My now-husband and I hired Chris for our (originally) July 2020 wedding at Hyatt Lake Tahoe, which was rescheduled to November 2021 due to COVID. First, Chris was so incredibly helpful, responsive, and understanding through multiple date changes during an incredibly stressful time. I have so much respect for any vendor who has graciously helped couples reschedule during the pandemic at a time when I’m sure they were hurting as well.

Chris’ process for making sure he has all the details covered was extremely thoughtful and helpful leading up to the wedding. We live in San Diego, so we could not meet him until our wedding day, but I was put at ease knowing he was a true professional. He sent out a questionnaire well in advance of our wedding day to gather the key photos we wanted, the people who needed to be in each, our timeline, and other special notes. On the day of, this pre-coordination meant he could ensure we were sticking to our timeline and getting all the key shots, which was really important given that the sun sets early in November. It also meant that the group shots were done efficiently without the opinions of every extended family member slowing things down! Seriously, handing off your plan to someone so organized and professional is such a blessing on the day-of – it lets you focus on just enjoying every moment!

I cannot believe how many great shots of our wedding Chris was able to capture. It honestly seems like he was in 5 places at once to get so many incredible pictures of so many people. Most of the wedding pictures you see people post online are the posed group shots, but the shots we truly loved were all candid (Chris’ specialty). It takes some sort of superpower level stealth to capture the number of teary-eyed hugs and moments of pure joy Chris got in our pictures – the kind that transport you back to a feeling just by looking at them. Scrolling through them felt like re-living every nervous jitter and moment of warmth or fun of our big day, and not a moment was missed. I cannot thank Chris enough for his patience in working with us for what amounted to 2 full years of planning, for his preparedness and ability to blend in that meant we could live in every moment, and for capturing photos I know I will cherish for the rest of my life.

When hiring photographers I really wasn't sure what I was looking for. I knew I wanted candid, unstaged photos for the most part and after reading reviews, decided I wanted someone who could blend in with guests without being noticed or interjecting too much. With Chris, my expectations were blown away. Chris was a pleasure to work during the planning process - he was responsive, thorough, thoughtful, and gave us his opinion on what we did/did not need to do. Day of, Chris was prompt, prepared, and immediately put us at ease. He got to work and even in a small bridal suite, we didn't notice him as he snapped photos of us. What I cannot stress enough, is Chris was seemingly invisible the whole day, from ceremony to reception. I saw him a few times (sometimes in crazy positions getting the best shot) but for the most part, he was everywhere and nowhere all at once. He was so nice and even put people who historically do not like their photos taken at ease. I am so excited to see our wedding photos, I know they will be beautiful, and cannot thank Chris enough for his expertise and capturing the best night of our lives!

Chris was SO easy to work with, so professional and overall was such a joy to spend time with on our wedding day. We got married in the middle of an (unexpected) blizzard and Chris was so wonderful throughout the entire day. Pretty sure every article of clothing he brought went home soaking wet, but his dedication and willingness to document it all was amazing. Words cannot express what a home run booking Chris was!! We will cherish our photos forever, and look forward to booking Chris for our next special occasion.

We were married in August of 2019 and Chris Werner did our photography. For some back ground, we had a very high priority for Photography for our wedding and we did extensive research on Lake Tahoe Photographers as well as photographers from nearby areas. What attracted us initially to Chris was his portfolio. He has a very artistic portfolio beyond the more standard wedding shots that we have all seen. He was our #1 choice based on portfolio alone so we contacted him to discuss. We reviewed his various photo packages and it is worth noting that he can customize the photography inclusions for you. We ended up booking him for an extended timeframe(10 hours) on our wedding day, as well as an engagement shoot. I would recommend getting the engagement shoot from Chris as well because we got to know him and we were able to shoot on the East shore of Lake Tahoe which gave us another location for photos that wasn't that close to our wedding venue. Our engagement photos came out great and we knew he would do an awesome job at our wedding. Chris is great with communication and he has a lot of experience on how to make your wedding day flow well with photography in mind. We took his advice and did all of our family photos before our ceremony which I would highly recommend to anyone. So that afterward you are free to be with your loved ones. We received our wedding photos from Chris and they are everything we had hoped for. Very creative and special with tons of excellent candid shots from throughout the day/night. He was everywhere and captured everything! I can also say that our guests and other wedding vendors were very impressed with him and those that knew him already commented at how he is the best. I would highly recommend hiring Chris Werner for your wedding and engagement photography!

Chris was such a great photographer to work with! He is fun and professional and offers our clients terrific images of their wedding day. Liane McCombs Wedding and Event Planning

We feel so lucky that our wedding planner, Lindsey, from Blue Sky Events introduced us to Chris because I did not come across him in my research! Chris is so incredibly professional - he politely but sternly made sure people got out of shots at our venue, dealt very impressively with the different personalities in our wedding party, and took the most beautiful pictures. He has such a gifted eye for the lightning at Lake Tahoe, which was very important to us. We wanted to make sure that we had someone who could really capture its beauty. He made pictures that guests asked us to take at the wedding beautiful despite crappy lightning and stacks of plates in the way. He is very detailed-oriented, thoughtful, and creative. He responded quickly to all emails and phone calls. He answered all our questions without being condescending or frustrated. One of our favorite things (and probably one of the most important in hindsight) is that Chris exudes a calm presence, which is key on a busy day that requires organizing several people on a schedule.

We can't get over how beautiful and dynamic all of our wedding photos are! Chris is exactly what we were looking for in a photographer, and so much more! He perfectly captured the emotions of all of our loved ones and all the special moments on our wedding day with great professionalism and charm.

Leading up to the wedding, he was very responsive through email, and arranged a Skype/Hangouts session to get to know each other. We felt very comfortable with him from the get-go and enjoyed our conversation with him.

On the day of, he arrived early to get to know the venue as it was his first time there. As we were getting ready, he was already everywhere at once, climbing on creaky balcony railings and chairs to get the perfect shot and running back and forth between the groom and bride's chalets to take photos. And he did all this without being overbearing...his presence was actually relaxing rather than stress-inducing, which is really valuable on a wedding day!

During the ceremony, Chris' talented eye captured moments of laughter and of tears, with great photojournalistic composition and lighting. And he even worked patiently through our group photos.

We then went off-site for our couples photos and he hauled his gear up a mountain and took the most beautiful photos we have ever seen, doing truly creative things with sunlight and shadows in a very short amount of time.

We were also very impressed with our reception photos because our reception was indoors with some rather challenging (and constantly changing) lighting conditions, yet all of the photos turned out spectacular. My partner, who is a photographer himself, could not get over how good Chris was at handling indoor lighting and making the photos really pop. Plus Chris is very discreet, which means he was able to capture a lot of candid moments and expressions. When reviewing the photos, we were surprised and delighted to see pictures of almost all our guests, and wondered when he had the time to take all of them. And the dance photos were so much fun (and so sharp)!

Chris' photos are gifts we (and I'm sure our guests) will cherish forever, and allow us to relive not only the scenes but more importantly the love, laughter, and beauty of having all the people we love together in one place. We can say without doubt that he was one of the best choices we made for our wedding.

Thank you Chris for everything!

Chris did such an amazing job! He was so easy to work with and was very responsive up until the big day. His experience was invaluable and his commitment to my requests helped the day run smoothly. I was so impressed that he had taken the time to learn everyone’s names, just based on the questionnaire I had sent him. He is so personable and professional, and I absolutely recommend him!

Chris was phenomenal. I didn't know what to expect working with him but had the most pleasant surprise as not only is Chris incredibly talented but he is friendly, adaptable and professional. His work ethic is comparable to none and although there were several extenuating factors that would warrant complaint, he was a positive beacon and never complained once! I cannot recommend Chris more for when you need someone who will get the job done for your most special, memorable moments. Chris is top notch and I hope to work with him again in the future!

Finding Chris was like finding a diamond in the rough! We brought him on to photograph our wedding in 2015 and we are thrilled with his work and partnership! From our first conversation, it was clear that he is passionate and accommodating. He is GREAT at prompt communication (best of our vendors, actually) and was available to chat whenever we needed. His photos are beautiful, artful and very well composed. He is also great at capturing the emotion in a moment. We've printed so many of our photos and I continue to be impressed by how they've turned out.

Additionally, a few things really stood out about Chris:
- on the day of our wedding he turned in to some kind of olympic-athlete photographer. Somehow he was able to be everywhere at once - but he wasn't in the way or distracting. He discreetly climbed high, low and in and out of trees/bushes to get the PERFECT photos.
- without realizing the extra work involved, we'd made a special request for a certain kind of night photo and Chris went to our venue for 3 nights leading up to our wedding to practice shooting in the light so that he could get the right shot. It was amazing!
- creating a wedding album with Chris' help was SO easy! His layout is artfully designed and the quality of the finished product is top notch.

We were SO lucky to find Chris! I'm going to have to think of another reason to work with him again!