Spencer is absolutely brilliant. My husband and I were looking for a photographer that would give us something a little different- we wanted our pictures to feel like us. After meeting with Spencer and hearing him speak so eloquently and thoughtfully about his process, we knew we had to book him.
On our wedding day, despite terrible weather and us running an hour behind schedule, Spencer and his assistant were professional, friendly, and relaxed. When we got our pictures back, I was blown away by how well they captured the FEEL of the day. They're beautiful, but they're real. All our friends and family have commented on what a great job 5 West Studios did. We really got it all with 5 West: stunning formal photographs, breathtakingly real emotional snapshots, and energetic party pictures. I couldn't ask for anything more, and my only regret is that I'm not getting married AGAIN so we could have Spencer could work his magic one more time!

My husband and I could not have been happier with Spencer for our wedding photography! Neither of us particularly enjoys being in front of the camera and we've been bothered by intrusive photographers at other weddings. Spencer and his team put us at ease immediately and were very discrete during the ceremony and reception. At times we completely forgot he was there – but were thrilled when we got our photos and saw how much he captured…it’s amazing how much you miss/forget in the whirlwind of the big day!

We chose to work with Spencer primarily because of his laid back approach and (of course) his work – his photography is beautiful, artistic and unique. We hadn’t originally planned to do an engagement photo session, but because it was part of our package, we went for it. And we are thrilled we did – it gave us a “practice session,” which made us more comfortable on our wedding day…and we loved our photos so much we used them to create our guest book for the wedding! Overall, we found him very easy to talk to – we went through what we were looking for at the wedding: I wanted to focus on candids of us on our guests enjoying the party, but also to document the day (I’d spent so long planning it!). He captured exactly what we had discussed and more.

Beyond his work, Spencer and his team were very attentive and organized. He was very responsive by email and phone, arrived early on the day and sent our photos within 3 weeks of the wedding, as promised. We even got a sneak peak of some of our photos in his blog post. We’ve received the first proof of our album and are very pleased so far – but enjoying being able to give our input to make sure our personal favorites are included (it’s just very difficult to narrow it down!).

Overall, I would highly recommend working with Spencer. He was a joy to work with and we’ve been blown away each time we received our photos – we couldn’t have asked for more!

Spencer and 5West Studios - Amazing Wedding Photography

Photography was very important to my wife and myself, so we sat with many photographers and reviewed many portfolios before picking Spencer at 5 west studios. It was probably our best decision made in planning our wedding.

First of all the pictures were fantastic. Not only are the pictures absolutely beautiful, Spencer has an ability to capture the subtle emotions and truly special moments in his pictures. Every time we flip through the pictures of our wedding, we feel like we are reliving the joy of those moments. We loved his photo-journalistic approach and creative style which fit well with what we were looking for in a photographer.

Spencer and his staff were also super easy to work with and very professional. He and his crew are very easygoing, friendly, and very flexible. They just blended into the background and we didn't feel like we had a photographer "in our face" the entire day. Even though their presence during the entire day was very subdued, they were still able to catch all the perfect moments that we wanted during the wedding.

The album was also amazing, extremely high quality and very flexible with choices on what type of cover to use, and how to arrange the album, and also we even got to add a picture that our friend took.

Even though the work is top notch, the prices for 5West Studios and Spencer were very reasonable and significantly lower than many other wedding photographers in the NYC area. The photography is definitely a great value.

Overall working with Spencer and 5 West studios was a fantastic experience. We give 5West and Spencer the highest recommendation possible to any couple getting married!

Spencer is simply wonderful to work with. I, my now-husband, and our family, simply cannot say enough great things about him. His pictures are stunning, and his ease makes you and everyone else feel so comfortable. He also has not an ounce of pretension, which in a pretentious and diva-filled industry, is so refreshing.

Spencer, we just finished watching the video! OMG!!! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE! SO PERFECT!!! Just the way we wanted, even better than what we wanted and expected. IT's amazing! We loved loved loved it!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! And the pictures are incredible. There are no words to describe! We are so happy we found you! Thank you million times!

He is incredible. So glad we found him. When we walked into his studio, his approach was so chill and relaxed, he showed us someone else's video and it was so moving. I knew we wanted him and my wife is very through, we went to 9 others before Spencer. He was flexible, great at the wedding, nothing disrupted him (it rained!!), then we got the pix back on time, and they were so incredible, and then the video. Wow! He is so awesome. He really captured the essence of our wedding, Thanks sooo much Spencer and your team!

My husband and I were lucky to use 5 West Studios to photograph and film our wedding last year. We ADORE the pictures; they are beautiful and capture the joy of the day. They make me grin every time I look at them. (Which I do. Very Often.) In addition to the great photojournalistic shots they took throughout event, we requested some posed family shots, and those were also excellent. The videos 5 West produced are stunningly good: the short and long versions are gorgeous, perfectly edited, and create a fantastic (and accurate!) narrative of the event. They made a beautiful movie out of our wedding.

Spencer's team was also a perfect presence at our wedding: not too obtrusive, yet always there. Spencer is a wonderful person; low-key yet thorough, energetic, and professional, and also just a thoughtful, kind man. Not surprisingly, the people who work with him are also lovely.

When booking vendors for my wedding, finding the perfect photographer was at the top of my list. After interviewing a bunch of photographers and not really clicking with any of them, I found Spencer at 5 West Studios. I knew within the first 10 minutes of speaking with him that I had found my photographer. Not only did he understand exactly what I wanted, but he offered his services at a great value. The first time we met, I think I spent 2 hours talking to him at his studio. We did an engagement shoot prior to the wedding in downtown Manhattan. I knew that the photos would look great, but they went beyond my expectations. Spencer just knows how to capture a moment, a look, the light, etc. After the first shoot, I couldn't wait for the photo session on my wedding day, and again, I couldn't have been happier. The photos were beautiful. Also, as I'm not a fan of posed photos or portraits, I asked that Spencer act as a fly on a wall, capturing photos when people were not expecting it. And he did just that. And the results were amazing. I couldn't have been happier with my experience with Spencer and 5 West Studios, and I wholeheartedly recommend him and his team.

AMAZING!!! The best and easiest decision my husband and I made during our wedding planning process was choosing Spencer and 5 West Studios to be apart of our wedding day. Working with them from start to finish was an absolute joy. Our pictures, livebook and album are so gorgeously perfect! Spencer was able to capture exactly the look and feel we wanted for our wedding day. We can't speak highly enough for Spencer and 5 West Studios!...they have become our families go too wedding photographers!! Book. Them. Now....just not on a date we need them ;o)

My husband and I met with several photographers trying to find the right one for our wedding. As soon as we met Spencer, we knew that he was the guy for us. His professionalism from the start was impeccable and his personality worked well with ours to have him there with us all day on this very special day.

We did an engagement session about a month prior to the wedding and the pictures were amazing. Spencer had a lot of great ideas and was very encouraging throughout the day. We even used some of these photos at our wedding.

On the day of, Spencer arrived right on time and captured every moment that we wanted and the style of photography that we wanted (more documentary rather than posed pictures). Both Spencer and his assistant photographer got every picture we wanted but wasn't intrusive on our day. My parents were even thanking him at the end of the night on how great he did and we hadn't even received the pictures yet! When we did, we couldn't have been more pleased. We had 1300 pictures that were all wonderful and we received them very quickly.

Working with Katrina on the album was also wonderful. All my changes and emails were responded to quickly and she helped start us off in a great place so changes were minimal anyway. Spencer also went out of his way to help with a mix up my mother made ordering an album to make sure she was happy and got exactly what she wanted.

Overall, I would highly recommend Spencer and his team. We are so happy with our engagement and wedding pictures and will definitely be calling again for some maternity and child pictures when that time comes!!