Ken Doll Photography

work with any other photographer from here on out!

15 person, mostly DIY wedding with Ken as our only vendor. The day was hectic as we were cooking, setting up flowers and chairs and tables, trying to figure out music etc, and Ken volunteered to help with anything and everything. He used to be a DJ, so he helped my dad with the music, he helped set up chairs and lug equipment around. He drove us back and forth between the 2 houses on our property when we had forgotten to grab things. He also calmed me down when I was stressed and freaking out lol. He then rearranged the whole photo schedule without an ounce of stress since we were behind. He is a class act, stand up guy... Not to mention his photos are BEAUTIFUL. Truly art. If you want to make sure you have beautiful photos with a vendor you can trust and rely on, you should hire Ken Doll.

clearly is nowhere near Topeka, but I have seen Ken's work before and I knew I had to have them. Why, you might ask? Well, let's start with the quality of service. Ken and Maggie have an amazing 'bed side' manner. They are friendly, genuinely interested in their clients, and funny. It's hard (don't laugh, I'm serious) to have your photos taken for lengths of time. So often, without a talented photographer, you'll see the subjects run into 'fixed smile' (which is really more of a grimace), but that never happens to Ken and Maggie. They tell jokes, stories, and know how to insert faux-breaks so that their subjects are always comfortable and having a good time. Ken also will do just about anything for a shot. A great example occurred during our engagement set - we wanted to do pictures that exemplified the bay area... one of which included a photo of my husband dipping me in front of the Transamerica building. Ken literally ran out into traffic and laid down in the street to get the right angle to take the perfect picture. Another example was during our wedding; there was a beautiful bay window in the house where I was getting ready. Again, Ken splayed himself out in what appeared to be a seriously uncomfortable position while Maggie hung from an overhang to set the light. The result? I looked like a goddess. The style of photography that Ken takes varies from a more photojournalism ('in the moment') feel to straight portraiture. He's creative, and definitely likes to work with movement and spontaneity, but he also works with his clients to make sure all the 'must haves' are covered. I gave them a short list of photos that I knew I wanted (e.g. one with me, my mom, and my grandmother) but after seeing his work, I was totally comfortable trusting him and his artistic license. The results are INCREDIBLE. On the wedding day, Ken split his time between me getting ready and my husband greeting guests. He and Maggie both take pictures, which means even when he wasn't there in person, the moments were still getting captured. He was also really sensitive to my husband's desire not to see me in my gown before the wedding, which meant that he had to really scoot in order to get all the posed portraits after the ceremony in order to meet the timeline. Despite this, he kept his trademark sense of humor and ease in interacting with me, my wedding party, and my guests. It truly was like he was one of the guests himself!!! He was also a consummate professional with my other vendors; my wedding planner (who was wonderful!) was a bit of a hardass in keeping to a timeline and schedule, but he didn't let that phase him one bit! He was sweet, jovial, and again, the pictures speak for themselves. Ken gave me all of my photos on a stick drive, and then offers lots of options for prints, books, and similar. He did our guestbook, which turned out absolutely beautifully, and is one of our favorite momentos of our wedding. All told, I can't imagine a better photographer and I'm completely thrilled with everything I got. I would absolutely recommend Ken Doll Photography to all of my friends, family, acquaintances, and anything in between.