I was referred to Maha Studios by a friend and was quite nervous as they are based out of Chicago…read moreand I was getting married in Pittsburgh, PA. I knew it would be hard to coordinate travel, meetings etc, due to the distance and I was certainly the bride that wanted to meet and get to know her vendors prior to booking them.   On the initial call, both Zainab and Aaqib were very kind and answered all of my questions regarding price, travel, different packages and hours and everything that would be included. I felt very comfortable moving forward with a team I hadn't met, only having seen their work on their website or social media accounts.   I knew I wanted to work with a company that was an expert South Asian weddings. In Pittsburgh, there aren't many (if any) photographers/videographers that focus or know the South Asian wedding traditions and photography was my husband and I's number one priority. Knowing that the Maha team has extensive experience and almost exclusively works on South Asian weddings made us feel even more comfortable in our decision to work with them.   Maha Studios included a free one hour engagement session if my husband and I visited Chicago prior to getting married. That didn't end up happening, BUT they were kind enough to drive to Pittsburgh the day before the wedding weekend and use that one hour to photograph my Mayoon event! They drove to the location, set everything up and took tons of amazing shots and video that were used in my wedding trailer.   Zainab, Aaqib and Raheel (associate videographer) worked with me the entire weekend (and suggested a few timeline changes, etc) to make sure everything went smoothly. I loved that they made time for both me AND my husband to get "getting ready" shots and made me feel comfortable in front of the camera (otherwise I am so awkward!). I asked them to focus on family members and after seeing the final photos and video, I can see that they definitely did.  They blended in and zipped around like crazy the entire weekend, while I was making sure they had food to eat and a comfortable hotel room!   Post wedding: WOW. JUST WOW. My husband and I are blown away by the photos that Zainab took and the trailer and final video that Aaqib and Raheel filmed. The photo quality is amazing, the photo album we received is beautiful, the trailer is perfect and the 3 hour long video has been playing nonstop. Aaqib responded to all of my requests on minor changes to the video on the same day and confirmed the changes were made. The follow up from everyone was incredible and I cannot wait to use Maha Studios again!

Maha studio's team is one the best Chicago wedding photographer and videographers in the…read moreChicagoland area. Seriously, stop looking and BOOK THEM NOW! They are so easy to work with, and make you feel extremely comfortable. They make the experience so much fun and are able to work and any weather condition with so many great ideas. I honestly couldn't be any happier with the level or attention they took to capture every detail. They didn't miss anything and captured every detail and every emotion. I have never seen such a beautiful album. The quality is so high end and the editing is flawless. The videographer is amazing. When first meeting him I could see how passionate he was and his work is beautiful. They were able to even use a drone to capture beautiful clips of Chicago and our wedding party. When I say they went above and beyond, they truly did. Our wedding was in November and on the first snow of they year they helped me walk through snow, ice, and all the salt. They even put up with all my ideas and climbed slippery icy steps to get out first look on top of London house downtown. I seriously love them and still hire them to all my events since. Zainab is just the sweetest, so humble and talented. Thank you again and again for capturing our wedding and for continuing to be apart of our love story. BOOK THEM NOW!! Don't miss out on this amazing team and wonderful people to work with!

We cannot recommend Alysia enough as a wedding photographer!!! We are not a couple that loves being…read morein front of a camera, but Alysia gave us prompts and guidance to make us feel comfortable and at ease with so many eyes and cameras on us throughout the day. If I had a nickel for every compliment I have received on our engagement photos or our wedding sneak peek photos (which she got to us in just a few days!), I feel like I'd come close to covering the cost of our wedding. In addition to complimenting our photos, our friends and family also complimented the photography/videography team for their respectful approach in capturing the day without barking out orders and directions as I'm sure everyone has witnessed at one wedding or another. Throughout the planning process, Alysia was always available via text, phone call, or email answering questions and offering expert recommendations, providing me reassurance that we were in good hands for the big day. We loved Alysia's guidance throughout the process, her respectful command of our group day-of, and her comfortable direction of us during our (free) engagement shoot and wedding day, not to mention the beautifully edited photos! Alysia met all of our expectations and more and we would recommend her to all of our family and friends. We might have to throw another wedding just to have her capture it again!

I cannot say how much I loved working with Alysia and S2 Photo + Cinema! I originally got the…read morerecommendation from my sister as she used Alysia and S2 for her wedding. I loved how my sister's pictures had turned out and she raved about Alysia, the team and the whole process. It was an easy choice to make when it came to my wedding and Alysia was one of the first vendors I booked! Overall, the entire process was so easy and calm. Alysia's pre-wedding process was so straightforward and she was great with coming up with suggestions on places to shoot our wedding photos. Alysia and her team were amazing to work with during our ceremony and reception as well. We didn't have to worry about anything and we got the photos and video footage that we wanted. The picture quality and shots are GORGEOUS and I cannot stop looking at the pictures! We also were able to do the film package as a trial for the company and we were blown away by those photos as well. They gave us a bit of nostalgia from our childhoods and were such a different type of photo but absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend adding it onto a photo package! Alysia was so helpful in helping us curate the vibe we were looking for in our wedding photos. She was so creative during our photo shoot and amazing photos resulted from that! Alysia and the team are also so friendly and personable which made taking photos so much fun! One of the photographers even gave me her coat to warm up after we were outside for awhile by the river in some pretty cold temperatures and wind. Overall, all of our photos, digital and film, and our video are absolutely stunning and I could not have asked for better and more beautiful photos (or people) to capture our wedding day! I would recommend Alysia and S2 Photos + Cinema to anyone and everyone!

Highly Recommend Darshna & her team…read more Dars photo did amazing job for our pre wedding photoshoot and wedding festivities. They are so nice and humble. Darshna and Bhavin are amazing and easy to work with. They made our wedding photography so much easier. They even traveled away from our wedding location for first look photoshoot despite of weather issues. Night before our wedding, weather got really stormy, and Darshna and her team managed to go through it all to show up on time next day. I truly appreciate their cooperation. They captured all amazing moments and our families can't stop talking about our wedding picture. I highly recommend them to capture your lifetime moments!!!!!! Thank you Darshna & Bhavin.

Darshana and her whole team were so much fun to work with! Their work is absolutely beautiful,…read moreprofessional, creative and captured such amazing moments throughout our events. From our pre-shoot to our reception, they captured such amazing moments of us and our families. Our goal was to accentuate the vibrancy of our formal wear and personality all in one. The whole team made us feel comfortable and made it feel as if they were part of our own family. In addition, they had such amazing communication, showed the highest level of professionalism and were always on time if not before. We had shown our families the pictures and they were in absolute awe. From capturing shots of us being silly to teaching us how to pose seriously (because my husband and I are super giggly). I cannot EMPHASIZE more on how much I recommend them! Their pictures will also bring you in awe. Thank you DARS Photography for everything!

Liz has been photographing my son since his birth. The reason we're always excited to see her -…read morebesides the incredible images she captures - is how she embraces the spirits of her subjects. In every picture she's taken of my son, I'm amazed at how well she captures his personality. Nailing a shot of a toddler running through the woods? No problem. She's also game for doing whatever it takes to get a great shot - getting down on the ground so she's on my toddler's level, putting a cow on her head to make him laugh, balancing somewhere precarious to get just the right angle. She's a consummate professional and the joy and passion she brings to her photo shoots is truly something to behold.

Disclaimer: Ours were family photos, and the quality of the pics was good, though not outstanding…read more Most of my dissatisfaction is around her business practices. Three points bothered me about using Tipping Point. 1. Not terribly creative. Liz didn't have much in the way of suggestions on how to make our photos fun and interesting. She gave us some nice locations, but beyond that, "Okay, smile!" was about all we got. Most of the "fun" pics we got were things we thought up ourselves. 2. Byzantine, paranoid (in my opinion) legal releases. Liz is very concerned that someone is going to steal her work. "Photos shared in public fora (e.g. Facebook) must be the low resolution, watermarked versions! Photos (of *my* kids) cannot be used in 'cutest baby' contests!" Where I might have become an advocate for her work, the coercive nature of her contract is such that I am inclined not to share the photos online at all. We did not have this much legal baggage with our wedding photographer, who did much more (and much better) work for us. 3. Late on delivery. Liz told us after the shoot that it would be a "couple of weeks" before we got the pics because she had a trip planned. We told her that was fine. After the two weeks were up and I emailed her to check on progress, she cheerfully told me that it'd be "another week or so". After a month, we finally received the files. I didn't like the lateness, but even more than that I didn't like the fact that she never apologized or even raised the issue. Pretty unprofessional. As I said at the start, the quality of the photos was not bad, but the rest of the baggage that came with it gives me second thoughts about recommending Tipping Point.

Top notch service!…read more We booked Millicent for our proposal, engagement, and wedding photo shoots. In all three of our events, Millicent displayed a strong passion and vision through her creativity and organizational and professional skills. For the most part, we provided her with our own ideas and locations. In areas where we needed suggestions, she was quick to provide and improvise. We provided a general schedule for our events to ensure we do not go overtime. Millicent was on top of the schedule and did not rush the process even when we went slightly overtime with the engagement photo shoot due to the gloomy, rainy weather and busy weekend traffic. In fact, she remain composed and was dedicated to taking the best shot at the best angle even if it meant she had to get drenched in the rain. Last but not least, Millicent was very punctual in responding to our e-mails. I was a pest and e-mailed her with multiple questions that included what is the most ideal time of the day to take pictures, logistics, number of locations, etc. Her responses were so detailed and to-the-point that it put me at ease, letting me know we put our pictures in the right person's hands.

Only about a month before my wedding, I decided that I wanted to do an engagement photoshoot. I…read moregoogled 'Chicago Engagement Photographer' and happened upon Millie's website, www.millicentwong.com. I was very impressed with her work, along with the work of a couple of other photographers, so I decided to inquire with several others. Millie offered the most value and quality for the money by far, so she was the obvious choice. She and I talked over the phone to get the whole concept of what exactly we were going for. She took my ideas and helped guide me through my vision. It was a huge help, because I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for. The day that we were supposed to have our photoshoot, it looked like it was going to rain. Millie called me and offered to do it the next day and made it seem like it wasn't a big deal to reschedule. She didn't want our outdoor photoshoot to be ruined by the rain. I wanted to take pictures in front of various Chicago landmarks, and name each of the tables at our reception after these locations. Eg: Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue, Soldier Field, Chicago Theater, etc. Take a look at some of the pictures I've added to the Yelp page. I think her work speaks for itself! I told her we were in a bit of a time crunch because we wanted to use the pictures for the table cards and we also wound up using one of the pictures for the placecards/favors as well as our photo guestbook. I'm usually a bit camera shy, and she quickly put us at ease. She is super fun and so cute. I really enjoyed working with her. I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone looking for an engagement and wedding photographer. Too bad we found out about her only a month before the wedding!

Katie was amazing. They took photos for my daughter's proposal party. The photos were great. they…read morewere early and even helped us set up while taking photos of us from the beginning to the end. did extra photos and did not charge us. Professional to the end. I highly recommend them.

Katie was an amazing photographer. If you're looking for a photoshoot that levels up the normal…read morephotography shoot experience (from funny stories to enjoyable company) choose Katie! She genuinely loves her art/ craft and wants you to leave happy. She'll work with you on your vision and is authentic in every way. My pup and I have awesome photos/ an awesome experience to remember his 2nd birthday living in Chicago!

Becca was an absolute dream to work with. From the very beginning she was so sweet, easygoing, and…read moremade us feel completely comfortable like we had known her forever. She went above and beyond, driving a long distance to our church without hesitation, and captured the most beautiful shots across multiple locations. Her work is truly stunning!We loved every single photo and are so glad we trusted her with the most important day of our lives. She was incredibly thoughtful and made sure every person who was important to us had special photos with us, which meant so much. Her energy was calm, kind, and effortless, and she truly made the day even better. We can't thank her enough and would love to work with her again in a heartbeat.

I am excited to be able to write Becca's first review!…read more During the planning process, my wife and I looked at dozens of photographers. After a while, they start to look the same. You notice that every wedding looks either like: an Absolut ad with slightly not attractive enough people for a magazine ad, or an American Apparel ad with way overdressed people. We met with a few, who were way more expensive than we were hoping, and figured we'd have to go with someone we weren't completely happy with, just because we couldn't find someone we really liked. Enter: Becca Heuer. We were referred by a friend of a friend, who heard of our photographer troubles. So, we met with Becca, expecting another presentation that had been given a thousand times before. But, instead, she didn't try to sell us on how she knows secret spots of beauty or how many wedding she does a year. Instead, she let her work speak for her. Before the wedding, we felt she did a great job keeping up communication without being overbearing. She even agreed to go to our venue, even though she had shot there before, to scope it out with us to get a feel for our style. Rather than forcing us to adopt her style, she worked with ours, which is quite a refreshing feeling. On the day of, she was amazing. She entered this machine-like art mode in which she was seemingly everywhere, getting shots of everything. But, she was never in the way. You'd turn your head and there she was, taking a picture before you realized she was setting up, and then gone; onto the next picture. Even only seeing the previews so far, I am amazed. Completely, totally, and unrepentingly amazed at her shots. It's kind of like the sound you hear when people are eating things that are amazingly delicious, except in pictures. They're just beautiful. I cannot add enough superlatives to describe her work as a professional photographer and artist.

Ariele was THE BEST. She is so fast, organized, and efficient. Our engagement and wedding photos…read moreare a DREAM. Her communication made me feel so looked after and secure throughout our wedding process. She was so helpful from start to finish, going above and beyond to make our day amazing. She has so many OC connections, and I was happy to have someone I trust who is so well-versed in not only photography but all things wedding. 10/10!

From the moment we did our initial consultation with Ariele, we knew she was the perfect fit for…read moreus. She is bubbly, outgoing, passionate, and was just as excited about the wedding as we were. When we started working with her, we knew we were going to get incredible pictures, but we did not realize we were making an even more incredible friend. She is there for you day or night to answer questions, give recommendations, and to talk about fun ideas. We were planning our wedding from out of state and she was so flexible with scheduling our engagement shoot and any meetings we wanted to have before the wedding. Once you see her pictures, you will understand when I say that I wanted any and every type of picture photographed by her. They are so vivid, portray such emotion, and she is so happy to make sure you one hundred percent love your shots. She is phenomenal about not posing you, but rather, giving you prompts to create a more genuine picture that you are having fun versus feeling uptight or rigid. Not only did we do our engagement pictures with her that turned out flawless, I booked a boudoir with her and it was such a unique experience. I was very nervous and a little uncomfortable going into it, since I had never done one before, but Ariele makes you feel at peace and I ended up having so much fun with it! She genuinely loves what she does and her clients and you can feel that with every experience. We really put her to work with a long, 11 hour day for our wedding and she was awesome! She was there for anything you needed with constant check-ins, communicating days prior and throughout the day with the timeline and any changes, and we could not have asked for a more perfect experience. To top it all off, we got our entire wedding album 24 days after the wedding. That is unheard of in the industry and that goes to show you how much she loves her work and wants to get the finished results to her clients! If you want a hardworking, caring, magnificent phtographer and potential friend for life, Ariele is the one for you!