Let me begin by saying that I am a photographer, so choosing a wedding photographer was particularly strange and difficult for me. Colleen is absolutely amazing. She's like a photo magician. Not only are her photos breathtaking, but working with her was a real treat, too! My husband HATES having his photo taken and has been known to make an awkward face from time to time; Colleen was able to get him to relax in front of the camera. You'd never know he didnt love having his photo taken! She's able to capture the most incredible candid shots. She's very natural in her editing. They are perfect. She is wonderful. Her sense of timing is perfect.

We are delighted with the inspired quality of Colleen's work that captured each special moment of the wedding and the attendees.

The aren't enough superlatives to describe Colleen!!! I feel so incredibly fortunate to have chosen her as the photographer for our rehersal dinner and wedding day. Colleen has ability to connect with people and capture the essence of their spirit. Her photos feel natural and have an emotional quality to them. I was a little concerned about wedding photos since my husband is shy in front of the camera, but Colleen made it very comfortable and casual. Her fun and enthusiastic personality makes it easy to smile. It felt as if I had known her forever. I had always envisioned taking photographs with my horse in my wedding dress. You may have noted them on Colleen's website. Most people thought I was nuts, but Colleen was up for whatever I threw her way. They turned out amazing!!! Colleen was always responsive to emails or phone calls and open to all of our ideas. Colleen is a true talent. You're crazy not to have her behind the camera on your wedding day. I wish we could do it all again :) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Colleen!

Colleen is an enormously gifted photographer who captured the most precious moments of our Wedding in classic, beautiful, fun and creative ways. Every picture is a treat and they will be treasured forever. A true professional, Colleen set us at ease beginning with our engagement photos with both her humor and calmness. She was always on time, prepared, and had a Plan B when the weather didn't cooperate at our engagement shoot. You don't get a second chance at these types of photographs and we are SO GLAD we selected Colleen.

There simply are not words to express how wonderful it is to work with Colleen, but I am going to try anyway! My family first met her for my little sisters wedding in October of 2010 and it was love at first click! She was an absolute joy to work worth and as others have already said she has the most amazing knack for capturing unscripted moments, be they funny or tender, the images she captures lets our family relive a perfect day over and over again! We loved her so much that when it was time for my wedding I knew that Colleen had to be there...and when I discovered that she was already booked, I moved my wedding date. Because, yes, she is THAT amazing! Every time I look at my wedding photos its like experiencing the day I married my best friend again and again. My family and I are already crossing our fingers that Colleen Rosenthal will still be working her magic when my nieces get married! Colleen, you are a gem! If you are looking for the perfect photographer, you found her!

I am not the best with words, and when it comes to Colleen Rosenthal I'm at a total loss. She has to be one of the most genuine and caring human beings I have ever met. Not to mention her talent with her camera. She knew exactly what to do to get the most amazing shots I have seen. You can actually see the emotion that we were feeling jump off the print. I wish there was a way to express my gratitude for everything she has done for me and my family!!!

When you book Colleen Rosenthal, you are not just booking a photographer; you are booking a world-class artist with the vision of a master and the down-to-earth attitude of a family friend. Colleen’s love for her work shows through not only in the end product, but you can feel it during every moment that she works with you. She genuinely wants to showcase the beauty, charm, and timelessness of your wedding as much as (or even more than) you do. She not only captures the classic shots in an amazing way, her gift is her uncanny ability to capture those wonderful and memorable moments that happen spontaneously. Colleen is truly in tune with her art. Her photographs are like a magic time machine that takes you back to the moment, and fills you with the irreplaceable emotions that you felt then, and can now feel over and over again.

Hello :)

My wife Shawna and I were married this last November 2010 at the Ritz Carleton in Marina Del Rey, CA. We had a perfect magical day, and Colleen played such a pivital role, I cannot begin to express how thankful and fortunate we were to have had her with us that day, but hopefully this note can assist you similarly:

COLLEEN AND HER WORK, WERE WITHOUT A DOUBT THE HIGHLIGHT (save my wife) OF OUR PERFECT DAY.

In retrospect Colleen was the one thing we could not have done without. She was the one item we couldn't afford to make a compromise on. She was that special. As good as I had heard and hoped, nothing could have prepared me for the positive impact Colleen had, and continues to have every day since in the way she captured that perfect day for us. I cannot possibly put into words the full impact, but having just gone through the process ur going through and having a little hindsight, I will give it my best shot in hopes that your wedding has every success and joy that ours did.

First things first: THE PICTURES: I don't photograph well, never have...of the many hundreds of pictures my wife and I loved EVERY single one. What's more, generally you have to pick and choose which pics you want to share and which ones you don't...there wasn't a single bad picture among them and, throwing caution to the wind, we opened up the entire album to everyone. TO A PERSON, I havent heard anything besides 'that is one of our most favorite pics ever..." In wondering what to get family, bridesmaids, groomsman, etc as a thank you, so far its been one of colleen's pictures blown up and framed and everyone has loved it.

She captured EVERY moment we remembered, and showed us the ones we missed. I will never forget my mother-in-law casually asking Colleen at the end of the 5 hour reception if she had seen the monarch butterfly that landed above us during the ceremony and Colleen w/o hesitation answered 'wait till you see the print of it". So regarding the finished product, I have nothing but the highest praise. Along that line, there was one thing I did not love initially but will include so u can make a more informed decision:

Colleen warned us ahead she liked to touch up every single picture before sending them and it would take 5 weeks from the day as she was booked for so many event and insisted on doing them all personally. When I saw the results I understood just how much attention was paid to each picture and why she is as busy as she is. This was the greatest day of our lifes and Colleen treated each and every print with the love and respect I would only expect from me or my wife. I promise you from spending 8 hours with her, she loves what she does, truly deeply and passionately and she imparts such wisdom and love into her work. So that's our review of the finished prints.

Now to our second (and last) review, which for us was even more important than the finished product and that was the flow of the moment and people management which invariably any photographer will have to undertake...I cannot emphasize how important that was to our wedding, and something i had not thought of before. Colleen's bedside manner is unparalleled. Simply, in that regard she was the single most important asset to our wedding. Our guests (all 175, from beverly hills, pacific palisades, santa monica, potentially hard-to-pleasers) LOVED Colleen. Most people don't like being told when to smile, how to smile, where to stand, and ur in suits, uncomfortable clothes and you just want to enjoy the moment, eat, drink etc. Colleen keeps people moving, she has an agenda and she knows what she's doing, but she helps every single person (young, old, grumpy and even drunk) to get where they need to go, to get the shot, on time, and to do it with a beaming smile. Colleen made everyone feel SO GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES and I'm quite sure that had a lot to do wiith why her pictures turned out so well. We had a few relatives hell bent on making a scene or a protest or to take the moment away from my wife and quite simply Colleen would NOT ALLOW it. My wife and I never saw or heard about anything like that till after Colleen had handled it discreetly and professionaly and what's more those same relatives all complimented Colleen profusely at the end of the night and in notes to us later.

Colleen listened to us before about what was important to us and familiarized us with how she operates. Again she loaned her expertise to us in helping us discover how to best articulate the moments we wanted to capture, and in addition she gave us her full attention and listened to exactly what we wanted, even when a few of our requests were a bit untraditional.

I have never discussed the financials of our wedding, but for the sake of this review I will in hopes that it may properly help you to relate to what I hope is a spectacularly over the top review of her services. Our budget was around $50,000 and money was a HUGE concern for us, like with any wedding. Additionally, our budget got cut a few times during the process, and I'm so glad Colleens reputation proceeded her, and that she made herself so accessible, helping us make some tough decisions.

So there it is. I'm not terribly inclined to write reviews or recommendations, but as our day turned out so perfectly and its so easy to identify the single greatest outside influence, I'm writing this review. Her prices were very comparable to the dozen or so other phtotgraphers that were recommended to us, but again, having spent the money we did, I'm so grateful that Colleen was there to capture it all and maximize every penny that was spent. She made the day with her talent, her passion and her charm, and her finished work was simply brilliant. If Colleen feels like someone who could work for your event, I hope this review helps to paint a better picture of the effect and importance she had for us.

Colleen is a perfect ten across the board and I cannot recommend her more highly.

Good luck, and Congratulation!

- Caleb and Shawna

We had a very small wedding (just the 2 of us on a beach!). Colleen made us feel very comfortable and at ease. Her photographs were beautiful and at a very reasonable cost. I would highly recommend her!

I googled photographers in San Luis Obispo and came up with 5 or 6. The first group were nice, fairly standard wedding type photos. Colleen was last and the photos were at a different level altogether. True artistry. We are extremely pleased with the results. She took the pictures we all want and for the last hour disappeared. She was there of course, getting great candids. Colleen is a class act.

Not only were the pictures artiistic and beautiful, she captured the energy of the wedding. The best part was how comfortable she made my groom and I feel... I'm usually pretty awkward in front of a camera.

Colleen was absolutely the best thing that we did for our wedding. We had a destination wedding in wine country and not familiar with the area at all. Colleen gave me advice for all of the details and even made calls to find me a florist!!!! The pictures are stunning and she captured all of the best moments. She was not intrusive and many times I didn't even know she was around taking pictures. Such a blessing to have found her!

Colleen has an amazing eye for capturing the true emotion in a photo. She excels at candid shots and gets great posed shots as well. She knows how to tell a story with her photos and helps you relive your day every time you look at them. Somehow she gets a picture of absolutely everything and you don't even know she is there. Simply the best!

Colleen was great to work with.... she really loves what she does and makes the whole process fun and painless!.. and her photographs are INCREDIBLE!!!! A very lovely person and very lovely person (who is great at photoshopping!! ;) Highly recommend her!

Colleen is AMAZING!!! If you have the opportunity to use her for your photography, do it. We have the most beautiful wedding photos. She is a pleasure to work with and has an amazing artistic eye.

Colleen took the most amazing pictures for both our engagement and our wedding day. She was not only an amazing photographer but a great help at planning so our pictures came out perfect. Both she and her staff our great at getting your questions answered. She took the best photos without us even noticing she was there. We couldn't love our pictures more.