Quick to take our money but failed to fulfill our contract We hired Avery to shoot our engagement and wedding. The package we selected includes engagement pics and video, wedding pics and video, and album. My wife and I got married on Sept 3rd 2022, and we still haven't received the album or wedding videos. Unable to contact him because he pretty much ghosted us. His IG is active, but he doesn't respond to our inquires or even respond to our contact attempts. Think twice before hiring him read more

Avery and his team are absolutely phenomenal. Avery and his videographer, Richard, did our engagement shoot. We were both a little nervous, as we don't usually do things like this. But from the get go, Avery and Richard's easy going and professional personalities out us at ease. They listened to our ideas (wanting to have our dogs in the pictures) and just went for it. We are blown away by the results. The team also worked on our wedding! The whole team was very professional and fun to work with. The quality of the pictures and videos really just continue to blow us away. We cannot compliment Avery and his team enough to express how fantastic they are. read more

See all

I wish I could recommend Avery but I just can't. In 2019, my wife and I hired Avery b/c we were impressed by his style of photography and editing. For our wedding, Avery did a great job. We had gotten some unforgettable shots. However, what happened afterwards was basically 3-4 years of disappointment and excuses from Avery. We were initially given a discount for printing our photos. Unfortunately Avery did not want to honor the discount for one reason or another. At one point, Avery said he promised to honor it but not in 2020 b/c COVID destroyed his income at the time. Afterwards, between 2021 to 2022, Avery still would not budge. I should note that this whole time getting a hold of Avery was very difficult, as he would often ghost or just flat out ignore us. He is not very professional, and not someone you'd want to hire to take photos you'd want to remember for the rest of your life. At this point, I've given up, I don't even have the printing rights over the photos he took, meaning I can't print high quality photos of my own wedding. Reader, please please go with another photographer. read more

When my now husband and I were looking for a photographer, we made a tier list. After lots of weeding out of mediocre photographers, we narrowed our selections down to two. We resolved to contact the last two to see which one we wanted to go with. From the minute I first met Avery on zoom, I knew that I wanted to work with him. Not only are his photos phenomenal and extremely cinematic, they are somehow able to tell a story in the photo. I felt moved looking at some of his albums and I wondered how he was able to do that. When we actually got to working with him on our wedding day, I understood his process: He actually knows how to pose a model and gives clear instructions on where to put your hand, when to tilt head down, where to look, etc. This is what I was specifically looking for, as I've had some photographers who were just 'okay' that snapped away but gave no direction as to what to do. I think this is the mark of an excellent photographer and one who has clearly done many weddings. My butt looks great in all the photos. :) Also, I feel like I would qualify as a quirky bride, and he totally embraced that and took photos of my multiple plushies. That's a +100 in my book. read more

We first met Avery and his team at a wedding fair in 2018, and what caught my attention was the near flawless and perfectly lit quality of his specially designed photobooth which me and my maid of honor LOVED and what caught my now-husband's attention was the amazing near-life size portraits he had on display (priorities I guess). After having a great chat with Avery and the lead videographer on his team, Richard, we decided to book an appointment to chat further and learn about the different packages. We had a great conversation and Avery took the time to understand our relationship as a couple and what's most important to us. He also showed us many samples of his and Richard's past works. One of the things we loved most was that he offered an "all-in-one" package that covered three critical elements we wanted under one point of contact--photography, videography and photobooth. And with so many other things to coordinate during a wedding, it's a no-brained to opt for one POC rather than 3 different ones. Avery was flexible with adjusting aspects of our package (we already had an engagement shoot), which we very much appreciated. During the day of the wedding, he showed up with his crew and had full command of the situation. I trusted him to know what he was doing, and he asked us small questions regarding preferences but mostly took the lead. In the middle of a chaotic day, you need someone who can lead and coordinate a crew with as little direction from you as possible, because you want to enjoy the moment! Because we stayed on schedule, we were able to squeeze in a photoshoot that yielded some incredible photos...in addition to the ones from the usual getting ready, ceremony and reception shots. Avery had great artistic vision and even an area that didn't look quite amazing in real life is transformed in his photos. One of the biggest hidden surprises for us though, was the final video Richard produced. He captured moments in a pretty magical way. We trusted him to direct us for some the shots and we're so glad we did. He managed to time the music perfectly to the different parts of our video and had such an attention to detail. It's hard to describe visual and audio synchronization in words. But what I can share is that one of our guests, who's seen her fair share of weddings, told me that it was "the best wedding video" she has ever seen. Last but not least, we received our wedding album recently and it looked amazing. Avery walked us through the different options during our photo and video viewing session, and we decided to upgrade from our existing package. Avery was patient with the rounds of edits, and we ended up with a beautiful finished product that will remind us of the special day. We can't wait for Avery to help us capture more important life moments in the future! read more

This review is long overdue. I found Avery Wong at a bridal show in SF. My husband and I were wooed by his smooth talking and the fact that he gave us a token for a discount off of a wedding package if we were to purchase one from him. After my husband and I mulled it over (and because Avery seemed legit and responsible), we decided to book him for our wedding and save-the-date shoot and signed a contract with him. My husband and I already had our "save the date" concept in mind, which was to be a "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" movie poster concept (note, OUR idea, not Avery's). We reserved a date to shoot, which was to be at his Oakland studio/house (?). The day of the shoot, I called him in the morning to ask for the address of the studio, as I realized he had yet to provide it. On the call, he sounded like he had just woken up (it was close to noon), and asked me if we even had a shoot today. He said he had just gotten back from Hawaii yesterday and had forgotten all about our shoot. He didn't believe me when I said that we had indeed booked that day, and put me on hold for several minutes while he checked his calendar. After he saw that we were scheduled for that day, he reluctantly gave me the studio address and said to come by. When we got to the studio, NOTHING was set up or ready for the shoot. He seemed to have no idea how he was going to shoot it, and my husband and I had to come up with how to style it and use our props. Avery literally pointed and clicked, that's it. As we had to do most of the work, it seemed VERY unprofessional in my book, and definitely not worth the money paid. I decided that day not to use this unreliable, forgetful, seemingly hungover person for my wedding. I already had enough to stress over as far as dealing with all our wedding planning and other vendors, and I did not need a burden like this, wondering if this "photographer" would even show up to the wedding (or instead, forget that he was scheduled to shoot that day). The worst part of this is that after I expressed my disappointment with our first shoot and explained that I did not want to work any further, he seemed very unapoligetic, and refused to give back our thousands of dollars of deposit back. He would not let us just pay for the "save the date" shoot, and instead, took all of the money for the deposit (which was way more than what he charges for just a save the date shoot). So, not only were we unsatisfied with his demeanor, unprofessionalism, and lack of apology, we were also swindled out of thousands of dollars. This "photographer" is someone I would not recommend to my worst enemy, and definitely not to anyone on Yelp. If you are busy planning your wedding and are looking for responsible professional vendors to work with, please save yourself the headache and the money and look elsewhere. read more

I highly recommend Avery Wong photography! He did a spectacular job with our engagement photos (which was a total surprise for me because I didn't think I would get a proposal during the pandemic.. but I did!) Avery was very professional; he scouted out the location and took every opportunity to direct my now husband to the perfect spot and backdrop for him to pop the question. I honestly just thought he was taking pictures on the beautiful beach or wildlife until the ring was in front of me and my boyfriend was on his knee.. it was magical. We had the candid photos as well as some posed ones after we toasted and I got (most of) my tears out. We lucked out with one of the most beautiful pastel sunsets in December 2020- so the pictures are phenomenal! My fiance then surprised me again and told me that we were getting married the next day..! So Avery also took our wedding/ elopement photos. He has such a keen eye for staging items and he asked a lot of questions to try to get to know me better as a bride to be and what was important to me so he could capture it. (Most brides don't sit on the ground in their wedding dress playing animal crossing 20min before the ceremony.. but one of the many small/ personal touches he included in our photos was both our switches.. it was so sweet and funny!) His vision is unique and creative while still giving you the "traditional" photos that you expect. We have pictures of EVERYTHING and Avery gave such great direction in terms of posing and different angles. I am so thrilled with how everything turned out- Avery will definitely be our go-to photographer for any and all future events! Tania and Jake read more

Avery Wong Photography - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

I dont even know where to begin with the most talented photographer i have ever seen. Avery have done such a wonderful job with our special day. I had seen alot of photographer and companies who have done weddings and some are good but theres EXCEPTIONAL. We chose Avery because of his work before even meeting him we are already sold the way his portfolio speaks for itself. The whole experience was very smooth and his team made sure we are all taking care of. We are very grateful for what he had delivered and forever thankful to the BEST experience that we had on our wedding day. read more

Avery Wong Photography - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

Avery is fantastic, friendly and fun, and very passionate about his work. There are so many words we could use to describe him. Ultimately the best description would be, we have loved having Avery as our photographer at our wedding and could not have imagined anyone else fulfill such a big role for us. Avery will take the time to chat with you, well before your big day, to collect information on what style would fit you best and what/who you would like to be focused on other than the lovely couple. He will also take detailed notes to ensure that this will continue smoothly even up till the date of when everything gets so busy. More than the notes and photography, each couple means a lot to Avery. Even months after our wedding, whenever we are fortunate to bump into Avery at a mall or get a message from him, he still remembers who we are and details about what we like. We even had a few unique requests for our big day and Avery was gracious enough to agree to all of them. I remember being unsure of if we should select Avery and this was the point that made us sure we wanted him for our big day. Till today, I still remember his exact words: "My bride and groom are requesting this, of course I would definitely agree". In regards to the planning and photography. My wife is very meticulous and Avery took the time and effort to ensure that he not only matched but exceeded her expectations. He was also very accommodating despite our busy schedules and would schedule appointments meet us for planning when we requested. He even gave us advice on not only photography but also on providing us suggestions for a DJ. Avery's photography was so well loved by family and friends that a lot of our loved ones ask us on how he managed to capture so many iconic shots. Upon viewing his pictures many have asked what editing Avery did to achieve such effects and I was always very proud to state that it was all done though Avery's exceptional sense of lighting and knack for spotting a good picture. Even in our wedding video, Avery and Richard captured the essence of our wedding. I am unashamed to say friends and family have so enjoyed our video that they have requested if they could share it with their friends just to showcase Avery and Richard's work. If we had to have a photographer at any event, we would undoubtedly pick Avery. He comes highly recommended from us to all our family and friends! We highly recommend Avery as your photographer for any life events! read more

I dont even know where to begin with the most talented photographer i have ever seen. Avery have done such a wonderful job with our special day. I had seen alot of photographer and companies who have done weddings and some are good but theres EXCEPTIONAL. We chose Avery because of his work before even meeting him we are already sold the way his portfolio speaks for itself. The whole experience was very smooth and his team made sure we are all taking care of. We are very grateful for what he had delivered and forever thankful to the BEST experience that we had on our wedding day. read more

Avery Wong Photography - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

Avery was such a pleasure to work with! We hired him to take our engagement photos and he made it so fun and easy for us. We did not have a lot of experience taking couple photos, but Avery was able to direct us easily to capture beautiful photos. I would highly recommend him to capture any special moments or occasions. read more

We had the pleasure of having Avery Wong take our engagement and wedding photos, and I can say with 9000% certainty that he is the best photographer I've ever had the pleasure of meeting! He can capture the best moments with sniper-like precision and his work has gorgeous framing, dynamic angles, and vibrant lighting and color. He's as PRO-tographer as you can get (sorry for the pun)! Thanks for chronicling our wedding; the photos and videos you provided with adorn our home and hearts forever. I'd give you 10 out of 5 stars, if I could! read more

Avery Wong Photography - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

My fiance, our parents and I are so impressed with the engagement photos Avery took of us. We were nervous, but Avery was the ultimate professional and made the whole session feel very fun. My fiance and I are novices at posing, so we asked for a lot of direction. Avery was incredibly polite, knowledgeable and friendly with his directions, and the shots turned out amazing! I really couldn't ask for better lighting than what Avery +his camera was able to produce. He was incredibly professional - arriving early to our photo shoot and delivering the photos afterwards on time as promised. We can't wait to work with him at our reception in a few months! read more

Avery Wong Photography - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

Avery is a very talented, professional, and fun photographer! I am very happy with the way everything worked out with our engagement and wedding photos. Engagement Shoot: Having 2 dogs, of course we had to have a "Safe The Date" pictures with our 2 fur babies. Never taking a family picture with the dogs before, we had no idea how this was going to turn out. Everything turned out perfect; the dogs were both looking at him in the picture (thanks to Avery's high pitched dog noise). Wedding Photos: It was nice having a few conversations with Avery on the phone leading up to the wedding day. We got our timeline with him all buttoned out so we felt comfortable leading up to the wedding and everything turned out smoothly. He made sure to note any important events/photos that we wanted him to take, along with anything that might not be obvious. Photos turned out great, from start to finish. P.S. The day of our wedding turned out to be 105+ degrees with an outdoor first look and outdoor ceremony. Avery always had a smile on, even though I was dying from the heat. read more

We used Avery for our Photo Booth (we already had a friend recommendation for our photographer) and he did a fantastic job. The booth got lots of use and everyone really enjoyed it. The process to get setup with him prior was effortless. We highly recommend using Avery for his Photo Booth and, I would imagine, he is just as a good for all your photography needs. read more

I was so nervous about finding a photographer for my wedding and knew that finding a good one was going to be the most important part of my wedding. My biggest concern was making sure the photographer knew about good lighting. My wedding was at a beach so I knew it would be a lot brighter. I had a friend who also got married on a beach and her pictures in my opinion were awful. All her pics were whitened out and you couldn't see anything. Clearly her photographer didn't know what she was doing. When I saw Avery's work I completely fell in love with his work. It was amazing! I immediately knew he was going to be awesome. When he found out where we were getting married he was so excited and was eager to shoot our big day. We met up for our engagement pictures at Sutro Park. It was a nice sunny day with amazing backdrops. Avery was awesome with giving direction and made us feel comfortable. It can be a little awkward when all the spotlight is on you and not sure what to do, but Avery was great with giving advice what to do. All of our engagement pictures turned out stunning so I new I would have nothing to worry about on my wedding day. When our big day arrived Avery was perfectly on time with everything and got straight to work taking great detailed pictures. And I will say he definitely knew where the good and bad lighting was. Our pictures turned out better then I could ever have imagined! Thanks for all your hard work, Avery! read more

Avery is awesome! My husband and I asked Avery to shoot our evening wedding for which lighting may be challenging. He said no problem, I have a lot of experience with evening weddings, I can use the walls to bounce light and make adjustments as needed. I told him there are no walls and there will be a giant glowing bright light source behind us... Needless to say, he did an amazing job! We love our daytime pre ceremony photos and our challenging light situation wedding photos! I really could not have asked for more! I would highly recommend him! In fact I have recommended him to at least 4-5 friends and clients for their weddings as well. read more

Avery Wong Photography - Giant glowing light source! - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

Avery is an amazing photographer! Just look at his photos, they are breath taking! I was lucky enough to have Avery as my photographer this past May and recently I was able to see some of the proofs. They are stunning! I was so nervous the days leading up to the wedding because of the forecast of rain. I was actually getting really bummed out when an e-mail from Avery came saying some like "If it rains I have a great idea for a photo with this umbrella, it will be amazing!" It was the one bright side anyone had said, and it flipped my rainy wedding into positive light again. One of my favorite photos was taken during the heavier rain. Avery had all the bridesmaids and myself standing under an awning outside, while he stood in the rain. The photo of all the ladies, and the lovely streaks of rainy light, is so beautiful. I barely remember taking the photo, but I am beyond happy it exists. Avery is great at finding new angles to take photos from. There's a lovely one of me off in the distance waiting to walk down, I didn't think anyone could see me due to the redwoods, but Avery found a lovely angle between some trees. It frames my father and I so well. Avery isn't afraid to get in the dirt or the rain to get you the best shot. His eye for a good photo is so finely tuned, I mean just look at his results. The groom and I were antsy to get back to the party after taking a few photos when Avery stopped dead in his tracks. Something about the lighting by these trees had caught his eye. I could tell he was excited, and I've heard that when your photographer is excited about a shot then something really amazing must be happening. So we took a few extra photos, and now seeing them! They remind me of the cover of The Princess Bride. I plan to get it printed large on canvas to have forever in my home. I really think Avery will get you the best shots. If you like his photos posted here then please book him. All his photos are that amazing and he will not disappoint. read more

Avery (photographer) and Richard (videographer) are masters of their craft with a very unique and dramatic style that we truly love. We just completed our engagement shoot with them as part of their larger wedding package and it was phenomenal. We had been mulling over a rather ambitious multi-genre shoot idea for several months, and Avery and Richard worked with us in the creative process the entire way, providing their expertise on what we could feasibly accomplish and guiding us through props and idea refinement. They adapted our vision into their own, incorporating their expertise so that their style could shine while respecting our ideas. The day of the shoot was an absolute blast and Avery and Richard were the pinnacle of passion and professionalism. They arrived with a clear vision for the shoot and Richard even storyboarded the scenes of our short film beforehand based on all our previous discussions. We shot at multiple locales with a little hiking in between and Avery and Richard were troopers lugging around their heavy equipment from one site to the next, working through biting wind chill and low-light conditions. Even as we got late into the night, Avery and Richard did not lose an ounce of steam, determined to get every shot they had planned and not willing to miss any opportunities. We could tell they really cared for their craft and were not just going through the motions. They truly looked like they were enjoying themselves despite the late hour and the brutal elements, and in those moments, they exceeded our expectations. We've been able to preview some of the photos from our shoot and they're as stunning as we had hoped based on how fun and professional our experience with Avery and Richard has been. We have great faith in the remainder of their work and are thrilled to have them as our photographers for our upcoming wedding! read more

Avery has a magical eye. We picked a great location in Big Sur and he did the rest. He even helped my line up the best shot for the proposal unbeknownst to my fiancé! I love the way all the photos came out. He was really easy and excellent to work and communicate with. I recommend him to anyone looking to capture unique and beautiful pictures. He led us though a wonderful shoot and had the perfect eye and equipment to do it! read more

We've used Avery for events, portraits, and kid photography (even pet photography, he's done test shots on our dog). He's got a really good eye with the camera and distinct photography style; even something as casual as a house party looks like the coolest event through his lens. But he's versatile and captures the silliness and cuteness of my little ones just as easily. (My younger daughter had an obvious bruise on her face during her session, and going through the final album I completely forgot about it until I saw one of the extra silly shots he left unedited.) For all our sessions, he's never rushed us, loved to try different things, and had a good sense of humor about everything. I will continue to use him and recommend him to our friends. read more

Avery Wong Photography - a pic from my daughter's half-year shoot - Event Photography Near Me - San Francisco, California

Amazing photographer, easy to work with, and very professional. Pictures turned out great.

Avery was very accommodating with our schedule and time. We had to re-schedule due to a mix up with the suit rental (Which was free with his referral) however waiting a couple weeks for such a nice suit was worth it. I have a very hard time getting days off of work and Avery was able to fit us in on a Saturday. The experience was so fun and exciting for me and my groom to be. The pictures were absolutely stunning. Picking a good location helps but a great photographer gives that WOW factor. Everyone who has seen our pictures just loves them. We could not be happier and cannot wait to see how amazing the wedding pictures look. read more

My NOW wife and I met Avery at a wedding fair where we won a $600 package engagement photo session. Unfortunately we had already completed our engagement photos but Avery allowed us to put the $600 towards a photobooth as well as upgrading and throwing in some extras for us as well! I wasnt too sure if the photobooth would be very popular or not but it seemed fun nonetheless to have at our wedding. Well the photobooth was SO MUCH FUN!! and it was extremely popular! From what I saw he was busy ALL NIGHT and our guests were having a blast taking all sorts of pictures using their props! Would 100% recommend! read more

A few years ago, Avery did the photography for our wedding, and it was awesome. He worked with us to capture the mood we wanted, brought along help due to the size of the outdoor venue where we had the wedding, and stayed way later than originally planned. He helped provide us with an amazing wedding album book that we always have on display in our house, and we get compliments on the photos and the "book" itself all the time. I highly recommend Avery, the photos we have will be loved for a lifetime. read more

We had so much fun at our engagement session, both of us were nervous! He makes you feel comfortable, we felt like he was an old friend. It's amazing what he can do. One particular backdrop/location I personally wanted took us quite some time to walk to, which we joked about the entire time. The shot came out beautiful and even better than we had envisioned. I can't wait to see our other engagement photos and the wedding photos next year. We couldn't have chosen anyone better to capture our celebration of a once in a lifetime moment, especially when you can not go back and retake photos. We love Avery and we can't say enough about him and the beautiful work he does. read more

Avery did my wedding in 2010. Loved every picture. I made a mouse pad of one of the pictures and brought it to work.

Avery's work is glamorous, and deeply human in both classic portrait work more photo journalist shots of captured moments. We searched for East Bay-based wedding photographers and his work was captivating and diverse, (all targets on our vision statement!) but he also went out of his way to accommodate our needs as we finalized our plans. He made time to get back to us and find alternatives and options . His dedication was so refreshing and awesome that we can't speak highly enough for his work and his attitude. read more

I am no dunce behind a camera; although I've never covered all the bills that way, I've been paid for my images and photography services before--my point being that I can evaluate a photo from a somewhat reasonably knowledgeable standpoint. I also like to make clothes, and I try to take good pictures of them; sometimes I am satisfied with the results. This man, on the other hand, posted a picture of one of my models from a fashion show last weekend that made me feel like I should just quit shooting altogether. I probably won't quit though, so really he just set the bar for me. Seriously, I was stunned by this image. I also watched him work with several models at the aforementioned event and he seemed to have a good "bedside manner", which is so important when shooting portraits. Getting a model to relax makes all the difference in the world. This and many other skills are evidenced in the quality of his photos. I recommend. read more