable at our engagement shoot and wedding and as a result, we have tons of absolutely stunning photos. If you are looking for a photographer I would highly reccomend talking with Shelby!
Shelby from Dear Heart Film + Portraits was by far our favorite person to work with throughout the whole wedding planning process. She made everything fun and provided great advice when it came to anything wedding-related. She worked with us for roughly a year and was always there to answer questions, and provide support. Her online interface for billing and communication was very easy to navigate, and all documents were uploaded to our account for easy access. While capturing us, Shelby kept everything light-hearted and laughed with us while taking our photos. There is no one else I would've wanted to capture our engagement photos and wedding day- she's the best! I HIGHLY recommend Shelby and Dear Heart FIlms + Portraits for any and all photo or video-related work!
Dear Hearts Film + Portraits is phenomenal! We had the pleasure of working with Shelby and Nick I couldn't have asked for better photographers to capture our wedding day. Shelby is professional, kind, talented and understanding. We got our sneak peaks and so many people have already complimented us on how great they came out. She really cares for the couples she works with to get the best shots possible. I would 100% recommend her and her team!
Shelby was a pleasure to work with. She was attentive, honest and punctual. We appreciated the platform she used to manage billing and communication; It was very clear and consolidated. As far as her photoshoots, they were always light hearted and fun. Shelby had a wide range of areas in the Tri State she was willing to shoot and did not pressure us in any way to chose a specific location. All of our sneak peak photos were incredible and we look forward to having the whole lot! 10/10 would recommend.
Working with Shelby from Dear Hear Films & Portraits was the best decision we made for our wedding. Shelby actually captured our surprise proposal and we worked with her from then through our wedding day. Beyond being incredible talented, she is patient, friendly, professional, organized and overall a dream vendor to work with. It stormed on our wedding day and Shelby was so quick to take action, listening to what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go to take photos, and she clearly gave direction and orders to our guests so we can capture photos in a timely manner. We couldn't recommend her enough!!
Shelby at Dear Hearts Film was so amazing to work with. We photographed both our engagement photos and wedding. She is so easygoing and flexible. She is extremely professional and responsive. Her work is also amazing. We received sneak peeks back quickly and are so so happy with them!
Of the hundreds of decisions and choices we had to make for our wedding, choosing Shelby as our photographer was one of the best! We had an amazing experience with her; right from the engagement photoshoot all the way to the post-wedding photos. She is extremely responsive, flexible, dedicated, and above all, very skilled at her craft. She puts people at ease, and is great at creating pictures that feel organic and natural.
Shelby goes above-and-beyond and gives 100% to everything that she does. There were several moments where Shelby amazed us. During downtime and before the guests arrived, she just jumped in and helped with decor and chair set-up. When it began to rain at our wedding, she had all the right equipment set up and ready to go to work with the lower light and wet conditions. When the rain made us cancel our plans for a couple only photoshoot on the day, she was flexible and was immediately open to coming back to our venue on a different day to complete the photoshoot.
But most amazing of all, when we received our photos, they were absolutely wonderful. They were just the catalog of memories and happiness that we were hoping to have. We had both outdoor and indoor venues for different parts of the wedding, a mix of lighting, and multiple decor themes, and it is impossible for us to pick our favorite pictures. Our wedding also consisted of Asian elements (Chinese + Indian), and Shelby did her homework, researched the traditions, and asked us clarifying questions to make sure she captures the important moments appropriately. And all that effort really came through in our pictures; they were perfect.
Just go with Shelby; there is no need to look further!
Contact
Princeton, NJ | Tri-State Area, Willing to Travel
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Shelby Hunter
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