We hired Mad Chicken for our wedding in August 2013 in Duluth, Minn. After looking at websites and portfolios for several photographers in the area, and being very impressed with the photos Jes (the owner and primary photographer) showed on her website and blog -- as well as a strong, half-hour conversation with her -- we decided to go with Mad Chicken. Despite it being the most expensive photographer we looked at, we felt the investment would be well worthwhile. And despite getting married in Duluth, we live in Washington state, and we hoped Mad Chicken would give us a trouble-free experience with amazing photos of our important day. We were wrong. In hindsight, we absolutely wish we had gone with another photographer, both because of the quality of images and the stress that we've had dealing with the company since our wedding. For the most part, our wedding-day photo experience was fine. Our family photos outside the church were taken on a hill with a fairly steep slope, but in a pretty, wooded area. But despite us telling Jes more than a month ahead of time the general area where we wanted our wedding photos taken (and telling her on a timeline sheet provided by her), she seemed completely unsure of where to take the photos. Eventually, they were taken along a brick wall, behind a restaurant in an alley. When we received our photos, we were horribly disappointed -- and not just because they arrived later than the date guaranteed in our contract. First off, there were zero usable photos showing the bride and her mother. Secondly, the wedding party photos, taken in the alleyway, prominently showed neon beer signs, broken-down HVAC systems and bird droppings on the wall. When we voiced our disappointment about these shots, Jes claimed we had changed the location for this shoot late in the process (which is not true -- we never changed the location), and she would always choose a location with good lighting over good scenery. This would have been fine with us, if the photos had been properly edited, so that we didn't have to see a lot of junk in our wedding party photos. Unfortunately, they were not. Most of the photos lacked imagination and creativity. Most of the best shots, in fact, were ones that had been suggested by us before and during the shoot. Despite having two photographers working throughout the day, there were virtually no shots of the bride getting ready at the church. We sent Jes an email expressing our concerns and asking for some more photos to be edited. She responded with an offer of editing five photos, and we followed by asking for at least 20 photos to be edited. After that, we heard nothing back for more than two weeks. Eventually, just to get a response, we had an attorney send her a letter, detailing some of the problems and requesting either some money back or having more photos edited. After getting nothing but silence for weeks, Jes responded the day after our attorney sent the letter offering to edit 20 photos, or to do considerably more if we agreed not to write a review. After agreeing to have 20 photos edited, she further pushed the idea of having more photos edited in exchange for signing a non-disparagement clause. About two weeks after that (now more than six months after the wedding), we received our edited wedding-party photos, which did look nice, though not noticeably better than other friends' wedding-party shots, taken by photographers who charged far less. Had these photos been what we received at first, we wouldn't have been overjoyed, but would have had no issues that required additional months of stress and threats of legal action. We have family members who have used other wedding photographers in Duluth, and we now wish we had used one of them. Many of the other photographers offered the same 'extras' as Mad Chicken (or more), and provided hundreds of high-quality, edited images, but at a much lower price -- and with considerably less stress and aggravation. read more

I did a boudoir session at the studio! Jes is so fun, hilarious, and the BEST. She makes you feel at ease and like a supermodel...plus hair and makeup by the amazing Emily. You are just spoiled rotten for half the day. I am in awe at the results and products purchased. It is worth everything to get to know these two ladies and spend the day in the studio. read more

Our family has had Mad Chicken Studio's owner, Jes, capture memories for six years. She is quick to ask what our ideas and thoughts are for the pictures-location ideas, animals present or not, any special pictures we want, etc. Each time I am more and more impressed with what we receive back-moments I didnt even know she had captured show our family in its rawest form. Jes does a great job letting us know what we get with our session and how to get the prints we desire. The expectations are clear and we have always had our pictures on time. I highly recommend Mad Chicken Studio to capture your most precious moments! Each time people come into our home they comment on the pictures covering all our walls. Thank you Jes for your talent and ability to make great conversational pieces! read more

I have done two boudoir shoots, had my wedding pictures taken by her and my engagement pictures as well and there's not another photographer that I trust more with my special moments than her! Especially with the intimate moments, like in my boudoir sessions. She makes you feel so comfortable with yourself and what you're wearing...or the lack of. Her and Emily make you look better than you could have even imagined and you feel like you could go out and conquer the world afterwards. I suggest getting a boudoir session to any woman whether the pictures are for a special someone or just for you to keep and cherish. It's one of the most uplifting and confidence boosting things, in my eyes, that you can do for yourself! read more

Jes is a genius. She is a true professional. She knows everything you could ever know about weddings and is prepared for ANYTHING that might come up. She has great, creative ideas and my wedding photos turned out AMAZING. She was curious to my guests and patient with any suggestions or questions I might have. We got our photos exactly when we agreed to. My wedding party, my family, and my wedding guests are all raving over our photos. We loved them. When she shared our album with us she provided us with over 800 beautiful images. We loved every single one. read more

This review is purposefully a 1 Star. Details below due to **incredibly poor customer service. I had a boudoir shoot done for my pre-wedding fun/present. It doesn't surprise me to read other reviewers who have had to deal with Jes's personality/defensiveness with issues/lack of getting back to you. All very poor customer service issues. I came in requesting some pics of eyes open (as well as shut too). When I asked *before my session started, Jes *never indicated that she doesn't like to do many pics with eyes open. She later told me in a defensive email that it wasn't her 'style' and that I didn't ask soon enough (not sure when is soon enough if not before your session?), and that me bringing it up a week after seeing my photos wasn't early enough either (not sure how one week post product isn't soon enough in business customer satisfaction standards). I needed time to gather my thoughts and speak to her about how I felt somewhat disappointed in the very few (10% to be exact- she let me know that as well) eyes open pics I received. I sent a very nice email stating that I loved the pics, but my feedback was that they let customers know their limitations prior to shooting, especially if customers specifically ask for something she apparently doesn't like to do much of. I thought this was very reasonable feedback and I wasn't asking for anything except for some ability to be heard/acknowledge that I was never told these limitations- which is a common business practice. She could have just said thank you and apologized right then. If i was told it wasn't her 'style,' then I could have found someone else. Easy! However, I never received an email back for 3 weeks. I had to send another one to get some sort of response. Then, the several emails back in exchange were ***littered with Blame towards me as a client (I should have 'done my homework' as a consumer and just known that she doesn't do many eyes open pics (Really?? That is *her job to let people know limitations- especially when you ask specifically!! She had every opportunity to let me know. How is a customer just supposed to know all these details about 'style'? She posts *many examples of eyes open pics!!), timing of my feedback (which literally makes zero sense), and even trying to passive aggressively point out which pics I did buy that she thought didn't include eyes open ones (I pointed out that 80% of the pics I did buy were those and that she was wrong. She never apologized for this either). She just told me they couldn't do anything because I didn't talk to them 'in time' about my concerns. Total bs. I'm seeing a trend that she's good at blaming customers for issues she could actually improve on. It was literally THE *worst* customer service I've ever seen in my life!! And funny, because they send an email post session asking for feedback! Why ask for feedback if you can't even hear it? Unfortunately, this exchange really soured my experience greatly and I cannot give a recommendation that is positive. I honestly wish I would have gone with someone else, and I would *Not* recommend Jes for anyone looking for something specific at ALL!!! I've **never been treated so poorly before by a business. Thank GOD I used a different photographer for my wedding! It was literally a night and day difference!!!! A simple acknowledgment/apology could have gone a long way versus the plethora of defensive emails attacking me. read more

Jes at Mad Chicken is an incredible photographer to work with. She is conscientious, kind, and a true artist behind the camera. As a fellow photographer I know that her work is top notch. read more