I chose Chris to do our family beach photos because I loved his use of light ion the photos on his website. He was extremely easy to work with and happy to accommodate any request we had. He communicated with me several times in advance making sure to schedule us when the light was the best and advising us that it was going to be a windy day and to bring hair ties. The session was short, about an hour, but complete. This enabled us to still enjoy a full day on the beach. I am very happy with the results. We got classic beach photos with no gimmicky uncomfortable poses. He said we would have our photos in about a week and it was exactly a week when I received the link. My only disappointment in the photos was that some of the best ones would have been so much better if he had been a bit more observant when taking them. A great photo of my granddaughter has my husband lurking to the side behind her and the photos of me kneeling in the sand with the grand children show an object I was kneeling on to keep my slacks from getting dirty. When these were taken I even asked if that would be in the picture and was told he was shooting around it. If I'd known it was going to be in the photo I would have just let the slacks get dirty. Other than that I found working with Chris a pleasure and the session a complete success! I hope to work with him again on future trips to the beach! read more

While jogging on Ocean Isle Beach I spotted Chris arranging another family's shoot. I asked if he could stick around for a photo session for my family - an impromptu shoot - and a few hours later my family finished a session with Chris and the link to the photos just came in. I'm thrilled with his willingness to work in a non-scheduled shoot and the outcome was superb. My wife and I have four children and he took enough photos to get ones where all the kids appeared happy, with smiles on their faces - no easy task. He suggested different arrangements for us and each one looks great. Then he asked if we had anything specific we'd like to do, that he was open to our ideas. We had none but I was grateful for the question. My challenge is now to pick the photos we want in the sizes and quantities that we want without breaking the bank since we want them all. read more

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER We've used Chris Van Atta to photograph our extended family (6 adults and 6 grandsons, ranging in age from almost 2 to 10) two summers in a row and we're delighted with the results. He managed to get great photos even though we had one kid who would have preferred to be almost anywhere else (even some with him smiling!) He gave us a link to download the photos, with some altered as requested. He even provided a ZIP DRIVE when one of the group wanted it instead of a link. We definitely plan to contact him next year as soon as we get our vacation time set up. I highly recommend him. Everyone loved working with him. Mary read more

We loved our photo session with Chris! We had 12 people (yikes!) and 6 were young children, so we were a little anxious about how it would all go. But Chris chose the perfect setting for our pictures and was so easy to work with. Took whatever photos we wanted and had great ideas too. Our photo shoot was actually FUN! The best part, of course, was seeing the final results. Our pictures were amazing - awesome color and light, great shots captured, and priceless images of our little ones. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Chris! It was a wonderful experience and we are so grateful to have these photos. Thank you Chris! read more

Chris was fantastic to work with! We have a pretty casual wedding on the beach and he made me and my guests feel very at ease! As promised we got the photos back before the rwo week mark. I was super happy with most of the pictures.. again it was a pretty low key wedding but I did feel like we got a lot of the same types of pictures.. I also could have suggested some different ideas and paid attention to sunglasses and people standing in the background of formal pictures.. etc. all in all super guy great experience and plenty of great shots to choose from! read more

We have been using Chris for our annual beach week in Topsail, NC, for 5 years now. Not only are continually impressed with his pictures, but he is so much fun to work with. He is very laid back and knows how to work with kids and adults to not only make them comfortable, but to make sure they are having fun with the process so the photos come out great. Our two young children love him and look forward to the photoshoot every summer. We have even bought some of his other work, which is now displayed in our new home. I can't recommend him enough!!! read more

Chris recently took pictures of our family vacation at the beach. What a great experience and the pictures are terrific. We had twenty one people staying three houses with a multitude of individual plans to coordinate. Chris was very accommodating and flexible to help us get the best time and location for our photos. He was very helpful to us to set up the best shots, both for the larger groups and smaller group photos. His suggestions were helpful and appropriate and the results were fantastic. When we do it again, we'll call Chris Van Atta. read more

We had an amazing experience with Chris and I highly recommend his services. He is very professional and extremely talented. Our family travels to the beach in North Carolina every year for a vacation/family reunion. This year was a special year because it our parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. I just received the photos today and I could not be happier! His photography is true art, he captured the true essence of the love and beauty of our family. We will enjoy these pictures for a lifetime! read more

Chris was great to work with. I wanted to have an updated family picture and I researched several photographers that would travel to Topsail. I looked through his portfolio and really loved the fun pictures. I loved the lightening and how natural the pictures were. He was very prompt in returning emails. His method of payment was easy and I got my photos posted to the gallery in a timely manner. He was great with the kids. I would definitely use him again! read more

I had researched photographers in the area and decided to go with Chris because of his portfolio on the website. We have a large family and he captured our personalities perfectly. We had a grumpy toddler yet Chris was able to still get some beautiful shots of her. The final photos were great and the gallery prices were very reasonable. We will be calling him again next year. read more

Chris did amazing and very quick work for our large family beach pictures. The quality of the pictures were amazing and he was working with a very large group with multiple children. I highly recommend Chris! read more