About Us
We feel so fortunate to be chosen to document one of the most special days in someone's life. We hope to hear your love story and capture your big day.
Chris Schmitt Photography is a Boutique Wedding Photography Studio based in Westlake Village CA. Chris and his wife Andrea opened the business together in 2001 in Hollywood, CA. Their images have been published in media outlets such as the Today Show, OWN Network, Good Morning America, Los Angeles Magazine, InStyle Magazine, Destination Wedding Magazine, The Knot, Brides Magazine, Ceremony Magazine, J-Date, SELF Magazine, Grace Ormonde, California Wedding Day Magazine and dozens of wedding blogs and websites. He has also been featured on the Wedding Reality T.V Show, For Better or for Worse on TLC.
Last year, the studio celebrated photographing their 1000th wedding!
Before opening their wedding and portrait studio, Chris had the incredible experience of working with legendary celebrity and fashion photographers including Annie Leibowitz, David la Chapelle, Herb Rits, Bruce Weber, Matthew Rolston, Peggy Sirota and many others who all encouraged and influenced him to pursue his own photography career. Those years of working with "the masters" inspired him to bring a sense of style, fashion, elegance and fun to his wedding portraits. When asked why he became a wedding photographer, the answer was simple... "It's the most rewarding responsibility and an honor documenting one of the most special days of a couple's life. And who doesn't love an excuse to eat cake every weekend?"
Our style is a vibrant blend of Modern Elegance,Authentic Candids and Cinematic storytelling. We come from a photojournalistic approach, but love to blend editorial and lifestyle imagery throughout the day. We step in to direct with posing when needed to ensure our couples and family portraits look their very best.
Our pictures pack a punch and we know how to use lighting (in any circumstance rain or shine) to make everyone look their best. On any given wedding day we see it all...from laughter to tears to joy and romance. We strive to both blend into the scene as photojournalists to capture these candid moments and also be able to step in when needed to direct and document important times like family portraits. We also love to create unique portraits of our couples and are always there to help with posing and tips to ensure they look amazing!
Our passion for photographing weddings has taken us around the world documenting one of the most special days in a couple's life and we feel honored to be chosen for this. We truly love what we do for a living!
When Chris and Andrea are not taking pictures, you can often find them hanging out with their two kids Sawyer and Siena. We have a love for Travel, Mountain Biking, Snowboarding and WakeBoarding."We are big kids ourselves and we believe in a good balance of working hard to play hard." We are excited to be celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary this year! We are honored to have just won the 2023/2024 Couple's Choice Award for the 13th year in a row naming us in the top 5% of all Wedding Photography Studios nationwide!
Q &A
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WHY should we hire you? I love this question. Straight and to the point! LOL! We understand there is a ton of talent to choose from especially here in LA, so I'm going to keep it real. Here is a list of my top 5 reasons 1. Experience Matters. We have plenty of it. 20+ years of capturing weddings and we have a Perfect 5-Star Rating which were very proud of. 2. Personality. We have a great balance of being flies on the wall capturing those amazing candids but also tapping in to direct you, help with posing, making you feel comfortable in front of the camera and especially organizing family portraits when needed. Having a laid back , stress free, fun personality is one of the secrets to our success! 3. We are Full Service and we have your back! We help you every step of the way. From developing the perfect PHOTO timeline to putting on the buttoners to making sure family is looking their best. We roll with the flow and adapt when necessary on your wedding day to make sure we are getting the shots we need but never taking you away from the moment of enjoying your day. 4. We are a husband and wife team! How great is that? You get two perspectives Male and Female for your wedding. Did I mention we are somewhat competitive? We like to see who can get the best shot(s) at every wedding, but also work amazingly well as team. Andrea (Dre) loves to capture the guys getting ready, jokes around with them and always manages to capture real authentic candids of the guys hanging out. I love capturing Bridal details,creating some artistic shots of bridal prep and bridal portraits before the first look. It's a a great balance. 5. We are so confident that you will love your photos that we stand behind out work, our Products and Services with a 100% no risk guarantee! No other studio that we have heard of offers this. This one reason alone is reason enough.
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How many photographers come to the wedding? We offer both 1 and 2 photographer packages to help fit any budget.
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Do we get to keep the Digital Files? Yes we do not believe in holding your pictures hostage and want you to be able to download them, share them and love them! Each and every photo will be delivered to you already color corrected, enhanced and proceeded to look it's very best. You will be given a web optimized size to share on all social media and a high res size for any print orders. Both are included!
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Do we have to Order Prints with you? No. We don't make you spend any money with us after your wedding. You have the choice in ordering professional prints from us or on your own. If you decide to order prints from us, we include additional retouching requests for free and best of all, every order placed with us comes with a 100% lifetime guarantee.
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Do you offer Large Prints or Canvas? Yes we offer Fine Art Museum Quality Canvas, Metal Prints, Acrylic Prints and traditional Prints in every size made for framing. All of these options can easily be ordered on the website we deliver to you and also come with a lifetime guarantee!
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Do you offer Videography? Yes though it's first come first serve. Our Video crew offers cinematic story telling wedding videography which compliments our technique for capturing. your wedding. Sometimes our video crew will be booked already on another job, so please check our availability. You can check here for sample video.
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Do you travel for weddings? Yes! In fact Destination Weddings are our speciality and we have had the thrill and pleasure of photographing over 50 destination weddings all over the world! From Australia to Hawaii to Mexico to Italy to St. Lucia. We often offer Destination Wedding Specials so be sure to ask!
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How many hours do you recommend for Photography? Our most common day is 8 hrs and we have a great wedding day PHOTO timeline we've posted to help you plan your day from our recommendation. Click Here.
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How long does it take to get our photos? We offer one of the fastest turn around times around. Our goal is to get you all of your photos edited,looking amazing and delivered to you within 3 weeks after your wedding day!
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How long have you been a wedding photographer? We started our wedding photography business in 2001!
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How would you describe your photography style? Glamorous,Creative,Timeless. Our editing style is warm, vibrant and colorful (kind of like our clients). In today's wedding photography we have to be really great at several styles in order to tell the full story of the wedding day. We specialize in capturing real moments and fun candids of your friends and family throughout the entire day. We are also known for our stunning portraits that look like they belong in a wedding magazine. In fact, they often end up in one!