Photographer recommendations/Dean Michaels Studio

sdelacruz17

Hi everyone, 

Im looking for some photographer recommendations. Ive met with Dean Michaels Studio, and really liked their work.  They also seemed very personable & professional which is really important to me.  With the packages we were looking at for both photography & Video, it was totaling to over $9000. If we downgrade somethings, then it was totaling about $8000. Has anyone used them before, and if so, how was their work, and which packages did you end up choosing? Our budget photo & video is $6000-$7000. I'm willing to spend a little more since photos are important to me, but just want to see what anyone else's experience with dean michaels has been?   Ive also met with MPW media also & their total pricing was about $8000. 

Also, I was wondering if anyone else has any other recommendations. Our budget is $6000-$7000 for both photo & video. Max is $8000. Ill prefer if the vendor does both photo and video.  Also I'm looking for someone who does more fun, artistic, photojournalistic style photography. For video, I'm looking for cinematography and I'd really like a same day edit video but I am willing to compromise on that. 

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! 

AshleyNicole1218

I went to a wedding that had MPW for photo and video and Key Music Group for DJ (they collaborate sometimes)...it was sooooo incredible! Out of our price range though for what the packages included.

We ended up going with DP Studios out of Oakland...very fun journalistic style. They were reccommended by a friend. I saw his wedding pics and video and was blown away. We are doing our engagement shoot next week, so excited!! They have several individual photo and video packages dependibg on the coverage you want. They are on the pricier side, but I felt like I'm getting more for my money than some other places.

Best of luck on your search! I definitely felt that picking a photographer/videographer was the harder than picking my venue!

jenmong

I been searching around for photographers and some of them cost $7000 only for photos but you should look around. You can check out heartfelt foto you should speak to Di he is good and also check out Elssol Production they do photo and video. http://www.heartfeltfoto.com http://elssolproduction.weebly.com

Gordo2014

Dean Michaels does a very good job and you won't be disappointed, but I think they're over priced as there are others out there who do just as well and offer albums, etc.,at at least the same quality for a lower price.

We're using Robert Wayne Photography for photography and will probably end up spending aroun $4,000 for everything inluding a second photographer, a top of the line album, parent albums, and the disc of images.

We haven't decided if we're going professional for video or just having a friend get some of the key moments for us, but GT Modern looked very good and would fit perfectly within your budget.

I don't think you can go wrong with DMS, but I do think there is better value out there.

FutureMrsN3312

I would check out the Artist Group.  They are in that price range and you get a lot for your money.  We found them to be the best value.  (we had the same 6-7k budget)

http://www.theartistgroup.com/

sowinnah

hi there!

my best friend used dean michael & i gotta say i was not impressed with his work. it's outdated & very posed. i think with your budget you have a lot of options to find someone really amazing at what they do.

sowinnah

we used jessica oh photography, she was incredible & our pictures are really unique & so much "us" if that makes sense. i think she's in the $4k range now

Bride215

 

marymargaretxo

I'm using Dean Michaels for my wedding and so far I have not been disappointed. We already had our engagement shoot and the pictures came out sooo amazing; I absolutely love them!! We ended up going with "The Special" package when I booked this summer. I have no idea if that was just a summer thing or not, but it's basically the Cosmopolitan with a couple add-ons. It's about $5,000 plus my engagement shoot that was about $400. I decided not to do videography, but I keep going back and forth as to whether I should just suck it up and do it. So I'm pretty much undecided right now in that department!

I love Dean Michaels Studio so far and they have been nothing but professional thus far! Nichola has been amazing in helping me with anything I needed from her. Their style is exactly what I want for my wedding photos and so far I am so happy that I picked them!

Side note, Dean Michaels has been in the business for a very long time. My family has used his studio for various events (weddings, baptisms, family portraits, etc.). The fact that my family keeps going back to them really says something to me, and that is one of the major reasons why I chose them.

I hope this helped!

[Deleted User]

I chose Dean Michaels as my photographer for my May 2014 wedding. We had originally scheduled engagement photos, but the weather this spring/summer didn't work out for us. Dean and Nichola kept in contact with me the whole time, trying to figure out when we could reschedule. I never felt like I wasn't important, and they always had time to chat with me. We never did reschedule the engagement pictures because it was too late to get them on my save the dates, but I'm still super confident in my choice with Dean Michaels. My fiance loved Dean's photos, thought Dean was a great person to chat with and we also liked the fact that he's been in business for over 30 years, he's not going to just pack up shop and walk away with all of my money. He is a bit expensive, but not much more expensive then others, and we're getting a lot for our money. If we had the money we would definitely choose a video package with them also. I've read a lot of great reviews, and actually I've run into so many people who are using him or who have used him and don't regret a thing! Just remember photos last a lifetime! Good luck!