Meg Van Kampen Studios

Meg was the photographer for my wedding at the end of May, as well as for our engagement pictures. She is a wonderful, artistic photographer and very friendly, fun, and personable. We loved our engagement pictures on the lake, and our wedding pictures were awesome despite time constraints and less than ideal weather. Her pictures look natural, not posed, which I absolutely love. We had a huge, sometimes difficult to direct, wedding party, but we got some awesome shots of all of us. She really captured the fun, light-heartedness of our wedding reception. She also worked with our pastor who insisted on no pictures during the ceremony and was able to get some gorgeous pictures of our ceremony. I am so glad we chose Meg! I would highly recommend her to anyone for weddings and engagement pictures.

I know negative reviews of Meg may come as a surprise to many - it is clear that quite a few couples have had a wonderful Meg Van Kampen Studios experience. I read her reviews before hiring her and they played an integral role in my decision to hire her to shoot my wedding. Because of this and knowing how important it is to have all of the experiences laid out in front of you when making such a big decision, I feel it is my responsibility to you new brides out there to share my Meg Van Kampen story. Just as the website suggests - I will share all my details while being honest and fair. Approximately 6 weeks before our wedding Meg reached out to us to let us know she was sick, but that she still planned to shoot our wedding. We waited in limbo until about 2 weeks before our big day when Meg made it official that she would not be there to shoot our day. As other reviewers have mentioned - Meg is quite ill. In spite of her knowing this she assured me and my family that she and her second shooters (who would now be LEAD photographers) would still be able to deliver the product we paid over $3,000 to receive. Not to mention, at this point it was too late to pursue a new vendor and the cost would be too great when looking over Meg's contract. Unfortunately, despite my request to meet these new strangers who would be capturing the most important day of my life, Meg did not put me in touch with the new photographers until I was forced to send a disgruntled email (trust me these are not feelings you want to have ONE WEEK before your wedding). Only then did Meg arrange for me to meet my new lead photographer FOUR days before our huge event. The day of our wedding our new photographers were so lovely. Kinda and professional, BUT not quite the leaders you need when having a day full of many moving parts. I spent a good majority of time suggesting shots I wanted, feeling confused, and watching my wedding party confused as we received little to no direction on how to stand, pose, smile or be serious. It was also glaringly apparent that the photographers had not scouted any locations for our shots. The responsibility of finding locations for our wedding photos fell on the shoulders of my mother - who knows nothing about photography, lighting, etc. All of this would have been easy to forgive had our final product been, as Meg promised, the caliber of photos we hired her off of. To my horror, they were not. Of the approx. 800 photographs we received too many were poorly edited, taken in horrible lighting, from bad angles, and the vast majority of my formal shots contained my confused wedding party. When expressing my disappointment to Meg, she said she was too ill to notice that she had given me ELEVEN photos of just my wedding programs. While I am so sorry that Meg has fallen ill, as a customer it is beyond frustrating that this is used as an excuse when promised that it would not play a role in my photographs. Meg then proceeded to post my wedding on her blog and include photographs she re-edited, but that she did not provide me. Meg's talent is undeniable, but the service we received and the photographs we were given fall far short of what we spent a large amount of money to have. I wish you luck in your search for a wedding photographer and hope that hearing my experience helps you as you consider vendors!

We had the pleasure of witnessing Meg in action last year at my cousin's wedding. She was professional, friendly, all around awesome. She put my cousin at ease and made us laugh. When my cousin posted the photos to Facebook our jaws dropped. They were stunning! Meg had captured beautiful moments that told their story. I would absolutely recommend Meg to photograph your wedding! Not sure about these negative reviews, because that was not our experience and wanted to get the truth out there. I know Meg has been deathly ill, and when she is better, we hope to hire her for our daughter's future wedding! Thank you!

I read Meg's 3 other "5 Star" reviews and feel really sad and disappointed for my sister, who hired Meg expecting the same "5 Star" experience and product. Unfortunately, that was far from our experience with Meg Van Kampen Studios. Three weeks before my sister's wedding Meg informed her that she would not be able to shoot the wedding (due to illness she had been experiencing for several months) and that she would be sending her second shooters. While her second shooters were very nice they gave very little direction and were extremely slow. We never knew if we were supposed to smile or be serious and there was not enough time to get all of the formal pictures the bride and groom wanted. Sadly, we don't even have a family picture together. Their lack of direction and slow pace caused a lot of stress because members of the bridal party (including the bride) were having to direct people on where to go and how to pose for pictures... which is the photographer's job! Unfortunately, the final product was a reflection of how we felt day of, and my sister's pictures are NOT what you see when you look at Meg's online wedding portfolio. The pictures are taken from unflattering angles and there are only a VERY small handful of formal photos where everyone seems to be on the same page (most have half serious half smiling, or even mid talking!) The wedding took place in one of the gorgeous ballrooms at the Amway Grand Plaza, it was a breathtaking event that sadly isn't captured to it's full potential in the pictures taken. Meg has offered no discount or refund, despite her absence and lack of advance notice. We all understand being sick and feel sympathetic for Meg's condition, however, she did not leave my sister the option to seek an alternative photographer. While Meg's work is beautiful I would discourage anyone from hiring her. She is unreliable and does not have the back up staff to match her talent. Choosing her to take the most important pictures of your life is a gamble, and it's one I wish my sister had known not to make.

Words cannot even begin to express how wonderful Meg Van Kampen / Meg Van Kampen Studios was as our photographer for our wedding. We scoured the internet and our network for nearly two months to find that perfect match for excellent quality combined with the unique artistic touch you can't find from just anyone. We were looking for someone who wouldn't provide what 99% of the other photographers out there would give. We needed someone unique. Our wedding was anything but typical, and we wanted our vendors to match...so when we stumbled upon Meg we INSTANTLY wanted to book her once we saw her work. She listens, she responds quickly, she genuinely cares about what you're trying to get from her work, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. We didn't have to ask her to do anything, she gently guided us along the way so we weren't sitting there wondering what we should do which is priceless to any bride and groom who have a million other things to worry about already with the wedding. We literally just let her do what she does best and we went with the flow. We ended up with the most AMAZING photos and we have gotten equally amazing feedback from our guests and friends online who have seen her work. The photos we got are timeless... we will cherish them for our entire lives. The best photos aren't just the ones where people were posing on purpose, but her natural eye for finding the unrehearsed candid moments are our FAVORITES. She was able to capture the essence & soul of everyone in their natural element. They were better than we could have ever expected. Not only that, but she captured SO many phenomenal photos that when we look back at them it transports us back in time and it makes us feel like we are reliving our special day all over again. She is truly the Picasso of photography. If anyone is considering booking Meg, my best piece of advice is let her take the reins because she has a God given natural talent for photography.

My fiancé and I had the opportunity to have our engagement pictures taken by Meg in a woodsy setting. We were both a little nervous, but she was an absolute joy to work with! Meg had some great ideas, and even sent me some photo ideas to get a feel for what our style was. When she came to shoot, it was like the three of us hanging out and having fun together. The shoot captured candid interactions between us, and highlighted our personality and relationship so well. It was fun to get to know her too, she was so relaxed and a blast to spend time with. Her photo turn around time was so fast! Within a week we had over 200 images edited and delivered via an easy download site. If you have the opportunity to secure Meg as your wedding or family photog, I would highly recommend her! She will be taking our new family's photos for years to come. :)

Meg and her friend Betsy did our winter wedding this past Feb 2014. They were a pleasure to work with and captured all the right moments. Meg has more of an artsy style and prefers to capture more candid, genuine moments, than posed ones. She has a way of making you feel comfortable and not like you're in the spot light. I would highly recommend her services for any life event you want to remember.