Karl Verkade Photography

To kick this off - Karl Verkade is one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever encountered in my life. We found Karl through some internet searching and setup a meeting, and instantly we knew we had found a match. He has an incredible portfolio and wowed us with his... Read More creativity and personable nature. We are an easy-going couple, and knew that Karl was the right fit for us and the goals of our wedding. Starting with the engagement photos, which we took at the replica first In-n-Out drive through in Baldwin Park, we knew we were in for a treat when we saw the prints all edited and finished - such wonderful stuff! I have included a few shots to show you what this man can do. He was really getting into the shoot, and made us feel comfortable, willing to run into traffic to get a picture! Our wedding day was 3 days ago, and we had Karl and his assistant Laura for 7 hours - they ended up arriving early and staying long enough to get the final shots of the night, with great lighting setups and a good feel for the venue. They were energized to be involved, which was so nice because they really blended in, did not crowd or push anyone, and let their photos happen organically as the night progressed. We are so excited to see the final work that Karl produces, and I can assure you, you are getting a trust-worthy and imaginative person in Karl Verkade. Karl - thank you so much for making our engagement and wedding so special. You exceeded every expectation we had for the process and the day-of shooting. As I sit here recounting the memories, I can rest easy knowing you captured them to the best that my mind can imagine. Do yourself a favor - book with Karl Verkade Photography.

Working with Karl was just like working with an old friend, except in this case the friend is INCREDIBLY talented, very professional, prompt, communicative, flexible and loads of fun to be around. I can't say enough good about our experience. He was creative and super fun to... Read More work with for all the many poses that you're encoraged to try, but also incredibly knowledgeable and talented from the photographic perspective. Some of his most incredible shots reveal his mastery of back-lighting and use of scenery to help tell your love story. Highly, highly recommend... great experience from the initial meeting, to the camera time on our wedding day, and what an incredible reveal at the end. The photos were breathtaking. Don't miss out, this is the easiest wedding decision you'll make.

Fantastic!

Absolutely fantastic. Got a package deal with free engagement session with our wedding photography. Came to San Diego three different times (initial consult, engagement sesh, and wedding), although we offered to drive up one of the time (he wanted to check out the venue for... Read More photo ops). Great to work with and definitely went out of his way to make our photos amazing. Absolutely beautiful engagement pictures. All of our family and friends commented on how wonderful they were (we made our wedding guest book out of them). During our wedding you wouldn't have known he was there unless you looked, he never got in the way of our moments, but you could tell he was capturing them. Got all the family and bridal party shots we wanted and more and was QUICK! Great personality, funny and very easy to work with! Even quietly pulled us out of the venue for a few shots at sunset (I definitely was too immersed in the night to remember to watch for the sunset). Worked all day with us, and still looked like he wanted to take a million more pictures at the end of the night. LOVED working with him and absolutely amazing photographer within our budget!!

We hired Karl for our wedding in January 2018 and we could not have been happier with our decision!!!! Karl was kind, easy going, and so professional from our initial meeting through the day of the wedding. We received our photos back and have been in complete awe of how... Read More beautifully they turned out! Karl is incredibly talented and does an amazing job of capturing the feelings and moments of a wedding through the portraits and the candid photos. The pictures we received truly captured the joy and love during our wedding. On top of that, our family and friends keep raving about how beautiful the pictures are and how kind Karl was throughout the wedding. We are so grateful for Karl and highly recommend him for any photography needs!

Karl is a joy to work with! He's so artistic and did an amazing job of capturing our day. From getting ready to groovin' on the dance floor, he got it all with artistic flair. He had a good mix of detail shots, journalistic shots and all the "expected" photos as well. He really... Read More managed to tell the story of our day through photos. The hardest part was choosing which photos to add to our album. Karl took our engagement photos, our wedding photos and I hope to work with him again in the future for our anniversary.

I honestly can’t praise Karl’s work enough! He is professional, personable, and the perfect wedding photographer! We had the pleasure of working with him for our engagement shoot and the entirety of our wedding. He made us feel so comfortable and captured us in such a natural... Read More way. I am obsessed with all of my pictures, photo books, and cannot wait for our album to arrive. I strongly recommend Karl (and team) to anyone and everyone! Thank you, Karl!!!

Karl was such a pleasure to work with! From the moment I first emailed him, he was responsive, friendly and helpful! I loved what I saw on his website and knew he would capture our wedding day perfectly! He made everything so easy and comfortable. He's a great blend of... Read More professional and personable! We just got married last week, but my husband and I can not wait to see our photos and I know they are in great hands!

I highly, highly recommend Karl Verkade. Karl did our engagement and wedding photos, and we couldn't be happier. After interviewing 5+ photographers (and researching/emailing over 20), we knew we picked the winner after meeting Karl. Here's why: 1. Personality. For my... Read More husband and me, we knew we needed a photographer who "got" us. Our wedding was Game of Thrones-inspired wedding, so someone who could embrace our geekiness was a MUST. (We had discovered that some photographers weren't too keen to shoot a "non-traditional" wedding.) Beyond that, we needed someone down-to-earth and had a sense of humor. Karl's laid-back (but *not* passive) style allowed us to be ourselves, while at the same time provided helpful guidance to make our photos look fabulous. Here's the thing -you are going to be spending A LOT of time with your photographer on your wedding day; so, it's no good if the person annoys or stresses you out! One of the key questions in my mind was - will this person be comfortable with my geeky/zany/wonderfully-weird bridesmaids and me as we get ready? The answer with Karl was a definite YES. 2. Transparency. Karl was 100% clear about what his fees did and did not include. I noticed that some photographers "hid the ball" with their fees - oh, you actually want to SEE (let alone print) any of your photos? That's an extra charge! With Karl, all fees were clearly disclosed and nothing was counterintuitive. He even publicly lists his fees online - something a lot of wedding vendors do NOT do! 3. Price. Not only were Karl's fees transparent, they were also very, very affordable. For a professional photographer, I doubt his rates can be beat. 4. Copyright. You can share your photos on social media WITHOUT begging for permission or paying extra. Karl provides high-resolution images without watermarks, so you can save, share, and print to your heart's content! Points 1-3 above made us decide on Karl. Having now received our wedding photos, we are even more confident in our recommendation. Why? Our engagement photos were GORGEOUS. We shot in two locations - Huntington Beach Central Park and Laguna Beach. Both sites were great, but the Laguna photos truly blew us away. You don't need to be adventurous to get good photos with Karl, but if you are, you'll get some especially epic ones with the waves crashing against the rocks at sunset. Most importantly, our wedding photos were AMAZING! From the shots of our Game of Thrones-stylized details (e.g., giant dragon skull) to our First Look to the candid shots, Karl and his assistant did an awesome job capturing our wedding! Because Karl does a through job processing the photos (but in a natural way!), it took some time, but the wait was totally worth it. (So be patient!) We had over 1100 awesome photos to download, browse, and save (see #4 above) - it was like reliving the wedding all over again. Another great perk - you can download the photos through Karl's online (password protected) portal. This is also how you select photos for your album - easy-peasy! Thank you Karl!

Karl did an absolutely amazing job at our wedding. I couldn't of asked for a better photographer. He made our wedding even that more special and when the pictures came they were so beautiful. Thanks Karl!

Karl was amazing! We just received our pictures back from the wedding and we were blown away. Karl also did our engagement pictures, which were just as stunning. He is so easy to work with and we really appreciated his laid-back and professional approach on the day of the... Read More wedding. We were even ahead of schedule! The icing on the cake (wedding pun intended) is his pricing...he is incredibly affordable, and you get way more than you pay for. I cannot recommend Karl enough!

Karl photographed our wedding in December and we couldn't be happier with how our photos turned out! He was very flexible and easy to work with and his crew was so friendly, we felt so comfortable with him and his assistant. We received more photos than expected, he was able to... Read More work with our budget, and really went above and beyond on the day of as to not miss any details. Thank you Karl for giving us such beautiful lasting memories!!

I found Karl through the Knot and after our first meeting I knew he would be the perfect photographer for our wedding! Karl offered great package options and great rates too! Karl and his assistant were very professional the day of the wedding and got a great variety of shots.... Read More He even sent me a preview of some of our pictures before we even left for our honeymoon. With as amazing as the preview photos came out I cannot wait to see the rest.

OMG! I'm so happy my hubby found Karl=) People spend so much time and money on weddings...the moment flies by in an instant and the night can just be a big blur. The photos are so important. It's the most memorable thing you have to look back on and cherish forever. You need a... Read More good photographer! Friends sent me their cell phone pics but it just not the same. Hiring Karl was truly the best investment we put into the wedding. He captured all the little details from the decorations to the joy on our guest faces...I LOVED all the natural moment shots. He has an eye and gift to get those special money shots. Every pic was so perfect. I hate being the center of attention and taking photos but he and his assistant make you feel so comfortable. If you want those moments captured of that fairy tale wedding you dreamed of and Hallmark looking photos Karl is your guy! I've seen many photos of other weddings I've attended and they are just standard and boring. Karl's shots show emotions, feelings, and life to it. You will not be disappointed. Thank you so much Karl! I'm going to refer you to all my friends and family.

We seriously loved having Karl as our photographer for our New Year's Eve wedding. He was amazingly fun to work with, easy to communicate/plan with, and helped minimize the stress of the day with his easy-going nature. We ended up with some wonderful photos...he even used the... Read More rain to his advantage to get some great unique shots, in addition to some of my favorite candid pictures of my step-daughter, niece and nephews. Thank you so much Karl! I feel so lucky that we found you!

THIS GUY! Karl was the first vendor I booked when I began the long journey of booking wedding vendors. He was suuuuuuch a pleasure to work with! He was funny, real and professional and even enjoyed a hard cider with my then-fiance and I after taking our engagement photos up in... Read More Julian, CA. Our wedding went without a HITCH! Karl showed up early and made sure to get all the shots that we were looking for. In light of our wedding being on a weeknight in November AND being fairly intimate, he treated our wedding just like any other. We received our photos today and my husband and I couldn't stop 'wow-ing' and 'aw-ing' at each and every photo. His second shooter was also such a pleasure to work with as well. Overall, we are very pleased with Karl and his photo-expertise! Thanks Karl, you deserve all The Knot awards you receive!

Karl was the best! My fiance and I had a great time taking our engagement pictures at Laguna Beach with Karl. Although, we were shy at first, we quickly became comfortable when he helped and guided us how to pose and all the beautiful backgrounds were easy to set the stage. Karl... Read More took his time on every photo and was so passionate to make it perfect for us! All of us were wet with the huge waves surrounding us. We did not mind taking a few risks getting tossed with the waves and the photos came out AMAZING!! I want to thank Karl for his passion to take such gorgeous pictures and which made us feel truly special!! We have received endless compliments on our engagement photos! He is reasonable and works with you every step of the way. Only wish we had met him sooner for our wedding photos.

Karl was absolutely amazing. My husband and I met multiple photographers prior to our wedding and Karl was by far the easiest to get along with. We met up with him for our engagement photos at a park in RSM. My then fiance and I had zero time in front of a camera and he made us... Read More look like professional models. Not only that, but he truly captured our love for each other in our sweet and silly moments. Fast forward to our wedding day and I couldn't have asked for a better photographer. He showed up with the second photographer and went right to work. I never felt like I needed to ask him to take certain shots or like he was in the way. He just did his work effortlessly. We decided to do first look and are so grateful that we did. He captured one of the most intimate moments in our lives with such grace and beauty. The entire wedding was shot perfectly, none of the guests even noticed he was there. But when you needed him to be there he was! It was truly a pleasure working with Karl and I would recommend him to anyone who wants to be able to enjoy their wedding and trust that the right shots are being taken.

Karl is THE BEST. From the moment my husband and I met him we knew he was our wedding photographer. We customized a package perfectly to what I needed and he even went above and beyond. My husband and our bridal party felt so comfortable in front of the camera with him and the... Read More photos turned out amazing. I will never stop recommending Karl to future brides!!!! Thanks Karl :)

Karl is outstanding t what he does. He can make a picture speak to you in ways you never thought it could. Not only did he capture the best moments of our wedding but he was super easy to work with and so accomodating. He is such an overall good person and his attention to... Read More detail is top notch. He made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera and we are more than happy with the quality of his photos. Thank you, Karl, for doing such an amazing job on oir wedding pics! I would recommend Karl over and over again! Simply the best photographer out there!

Karl is the best! He captured all of the posed photos we wanted as well as some awesome candids! We only wish we had remembered to take a photo with him because by the evening he felt like a friend :)

Everyone....Karl is so good that my wife and I were literally screaming when he sent us our album. See below for the e-mail I wrote him. HIGHLY recommended Karl, Karl, Karl. Where do we start? The reason why you haven't heard back from us in 4 days is because we have been in... Read More complete and utter AWE of our wedding photos. They are truly AMAZING! Madeleine and I have been gazing through them non stop, falling more and more in love with them after each photo. Your work is stunning. You were able to capture the most important moments, all while telling a beautiful love story. We have been inundated with compliments about your work. I cant stay enough about how satisfied we are. You exceed all of our expectations and we are very grateful to you. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!

Karl is so talented, and laid back, and kind. We had a smallish, intimate wedding, and he STILL managed to blend in seamlessly, make me and all my guests feel completely at ease, all while delivering stunning (and not too "overly produced") images. Cannot recommend enough.

Honestly the best photographer. He made us so happy with our engagement photos that we were at ease when it came to wedding photos! He is the best ever and so easy to work with! Also recommended a great videographer to us. If you are looking for a wedding photographer definetpy... Read More gonwith Karl, you won't be disappointed!

Karl was such a pleasure to work with! He captured moments from our engagement and wedding that brought our fairytale to life! We are floored by his prowess. He has incredible work ethic, quick response times, beyond reasonable pricing, and last but certainly not least he has a... Read More pure knack for photography. The photos looked like an artist painted them and he even had an eye for all those natural kodak moments throughout the course of the evening. We highly recommend him and can't wait to see where his career takes him! Keep it up Karl! You are a legend!!

I can't even begin to give Karl all the credit he is due. With this limited space, there's no way I would be able to do him justice. I was very much a Type-A bride who didn't really enjoy wedding planning (eloping was fine with me!) and who just wanted to get it done...quickly... Read More and PERFECTLY. Our wedding was in May and I started booking vendors in September. My fiancé and I lived in Seattle but we were getting married down in Disneyland, CA. So in addition to the wedding drama and bridal jitters, I now have to plan a wedding, which clearly, I had no experience with, without the benefit of seeing the venue or interviewing the vendors. In fact, I had to count on the vendors to really know what they were doing and to help me out, as opposed to vice-versa. I fired off dozens of emails a day and on day one of hunting for vendors, I knew Karl was my photographer. I had never been more certain in any stage of my wedding before of after this moment. If I had nothing, I had a good photographer, that I was sure of. And this is saying a lot since I was the girl on Amazon who compared every star, review, and penny. In our entire wedding, I really had no high expectations nor was I really excited about any specific aspect...except for Karl, which I enthusiastically shared with family and friends when they asked about planning. Karl replied emails almost instantly (same throughout the rest of the ten months of me constantly emailing) and his answers were always friendly, precise, and clear. His price was clearly way beyond reasonable and wayyyyyy UNDERPRICED for his work. His personality was stunning and engaging and charming and he made us feel relaxed (and me reassured) instantly. His business was amazing with absolutely zero hoops or red tapes or small prints. His photo qualities are AMAZING. Karl was more than happy to work with us, flexing his prices since we didn't need the engagement package and could pay cash immediately in one payment. He helped me way more than once with details of our wedding (since we were states away), he was ecstatic to take time out to meet us when we finally flew down for a day and worked with our schedules. He even recommended a videographer for us (again, planning from states away, we could use help!) who was equally awesome who produced the most amazing video for us (I cried. And I don't cry). Karl was the reason why we can look back at the memories of our wedding day fondly. There weren't many things I was sure and certain of for our wedding (my own parents' attendance included), but from day one, there was one thing I was completely 100% certain of and that was Karl, his passion, his talent, his skills, his personality...his everything. He was super chill, friendly, and kind, and did not sweat over any details that large companies would. We only paid for 400 photos but he ended up sending us more than 700 as opposed to deleting them (we've worked with companies that charged us $80 per extra photo otherwise, they just deleted them). We weren't able to provide a meal, though we were happy to pick up snacks for him, and he told us to take care of ourselves and he will take care of himself. My only wish was that he was in Seattle, where I could broadcast him to all of our friends because he is THE ONE. Look no further. Karl isn't "just" a "vendor". He is your ticket to having a perfect wedding day, a friend, a person to help out, and frankly, in a mix of personal/professional - a friend you can count on.