About this vendor
I’m easy going, I’m kind, and I put extra care into getting the details just right.
It's important that you have a great experience on your wedding day, and not feel like it's one endless photoshoot. It has been my pleasure to document dozens of weddings of all shapes and sizes, and this has given me an appreciation for how unique each couple and wedding can be, and how important it is to bring a personal touch to every event.
I aim for a clean, editorial aesthetic and use a combination of traditional film photography and contemporary digital cameras to compose timeless photos with a bold and romantic feel.
Every wedding is different, and I'm looking forward to learning more about yours so I can help you figure out what's going to work best for you. Please get in touch for a free consultation and information on pricing and packages.
Details
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Boudoir
- Bridal Portraits
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Film Photography
- Online Proofing
- Photo
- Printed Enlargements
- Printed Proofs
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Classic
- Documentary
- Lifestyle
- Vintage
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Wedding
- After Party
Awards and Affiliations
2-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2020.2019.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
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Reviews
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5
out of 5.032 reviews
We hired Michael to photograph our wedding that was supposed to be held in April 2020. We worked with him for a year leading up to the wedding, during which time he was responsive,...
thoughtful, and eager to get to know us and what we were looking for in our photos. When we flew to Austin to visit vendors and he was out of town until our departure day, he even arranged to meet us at the airport right off his flight so we could meet in person. Although COVID derailed our plans, we are sure that he would have been as wonderful to work with on the wedding day as he was leading up to it. He was also very understanding, reasonable and fair as we dealt with the fall-out of COVID. We hope to use him for a future event!
My husband and I both agree that having Michael photograph our wedding was one of the best decisions we made for our big day. Michael is incredibly talented, patient and kind. Upon...
first talking to him, I knew he was a fit for us because of his approach – all on quality over quantity. Michael is an artist and approaches each wedding that he photographs as such. He takes time to understand your goals and aspirations for your wedding day on a wider scale – what’s the vibe you’re going for? What’s most important to you? Looking back on your photos, what do you want to see? Just this sheer attention to detail is indicative of the level of careful care and consideration Michael puts into every frame.
Michael took the time to chat with my husband and I multiple times during our engagement to ensure that our vision or goals hadn’t shifted. He put together a great timeline and collaborated extremely well with our other vendors.
But, despite all of these great qualities, the absolutely best thing about Michael is his demeanor. Michael and his team were so professional, calm, cool and collected, and it brought a much-needed sense of ease and tranquility that is so needed (and many times lacking) on such a momentous day – not only for myself, but for my husband, our families, wedding party and guests. The tone that they set comes through in each and every one of the beautiful photos that we will cherish forever.
If you’re looking for unique and personalized photos and the experience to match, I cannot recommend Michael enough.
Mike was amazing!! My wife and I knew in the planning stage that we wanted a small wedding, and we also realized that our wedding would happen on the same day as Daylight Savings, ...
so we knew the photographer would have to be able to highlight the intimacy of the event and make the most of limited daylight. Mike delivered on all counts; from the first set of engagement shots we took with him, we knew we had made the right decision. He always managed to capture just the right moment where we kissed or laughed at each other, or when our friends and family members seemed to be at their most joyful. Mike was also a calming presence during the wedding, providing a perfect balance of direction and guidance along with a tremendous amount of warmth and support. It was truly a treat to work with him and we cannot recommend him highly enough.
Michael is very accommodating. He is very detail oriented and creative. We love how our photos turned out! He really captured memories from our day that we will cherish and share. ...
He is very skilled and he is the best bang for our buck. Yours too! He really will work with you and your needs.
Michael was so, so awesome and professional to work with! I still can’t believe we received such a highly skilled photography team for our wedding at the price point that we did!! ...
When I saw his work at the Bridal Extravaganza, I was certain he was out of our price point. But boy, am I glad I went to his booth and talked to him! He was in our price range and we got INCREDIBLE images we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives.
Michael met with us before our wedding and made CERTAIN that he understood our preferred style and what was important to us to be captured on our wedding day. He also was incredibly dynamic, flexible, and quick to adapt on our wedding day when needed. He is so professional and such a pleasure to work with, I was able to enjoy my day and knew he had everything handled. He also worked incredibly well with our other vendors and videography team!!
I wanted our photos to be airy and bright but still vivid and unique so that they didn’t look like everyone else’s wedding photos. He truly was able to deliver exactly what we wanted. Our photos are structured, but also organic and natural. I believe our pictures truly capture the essence of our entire day and take us back to specific moments when we look at them, which is really what I think is the goal of wedding photography.
We also received our ENTIRE photo gallery edited, with printing rights. When shopping for photographers, that was KEY and Michael delivered.
I would recommend Michael to anyone that wants to work with an incredibly skilled, professional photographer, receive photos that belong not only in a wedding album, but in a freaking art gallery, and anyone that wants to have full faith in their photographer’s ability to deliver to their unique vision.
Michael was a wonderful photographer and I could not recommend him highly enough to anyone searching for someone to capture their special day. Michael was always incredibly respons...
ive, straightforward about his rates, and he very carefully listened to our vision for our wedding photos during all of our planning meetings. Michael had a beautiful eye for detail and we loved how meticulously he worked to document everything from small decorations to our group and couple shots. He even turned over our wedding photos in much less time than we anticipated and it was wonderful to relive our big day through his gorgeous photos. I hope to work with him again at some point!
Michael was incredible! He was thoughtful, thorough, professional and down to earth. The day was very overcast and Michael made the lighting work perfectly for us. He captured all...
of the moments (which is great because time flies when you are getting hitched : )). We are thrilled with our album~ Highly recommend!
Michael is really as good as it gets! He was easy going, fun and super accommodating. Even with unexpected rain he some how found a way to create beautiful images. Do yourself a fa...
vor and book him as your photographer!
Michael is absolutely the best photographer, I can't say enough great things about his work. He is such a chill guy that makes you feel so comfortable in every situation. I highly ...
recommend doing your engagement shoot too. It's a great way to get to know one another and you'll get some amazing images! You will not regret hiring him for any of your special occasions. The quality of his work can't be compared and he has this ability capture candid moments that will bring a tear to your eye. He's the best!
Michael was a dream to work with before, during, and after our photo shoot. He gave great direction that made the session seem almost effortless. He picked the perfect location and...
was very accommodating as I was recouping from a knee injury and on crutches at the time of the shoot. Not only was the shoot a breeze, but Michael was so quick to edit and send the photos over to me - doing a great job in the process! I would definitely book with Michael again and highly recommend his services.
Michael was such a joy to work with!! He's not just "good at taking pictures", he's an artist. He understands light and the composition of photos. We used him for our engagement sh...
oot and wedding and I'm over the moon at the quality of photos we have to document those moments. He's such an easy going guy, and communicates well, which is very important when you're trusting a person with making your vision come to life. 100% would recommend to any and everyone, and Michael, let's hang out soon and we'll buy you a beer! 🤗
My wife and I are extremely happy with the work Michael did for our engagement and wedding photos. He is truly an artist who gave us photos that were as original and beautiful as t...
he ones we saw on his website. Michael was also very friendly and easy to work with, and did a great job of respecting our preferences while also helping explaining why some ideas might be better than others. Michael was very accessible and reliable, also responding to emails and showing up on time for meetings. In short, amazing artistic eye, great attitude, absolutely trustworthy.
To begin - Michael was some of the best money we spent for our wedding. His artistic eye and expertise were apparent from the get go, and he did NOT disappoint. He gets an A+ from ...
us.
Michael was easy-going, professional, and full of knowledge during the entire process. He was always easy to get ahold of, gave fantastic recommendations, and also was willing to take special shots for us. It was important to me that he take some portraits of my grandparents during the night - in all of the craziness, he remembered my request, and the results were beautiful. I will cherish those pictures forever.
He was able to capture the quiet candid moments, party pics of us and our families and friends dancing the night away, stunning and emotional ceremony pictures, and staged pictures of us as a couple that were beautiful and NOT corny or too "posey" (super important to me!)
We are not based in Austin and had to do a lot of planning remotely. Michael still found the time to meet with us in person on a brief business trip he took to Houston - the meeting was productive and enjoyable thanks to his experience and expertise. Plus, he is very easy to talk to and we enjoyed his company!
I would not hesitate to recommend Michael to anyone. I am so grateful that he was our photographer and that we have the pictures he took. It was a joy to work with him and a privilege to be photographed by him.
5 STARS!!!
Michael was absolutely amazing to work with. My husband and I had to reschedule our wedding to an earlier date, and he was so flexible and accommodating. He agreed to not only work...
the earlier date, but also to drive to San Antonio for us. . . and to shoot film photos on one of the darkest days of the year. Basically, he was incredible!
I called a ton of photographers before choosing Michael. He made us feel completely comfortable and brought such an artistic presence to his work. He was also really really FUN to work with, which made both our engagement shoot and our wedding portraits a key part of our experience.
The photos were crystal clear, well lit, and well framed. We have our photos up around our new apartment and it brings us such joy to have them.
My friends and family all spoke highly of Michael's work and his personality. He was a great choice and if you go with him you won't regret it!
It felt like my husband and I scoured through so many wedding photographers with the same poses, same images, same type of couples until we found Michael. Once we found him, we rec...
ognized that we had found an artist and wanted him to be there on our big day. He is extremely personable, kind, and knowledgeable. He was able to capture the moments that we never wanted to forget and made both of us feel very at ease the entire time we worked together. He took the time to meet with us twice before the wedding day to go over what we were hoping to have captured. He communicated openly and was very quick to respond to email and text. The images he took of us are unique and beautiful. We loved that he shot everything on film; it gave the images more depth and tells the story of our day. We can not recommend Michael Schaffer highly enough. If you are looking for a calm, wonderful, and professional photographer, he is the one!
When we started out looking for a wedding photographer, we knew we wanted someone who shared our passion for the arts and showed good fundamentals. We wanted someone who was both t...
echnical and creative. And we needed someone to handle our lively bunch! Michael checked all of these boxes! He was laid back, kind, and courteous. He helped us make a plan for photography and was very professional in his communication and responsiveness. He rolled with the punches when we got behind schedule and gracefully adjusted his timeline. Michael did a fantastic job capturing photos of so many of our wedding guests. We also really appreciate that Michael shoots primarily on film, which gives the photos a soft, rich quality. He perfectly captured the beauty and joy of our wedding day. We are very pleased with the result and would highly recommend him to anyone. Thank you, Michael!
Michael was phenomenal!! My husband and I loved everything about the photography aspect of our wedding. He used film and digital cameras to capture every special moment. He was met...
iculously working every shot to make sure the lighting was perfect & was so kind and easy to work with. I can’t wait to get our pictures back!!
We recently did 2 maternity shoots with Michael. We were equally impressed with his repsonsiveness and professionalism, the ease of working with him, and the quality of his picture...
s. The composition and lighting of his work is truly beautiful and the shots we ended up with we love. I’m not someone who is completely comfortable behind a camera, but Michael made the experience enjoyable. Highly recommended.
I'm always uncomfortable getting my photos taken but Michael made me feel so comfortable. He captured my true personality and made the whole experience fun. After working with many...
photographers, I think Michael is one of the best photographers in the Austin area and I highly recommend his photo services! Thanks Michael for my awesome photos!
We hired Mike as our wedding photographer for next year. To get a feel for his style, we also hired him for an engagement session.
We were a bit nervous as neither of us are eage...
r to get in front of a camera. However, after the session, we can't wait to work with him again on our wedding day!
Mike put all of our nerves to rest and was really easy to work with. He was courteous, professional, engaged, responsive, and everything you could want in a photographer. Above all else, his pictures turned out great!
We highly recommend Mike, and should we need a photographer for future events, he will be the first person we call.
We chose Michael to shoot our engagement photos last month. We were initially impressed with his professionalism, his demeanor, and his willingness to try new things and bend to ou...
r style and our needs. He's great at directing without being pushy. He spent almost an entire day with us, even taking boudoir and breakfast shots in the early morning (something we were passionate about doing). He didn't miss a step when we had suggestions and he certainly took our opinions and style into account while he was shooting. When we started seeing the first few photos a couple weeks later, we knew we had made the right choice. Everything looks great! We couldn't ask for more. We have already booked him for our wedding too! Great guy, exceptional photographer, and someone you can trust with your forever memories.
Michael Schaffer was recommended by a friend of a friend and was were extremely happy to have had the opportunity to work with him. Michael was very easy to work with and did an aw...
esome job capturing the special images for our special day. We were really happy, thank you Michael!
Cody & Brenna
Working with Michael is an absolute delight! He is professional, kind, and incredibly talented. Neither of us are “naturals” in front of the camera, but that didn’t matter during o...
ur photoshoot with Michael because he made us feel so comfortable. He has remarkable vision regarding scenery, poses, lighting, etc. We couldn’t be happier with both the experience and the end product! We’ll treasure these stunning photos forever.
Thank you, Michael! Look forward to working with you again in the future.
So flexible, and an absolute pleasure to work with! Michael has a keen eye for scenery and overall feeling, he will compose something beautiful without the subject even knowing wha...
t occured. We love him so ❤
Michael has taken our family photos for the past several years. He is just amazing! He truly understands how to get those posed family shots as well as individual fun ones. Highly ...
recommend!
Michael is an incredibly talented photographer and a delight to interact with. He helped create a beautiful experience for my husband and I - and now we have gorgeous pictures of ...
the occasion that will last a lifetime. We felt very comfortable and he captured us in a truly artistic way, including our silly/playful moments. Highly recommend him!
Michael took beautiful shots of my husband and I. We wanted to update some pictures around the house and for the family and we couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. Michael...
did a great job with keeping us comfortable during the shoot which led to very relaxed photos that really capture our personalities. The lighting and locations were beautiful. I highly recommend Michael for any engagement or wedding shoots you need done.
Michael did a great job at a video shoot for our organization. He was easy to work with, communicated with the subjects well and, most importantly, took some great video. I would d...
efinitely hire him again!
My husband and I have never been all that into photos, but working with Michael was like working with an old friend. He was fun, friendly and professional and seemed to be just as ...
excited about our big day as we were. Most importantly, the images he captured were absolutely beautiful. Michael clearly has a passion for photography and it shows in every single photo. I am so thrilled we found him and would highly recommend him to all!
Michael is an amazing photographer and his photos speak for themselves. We were fortunate enough to get him to capture our wedding weekend and I couldn’t be happier with the result...
s. While the photos were phenomenal, what really impressed me about Michael was his personality. Weddings can be stressful events but Michael eliminated all the worry. He was so easy going with us while at the same time capturing some beautiful moments. It made us feel at ease having him as our photographer. I cannot recommend him enough.
Michael has captured breath-taking photos that we cherish. He photographs gorgeous, natural expressions that display beautifully. I love the photographs from our wedding weekend. ...
His use of the sunlight and the sunset are amazing! Michael understands that the environment around you also makes the moment and that's very present in his photography. He captured the joy in our faces so wonderfully. He also did a great job with the flower girl who was quite energetic at the time.
Michael is a very calm, easy going guy. I've been to weddings where the photographer overtakes the wedding because they are in your face constantly. Michael will capture all the moments you want, but in a quiet manner as not to disturb you and the guests.
When you meet him, you'll realize he is passionate about photography. He explained why he was positioning us certain ways during our portrait shoot and you can tell he knows his stuff by the prints we got!
I highly recommend Michael to photograph your big day!
Michael has a unique way of taking what your vision is and seeing it through the same lens. He has a strong artistic view that translates well into creating an image that is both m...
emorable and exactly what you asked for. One of the most professional artists I've ever worked with.
Contact
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Michael Schaffer Photography