Mike Pham Photography LLC

The owner of this business, although friendly enough on the day of the event, has proven to be dishonest, spiteful, and has violated both the terms and the spirit of our contract.

We hired him to photograph our November 2022 wedding in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bottom line up front: ALL photos were filtered, despite specifically requesting that they not be; the majority of photographer's efforts went to the groom and groomsmen, with zero equivalent photos of the bride (with zero photos of the bride with each bridesmaid, yet multiple photos of the groom with each groomsman, for example); instead of adding coverage, the second shooter acted more like an assistant, and the two men and their equipment are in quite a few of each other's photos (both examples uploaded with this review show how). There is a grand total of ONE photo of the bridal party lined up (bride and groom with bridesmaids and groomsmen) from the entire day, and the Bride specifically had to ask Mike to take this one photo during the reception; unfortunately, the groom’s eyes are closed and because Mike refuses to give us the raw photos, we have nothing else to use to photoshop the picture to fix it. The second shooter also posted three videos of our wedding on IG the next day, tagging only Mike, the venue and the wedding coordinator. When we asked for a copy of those videos, Mike Pham refused, stating that they "don't do previews." Even when we finally got our final photos back, we never received any stills from the videos that were posted, let alone the videos themselves.

Although he first offered us the option to purchase our "raw" photos for $800, after we shared why we feel dissatisfied with the pictures and asked for a discount (we believed $400 would be fair, in light of the many issues), he has decided not to sell us the photos *at all* -- regardless of the price. We have offered to pay the full $800 multiple times, but his refusal is "firm." I've spent dozens of hours on photoshop attempting to fix things like the groom's eyes being closed in our only wedding party photo.

In refusing to sell us the "raw" photos at all, Mike Pham insists that every issue is our fault (blaming the bride for arriving "not dressed," for example, when he was specifically hired to take a "getting ready" photo of the bride when she first arrived at the venue; note that when the bride's limo arrived, he was nowhere to be found and remained absent for so long that we had to put the dress on without him), and blaming the rain, which actually photographed beautifully. When presented with evidence of the heavy filters (side-by-side photos next to iphone pics by our guests), he has denied using any.

We have offered NOT to leave bad reviews for his business if Mike would only just acknowledge the issues and promise not to make the same mistakes again. He refused, and we don’t want others to have the same experience we did.

Long story short:
DO *NOT* HIRE THIS GUY TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR WEDDING. More...

Mike and his crew were amazing at our wedding! First off, the price was reasonable compared to others from the island. Secondly, we really liked his online portfolio so we went ahead and booked him. Prior to the wedding, we spoke about the timeline of the wedding and he gave us peace of mind which was very important. On the day of the wedding, it was our first time meeting him but we felt the chemistry immediately and we were very comfortable with him guiding us through the day. Although the day was stressful, he made the process a lot smoother than we expected. 6 weeks later, we received the photos and we absolutely love his work! Couldn't have asked for a better crew to capture our wedding. My husband and I highly recommend him. More...

Reviewed on Google Maps

Choosing a wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you will make when wedding planning. After meeting other vendors and looking at their photos we were very impressed with Mike Pham's work. Some photographers stage their photos around the background/scenery of the couple. When looking at these pictures you forget to focus on the couple because you are too busy admiring what's around them. We noticed that Mike was able to incorporate the surroundings around the couple without taking the focal point away from them. When looking at Mike's work we also noticed his ability to capture candid photos during the wedding day. While it is nice to have everything picture perfect, the candid photos truly show what the day was like. Working with Mike the day of the wedding was enjoyable. He and his staff made us feel comfortable and allowed us to have fun while taking pictures. Mike and team were very efficient and were able to capture everything we wanted and more. He and his staff are a pleasure to work and we like that fact that we were able to be ourselves around them. When the pictures arrived we were absolutely blown away by his work! He pays very close attention to detail and is very creative. He had meetings with us prior to our wedding day to get to know us. My husband has a love for lego and it was something Mike remembered. While taking getting ready pictures he incorporated lego in his pictures that he took. It's little things like this that makes Mike's work a par above the rest. I highly suggest Mike Pham Photography, they won't disappoint! More...

Reviewed on Google Maps

Mike Pham was our wedding photographer and he was amazing! Wedding days are usually stressful, especially for the bride, but Mike has a calm, light-hearted, and easy-going demeanor which put me and my husband immediately at ease. He was actually our first vendor to show up on the wedding day, even before our day-of-coordinator and make-up artists. He was such a pleasure to work with that our wedding guests were even complimenting on how nice he was. We also loved the style of his photography because that fun, light-hearted spirit flowed through into our pictures which were not only romantic, but also playful. Prior to our wedding, Mike was also very helpful with wedding tips and suggestions to make the wedding day run smoother. Given Mike's experience in Hawaii, he's been to multiple wedding venues and so knows the best spots and angles to get the perfect picture, especially tricks on capturing that infamous Hawaii sunset wedding photo. My husband and I would recommend Mike to anyone who is looking for a professional photographer. You won't regret it! More...

Reviewed on Google Maps

Though there are many talented photographers on Oahu, Mike Pham truly stands out. When my hubby and I began our search for our wedding photographer, we knew we needed someone who was responsive to emails (it drives us totally bonkers when people don’t respond timely), wasn’t unreasonably priced, and whose style was photojournalistic. Mike is all that and a bag of sweet maui onion potato chips!From the time we sent him the first email (inquiring about pricing and availability) to the last (thanking him for our lovely wedding photos), Mike was quick to respond, super friendly, and answered our many many questions. We love his photography style and thank the heavens that he wasn’t out-of-this-world pricey. We were pretty nervous as we sifted through his portfolio and worried that we wouldn’t be able to afford him, but Mike’s prices are very reasonable. :) Mike was nice enough to meet with us before our big day and let us know it was okay that we are kind of awkward in front of a camera. He reassured us that he would provide us with ample direction, but would still keep it natural and organic. He definitely delivered on our big day. Mike and his crew showed up right on time and proceeded to divide and conquer. Mike came up to the bridal suite and his second shooter went down to the groomsmen’s room to begin snapping pics. Mike and his crew were very professional and kept us on schedule for photos all day and night. He had so many fun photo ideas and just genuinely loves what he does — and it really shows. The end result is an album full of photos we will treasure for a lifetime.About 2 months after the wedding, we received the link to the online gallery, followed by a USB of all the photos and some select prints which arrived in a beautiful wooden box. Mike captured our day exactly as we want to remember it and we are so lucky to have been able to work with him. More...

Reviewed on Google Maps