We had our wedding at the end of April, and we are SO relieved we went with Secret Fire Media for photography and videography. Matthew was a pleasure to work with, and the team we were assigned for our wedding day was amazing (Peter, Chuck, and Serge). The turnaround time for receiving the photos, teaser video clip, and all the videos was extremely fast. We were really impressed with the speed in which they got back to us. Also, the engagement photoshoot with Matthew was wonderful. Lastly, we enjoyed how they had a variety of packages to choose from. The prices were reasonable and great value for what we received! read more

Matt was amazing to work with for our rehearsal dinner and welcome party. He captured everything in a natural, "fly on the wall" style just like we hoped for. He was super responsive, friendly, and reasonably priced. We're so happy with the photos and would highly recommend him! read more

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I'm going to share our experience with this vendor and you can decide for yourselves if you'd like to book them. Yes, it was very affordable, but our experience with this vendor was very stressful. We got the basic package for videography for our summer 2022 wedding. On the wedding day, we were expecting the owner to be our videographer, but another person came. We did not realize that they just send out other photographers/videographers to different weddings. The experience with our videographer the day of was fine. The real issues began after the wedding. In our contract, we were promised to receive our video and other content 2 months after the wedding. Once we were 12 weeks post wedding, we started to ask for our video, and I continued to email them every week for 7 months straight. They would inconsistently respond saying they were busy, got covid, health issues, etc. Finally, 7 months and 5 days after our wedding, we received our wedding video and they also said that they would be giving us a full refund by 13 months post wedding due to the extreme delay in receiving our video. At the point when they promised we would receive our full refund, I had to again email them once a week regarding our refund. At last, 14 months after our wedding, we have received our money back. We have been waiting for this refund to finally write our review about this vendor and tell other couples about our experience. I would have been terribly sad if we did not receive our wedding photos for months after we were promised. So I would say we were lucky to have gone through a different vendor for photography. At some point I really wanted to give them the benefit of doubt because I know a lot of vendors got really f'd over by covid, but to not respond to countless emails regarding the video and the refund is completely unacceptable. I can only hope that other couples can learn from our mistakes and save themselves the headache that we went through. read more

I am writing this review in regard to a wedding that had happened. I have to say they were great with taking the pictures and video they were very professional but trying to contact them is crazy and not professional. They never get back to you and when they do they tell you what you want to hear. It has been 4 months since the wedding and the contract says that we will get our pictures and video within 2 months. Well after nagging them, we finally got our pictures but still have not received our video. After many emails and calls they email back and say it is being uploaded as we speak and will have the link by the morning. Well, the morning comes and goes, and we still have not received the link. It has been 2 months since we should have received the video. read more

DO NOT BOOK THIS VENDOR. He has made the last year and a half of our lives a living hell. We didn't even know if he was going to show up the morning of our wedding. He is so high on himself for absolutely no reason. He will ghost you for months and then give some excuse about a breakup. Sorry, but don't take contracts you can't fulfill. He's also been using that excuse for about 9 months. He hasn't delivered our video or USB of photos even though it was due 10/13 in our legal contract. He was such a STICKLER on our legal contract when it came to us following his schedule, but then when he has to abide by a legal contract, he will just ghost you. He uses every excuse in the book to avoid his job once he gets your money but loves to boast about "shooting over 400 weddings". I can't wait to take him to court. read more

We hired Secret Fire Media for our wedding in July of last year. They were very accommodating considering they were double booked for the day. Everything went well on the day of the wedding. However, we were promised both photos and videos by a certain date. We did not receive the photos until a month after the promise date. As of writing this review, we still have not received the videos. Only reason they are not receiving a one star review is because of how accommodating they were on the day of. Since then, communication has been non-existent. Wee have to reach out to them and even when we do it takes days to weeks at a time for a response. read more

Matt Trela is a hard working videographer with a great heart. He saw the Penguin Plunge of Nyack event on Yelp and contacted us to see if we had a videographer. We do now. Matt captured the fun and joviality of our whacky event. Take a look below: http://youtu.be/osBrEPKUFac Thank you Matt! You are really helping to commemorate a great event that helps our ever growing Penguin Plunge family. It warms the hearts of all those who participated and those that benefited from the event. read more

Matt has an amazing eye. He is unique and wonderful to work with. I highly recommend Matt to shoot your wedding, portrait, baby, or any occasion. He combines a great personality with a joy for his work. He has an amazing gift. He captures those incredible moments in your life with an artistic eye and amazing skill. Meet Matt once and you'll be hiring him for all those landmark moments in your life. Deborah J Rivera Ordained Minister/Wedding Officiant Weddings For You www.weddingsforyou.vpweb.com read more

We hired Secret Fire Media for our Wedding Video this past August. We found them on craigslist and were originally wary hiring a company online. (Their prices are great, but it made us a little nervous too!) We met with them for a consultation, and they were helpful, polite and answered all our pestering questions. The day of our wedding they were professional and followed our wishes as we wanted the videographer to be as discreet with shooting as possible. There was a issue when they mailed us our wedding DVD, (there was a spelling typo), but they were prompt and helpful in mailing us a replacement DVD. I've heard plenty of bridal horror stories with finding vendors online, but we highly reccomend Secret Fire Media, the video was beautiful! read more

We hired Secret Fire Media for our wedding in November at Seasons Catering. Originally we were against hiring a videographer for budget reasons but we came up with some money a few months before our wedding. We met with Matt about two months before our wedding and he was able to give us a discount on our video package. We hired them because they claimed their style was unobtrusive and out of the way. We hardly noticed Matt and Chris throughout the day. They did a great job blending into the background and not making our guests feel uncomfortable. We went to a friend's wedding earlier that year and the videographer (different company) had a huge video light and seemed to move around the dance floor like a swarm of bees) We got the DVDs last month and we were so happy with how everything came out. The ring bearer went around to the dance floor to ask each of our bridesmaids for a kiss on the cheek. I was taking photos while this was happening and I didn't get a chance to see it that night, It was so cute and Matt and Chris were able to capture all of it! We're so happy we went with Matt and Chris! read more

My names Jon I recently got married to my wife at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie NY beautiful place. Any way, after a awful & strainious visa process I could finally be with my wife who was my fiancee at the time, get married and begin our married lives together (BTW, I'm British) We work in theater, and anyone who knows theater work knows you bearly get any time off, and we had to work fast on the wedding. I found Secret Fire Media online. Worked out a deal with them not to have an engagement shoot just Photography for the wedding day, giving us a lil bit of a deal, I mean most of our wedding budget went on my visa and flying my family from the UK for the wedding. So the wedding day comes and I couldnt ask for nicer people to have shoot the wedding in Matt & his work associate. great photographers who everyone loved. However... If you want your Wedding Photo Album to be 3 months late than orginally requested, not being able to get a 100 pic photo album than signed in the contract cuz.... template reasons? Your Wedding date incorrectly printed on your photo album CD as August 22th when it's August 23rd, promised a $100 check refund for all the problems only to not get nothing & a unreachable phone contact number! Secret Fire Media is for you... Great Photos, Nice Enough folk, No communication, Poor Service read more

We were looking for video and we chose secret fire media for our wedding last September. We hardly noticed Matthew and Barry throughout the day, they blended well and captured what we wanted. The Video turned out Amazing and brought tears to our when I first saw it online. Highly Reccommended! read more

Matt Trela has a combination of great qualities that make him a wonderful photographer/videographer. He is talented and creative, but also diligent, focused, compassionate, and dependable. I direct a charity polar plunge and we needed photos and a video to commemorate our event and hero publicize it. We are happy that Secret Fire Media is the official photographer of the Penguin Plunge of Nyack! read more

I could not have been more pleased with Matt Thela from Secret Fire Media. Although I have yet to see the footage (and will update the review once it comes in), his professionalism and talent for capturing moments is utterly impressive. So many times during the night I would think "I hope this gets captured on--" and my thought would be interrupted because there he was. He was unobtrusive and ever present. He even stayed until the end of the night, which was wonderful! He is so kind and sweet - I am really honored that he was a part of our special day. I wish him all the best success in his business, because he really is capturing joy, and you can't put a price on that (but his pricing is so so reasonable!) Communication is great, and I'm blessed to have found him! Three cheers for Secret Fire Media and Matt! read more

Reached out to SFM and was delighted with such a fast response. We had filled out a form indicating our names, etc. prior to this email. Matthew set up a meeting with us on a specified day, at a specified time. We called Matthew and no one answered, which was very odd since we were calling at the exact time we were supposed to be. We left a message and waited for a call back, but did not receive one. Instead, we received an email some 20-30 minutes after our initial phone call -- all the message asked was if we still had our appointment -- again odd, since I had left a message and we were supposed to talk on the phone. We expressed concern for his punctuality, since having someone arrive on time for services is essential for any wedding day. To this his response was wildly unprofessional, with him claiming that he was "waiting by the phone" and "did not receive any voicemails" and that they get oh so many calls a day that sometimes their voicemails "arrive late". We also expressed concern that we were being treated so unprofessionally because we are two females (which we clearly stated in our initial form); Matthew blew off this suggestion, in a further display of unprofessionalism. We ended up missing our window to speak with Matthew on the phone (between 2-4pm) because he had a personal party to attend -- again, unprofessional as he is putting himself above his customers, especially ones who he should be trying to make up to for his behavior (or lack there of). I then sent Matthew a screenshot of my phone proving that I had called when I said I did, showing a nearly minute long voicemail was left. He ignored this email and so I sent another, stating that we could no rely on him, especially when he ignores important emails. I explained that as the company it is your obligation to make your customers (or potential customers) feel welcome. He did Everything but that and continued to worsen the relationship by not fixing the issue. Instead he is happy to "let us go" to another videographer so he doesn't have to "deal with us", which is unfortunate and unprofessional since he is the one who created this "issue" by not being near/with his phone at 2pm sharp for a phone call he Knew was happening. Instead he made an already difficult time (wedding planning) even more stressful. He then claimed to not have our phone number, which is almost laughable -- it's 2019. Needless to say, we will not be retaining Secret Fire Media's services for our wedding as they are UNWILLING TO WORK WITH US. We would be More than Happy to build a relationship with them, but only if they are willing to apologize and to rectify the terrible situation they caused. It was both embarrassing and insulting. I invite them to prove us wrong, but sadly I know that this company is likely run by people who do not wish for the LGBTQ community to have marriage rights. It is sad, but unfortunately these things do occur. It would be Amazing if Secret Fire Media could prove themselves otherwise. We are patiently waiting... read more

Secret Fire Media was a wonderful choice for photographer for my wedding. Matt was our only shooter and he did a wonderful job. He listened to what my husband and I wanted. He is very professional and charges more than fair prices for his services. Our photos are beautiful and I am so happy with them. I highly recommend Secret Fire Media. Thank you so much Matt! read more

Secret fire Media photographed my daughters wedding on June 1st 2018 and we could not be more pleased and happy with Matt and Fatima! They did a fabulous job catching every moment without being obnoxious or in everyone's face. They were both friendly and professional throughout the entire day. They also had some great ideas for pictures which was great because we weren't really sure what we wanted or what was even possible. We have already seen over 40 pictures that they took and they are absolutely beautiful. I would highly recommend Secret Fire Media to anyone needing a photographer for any event. read more

We were very disappointed with Secret Fire Media. Once we booked our wedding for videography with Matthew, the communication went downhill. It was very hard to get a hold of him, and he would take very, very long to answer. TWO DAYS before the wedding, he emailed us and told us he was unable to work our wedding, and sent someone we have never met before. We were of course upset that the person we sat down and discussed our wedding plans with a year and a half before our big day was not going to be there. Thankfully, his colleague did a wonderful job, but Matthew was the one to edit our video and send the footage to us. Matthew sent us our footage way later than the date on the contract, and when we would ask him the status on our videos, we would get no answer. Finally, he uploaded some videos for us to view on the Dropbox, and our cd arrived shortly after in the mail. After viewing the videos he had sent us, we started to realize there was A LOT of footage missing from our special day. Raw moments that were important to us. He finally sent them over to us, very sporadically.. not all at once. We noticed in the "highlight" video he created, there were some shots from the drone that we paid extra to have. As we were watching, we noticed it did not look like our wedding day. The trees were very green, and it was a cloudy day. Our wedding day was a sunny, fall day. I sent Matthew a few emails asking him if he could just send us our footage of the drone so we can view the rest. They got a lot of cool shots, such as the drone zooming in on us and zooming out and going back up into the air to get the whole venue on that beautiful day. He replied back to us the quickest he ever has saying that our drone footage was "corrupted" and that he would refund us. So, instead of being up front about losing our footage in the first place he added someone else's wedding day videos into our highlight video to make us believe that was our drone footage, when in fact it was all lost. I was completely devastated with this whole process, and I was really not expecting to have to write this review at all, but I would like to let other people know while they plan their wedding. read more

I approached this company for video services. After talking further, the price was doubled even though none of the details of the event were changed. I was still willing to book them for the job. Then all of a sudden I was not getting anymore responses from them so I contacted them. When they finally responded, they told me the date was no longer available. They are highly unprofessional and have no customer service. A total waste of time. read more

I just would like to say thank to Secret Fire Media they were the photographers at my wedding on March 23, and they were wonderful. They took pics of everything and everyone. Even changed the background on a few because we wanted a water background. Their photography work is amazing. Thanks again secret fire media for all your work time and effort you put in to make the day go easy as possible. read more

Matthew from Secret Fire Media was the perfect one for me and my husband from the start! He has such a natural eye, which is what we were looking for. A documentation of the true us! All of our family and friends had only good things to say about him and his photos. We are very happy with our photos. read more

matt = ripoff! quality isn't what you would expect. at all!!! he didn't honor his own contract! single handily ruined our wedding and all the memories. missed all the important shots and scenes.. i paid for the most expensive package and received the worst quality. missed our entire cocktail hour....he missed the introduction..... im not sure what the hell he ws doing that he missed very important moments. he did not walk around and film the wedding guests......he was supposed to shoot with a drone for a scene and hits me with the (sorry, app updated and i cant use drone..bullll) refunded me $400 to keep my mouth shut when i spent $2400 for 12hrs of services.... i can gladly provide image of check sent by matt and his apologies for destroying 12hrs of footage.. also sending me a copy of my images with the wrong names were the icing on the cake. fair warning - this is not a legitimate nor professional business.. spend a few extra bucks on quality and make sure you sit with your vendor and go over all the details you would want on your special day. do not get tricked by matt and his faux business. not fair to those that work hard to provide the best day to his wife! read more