Testimonials
These testimonials are compiled through reviews on Google, Wedding Wire, The Knot, and Facebook.
Mariah & Riley
"Emily is INCREDIBLE. Truly amazing. Hire her for all the things. I met Emily at a wedding expo in Carpinteria less than a year before my wedding and was immediately taken by the photos she had up of her recent work. All the photographs were not only beautiful but captured such personality and the spirit of the couple or photo subjects. Though I met other lovely photographers in my search, I kept coming back to Emily’s photos because they all had such life to them! Emily really has such a unique perspective and eye and I knew she would capture such interesting and beautiful moments of our big day.
And of course, in all our dealings, Emily continued to wow me with her kindness, professionalism, and confidence. From our initial meeting, to our engagement shoot (included in most of Emily’s packages), to planning and day-of, she always manages to be calm, collected, and willing to work with me, my fiancé and now-husband, and our 5-year-old (who proved to be a HANDFUL to say the least). Even with any snafu’s, unwilling 5-year-olds, late relatives, injuries mid-wedding, and my own disorganization, Emily looked fully in control, stayed in communication about any changes we would need to make, and still got absolutely incredible shots of my husband and I, our families, the ceremony, and the wedding reception. I have only so far received the preview gallery and can’t believe I still have so many more amazing photos coming my way – that’s how happy I am with Emily’s work. All the things I loved about the samples I first saw of Emily’s work were evident in the photos she took of both the wedding and the engagement: she captured our personalities, the intended mood, and our love for each other. She was also very warm and kind in dealing with some of my insecurities about body/self-image. She helped me feel beautiful in all my shots and was body-positive in all her words and actions.
I also appreciated the many levels of service to choose from so she and I could find the right combination of hours and number of shooters that would work for me. Truly, even my now-husband, who had originally thought our niece (13-years-old) would just photograph the wedding for us, said the price was worth it after seeing just the preview gallery after our wedding, and he was glad he had been talked out of his original plan! You can’t go wrong with Emily!"
Adina & Theo
"Emily was absolutely incredible to work with! From start to finish, she made my husband and me feel so comfortable and natural during our maternity shoot, which really shows in the photos. She has such a warm, calming presence and truly knows how to capture genuine, meaningful moments. The photos turned out beyond beautiful! These are memories we will cherish forever as we prepare to welcome our daughter. Her attention to detail, communication, and overall professionalism were outstanding. The entire process was seamless, and we received our gallery in a timely manner with such high-quality images. I can’t recommend Emily enough if you’re looking for someone who will truly capture the essence of a special time in your life. We are so grateful "
Hannah & Lee
Emily took my engagement photos and wedding photos. My husband and I are a bit awkward/uncomfortable having our pictures taken but Emily's demeanor and kind personality helped us to relax and be ourselves. The pictures from the engagement photoshoot and the wedding photos were beautiful. We have a bunch of the pictures framed and hung up in our apartment. Everyone who visits our apartment notices and compliments the photos!
Marlee & Trudy
Captured by Emily C. Petrie was the perfect choice for our wedding photography. From our first interaction, Emily's communication was always timely, transparent, and kind. The quality of her work is truly beautiful, with sharp, vibrant images that captured all the special moments of our day. Emily was there for all the important moments, gently guiding us and making us feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera, even though we weren't experienced. We highly recommend working with Emily - she helped create beautiful memories that we will cherish forever.
Allison & Kelly
Emily was professional, clear and easy to communicate with before, during and after our engagement session. She put us both at ease and considered many details that we didn't think of ourselves. Our photos turned out beautifully, we looked effortlessly beautiful, and somehow still candid.
Brooklynn & Nathan
Emily is such an amazing photographer and person! She truly knows how to make you feel comfortable especially if you're camera shy. You must book!
Chelsea & John
Emily is a gifted photographer with a keen eye for capturing just the moment you hoped she would. Emily photographed my brother's wedding, as well as moments from my maternity, baby shower, and first months with my son. At every shoot, Emily made me feel so comfortable and offered helpful suggestions for natural poses. She is a total pro and knows how to work with people to accomplish their goals for the session. She is a great listener and she's also an artist, so you end up with photos beyond your greatest expectations. I highly recommend Emily for any occasion.
Liesel
I love working with Emily! She did some profile shots for me and made me feel free to express myself. I feel like she collaborated with me and intuitively knew what would work. I also really like that she pushed me out of my comfort zone and got fresh poses I wouldn't have thought of. She chose an excellent location for the work. I think she is incredibly knowledgeable about where and when to shoot, as well as how to place your body. She immediately put me at ease. Thank you so much Emily!
Camille & Reid
Emily took our family photos when my baby was just a few weeks old. They turned out so beautiful and the process was so relaxed. She was patient with us and the new baby, got so many shots, and was in and out before the baby had a meltdown. Highly recommend for naturalistic, romantic photos.
Ali & Larry
Emily Petrie was fantastic to work with and I would absolutely recommend her! She has a fantastic eye and took so many amazing shots of my partner and I with our rambunctious dog, we had so many options to choose from! Our dog is young and energetic, but Emily directed her (and my partner and I) masterfully. Post-shoot, Emily sent us a preview of images very quickly and we didn’t have to wait too long for the final gallery either.
DeeAnne & Gregory
I hired Emily to shoot my wedding, and I absolutely loved working with her. Communication was smooth and effortless. She made everyone feel comfortable and at ease. Everything with Emily leading up to the big day and the wedding itself, it was so good. Then came the photos, and those are just incredible! So stunning. I have received many a compliments on how beautiful the photos are. Couldn't be happier! Cannot recommend Emily enough!
Katie & Summer
We hired Emily for our wedding in July and just did our engagement shoot with her. We honestly couldn't be more happy with not only how amazing the photos turned out, but by how comfortable she made us feel. She brought such a sense of calm and support to our shoot and her energy is just so supportive and professional. We are SO happy we went with her for our special day. These photos will be with us for the rest of our lives and we couldn't be more amazed and astounded by how genuinely she captured us and our love.
Steve & Liesel
Professional, energetic and creative - Emily helped us so much with my wedding! She organized an associate shooter to cover our celebration, and Emily edited the photos beautifully. Emily also created the photo timeline, assisted me with wedding day timeline and ran the rehearsal. She answered any wedding related questions we had promptly. She gave us so many good ideas and honestly helped us have the best day ever. I highly recommend her!
Holly
Emily did 30th birthday photos for me and I love them! She was great with making sure our timing and locations matched up, and had a lot of great ideas for cute shots. I love all my photos and would happily work with her again!
Madeleine
Emily's photos of me all came out beautifully. There was a great variety of shots to choose from, and the process was very friendly and comfortable. I highly recommend her!
Alissa & Megan
I feel so lucky to have had some photography sessions with Emily! She did a family session with my 2 year old toddler and it was so easy. She let us just be ourselves and snapped some amazing photos. We all felt very comfortable and at ease, even my 2 year old who smiled for the camera even though she didn’t know Emily!
My wife and I also had personal shots done for our businesses and we love the way the headshots and body shots (yoga poses) came out! She does a wonderful job with lighting and color, and is in general so nice to be around.
Kelly & Kevin
My husband and I live in Illinois and were eloping in California. Emily was so helpful in scouting out a perfect location for our ceremony that would provide a beautiful sunset backdrop for photographs. She was quick to respond to any questions we had. Covid caused us to postpone our travel date, and Emily was very accommodating in rescheduling our date. We both hate taking phots but Emily made us feel comfortable and natural and the photographs turned out amazing. We highly recommend her services!
Danielle & Alex
Having Emily photograph our wedding was an amazing experience! My husband and I were planning a small backyard wedding and decided our 'splurge' was to hire a professional photographer. And we are so happy that we did! Not only are Emily's picture beautiful quality, she also has a fair price for the amount of work and love she puts into each pictures. You can tell this is her passion. Her good energy and sense of light was such a great addition to our special day. She was able to make taking pictures feel so natural and was able to capture the real, authentic and raw moments that I was really hoping for. I would hire her a million times over. So happy with how everything turned out! I absolutely cannot thank her enough.
Amanda & Kat
We did our engagement photos with Emily. She was amazing! She was down to get artsy fartsy with us, and brought the BEST calm energy. It's hard to find vendors around wedding stuff the are openly LGBTQ friendly, and that was hugely important to us. Could not recommend her higher! Our edits came back BEAUTIFULLY and quickly!
Clara & Tommy
Emily also took our engagement photos and we could think of no one better to capture our special day. Her eye for detail, kindness, flexibility, and responsiveness make her one of a kind. Emily truly captured the spirit of our wedding day and all those we love. Highly recommend her for your event.
Jessica & Nathan
If you’re looking for an un-canned experience, if you want photos that feel more you than Pinterest (but also capable of starting a new craze on Pinterest), then book Emily! I felt like she totally understood my vision, helped me create it, and then delivered. We both look flawless, yet natural. And as a couple with different skin tones, one of us sometimes looks a little off in photos (one looks good but the other is in shadows or overexposed), but not so with Emily. The lighting is perfect, and we both look like ourselves. I’ve gotten so many compliments on the photos, which I know is totally normal, but people have been calling me to tell me how much they love them. People who don’t usually call. I just feel like these photos really engaged people and my partner and I love every last one of them. Thank you so much, Emily
Julie & Heather
Emily is a photographer that brings out the special light in her clients. She effortlessly puts you at ease and gets the best shots with patience and grace. We will AWAYS choose Emily for our personal photography needs.
Kate
Emily Petrie is professional and she knows her stuff. She can photograph pets, people, and before and after photos of spaces under transformation. What Emily does as a photographer of people is finds your best image, the one where you are glowing. I see that glow in her photos and think, that’s Emily. She also goes this unobtrusively which is fantastic. Some photographers want to be the center of attention. Emily does her magic on the quick. I can’t recommend her highly enough.
