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About this vendor
The combination of medium format film & natural light is fundamental to how we celebrate these values in our images. We focus equally on exquisite details, documenting real moments as they happen, and guiding our couples into relaxed, authentic poses.
We believe in simplicity, soulfulness and emotion in our work.
Details
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Bridal Portraits
- Day After Session
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Film Photography
- Online Proofing
- Photo
- Printed Enlargements
- Printed Proofs
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Classic
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Wedding
Reviews
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2.9
out of 5.013 reviews
He bailed on my wedding in September and a few months later he updated his FB and personal accounts like nothing happened. He’s a POS and owes me $9K.
I have stalled on writing this review for over a year while I was trying to make peace with the lackluster photos taken by Michael at our wedding. Overly cropped, blurry, inconsist...
ent coloring, and he didn’t check off my hit-list – only begins to cover it. I thought we signed up for Style Me Pretty quality photos and instead, I am saddened when I see beautiful wedding photos come across my feed knowing Michael has robbed me of that.
When Carina left the business, I should have switched to another photographer but was ensured Michael was just as good solo as he was with Carina. And while yes, there are a handful of photos that are okay – there are more photos of my guests at cocktail hour than they are of me and my husband. Our portraits together and separate are not happy and appear forced. I have 2 smiling portraits of my husband and I… TWO both of the same pose. We are not models and part of your job as a wedding photographer is to showcase the love and life of the day when you are taking posed photos. Our videographer captured our beautiful day – it looks like two different weddings when compared.
But that is not all, what finally brings me the courage to write this review is that all of his former couples cannot access the photos of their special day. Something that is stated in our contracts that our digital library will be available for 10 years, gone.
Additionally,
1. We did not receive a single tease photo until October. Our wedding was in August
2. Upon delivering our digital album there were photos missing that we quickly realized. He then said he had trouble uploading…. I do not know to this day if the photos we received were all of them
3. There were only a handful of individual shots of my husband and I in our dress/suit. All but 1 pose of mine was take on raw film which shadowed my face making them not only unattractive but unusable. My husband has 3 photos total of him alone.
4. Our couple portraits are overly cropped, forced, blurry, some even sweaty, and he unfocused one of us in some that would’ve been considered good. He also took the portraits super low which as most women know, is not flattering. He also pushed for us to take the remaining couple photos by the water, which was windy and absolutely destroyed my hair before reception. In every one of those photos, I am messing with my hair and our expressions are as if he took the shot 2 seconds too late.
5. He is unreachable, as I have been emailing him since October 2022 to better edit our photos, the last he responded was February - never re-editing a single photo.
6. My album never came
I understand he had a hard year, but that does not negate the fact you are a professional – A professional holding the power of being responsible for the only thing your couples take with them on their most special day. This power Michael did not respect, and I am saddened to be amongst other women who got this taken from them.
This photographer should be charged criminally for fraud...he charged 7000 and now cannot be reached and never showed to the wedding. Do not use them unless you have money to give...
away!
DO NOT USE HIM FOR YOUR WEDDING HE IS TERRIBLE!!!!! I WISH I COULD LEAVE 0 STARS.
HE IS UNRESPONSIVE AND HAS FAILED TO PRODUCE OUR WEDDING ALBUM. IT IS EXCUSE AFTER EXCUSE BROKEN P...
ROMISE AFTER BROKEN PROMISE.
HE IS A THIEF!!!!! CARINA IS JUST AS MUCH TO BLAME AS HER NAME IS ON THE CONTRACT.
HE HAS STOLEN OUR MONEY AND EVEN AFTER FILING A LAW SUIT AGAINST HIM AND CARINA, HE IS UNRESPONSIVE.
HE IS A THIEF AND THE MOST UNPROFESSIONAL PERSON I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED, HE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THE WAY HE TREATS PEOPLE.
I FEEL TERRIBLE FOR THE BRIDES WHO HAVE HIRED HIM FOR HIS WEDDING WHO HAVE NOT EVEN RECEIVED THEIR PHOTOS OR FOR THE WEDDINGS HE NO-SHOWED. WE CAN NOT LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS. HE IS A THIEF AND A LIAR.
Do *NOT* hire for your wedding.
TL;DR: Michael did not show up to our wedding on 4/28 after being difficult to reach the week beforehand. He also did not provide a replacement pho...
tographer. After the wedding, he refused to refund us the full amount we paid. We ultimately disputed the credit charge and got our money back. 2 months later (to this day), we have not heard from him. Save your time, money, and emotional energy and pick literally anyone else to photograph your wedding.
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The longer backstory: Wedding horror stories happen but I never thought I would be writing one myself. We hired a magnificent and very reputable group of wedding vendors (Michael included, or so we thought). In the last few weeks leading up to the wedding, neither my wedding planner nor I were able to reach Michael through texts/calls/email. 2 days before the wedding, he finally picked up the phone after multiple attempts to reach him and nonchalantly said that he would “be there.” We were all feeling on edge, rightfully so. On the day of the wedding, Michael was supposed to arrive at 12:30 PM and begin shooting at 1:30 PM. By 2:30 PM, he still had not arrived, claiming he was “on the way” from Richmond, despite saying that he had left at 6 AM. He ultimately never showed up to the venue, telling our wedding planner that he was not fit to do so. He never even *offered* to find us a replacement, and did not offer us any apology after leaving us without a photographer several hours into the wedding day. 4 Days later, he left us a voicemail with a series of excuses that were verified as lies from our wedding planner, who was in direct contact with him on the wedding day. He refused to refund us the full amount of our wedding package (~$6k), a direct violation of our signed contract. We resorted to disputing the charges through our credit card company. To this day, almost 2 months later, we have not heard a single word from Michael.
Luckily, our fantastic wedding planner reached out to her own professional network and was able to find us the most professional, kind, efficient, and talented replacement photographer who has already delivered on so many levels that Michael could not have. We still managed to have our perfect day in spite of the immense hurt, significantly delayed timeline, betrayal of trust, and emotional distress Michael’s absence left on our wedding day. We were patient and sympathetic to many things that happened in Michael’s life leading up to the wedding, but he should have told us that he was unable to deliver at our wedding before it actually occurred. We cannot in good faith recommend this vendor to anyone.
We haven’t heard from Michael for months. We took engagement photos months ago and have yet to see previews or any photos. He also won’t answer any form of communication. It sadden...
s me to write this because we were so excited to use Michael for our wedding but had to find another photographer.
We loved Michaels style which drew us to booking him but we have waited over 12 weeks since our wedding date and have still not seen a single photo. Our contract states 8 weeks to ...
get them back yet Michael offers no proactive updates or provided us with any kind of timeline. He has been paid in full and yet we have seen no preview or anything. There are many talented photographers in the area so I suggest working with others that are more prompt, transparent and proactive
Michael & Carina are beyond talented and truly went above and beyond on our wedding day. The photographs we received from our engagement session and our wedding day are absolutely ...
incredible. Michael & Carina are truly artists and both have such an eye for detail and lighting. The photos they captured of our wedding day and our engagement session are truly gifts and we will treasure them forever. Michael, Carina, and their assistant were such a pleasure to work with and they made sure that we were cared for throughout the day (ensuring that we got food and drinks and even helping me with my shoes and lipstick). Their presence and their work added so much to our wedding day and we could not thank them enough.
Michael and Carina were an absolute dream to work with for my wedding! I hired them for my engagement shoot, boudoir, and wedding - and for each event they were incredible. The pic...
tures we've received thus far are absolutely magical. They are so talented and I am so grateful to have their pictures to last forever.
The two of them working as a team is truly inspiring. From the beginning, they made an effort to get to know us as a couple and were determined to photograph us to showcase our relationship in the best way possible. For our wedding day, our wedding portraits and wedding party pictures were at 2pm on June 28- so it was very hot. Michael and Carina did everything they possibly could to make us feel comfortable and relaxed. They were never phased by the heat and managed my large wedding party with ease. They were extremely professional throughout the entire event. My favorite part about having them as our photographer, was the way they encouraged and built confidence in us. They are so complimentary and encouraging throughout pictures- even my bridal party referred to them as 'the ultimate hype team' to have them cheering us on throughout pictures. I appreciate the amazing pictures they take, but I appreciate the way they treated us even more. I would recommend Michael & Carina for ANY photos you need 10/10 times!!
We had Michael and Carina for our engagement and wedding photos. They are hands down the most talented photographers. You can feel the love they have for each other and photography...
. They are both so easy to work with and go beyond to make sure you needs are covered!! You will feel very comfortable on your wedding day which is essential! I can't express how much we enjoyed working with the couple. You will not be disappointed!!! (My dad hates taking pictures and he won't stop raving about how wonderful they were during the wedding!!).
Michael and Carina are the best photographers, hands down. All of their images are truly pieces of art, and my husband and I feel so incredibly lucky to have our engagement and w...
eddings pictures by them. On our wedding day, they worked so perfectly as a team and really payed attention to what was important to us. They are so supportive during photographing and made us and our bridal party feel more confident. I can't recommend them enough. Thank you Michael and Carina!!!
Michael and Carina are the most professional, responsive, personable individuals I've ever been lucky enough to work with. From the very beginning, they worked with us to find the ...
photography package that best fit our needs and budget. They stayed in touch throughout the planning process, surprising us every step of the way with unique and thoughtful touches.
Somebody told me that a bride had better love her photographers, because they are the ones that she spends all day with...and it was true. Michael and Carina not only took the most incredible photos, but they were also the best friends I could have asked for on the day. They made us laugh, they calmed us down, they even shielded us from certain persistent guests at the reception when we needed the help! :) Perhaps most importantly, they also kept us on schedule--down to the minute. We also loved being able to work with them as a couple, because they could demonstrate some poses that felt at first awkward to us. It was really helpful and made us feel so much more comfortable on the day!
The photos were returned to us very quickly, and I was shocked at the quality. Michael and Carina made me feel so beautiful! They captured the most amazing tiny moments, and made the wedding look truly stunning. I would book them again and again, and recommend them to anybody thinking considering it. The value is truly incredible.
Michael and Carina were such a dream to work with! Photography was incredibly important to my husband and I, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Michael and Carina are ge...
nuinely kind and thoughtful, and they made us feel like much more than just another client. From the very beginning Michael and Carina were always available to talk, and toward the end they sent us things like questionnaires and sample timelines to help us get prepared. They are very professional and very attentive to details. My husband and I can be goofy and awkward, yet Michael and Carina were able to make us feel incredibly comfortable and natural in our engagement session. They gave direction to make beautiful shots, but they also captured so many naturally beautiful moments. We also had a lot of fun, which made us even more excited for our wedding day. Our photos were absolutely stunning, romantic, and timeless! They captured our day perfectly, and we received our photos in less than a month – which was quicker than many of our friends who had digital photographers! There is nothing better than having your love and wedding captured by a husband and wife team living their own beautiful love story! My husband and I absolutely love our photos, and I cannot stop looking through them!
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