Kris Holland Photography

Kris was excellent! Everything we wanted and more for our engagement photos. We weren’t too sure on location but he helped us with a few suggestions and followed through as a magnificant photographer and friend. He was enjoyable and has a very unique view which my fiancé and I LOVED. Captured beautiful memorable moments!!! Couldn’t be more satisfied.

If we had to do it all again — we would hire Kris again no question about it!
You only get one shot at wedding photos, so it’s important you pick the right photographer. We were seeking someone who could give us beautiful, natural, and candid photos that captured the emotion of our big day. Kris Holland delivered just that and so much more. The photos he took of our wedding are perfect! He clearly understands lighting, angles, and composition and excels at capturing artistic perspectives. All of our friends and family have been WOWED by the photos — we agree, they’re beautiful.
Beyond beautiful photography, Kris made the entire process very easy for us. He is friendly, patient, and professional. Just a few weeks after our wedding we got a preview slideshow, which we enjoyed watching while on our honeymoon. Shortly thereafter we received our full set of photos and are 100% satisfied.

I can’t recommend Kris highly enough. We stumbled on his work when we were looking at venues, and we kept ending up on his blog thinking «we love this photography — this guy is *really* good!» And after hiring him, I can say that he really is.
The thing that you often aren’t told is that the person you’ll spend the most time with at your wedding is your photographer, so you really want to enjoy being around them. Kris was friendly and fun, but in a way where he didn’t change what we did. Thinking back on the other photographers we talked to, I’m really glad we went with Kris not just for the photos, but also for the good company at the times where it’s just bride, groom, and photographer. The rest of the time, he struck a great balance of being present and available when you wanted him to be, and being practically invisible the rest of the time. We keep finding ourselves wondering just how he got a few of the candid shots because 1) We don’t remember him being there, and 2) He must have been in two places at once to get some of them.
Other than the great photos and his onsite performance, he is great on the business/​professional side too. We were married in June, at a really busy time for him, and he offered us a reasonable estimate for when he’d deliver the photos to us, and still delivered them early. I tended to think slideshows with music in general are a little cheesy — until I saw the one he delivered to us. There was something about it being my own and the story that Kris told about it in the slideshow that made me really happy with it.
The last thing I want to mention is that in the hiring process, Kris didn’t try to upsell us. At one point we were seriously considering a more expensive option for a second shooter, and after talking to Kris about it, he recommended against it because, in knowing the venue we were at (even after having been there just once), he didn’t think we needed it. It’s worth pointing out that I think he was right too — he got the job done excellently without the second person, and there aren’t any shots we feel like he missed — and like I said before, he somehow managed to capture multiple angles of many moments. In the conversations beforehand, he genuinely talked with us about everything we wanted, and helped steer us to what we actually needed, while working with our budget.
All of this said, we couldn’t be happier with Kris and his work. If you like his work, definitely get in touch with him — you really won’t regret it.

If there were more stars I would give them! We loved working with Kris and we are so impressed and pleased with how the photos turned out.
His artistry and style are impeccable, but most importantly, he is so down-​to-​earth and yet super professional, which makes for the winning combination you want in a wedding photographer. He’s also super skilled at being present but non-​intrusive.
We both felt really comfortable and at ease in his presence (like we would have been with a friend). And we completely trusted he could capture our day the way we experienced it — he well exceeded our expectations! We now have images we know will live on in our families far longer than we will be here. Feeling super grateful to have crossed his path and have him there with us on our special day. Thanks again, Kris!

Believe the hype. Kris Holland is simply the BEST.
We had a specific vision for our wedding and Kris’ work ticked all the boxes. His style is natural, candid, and he’s able to capture the beauty of every detail effortlessly.
One of my clients had referred Kris to me as she just had the pleasure of having him shoot her wedding (she has also written a review below — adrienne t.). She sent me the link to her photos and they were amazing! We contacted Kris right away and the rest is history…
While we stressed over all the wedding planning, Kris made everything easy for us. He clearly has the talent thing down, but is also super responsive, receptive, and an all-​around NICE guy.
He sent us a beautiful slide show earlier this week, and we just received our photo package in the mail today, which is pretty quick since we got married on January 10^th. We are blown away by all of the photos and appreciate the care and creativity he put into editing and packaging our photos.
We could go on and on, but you should just do yourself a favor and hire him!
THANKS, KRIS!

I am so thrilled that Kris was able to photograph our wedding and reception. After looking at the stunning images of weddings on his website, I knew that no other photographer would do. I didn’t want the cheesy wedding pictures that accompany almost all weddings. Kris uses a photojournalistic approach to capture all of the little moments that would have been forgotten otherwise. He was incredibly professional, flexible, and focused on exactly what we deemed important. The photographs took our breath away. The use of light and space was just exquisite. There are no words to describe the incredible images. They say your wedding goes by in a flash, and that was certainly true for us. Luckily we have these amazing pictures that captured our special day. We couldn’t give him a higher recommendation.

Don’t mess up and hire someone else. Kris is the best there is.
The pros: My husband and I agree… meeting with Kris is like meeting with an old friend. He is beyond easy to talk to, he has a laid back vibe, he answers all of your questions (even the super goofy ones), and he is timely with his emails and phone calls. He is professional and lets his gorgeous work speak for itself. No pushy salesman vibe here! This guy is a class act.
During our first meeting, I mentioned that I was concerned that we might not have enough light at our afternoon wedding. Kris had already looked up where the sun was going to be and assured us it would be fine! Wow… this guy has his stuff together. Before the wedding, he called to discuss our day of schedule and helped us figure it out (because we were clueless). The day-​of the wedding he was a calming presence… even some of our guests commented… that «that guy really knows what he’s doing».
Kris is a truly great photographer. His artistic eye is always going and searching for inspiration. For instance, at one point during the reception, he asked us to come over by a window for a photo because he had noticed some light streaming through as the sun set. Wow, did he get a gorgeous photo. His ability to capture a «moment» while also capturing beautiful composition and color go to show just how dang talented this guy is.
After the wedding, Kris got our photographs to us ahead of schedule. We couldn’t be happier with our photos. FYI, I’ve been known to take many of awkward troll photos… but Kris’s photos made me and my husband look and feel like a million bucks.
The cons: Absolutely none. I just wish we had more events that Kris could photograph! I guess we’ll have to get married again! :D

We could not be happier with our wedding album because of Kris Holland’s skill and enthusiasm during the whole process. He was absolutely a pleasure to work with and his talent for photojournalism was demonstrated in every picture! In addition, his professionalism was evident in every interaction, quick replies to every question/​emails and the turn around time for our edited pictures was an unexpected surprise. Thanks so much Kris for everything!

Kris Holland delivers! We couldn’t be happier with our engagement portraits, and with our wedding pictures. We were after a certain look and feel to capture our mountain wedding, and Kris gave us exactly what we wanted. His photo journalistic background really helps capture the candid moments that make up a wedding, and we couldn’t recommend him more.
In addition to being a great photographer, Kris is also very professional and responsive, and delivered us the edited photos much faster than we expected.

If you’re considering hiring Kris, I highly recommend that you do. You won’t regret it. We hired Kris for our wedding and are thrilled with his work.
When my husband and I starting planning our wedding, we knew that we would have a limited budget and our event would be modestly ‘do-​it-​yourself’. I started browsing photographer portfolios and was blown away by Kris’ ability to capture emotion unlike any other. Believe me — I probably looked at every photographer in the Bay Area — I was that concerned with getting the best since you don’t get a chance to retake these!
You will not need to have a family full of models or spend lots of money on décor. He has the eye to capture the beauty of the event and attitude of the day in a way that will make your family and friends cry with joy.
Kris is extremely humble, not pushy, and will make you feel at ease. His style of shooting is rare and we are so lucky to have had him work with us.

For those who are checking out these reviews and just want the short version: Kris Holland is the best in the business. He is the ultimate combination of talent and professionalism, without the attitude that can sometimes come with someone so unbelievably amazing and gifted at their job.
For those wanting a little more, I will get to the gushing:
An amazing photographer was at the top of my husband’s and my list for our wedding. I spent several days trolling the internet, and could not find anyone whose style matched what we were looking for.
Well, am I glad I was diligent. From the moment I got to his website I knew we had to meet him. Our first time getting together we immediately felt like he was an old friend — he put us right at ease and asked us tons of questions about ourselves. Not once did I feel like he was selling his work (he doesn’t have to — it speaks for itself!), and by the end of our meeting we could not WAIT to book him.
On the day of our wedding, Kris could not have been any more incredible. He was like a ninja — literally everywhere all at the same time. And for two people who have taken maybe 3 serious pictures in the 5 years we’ve been together, having Kris as our guy was the best. We never felt awkward or pushed into poses that didn’t feel like us, and it felt more like he was a friend at our wedding than Our Super Serious Wedding Photographer.
If all of this was not enough, when we got the photos back we were totally floored. His photography style is just beyond… there is an ease and candidness captured in each picture, and his knowledge of framing and lighting is incredible. Again, for folks not really interested in seeing photos of themselves, we could not stop looking through these. Each moment of the day was highlighted, and he was able to create a story in the timeline of our photos so that we actually got to experience moments we did not get to see. If it’s not clear enough: WE LOVE KRIS!!!
As an event planner myself, I have worked with all kinds. Kris is the total package, and someone I could only hope to cross paths with again professionally (or personally!). If you are in the market for someone who will take beautiful, natural, magical, UNBELIEVABLE photos of your wedding, Kris is your guy. Don’t even think twice!

Kris was a FANTASTIC and PROFESSIONAL photographer. We learned very early to trust his experience and felt so comfortable working with him during our engagement shoot and on the big day. Our only regret is that we didn’t get in touch with him earlier to have him for all of our other wedding related events throughout the weekend!
Our engagement shoot was fun and because of the way Kris works, it felt really natural. Not feeling very photogenic or knowing how photoshoots work, we were a bit nervous. But we picked one of our favorite places to walk and relax and it worked out perfectly. Kris was really just in the background for the most part, capturing us being together, talking, laughing, having our usual fun, so we quickly relaxed and started enjoying ourselves.
When decided half-​way through the shoot that we wanted to go for a short bike ride down to our favorite scenic river spot, Kris was totally flexible and hopped on a bike to shoot pictures of us while we were riding. He was biking with one hand while turning back to look at us and shoot photos with the other! We were so happy to find that he had a flexible and fun personality just like us, and were really impressed with the photos he was able to take while biking one-​handed!
During the wedding, it felt like Kris was everywhere, capturing all of the great moments with our friends and family.
We can’t reiterate enough how happy we are with the photos and the overall experience of working with Kris, we highly recommend him!

Kris shot both our engagement and wedding photos. My husband and I knew we wanted to invest in quality photos and it was important for me to find a photographer that we were both comfortable with and shared our vision. I spent hours researching and just from perusing his website I knew we found what we were looking for. Meeting and working with him sealed the deal. Kris is very professional, friendly and fun, and has a great eye. The lighting, settings, and angles he chooses to capture are beautiful. Friends that look at our photos are impressed and say they look like they came from a fancy magazine spread.
On our wedding day I did not have to worry about posing, etc… working with Kris on the engagmement photos I was confident that I could just be myself and forget about the camera and he would be there to capture the moments in a way that was unique and artistic.
If you want beautiful photographs that don’t feel staged or cliché/​cheesy Kris has got your back! He will get the special and memorable moments. But what sets him apart is that he is also able to tell a story with the pictures by capturing the mood and beauty that is unique to your day.

I can’t tell you enough how professional + kind Kris is, how magical + inspiring his photos are, and how truly happy + satisfied you will be if you ask him to photograph your special moment (s).
Finding him was one of those serendipitous moments for me; I am an amateur fine-​art photographer (however, no where near his stature, expertise and calibre!) so I went in my search with two criteria:
1) knowing that one of the biggest, if not only, splurge for our wedding would be photography. These things last forever, yo!
2) we DID NOT want: tacky, over-​processed (hello, Photoshop Actions overload!) photos with props and ridiculous poses. We wanted natural, beautiful, stunning photos that told a story. We wanted a photojournalistic style that utilized as much natural light as possible, where we would be free to be ourselves, and that the heavenly camera would look at us and say: these two are in love, have been through so much together, and are meant to be together.
Suddenly I stumbled upon his website. I was floored. And he is in Sacramento?! I can’t tell you how fast I typed my inquiry to him, praying that he had our date available.
Kris delivered, and then some. He was available and interested, and we immediately set up a date to meet up over coffee and talk about photos. Shortly thereafter, we secured our date and made arrangements for engagement photos + wedding photos.
Kris is fun + comfortable to work with; he’s endearing + smart, understands true photography + uses the BEST full-​frame body + prime lenses you’d hope your photographer would use (Kris: I forgive you for using Canon, haha!). He’s upfront on his turnaround time, delivers your digital photographs in lovely packaging and if you ever have questions, he gets back to you quickly.
You will not regret working with him. Just look at his website and Facebook page as proof in the pudding. Meet him. Talk to him. It’ll solidify that he’s the best there is!

Kris is a super solid photographer. I am a videographer/​photographer my self and I chose Kris because you can see it in his work. Before finding Kris I was having a really hard time paying as much as most photographers charge for weddings. As soon as I saw his portfolio I was blown away with his style. Kris is friendly, accommodating and punctual. Kris even helped get our wedding featured on Rock n’ Roll Bride.

We found Kris after a seriously involved search for a truly great photographer. There are hordes of wedding photographers out there, but the problem is that the majority of them are so darn cheesy. If you wish to avoid this, stop here. Kris is able to capture the beauty and emotion of a wedding in an elevated, authentic and artistic fashion, which is truly a treasure.
Planning our wedding was not the most straightforward venture. We are from the Bay Area but living in Ann Arbor; planning a small ceremony in Yosemite and a large reception in Berkeley the following week wasn’t super easy at a distance. But Kris was organized and communicative. We had skype calls at useful intervals, first to nail down initial details and then continuing as our vision of the wedding and reception solidified. Kris knew all the right questions to ask about the vibe, flow and details of what we wanted to create, which in turn helped us to turn our attention to the little components of the celebration that contributed to its dimension and character.
Kris is a great listener, and very receptive. He came down to Yosemite with us, and when we decided to change our location the night before the wedding, he was totally flexible even though the choice altered the schedule of the whole day and he had already scoped our previous locale. Kris was able to roll with the punches, finding light, beauty and stunning settings without great familiarity of our new location. Kris has a visual instinct that creates truly stunning photographs. He has sort of an artistic it-​factor. He doesn’t just take pictures, but adroitly weaves personality and landscape, light and emotion, in a dynamism that appears effortless. His ease in fashioning something magical without being overworked isn’t only amazing, but also made it so easy for us to hang out and be natural and enjoy ourselves. There was no stiffness, no photo exhaustion. Kris knows what he’s after and how to achieve it, so he doesn’t spend ages trying to formulate good portraits.
The net-​net is that if you choose Kris you are ensured stunning photographs. They are strikingly impressive in form and beauty. We collect 20^th-​21^st century photographs, which adorn the walls of our home. We are the last people to throw portraits of ourselves on our walls into this mix. But Kris’ images belong in our collection, and their artistry blends seamlessly with the masters. Really. Thank you, Kris.

Kris is a phenominal photographer. He shot our engagement photos last month and I can honestly say it was such a good time. I’m not one for having my photo taken often so I was a little nervous but immediately it felt right with him. He doesn’t give you much direction unless you need it (he tells you before hand about his style and how he works). His calm demeanor and great sense of humor really comfort you as you have someone following you around trying to capture intimate moments.
He’s really easy to talk to and incredibly amazing with light.
I can’t recommend him enough to people and would hire him over and over again.

From helping us pick a location which really suited our personal tastes, to making us feel comfortable and natural during our photo session, Kris did a fantastic job with our recent engagement session.
He showed up at the session and was immediately friendly, funny, and easy to work with. We walked around the small town we had chosen while he talked and joked with us and grabbed many different chances for photos of for photos of us in great lighting and surroundings. He kept the entire session feeling fresh and the time passed quickly yet he managed to take a pile of great photos that are beautiful and fit us so perfectly.
I would not hesitate to recommend Kris to anyone looking for a photographer that is easy to work with and takes beautiful photos.

Kris is such an incredible person. He is so kind and sincere, which I feel is an important attribute to any vendor that you will be working with on your wedding day. For so many reasons! He makes everyone feel comfortable being themselves around him (which you can see in his photos– Abby and Jesse were so relaxed and normal in every photo he took of them).
On top of that he has a spectacular eye for creativity in his shots. His photos are still some of my favorite! I choose to use his images on a regular basis because they really capture the joy and love of his clients. He is great to work with prior to the wedding day as well. My clients and myself were so happy with him in every way. He is great at communication via phone and email which is another very important quality you want in a photographer. He is great the day of as-​well, he was great at helping keep everything on schedule and keeping me in the loop if he did need or want a bit more time. I would love to work with Kris more and I would and do highly recommend him to anyone looking for an AMAZING trustworthy photographer!

Booking Kris for our wedding is one of the best decisions we’ve made. Like I said, all of our vendors were top-​notch and I loved each and every one of them. But there were a couple of shining stars, and Kris was one of them.
We first met Kris at a bridal show — we picked up his info card along with many others. When my fiancé and I sat down to look through everything, we kept coming back to his card. There was only one picture, and I still remember it. Bright blue sky in the background, a bride holding an umbrella standing next to her groom on a hill. It was simple yet said so much. We threw away everything else and met with Kris.
Kris was laid back and easy to talk to. He wasn’t in our faces, aggressive, or pushy. He genuinely wanted to get to know us even at our first meeting. He brought more examples of his works — his photo albums are gorgeous. He has such an eye for composition and attention to detail. His photos are never boring. Each photo tells a story that is but one part in the overall story. There was nothing artificial or fake, he seemed to capture those moments that you would want to remember forever. We quickly booked Kris after meeting with him.
During our engagement photo session, he was really patient as we had to change clothes several times and go to different locations. When one location was too windy for pictures, he was happy to travel to a different location. What should have been a 2 – 3 session turned out to be 4 or 5 hours. But he stuck with us as we fumbled our way around San Francisco. We were a little shy being photographed but he helped us relax and never asked us to do anything we were uncomfortable with. When we saw the photos, they were so beautiful — the lighting, shadows, composition — we couldn’t have been happier. I received many comments/​compliments on the photos.
As Kris posted pictures of other engagements and weddings, I couldn’t help but think how beautiful and engaging the pictures were — of people I didn’t even know! That’s part of what makes Kris so special. He makes you care about the subjects in his photos and makes it seem like you were there.
Finally, on our wedding day, Kris was ever the professional. I was disappointed because we couldn’t take outside shots on account of all the rain, but he told me not to worry and that everything would turn out beautifully. When the wedding started, Kris faded into the background as I focused on my new husband. Kris was right, everything was beautiful, and his pictures were absolutely stunning. He caught all the moments that I was too busy to register. He caught the smiles, laughter, hugs, kisses, love, and joy on our faces and the faces of our family and friends. It was all real and captured so beautifully.
If you have a special event that you want to remember forever, contact Kris Holland. He has my highest recommendation!