About this vendor
I want you to walk away from your wedding day feeling totally content and fulfilled.
Hi, I'm Joleen! I'm a wedding and elopement photographer based out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. I live near the border of Yosemite National Park, and I'm frequently shooting outdoors along hwy 395, the Eastern Sierras and the Mammoth and June Lakes region.
I've been photographing weddings for a long time, and those experiences have shaped my priorities.
While I do love beautiful bouquets, light and airy scenes, and publication worthy events, these things are less important to me than real moments.
Those little pretty little details should just be frosting on our bigger purpose:
you becoming a married couple.
My photography style is a mix of both gentle direction in posed photographs combined with beautifully imperfect candid moments. Often when couples reach out to me one of the first things they say is they're nervous to be in front of the camera. As an introvert myself, I get it. I pride myself oh holding space for you to slow down, be present, and have privacy when needed.
I've grown up in California, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and my favorite thing to do is drive around in my old van, with my dog, Lunchbox, and find new places to explore and photograph. I love drawing on my list of saved locations for couples, and finding new ones. Nothing is more inspiring to me than getting outside and witnessing your vows in a gorgeous and private landscape.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Photo Shoot Types
- Bridal Portraits
- Day After Session
- Engagement
- Trash The Dress
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Online Proofing
- Photo
- Social Media Sharing
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Classic
- Documentary
- Lifestyle
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
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5
out of 5.013 reviews
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We absolutely loved having Joleen as our wedding photographer! Prior to the big day, Joleen took special care to note the aspects of our wedding that we wanted captured, such as important relationships with our family members. We were confident that working with her would be easy and fun. On the wedding day itself, Joleen was a joy to work with. Constantly sweet and yet amazingly efficient, she was able to get quality shots of us with our entire wedding party and family. Additionally, she did a great job coordinating with our videographer throughout the day, and her familiarity with the venue — Union Hill — allowed her to make splendid recommendations regarding when and where to take photos as the day progressed.
When we received the final product a few months after our wedding, we were blown away by the stunning quality of Joleen’s pictures! Her photos perfectly conveyed the same joyous, loving atmosphere of our big day, and she managed to provide shots highlighting our special relationships with various family members.
To this day, our wedding photos still take our breath away — all thanks to Joleen. We cannot recommend Joleen highly enough as a wedding photographer!
From the very first email inquiry, I knew Joleen was someone extremely special with whom I wanted to work to capture my wedding day. For someone like me who doesn't like being the center of attention at all (even on my wedding day!), Joleen made me feel comfortable and heard from day one. She made every step of the process smooth and fun, and by our wedding day she felt more like a friend. Joleen is adventurous (she waded into a stream to capture photos), encouraging (she was all for it when I wanted to walk across a fallen tree in my wedding dress), creative (she encouraged a crazy first-look idea I dreamed up), and just the sweetest person ever (she made everyone feel welcome and special). Our photos are absolutely stunning, and I cannot recommend Joleen enough. Count yourself lucky if you're able to book her for your wedding. She is an absolute gem!
We hired Joleen as our wedding photographer and for our engagement pictures. She is AMAZING! I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am that we hired Joleen. The entire wedding day can feel very rushed and stressful but Joleen is so patient with the entire wedding party and never once made me feel rush or stressed. She is joyful, kind, and keeps things light and silly which was greatly appreciated. Every single one of my bridesmaids and family members told me how much they loved Joleen. Beyond that, her work is beautiful! My husband is a hobbyist photographer so he was very picky in choosing a photographer and the quality of Joleen’s work exceeded both of our expectations. We have received compliments on both our engagement photos and wedding photos. One thing we also greatly appreciated about Joleen is that she made sure we got all the photos that we wanted. THANK YOU SO MUCH JOLEEN!!!! If you don’t hire Joleen you’ll wish you did.
I'm a photographer myself so I spent a LOT of time searching for the right photographer for our wedding. Joleen was perfect - She is so sweet and fun and felt more like a friend than a vendor I'd hired throughout the entire process, but was still professional and always communicative. She went above and beyond to find us the perfect, smoke-free location to take our engagement photos when the weekend we'd planned for them turned into a wildfire hell, and then spent a lot of time brainstorming with me over locations to take our wedding day photos amid concerns of both fires and rain (luckily, we got neither). The photos are beautiful and we'll cherish them forever. Thank you SO much, Joleen!
Joleen was an ever present source of positivity throughout the day. I felt so lucky to have found her since photographers are so integrated in the wedding throughout the day. I was especially impressed with how she was able to give our family an intimate and special family day among ourselves, while also being a source of laughter and smiles for everyone. This seems like an under appreciated and difficult skill to master -- being present and commanding when needed, but also able to slip away and let families have their day with loved ones. When I was having a moment with someone, Joleen all but disappeared into thin air--in the best way possible. In other cases, she was the source of beautiful moments-- like asking questions to spur reactions between people. On the other hand, she was able to calmly smile and direct stubborn (and drunk) people amidst chaos. In general, she went above and beyond to make sure every moment was captured — beyond what I could have ever imagined!!!
Joleen’s pictures were absolutely artistic and stunning. She captured many candids, which is what we were after. She made sure to get to know us before hand so she could know what was important to us and that REALLY came across in what she captured.
Lastly a few logistical things about her services: 1) in preparation for the wedding she was amazing with providing scheduling — she basically planned our entire day, 2) she surveyed the property twice to make sure she knew where she was going to capture all the pictures, 3) she made sure we were somewhat on time throughout the day and was extremely flexible when we had to make some game day changes to the wedding, 4) she provided a sneak peak in LESS THAN A WEEK with hundreds of pics, 5) her communication/tech services were all A+.
Joleen is not only the sweetest and most fun person but an AMAZING photographer! From the first phone call with her, we knew she was a great match. I, the bride, was super nervous about looking fake or dorky with all the posing but Joleen has a way about her that makes you feel so comfortable in front of the camera! I was twirling my dress and laughing and thoroughly enjoying myself which I usually shy away from cameras. Then her editing skills are amazing! I looked FLAWLESS and this is only the "sneak peak" pictures as she is still working on the rest. She truly is talented and makes you feel so beautiful in your own skin! Thank you Joleen for truly making our wedding magical!!!
Oh.. and she is very organized which I loved! She was all over making the schedule work perfectly with my wedding planner. If you are OCD like me, she is a must!!
Choosing a photographer for our wedding day was the single most important decision to me. Fortunately, I had had someone on my mind before I even had a ring on my finger. I knew many brides from my hometown that used Joleen as their photographer and not only were their photos AMAZING but they all had such great things to say about her and their experience. So she was the first vender I chose without hesitation. What I didn't know was everything else that would come with that faithful decision. Not only is her work exemplary, but she is the most kind wonderful soul you will meet. She will make you feel completely comfortable in every situation and get you to loosen up for the best shots. She will pour her heart and soul into you, and the whole process leading up to your special day. She gave so much more time and energy than I believe anyone would have during the challenges of planning a wedding during Covid. As our plans and expectations of the day started to crumble around us she stepped in to lift us and make it better. She made it her personal goal to make sure we still had the best day of our lives. After the wedding I experienced a let down, all I knew is what I had planned had not come to fruition...until I got the photos back. She and her camera lens single handedly changed my mind and perception of that special day. Once I laid eyes on those beautiful photos and the memories she captured I knew she had given us so much more. It was at that moment I knew how truly beautiful our wedding day was and how special our love is. Joleen was priceless in this whole experience and I know she will go above and beyond for you and your Fiancé too...because that is just who she is.
Hiring Joleen to photograph our 10-person wedding was the best decision we could've made.
We were afraid it might be uncomfortable with such a small group, but Joleen fit right in to help direct everyone on the day's activities without interfering in the private nature of our gathering.
The pictures came out beautiful! The quality of her work and her knowledge of lighting definitely showed throughout the day and in the final product.
Besides all that, she's just a sweetheart and a pleasure to be around! Definitely recommend!
Joleen swooped in and saved the day after my original photographer cancelled 30 days prior to our wedding!!! On such a short notice she took the time to get to know me and my expectations for our wedding. Her demeanor prior to and during the wedding was so very intimate, very joyful and gentle. She has a keen eye for a photo opportunity and captured so many memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life!!
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND her and trust me you won’t be disappointed❤️
I have been following Joleens work since the beginning and she flawlessly and consistently exceeds my expectations with every wedding she photographs and mine was no exception! I still to this day treasure every photo from our special day captured in a way only she could have done. But talent is only one of her many attributes that made her the perfect fit for our wedding day. Im so thankful she was there for every moment from start to finish. Professionally leading and directing but with the kindest words and demeanor adding to the joy of the day. To me it felt like she was another bridesmaid as she was always ready to serve and make every situation great or greater than planned. She treated everyone at our wedding with the most respect, dignity and love as well as handling all my details with the utmost care. I look back on my wedding day with no regrets and so much joy and she is a huge part of that. So thankful for her!!!
The PERFECT choice for my daughter’s wedding!!! I can not express how much I trust Joleen! She is a very talented and experienced photographer but she is also a very patient and caring person! My daughter and her fiancé had to cancel their November wedding due to the uncertainty of Covid! So sad! When they decided to do a small/ intimate ceremony it was extremely important to have the perfect vendors. Joleen is the perfect choice for all weddings!! Elopements, small weddings and big ones too! She is the BEST !!
Joleen photographed our engagement shoot and wedding and we are really happy we chose to have her capture this important time in our lives. We looked at many photographers and talked with a handful over the phone or in person. We ended up picking Joleen since she was someone that we were very comfortable talking with and she had an amazing portfolio. Her prices were really reasonable and fit within our budget. We were really happy that she offers an engagement shoot as part of a package since we knew that getting comfortable with your photographer before your wedding day is so important!
Joleen offers a great mix of organization and spontaneity. In the case of our engagement shoot, she was up for lots of climbing up and down San Francisco stairs and helped make us comfortable and confident so she could capture us really well. Her final photos for the engagement shoot were wonderful and we knew that she’d do a great job with our wedding day. We had a number of beautiful images to choose from for our save the date, moving announcement, wedding website, family gifts, and even a custom jigsaw puzzle.
In the planning of our wedding day, Joleen was very helpful, realistic, and patient with us as we navigated our timeline. She was professional in providing expectations about how long something will take to photograph. She was responsive when it came to all of our questions and helpful in communicating guidance. On the day of the wedding, Joleen was on time and really helpful and flexible during the getting ready process, first look, and couple photos.
At the venue, she did a great job orchestrating our bridal party and family photos. Joleen did a great job operating behind the scenes during the ceremony and cocktail hour. She provided the perfect amount of guidance during photo opportunities (like signing the marriage license or during the cake cutting) and was also flexible with impromptu group photos as well as the weather not being able to provide a sunset shot. Her sneak peek photos of our wedding showed her great eye and she finished our entire wedding album a few weeks ahead of schedule which we really appreciated. She did a wonderful job capturing our ceremony and reception as we enjoyed our big day. We wanted a candid feeling with our photos and Joleen delivered! She did an amazing job.
Joleen was very professional but also fun and relatable. She made us feel so comfortable (we aren't the most photogenic).
She provided beautiful pictures in some difficult situations, our dog in the engagement photos, and rain on our wedding day.
Also I never had trouble getting a hold of her (so important for an anxious bride).
Contact
Yosemite, Mammoth, Tahoe, Tuolumne Co
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Joleen Willis Photography's photos