We first met Nick Donner at a wedding in 2011. As soon as we saw his pics, we knew we had to have him photograph our wedding. We got engaged in Jan 13 and booked Nick for our Nov 13 wedding. We didn't shop around, we knew that we wanted Nick's quality and creativity for our wedding. My father was paying for our photographer. Both of my brothers were married in relatively rural areas, and on shoestring budgets. I automatically assumed that any photographer from the DC area would be more expensive than what my father has previously paid. I was preparing for the worst when I sent him the price list. To my surprise, he said Nick had the cheapest rates of the 3 weddings that he had paid for. We were pleased that we got a great photographer AND a great price. Nick said he likes to use engagement pictures as a time to get to know a couple before shooting their wedding. He didn't push the idea, and we were skeptical. We had my brother shoot some amateur shots for our Save the Dates. It was very difficult finding a quality picture for the Save the Date. At this point, we decided to go back to Nick to add engagement pics to wedding package. He was very accommodating and scheduled our engagement pics. Nick suggested several locations that we were unaware of. We selected the Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna (his suggestion). On the day of the engagement shoot, it was overcast, cold, and windy. Nick offered to reschedule the shoot for another time, but we knew we couldn't control the weather for our wedding, so this was the perfect test for Nick. We braved the weather, and waited to see the pics. When Nick provided the pics, we couldn't believe our eyes. You would never know that it wasn't sunny and 75. We knew that we made the right choice with Nick. The wedding: Nick asked for a list of formal shots that we wanted. We went with two photographers, so pre-wedding Nick shadowed the guys and Erin shadowed the ladies. Our wedding ceremony was in a Catholic cathedral and our priest was adamant that the photographers do not disturb the ceremony. We barely noticed that Nick and Erin at the ceremony, but they still covered all the angles and got all of the shots that we wanted. After the ceremony, we were only allowed 15 minutes in the cathedral for formal pics. Nick was very professional and efficient. Nick had gone to check out the golf club prior to the wedding day. When we arrived, it was overcast and already dark out, and it was getting cold quickly. Nick and Erin adjusted quickly, abandoning the locations that they had preselected, finding a few new locations and taking pictures quickly. At that point, we were more worried about getting inside and getting warm than taking photos. Nick made quick work of the photo shoot, and got us inside. The pics turned out better than we could have ever expected. In most of the shots, you would never be able to tell how dark and cold it was. They also took some very creative shots using our silhouettes against the driving range lights as a background. They were very adaptive and quick thinking. One week later, Nick provided a sneak peek of shots available on his blog. Three weeks later, Nick provided the remaining shots on a website and on a flash drive. The flash drive allowed us to quickly print and email the pics without having to download them individually from the website. We are so glad that our friends recommended Nick for our wedding, and would gladly recommend him for any of our friends or families wedding. read more

From Local to Destination Events - DC's Best is Nick & Erin! I am from the Charleston, SC area and planned my father's interment at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) and a small reception for our family & friends last summer (July 2014) in Washington D.C. After a friend at work told me about watching a video of her friend's service at ANC, I began to look online to see what options were available. This was such a special time for our families, and many who were unable to attend - what a great way to document this event for them and to have. A close friend (DC local) suggested using Yelp! to check reviews, etc. since it was a common reference tool for locals - and after searching, Nick & Erin Photography came up several times. Although there were the "regular" videographers that specialized in military services in the DC/Va areas, I took a chance to email and inquire about their services based on stellar reviews. The website (http://donnerphotos.com/) had good information and great samples of their work - both photographs and video. Erin responded to my email inquiry within 24 hours. She was personal - and professional - and I was very pleased with her intent to provide me with the answers to ALL of my questions. Destination events are difficult to plan when you are not familiar with the area and basing your decisions on reviews, website photos and your best "gut feeling" that you are not just getting a sales pitch. From the email correspondence to meeting Nick & Erin in person - they were both down-to-earth and very professional. They captured many special moments on video and photo which allowed our families to be a part of the special service to honor my dad. They created a special piece that will give our families a chance to "see" this great honor and the legacy his left for us all. I can write so much more, but you can see for yourselves from the video sample online. https://vimeo.com/112944914 The final version we have in-hand has personal stories from friends who share their memories, as well as photos from his life and the guests that attended the service that day. Erin was excellent to work with me on details and making great suggestions to make it unique and special! Check out their Facebook page for more testimonials of their great work! https://www.facebook.com/nickanderin?fref=ts Thank you, Nick & Erin, for your passion for photography & film! read more

Picking a photographer for your wedding day is a huge deal!! These are pictures you will be looking back at for the rest of your life to remind you of all the great memories on your big day. Choosing Nick as our wedding photographer was probably one of the easiest and best choices my husband and I made. Nick photographed our cousins wedding two years ago and we loved his work, so we knew we had to hire him for our big day. Nick's responsiveness, professionalism and communication from that first e-mail I sent was quick, kind and very informative. For our engagement shoot, I told Nick what I was going for, which was a fall look, but other than that I was up for anything he had in mind. He knew the perfect locations to capture the amazing fall foilage around sunset and our pictures turned out AMAZING! A few weeks before the wedding day he sent me a schedule of events with target times for specific wedding day picture shoots, which made me feel at ease knowing he had specific picture shots he was looking for based on our venue and time of ceremony. Because of his amazing organization and schedule, during dinner hour, Nick was somehow able to put together a slideshow of the ceremony, family and bridal party pictures to display on his laptop on a cocktail table for the guests and I to see throughout all of the reception.. this was such a great touch!! Nick is so easy going and extremely creative with photo shots. He makes you feel so comfortable and natural behind the camera, because lets be honest.. unless your a model who is used to posing and a camera following you around, photo shoots can feel a bit awkward. Nick also gives you CD's or USB's with your photos on them and gives you the rights to his work so you can order or do whatever you'd like with the pictures and not have to order them individually through him. I would without a doubt recommend Nick Donner to anyone looking for an extremely talented, down to earth, fun, and creative photographer for your big day. read more

I cannot recommend Nick and Erin highly enough - where do I start? Basically, my husband and I were doing a courthouse wedding and we needed someone for a couple of hours to do some nice family shots. We're not pinterest people and had no interest in dreaming up an elaborate photoshoot; we wanted someone who could organize our large family into nice photographs, who knew how to make people look good (e.g., who can position my mother-in-law so that she doesn't have a double chin), and who could take charge. We had two hours of time to get a bunch of photos done and I was skeptical that it would all work out. But Nick and Erin were phenomenal! They had everything planned out to the T; not only the specific locations where they wanted to take photos, but the actual photograph/shot was pre-planned. For example, they knew the exact bench where they wanted a shot of my husband and I kissing; they had the lighting planned out, they knew exactly how many different shots and locations they could do in the time allotted and they got it done while laughing, being calm and relaxed, and friendly! The end product (the photos) are beautiful. We got them back within a few days and there are so many beautiful shots, I honestly don't know which one to pick as my favorite. They made both my husband and I look like the best versions of ourselves; no double chins or wayward hair and the captured us in genuine laughs. Every pose/shot that they wanted to do looked great; they captured the love and happiness of the day, and that is priceless. I don't know how else to say this without sounding frank, but Nick and Erin were worth every penny. If you're not sure whether or not they are your "style", definitely be sure to check out their website; I think their site is pretty true to the type of photos that they took for us and we are very satisfied! read more

If you want to make your friends INSANELY jealous of your wedding photos hire Nick and Erin! Our wedding photos came out amazing thanks to this extremely talented duo. Nick and Erin are such pleasant and professional people to work with and their efficiency and organization were so appreciated on our big day. Not only did we love working with them, but our other vendors (including our coordinator) went out of their way to tell us how much they enjoyed working with them and would recommend them in the future. Nick & Erin are very professional and have a calm, fun demeanor that makes everyone feel comfortable while getting their pictures taken. We have a large family and our wedding party was a little rowdy but they were able to handle it and tactfully corral people for pictures in order to stay on schedule and capture all the pictures we requested and more! It was evident that they had taken great care and thought in pre-planning and staging shots in specific locations at and around our venue, and we were impressed that they were also able to thrive creatively with off the cuff shots and captured awesome candid moments. Erin even thought to capture video that our videographer missed! We were surprised to get our wedding pictures from them so promptly; they arrived when we were still on our honeymoon! Our wedding day was so hectic it seemed like a big blur. Nick and Erin captured ALL of the important moments and ALL of the moments in between allowing us to see a complete timeline of our wedding day --there were no missing pieces. It makes us so happy that we can relive our entire wedding day every time we look at these pictures, and that to us is priceless. Looking back on all of the decisions that were made planning our wedding, we can confidently say that hiring Nick & Erin was the best one. Thank you both so much! read more

Nick shot our wedding on April 28th this year, and he did an amazing job. He came highly recommended by several friends of ours who recently got married and was well worth what we paid for. He was extremely professional and also very friendly and comfortable to work with. He had scouted our site beforehand as we were getting married at Bluemont Vineyard in Virginia and knew what time we needed to go out toward the end of our reception to get some good sunset shots. He had a plan and order as to how the formal photos were going to go (especially important when you have lots of family) and was very efficient and organized which was refreshing. He was also open, patient and willling to do different ideas of shots we had and got all the extra shots I asked for of the reception decor which I put a lot of time into and appreciated. It was during our photos that it started to rain and Nick did a great job hanging in there with the rain and even jumped in the car with us and took a ride down the street and got some last shots under a beautiful cover bridge before the rain really started coming down and we headed inside for the reception. Nick was there from before the wedding when we were getting ready until the very end over 6 hours! The quanitity he produced for us being the sole photographer was incredible. The quality of the photos were also amazing and we have gotten many compliments, and I know we will cherish them for a lifetime. We would recommend him to anyone and even saw him at another friend's wedding since! You will not go wrong if you choose Nick as your photographer, he is a true artist and great guy to work with! read more

It is a pleasure to provide a glowing review to Nick & Erin of Donner Photography. Finding a great photographer was one of the most important things to us during our wedding planning and we are forever grateful to the friend that recommended we connect with the Donners. After our immediate consultation where they felt more like friends than a wedding vendor, the Donners quickly followed up with a questionnaire to determine relevant information and priorities to ensure our wedding run smoothly. We opted to have them start at the church with us where we found them to be timely and respectful of the strict catholic guidelines. Between the ceremony and the reception, Nick & Erin were efficient in getting the portrait photos we wanted done at the church, in front of the capitol, and on the speaker's balcony all in time to make it to our cocktail hour. During the reception, I didn't feel like they were crowding us, but rather that we had two other guests at the wedding. Erin was particularly helpful in making sure we captured photos I had identified that were important to me such as those with friends from high school and college. They took several candids throughout the evening that I will treasure. Both Nick and Erin have cool, calm, and FUN personalities that enhanced our very special, but busy, wedding day. Soon after the wedding, I was pleased to see that they followed up with a sneak peak of our photos on their blog and soon after that they provided our photos on a website and thumb drive. I can't say enough nice things about this duo. If you are unsure call and set up time to meet with them. Hire them! :) read more

Nick and Erin were recommended by friends who said they loved their wedding photographer. We checked out our friends' photos, and we were impressed by the clean but artistic style. When we met Nick, we liked his laid-back personality and professionalism, and we were so happy to have Erin join as a second photographer for our wedding. Organization & Planning: Nick was organized and responsive throughout the wedding planning process; he made sure to keep us on track with providing shot lists and timelines in advance. He even met up with us a few weeks before our wedding to scout out photo opps at our venue. Day-of: On the day of our wedding, Nick and Erin had the perfect combination of keeping us on track, getting people organized, capturing great shots, and being fun to spend the day with. They captured a great mix of formal and party shots. We especially appreciated that they good-naturedly included "Steve," our cardboard groomsman (because the real Steve was deployed), in both important and fun shots. Photos: We were so, so pleased with the quality of Nick and Erin's photos, and we've gotten more compliments on them than we can count. Since our wedding, we've been dying for other friends to get engaged and plan local weddings so we can recommend Nick and Erin. We were pleased with all of our wedding vendors, but Nick and Erin were definitely at the top of our list! read more

Booking with Nick and Erin was one of the best decisions we made while planning our wedding, and they were an instrumental part in making our wedding day so special. Nick and Erin's pictures immediately take us back to the special moments, as they did a great job of capturing the true emotions we felt throughout the day. Nick and Erin were extremely well-prepared and made sure we had more than enough time to get all of the pictures we asked for and many more. They organized everyone and moved through our shot list very quickly, all the while being friendly and welcoming to everyone involved. The pictures came back astonishing, but even more, all of our family and friends commented on how friendly and helpful Nick & Erin were throughout the day. They truly have their service down to a science - terrific photos were snapped quickly and almost effortlessly. When they had a specific idea about how a photo should be posed or captured, they would demonstrate it themselves; this always put us at ease. They managed to capture all the important moments without ever being intrusive. Evaluated on-going communication, day-of service, and final product, Nick and Erin are the complete package. We recommend Nick and Erin to anyone looking for great pictures combined with great customer service. read more

Nick Donner is absolutely amazing! We stumbled across him through my maid of honor who happened to be working at an office that he was doing a shoot for. Long story short, she passed along his information to me as a possibility. After looking at his blog and seeing not only his amazing pictures, but also his unique and kind narratives for each post, I knew that I wanted to meet him in person. That first meet sealed the deal. Nick's incredibly easy going, kind and interested. He took the time to get to know us and his clear understanding of "us" during the engagement photo shoot was evident. Our wedding day felt fun and carefree (we'd eliminated our bashfulness during the engagement shoot) and we have over 1,000 amazing photos to show for it. It was because of Nick we could be ourselves and it is because of Nick that we have so many WONDERFUL photos that remind us of how much fun we (and our guests) had. Two more things to mention: (1) He showed up dressed in a suit which impressed me. It showed he respected the day and was better 'camouflaged' for the task at hand. (2) He availed himself to us for more than just photography. He was a great resource for us as we waded through the experience of planning a wedding. He's awesome and will be our photographer for life. read more

Had the most unbelievably INCREDIBLE experience as Erin flawlessly captured our once in lifetime event, our engagement. Erin and my boyfriend, now fiancé, were able to communicate, plan, and set up the entire thing while she was in FL and we were in NY. Not only did Erin beautifully capture the moment of surprise, she arrived over an hour early to look over the area to plan a photo shoot after. She was kind, patient, and relaxed as she helped us figure out how to stand, where to put our hands, how to walk, etc. Erin truly made it both fun and personal as she asked us about ourselves and if we had any poses/photos we wanted her to set up. Oh and the pictures came out PERFECT!!! I cannot stop looking at them and thinking, we are not this pretty, Erin is magical. The variation of shots, effects, lighting (and magic) makes it look like we were out there for hours, when it was really only one. The entire shoot was so fun and the pictures show how talented Erin is as a professional. Also amazing, we had the pictures only hours after the shoot!! All photos were in color and black and white. I cannot thank Erin enough for how much time and effort she put into our moment! Truly something special to have this memory so beautifully captured by such a talented photographer. read more

Nicholas Donner Photography exceeded our expectations.... Nick recently photographed our wedding in beautiful Old Town, Alexandria, in October of 2010. Were the photographs amazing? Yes. Was the price reasonable? Yes. But what sets Nick apart from others is his attention to every detail and the calm presence that he exudes (and let's be honest - every wedding day could use a calm presence). From the beginning, Nick was a lot of fun to work with, and he made it a priority to meet with us and figure out exactly what we wanted. He was quick to respond to our questions and helped us think through which shots were the biggest priority and which sites would be best for lighting, etc. On our wedding day, Nick was everywhere without us knowing it. He was able to capture every special moment of the weekend . And last but certainly not least, the photos were amazing - more than we expected (and our expectations were high!) I generally don't take the time to write reviews (this is my first Yelp review), but having had such a great experience, I felt compelled to let others know. Give Nick a call - you'll be glad you did! - David & Jacqui Arnold (Herndon, VA) read more

We used Nick for both our engagement and wedding pictures. From the first day I met him I could tell he was going to be the perfect photographer for us. He is very professional, kind, fun and made us feel comfortable which made for great photos. I agree with the other review that he is easy to get a hold of , very proactive and accommodating. Nick was more than willing to meet us when it was best for us and even in Maryland where we live. He was very attentive to our needs for our engagement pictures and I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. We just had our wedding on August 3rd and already Nick send us a "Wedding preview". I was absolutely blown away at how he and his co-worker were able to capture everything that went on at the ceremony and at the reception. They clearly captured all the good moments and all the photos we requested. I dont think I ever saw them stop taking pictures. There is so many things to say about Nick just trust me you wont regret using Nick for you wedding, special event or for a family shoot. He is a true artist and natural at what he does you cant learn that. My husband & I 100% recommend him. read more

Nick is the best. We were referred to Nick by our venue. He had recently done a wedding there and they said everyone has just loved him. Once I saw his website I could see why. I was very nervous about choosing a photographer, but when I met with him I was immediately at ease. He asked me questions about the wedding, my fiancé, my expectations; he took a real interest and could not be a nicer guy. They day of the wedding he was just fantastic. It was a pretty hot day and that did not slow him down a bit. He and his assistant took all of the shots that we had discussed and so many more. He put up a laptop during the reception and had a slide show of some of the photos he had taken, which was a big hit with our guests. In fact, when we got back from our honeymoon he had already put some of the pictures on his blog for us and I am amazed at how quickly I received our photos. Best of all... I love our pictures. Nick has such a talent. The colors and artistry in them are amazing. I have received so many compliments on our pictures and I am so grateful that he was our wedding photographer. read more

Nick and Erin are the best - plain and simple. From the beginning consultation, to the quick turnaround of our wedding pictures, they were so awesome to work with! Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way - their work is absolutely beautiful. We are THRILLED with how all of our pictures turned out - they are truly talented photographers! But it was so much more than that. They are knowledgeable, friendly, creative, professional but warm, FUN... I could go on! We did our engagement photos with them about 5 months before our wedding, and they basically taught us how to be photographed! This helped us get loose and comfortable, and made for great photos. Their level of communication was PERFECT in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and on the actual wedding day they were just incredible. They had a great energy, which is so important to have in a vendor that will be by your side all day. We truly couldn't be happier with how everything turned out and would recommend them to anyone. Seriously, if you're in search of a wedding photographer, look no further! read more

Having a videographer was without question one of the best decisions we made and then having Erin do our videography was AMAZING!! We had so many married friends tell us that their biggest regret was not having a videographer. Donner Photography did 2 services for us. They put together an "Our Story" video for us that we shared at our rehearsal dinner that was outstanding and got us even more excited for the other service which was our wedding day videos. I can't say enough about how much we loved working with them and the final product. I also felt like they weren't just there to be vendors but wanted to get to know us and were genuinely excited for us. The video quality was outstanding and included so much of the wedding. They were able to capture so many memories that we will now have for a lifetime. I could rave about Donner Photography forever, but I'll finish with this...IF YOU ARE THINKING TWICE ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT TO HAVE A VIDEOGRAPHER, STOP THINKING AND GO WITH ERIN AND DONNER PHOTOGRAPHY!! Thank you Donner Photography for everything read more

My fiance and I got engaged this year and naturally wanted to have some fun, classy engagement photos taken. We researched numerous photographers and decided on Nick because we liked his ability to capture the genuine feelings in his photography while keeping it a little offbeat and fun. We chose old town Alexandria because it was near where we got engaged and we liked the old-fashioned urban feel. We spent 2 hours exploring different sections of old town, shooting as we went. Not only was it a lot of fun, Nick did a great job of making us feel comfortable in front of the camera, and knew how to take advantage of the environment to create stunning shots. 1 week later, Nick had our photos (almost 200 of them!) cropped, color-corrected, and posted online for us to see. We were absolutely thrilled with the result! The photos were amazingly beautiful! Our friends and family were stunned. This was money well spent, as we will cherish these photos for the rest of our lives. read more

Nick and his second shooter Erin were on wedding photographers on July 6 and I could not have been happier with having them a part of our big day. They showed up on time and got right to work. I even forgot that they were there when we were getting ready. Nick was happy to split time between the guys and the girls in two different locations while we were getting ready. We had a catholic mass for our ceremony and they got great shots of the entire mass. Nick is pretty laid back so just make sure you are able to control your bridal party/family if need be. Nick also took great engagement photos for us. He is SUPER easy to work with and gets back to you very quickly on email. We got both our engagement photos and wedding photos very quickly after each event. I love that he sends you a CD or flash drive of your photos to have. Seriously, booking with Nick was a great decision. You won't be disappointed. read more

"We love Nick!" is what I most commonly hear from friends who have worked with Nicholas Donner for their wedding and engagement photos. In a technical sense, his creative eye and attention to detail create magazine-ready photos about which every bride dreams. But even before they see the gorgeous photos, my friends rave about how comfortable he made them feel during their shoots. Many of us rarely model, but Nick coaches you through it, while ensuring lighting and composition are up to his high standards along the way. I have already recommended Nick Donner to many brides for their upcoming weddings -- to include my sister! I have to add that Nick recently created a remote controlled photo booth for our annual Christmas party -- which was inspired. We merely told him our color scheme and he created a background masterpiece that was the talk of the party. Thanks Nick! read more