Smitten Chickens

Love love love working with Smitten Chickens! You will not be disappointed! I worked with Sarah for a Christmas time elopement and from the jump, she made everything so much easier! She knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and helped explain a lot of the process to us. We did a City Hall elopement, so there were a lot of things we didn’t know! From the moment Sarah arrived, she was helpful, kind, and pretty hilarious. She immediately contacted my Maid of Honor when she arrived. It was like having an extra friend there who was taking pictures and I felt really comfortable during all the shots. Without any hesitation, I would recommend Smitten Chickens to anyone who is looking to work with an incredibly talented photographer and genuinely great person. Our photos turned out amazing and we could not have been more thrilled with our experience with Sarah!

Thanks to the Smitten Chickens, we have our special day immortalized in film (or pixels) — and we have hundreds of perfect keepsakes!
Sarah was the first to arrive to our wedding location and immediately put us at ease. And as we took photos before the guests showed up, it was clear that her priority was to take photos that reflected our personalities and our love for one another.
Then, during the ceremony itself, she was an unobtrusive presence — we hardly noticed her as she nabbed what we would discover were perfect angles taken at the perfect time.
By the time we got home and saw the first previews, we knew that she had gotten shots that we would cherish for a lifetime. We had beautiful shots of ourselves and of our friends and families — many depicting moments between loved ones that we weren’t even aware of.
Sarah seems like a master of composition, light, and of depth-​of-​field — but beyond her photographer’s eye, she also has a knack for capturing personality and fun. We are smitten with the results!

I needed a headshot in a jiffy for a conference I speaking at. I got schedule for a shoot early the next day and had my headshot by EOD. My only feedback is that it was a little more glamour shot-​ish than I would have liked. Overall pretty awesome husband wife team.

My wife (then fiancée) eloped to New York to get married. It was a brave and terrifying thing for us: flying half-​way across the U.S. to get married with no one who loved and supported us to share in our joy. It was a very last minute thing too, I had just bought my partner tickets to NY for Niagara Falls because it was a bucket list item for her and she just graduated from UC Davis with her master’s in engineering. It was only through talking about what we were going to do there that we even realized we COULD get married there. Then, we decided we weren’t going to wait for the courts to decide (we live in California) we would just elope! I got to sewing our dresses and learning how to make a wedding bouquet (we were also quite broke, so we were living our dreams on a shoestring). Then we realized we needed a photographer. We actually found Sarah on Craigslist offering a deal to shoot an elopement for a price that was just in our budget. We were so nervous hiring someone a nation away, then sending money before we got there. We joked that she just wouldn’t show up and take our down-​payment (T.V. always paints New Yorkers as such a rough bunch). But she showed up, and we fell in love with her. It was so nice to have someone there for us on our big day, and not just there for us, but someone who made the whole day better (she is actually the witness on our marriage certificate!). She was kind, and funny and a great listener. She was also extremely genuine and really wanted us to have everything we wanted during the photo-​shoot. We never felt posed or forced. We had worked out a loose plan of things we’d like to shoot on our day, but there was so much spontaneity that we ended up with shots that are absolutely priceless. I have never had so much fun with a photographer. We were so thrilled with our day, we didn’t want it to end. We had Sarah for six hours, and when that time was up, she didn’t just pack up and leave us, but stayed until things felt finished. We really felt that this was a passion, not a job for her, which endeared her to us even more. We waited patiently for our pictures which Sarah diligently worked through even though she was planning her own wedding at the time, and were absolutely amazed when we got just a few of the preview pictures. Not only was Sarah the kindest and friendliest person I think we could have hired, but she has such an amazing talent. Our pictures were BEAUTIFUL. I cry every time I look at them. She worked with us to make any corrections (out of place hairs, dress threads– I did say I sewed them and I am by no means a seamstress). My partner and I hope to be married in our own state someday when the world comes to its senses that love is just love (oh, yeah, we also found out that she is an outspoken advocate for marriage equality– how awesome is one human being allowed to be?). We half-​jokingly say we’re going to fly Sarah out here to shoot it for us. I couldn’t imagine risking our big day to anyone else. She is amazing, and I could say nice things about her all day.

Sarah and Chris are a fantastic duo. I had never had head shots taken before but needed some for an upgrade to my blog… even though I was nervous and was sure I’d be awkward in front of the camera, they both did a great job talking some confidence into me and easing me through the process.
The photos turned out phenomenal. Despite the cold, the unexpected change of locations and my inexperience in front of the camera, I am so pleased with how they turned out. Not to mention, Chris and Sarah were delightful to spend the day with while they photographed away!
I highly recommend these two for any event. They are energetic, fun, creative and driven individuals who really CARE about the end product that YOU want. Their patience and expertise make them stand outs, and the final results speak for themselves (and they say, «awesome. A+. would hire again.»).