Chris van winkle photography
Bay Shore
(15)
Bay Shore
(15)
15 customer reviews
Chelsea Saraf
As local northern Michigan residents, we were very familiar with the photographers in our area but we wouldn’t have chosen anyone besides Chris for our wedding day. Chris is not only an absolute joy to work with but he is so creative in capturing the beauty of the moment naturally without over editing his images. Every image seems as if you are in that very moment - which we have always fallen in love with! Chris and LeAnn did a wonderful job working with all of our families and were very helpful in choosing the location of our shots based on the weather that day. We couldn’t believe the quantity and quality of the photos that were captured. I personally have watched his customized image slideshow (with our wedding songs) probably a million times! If you are looking for an easy-going, creative and talented photographer in northern Michigan, I would highly recommend him for your special day! More...
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Lynn Adams
The pictures were awesome and will remind us of the great moments of the day our daughter got married. He was great in suggesting poses for pictures but also took many candid shots of our guests. He helped write a time line to keep everything flowing. They were the BEST wedding pictures we have ever seen. More...
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Arianna Harris
I didn't know taking photos was supposed to be this fun! Chris was an absolute champ! We planned to have Chris for our up North 2020 Wedding but when that was not to be and we moved our wedding to a different state, we traded our deposit for engagement photos.
We looked for a photographer for our 2021 wedding in Wisconsin and meanwhile and got our photos back from the engagement session. We were head over heels in love with these photos and couldn't choose anybody else. Chris so kindly agreed to come to Wisconsin for our wedding and we were overjoyed.
Chris made our whole day so simple. He kept things light and fun and when he needed to get unruly groomsmen to behave, he did it with great expertise. We spent alot of time with Chris on our wedding day and he was simultaneously professional and artistic. Chris capitalized on some beautiful lighting and some non-traditional spaces and it made for gorgeous pictures. I liked how bright Chris's pictures turned out and how wholesome they felt. Every photo was unique and simple. Nothing felt posed and Chris was so willing to let my husband and I just play and be ourselves. Chris gave guidance on our timeline and helped us get pictures with almost all of our guests. Chris returned our photos in a month which was such quick turn around and his pricing was no-nonsense simple. He never tried to nickel and dime us and was always quick to communicate.
Chris was great at managing family and friends. He has a well trained eye and exuded joy during our time with him. We loved working with Chris and we loved the product he created.
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Jess Mellema
Chris and LeAnn were great. Our wedding plans, location had some challenges to overcome but they rolled with things and helped us make the best of them. Our pictures are beautiful. We're appreciative of the support and guidance that was provided. More...
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Megan Felker
HONESTLY could not have picked a better photographer. Chris was amazing and made us feel so relaxed. Nothing stressful about the whole process. Also, his assistant LeAnn was amazing! They both worked so well together and had fun. I highly recommend them! More...
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Kelly Beagle
I can't say enough great things about Chris and LeAnn! Chris was very responsive and very easy to work with! From our fun engagement photo shoot to his guidance in prepping a day of timeline and throughout our wedding day, they were an absolute joy to work with and I am so excited with how everything turned out! Highly recommend Chris for your photo needs! More...
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Martine Fogarty
Chris and Leann did a wonderful job photographing our wedding day! Our family and friends still speak about how great they both were! We were pleased with how the photos and video turned out that was shared with us (and so were our guests)! Both Chris and Leann brought an easygoing and professional vibe to our event and we will forever appreciate the role Chris Van Winkle Photography played in our special day! More...
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Amber Langley
Our wedding venue had a list of preferred vendors that we used as a guide when we chose who would be a part of our wedding day. Be aware that just because a vendor is on the list, does not automatically mean that the vendor is wonderful and you won't have any issues. We emailed and spoke with different vendors in the different categories, but sadly we ended up questioning why some of the vendors even made the cut. This was definitely not true of Chris Van Winkle Photography. Both Chris and his assistant, LeAnn, were amazing! We had emailed him images we wanted to recreate and they came prepared with the images printed on paper, which were crossed off as we went through the day. Chris even shot a heart-shaped photo of all of our guests with a drone that turned out beautifully! They were both easy to work with and our bridal party and guests were also very impressed the day of the wedding, as well as when they saw the photos and slideshow within a month after our wedding. We loved all of the personal touches and have watched the slideshow he created (with songs from our wedding) numerous times! The pictures they took will allow us to remember all of the special moments from the most magical day of our lives. We will be forever grateful and we can't wait to make canvases for our forever home that we'll be building soon... More...
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Allie F
We couldn’t recommend Chris more!! He is professional, personable and very is good at his job. Our wedding pictures as the wedding couple and our families were fantastic. He also does a great job at keeping the wedding party in tune for the pictures required to make your special day memorable. He did a great job taking pictures during the entire day/night and it was fun to see the wedding guests interactions and experiences that we were not present for. Overall we couldn’t recommend him more! More...
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Samantha Wickham
Chris and LeAnn were amazing on our wedding day. They showed up on time and ready to capture our day. You can tell Chris loves what he does and has so much fun with it. His easy going personality is exactly what we needed on such a high stress day. We now have the best memories of our day thanks to him. He kept us on time without rushing through any shots and made sure we were comfortable along the way. Our guests keep commenting on how wonderful Chris and LeAnn were as well. We would not hesitate to contact Chris for any future photography needs! More...
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Lauren Ratterman Rinner
Chris was incredible on our wedding day! He was very easy to work with, easy to communicate with, and caught amazing shots. His easy-going and chill personality went well with our wedding vision. We loved how kind and flexible he was. We got so many pictures that we absolutely loved. Chris and LeAnn worked quickly and efficiently to get all of the photos taken so that we could also enjoy the reception with our guests. He knew how to capture the beauty of our day and the scenery around us. We would highly recommend him to anyone! More...
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Lindsay Polzin
Chris and LeAnn were absolutely outstanding! Our photos are simply beautiful. Our family and friends have shared how comfortable the photographers were to work with, and how high-quality the finished images are. They were so personable and got all the shots we were looking for, and really captured the happiness of the day. We had to reschedule our wedding and move the location to a different city, and Chris was willing to travel, which we are so grateful for. They went above and beyond. I can’t recommend Chris highly enough! More...
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Katherine Swassing
I loved working with Chris! He traveled to our wedding on Mackinac island, he, and his team, were very easy to work with, and our pictures came out beautifully!
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I was freaking out a little bit before the wedding about the weather as our wedding was outside and 6hours from our home. I would check my weather apps a couple times a day fearing the worst, as the forecast was abysmal! On our phone call a week before he was very reassuring and said “don’t even check that! It changes daily and you’re going to stress yourself out! Let me worry about that. We will get beautiful pictures no matter the weather.” He was very right
During my wedding, it seemed like he and his staff were omnipresent! He got everything! Everything that I remember that was great about my wedding, and everything that might not have been amazing but made it unique, he has an absolutely beautifully shot picture of!
We had talked before about how I wasn’t really into posed photos, and we talked about getting more candid shots. While we do have some of the required posed photos(and I get it, you need them) I actually really love them! He made those easy to achieve also by having me check off which photos I needed to have and send it in before the wedding date. Those photos went so fast and smoothly that most of my bridal party got to enjoy a HUGE chunk of the cocktail hour, and were VERY appreciative.
He had good timing throughout the wedding day that allowed my husband and I to enjoy ourselves. He took just us out for photos at the perfect times that also allowed for our guests to have fun. We were able to do everything at our wedding- cocktails, mingle, food, dance and nothing felt rushed!
He also got the most amazing photos! They’re gorgeous and ALL of my guests loved them! He was very easy to work with while shooting as well. “Smile… now don’t smile.. don’t do that… what do you think?” Allowing is to look at them as we go. The process of receiving them was so easy, and he took pictures of the guests as couples and families. We were able to put a link to the photos he had taken throughout the night in the thank you cards, and our guests were then able to purchase them in many different formats.
He was the perfect photographer for us and our wedding!
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Kate Bondi
Chris was fantastic! He and LeAnn were professional yet relaxed and were so fun to have throughout our entire wedding day. He gave great tips for posing in certain shots, but also let us be our natural selves. The lighting wasn't great at our ceremony spot and he quickly knew a great backup option. In addition to getting the photos back quickly Chris also prepared a beautiful slideshow set to music that we loved seeing and sharing with others. Highly recommend!! More...
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Nancy Johnson
While my daughter's wedding was almost 5 weeks ago, I am still coming down from the wedding high of how beautiful and happy it all was. Thanks to Chris I don't have to just remember it, but can look at the picture and relive it. The slideshow he compiled set to two songs the wedding couple picked was breathtaking and I couldn't stop watching it, it was that amazing. Chris got all the important planned shots, as well as capturing moments and expressions that are so fun to look back on, perhaps seeing some for the first time since we could not be everywhere at once! His style is professional, yet fun and pleasant. And he doesn't do any cornball contrived shots, which my daughter and I really appreciated. We both highly recommend him. More...
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