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Weddings

About

Joel Thomas Photography is a wedding and portrait photography service located in Central Pennsylvania. Joel loves bringing out genuine expression and emotion in his photographs and believes that if you don't have fun taking the photo then you won't like the photo (no matter how good of a photo it is). He strives to make all of his clients feel comfortable and natural while he captures your day. His style is expressive, fun, and timeless. Although based in Central PA, Joel Thomas Photography is more than willing to travel to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, New York, and beyond to photograph weddings.

Experience
Joel has been involved in photography since 2000 when he joined the yearbook staff at his middle school. He explored the world of photography as a hobby until 2012 when he photographed his first wedding as a second shooter. After a full year of training as a second shooter, he ventured out on his own and photographed weddings part-time. In 2015 he left his corporate job and became a full-time wedding photographer. His wife Kristin joined him part-time as his second shooter in 2016.

Services Offered
Joel Thomas Photography wedding packages all include 2 professional photographers (it's always Joel and usually his wife Kristin... if Kristin is unavailable for your day then it will be another professional wedding photographer), an engagement session, an engagement guestbook, a minimum of 8 hours of coverage, high-resolution files downloadable from an online gallery, prints and more! You and your loved ones will be able to enjoy your high-resolution photos as:

  • Albums
  • Mounted Prints (Canvas, Metal, Wood, etc)
  • Digital files (can share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc)
  • Printing rights (personal use)
  • Prints
  • Guestbooks

Joel Thomas Photography carries liability insurance to give you peace of mind and will travel to multiple locations throughout your wedding day to get every gorgeous shot.

illustration popular

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Frequently asked questions

Which of the following are included in the starting price?

2nd Shooter
Engagement Shoot
High-Res Images
Digital Files
Prints

Which of the following are included in the price of your most popular wedding package?

2nd Shooter
Add'l Hours
Engagement Shoot
High-Res Images
Multi. Locations
Albums
Digital Files
Prints

What primary photographic style do you identify with?

Contemporary
Photojournalism

What photography services do you offer?

Additional Hours
Destination / Travel
Engagement Shoot
High-Res Images
Second Shooter
Wedding Portraits

What photography items do you offer?

Albums
Canvas
Digital Files
Matted Prints
Prints

Reviews of Joel Thomas Photography

This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Review summary

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Joel Thomas Photography delivers stunning, emotional wedding and engagement photos with fast sneak peeks. Joel’s calm, fun, and organized approach puts couples and families at ease and coordinates well with vendors. Coverage is generous and affordable (minimum 8-hour packages), and clients highly recommend him.

Review summary

Powered by AI
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Joel Thomas Photography delivers stunning, emotional wedding and engagement photos with fast sneak peeks. Joel’s calm, fun, and organized approach puts couples and families at ease and coordinates well with vendors. Coverage is generous and affordable (minimum 8-hour packages), and clients highly recommend him.

Sarah
Sarah Sent on 04/27/2026
5 out of 5 rating

Fantastic!

My husband and I hired Joel for both our engagement and wedding photography, and he was absolutely incredible to work with from start to finish. He brings such great energy and has a natural way of putting everyone at ease, which made a huge difference throughout the day.
Beyond that, his talent truly speaks for itself—he captured stunning, high-quality photos that we will cherish forever. We were especially impressed when he sent us a sneak peek of some of his favorite shots the very same night of our wedding.
We are so grateful we were recommended to him, and I can’t recommend Joel Thomas Photography enough. If you’re looking for someone who is both incredibly skilled and a joy to work with, Joel is the perfect choice for any wedding or special occasion.
A
Abby Sent on 02/08/2026
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing Experience

Joel was my wedding photographer! He isn’t just the best photographer but an incredible person! From making my husband and I feel comfortable during our engagement shoot, to dealing with family coming up to him during the wedding! If you are anxious at all about photos, he makes you feel so confident and comfortable! 1000/5!
J
Jessica Sent on 10/14/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Great Experience!

We had the best experience with Joel! It is important on your wedding day to surround yourself with people you trust and who know what they are doing; Joel is just that! He is organized, calm, and he made the day so fun! We felt that Joel and Kristen were our friends just hanging out with us on our wedding day.

Of course, the photos came out incredible and Joel snapped all the combos we asked for! We will recommend Joel to anyone who will listen!!
L
Lindsay Sent on 08/21/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Great Photographer! Highly Recommend

Joel was a pleasure to work with and my favorite vendor at my wedding! He did our engagement photos and wedding photos and we loved both sets of pictures. He is a very natural photographer who knows what he is doing. He works hard to make everyone around him feel comfortable with his infectious personality. Also the day of the wedding can be crazy by Joel is very calm and worked well with the venue and other vendors to make sure everything ran smoothly. He was always very upfront about his processes and cost and was very affordable! My favorite part was all his packages gave you 8 hours of wedding photography minimum. Not all photographers do this. He really knows how to capture the love and fun between you and your partner. I highly recommend to use Joel Photography for your wedding day! I am so glad we did and hope to us Joel in our future family photos.
Danielle
Danielle Sent on 06/05/2024
5 out of 5 rating

He exceeded our expectations and more!!

When I was looking for a photographer for our wedding, I didn’t just want anyone off the street. I had looked at several people’s work and talked to many photographers, but there was always something missing from their work that I had been searching for. When visiting a wedding expo, I came to his booth and knew immediately that this was the photographer I wanted to shoot my wedding! He doesn’t just take a photograph; he captures a moment in time! His photos evoke emotion more than just happiness. I could feel the joy and warmth of his subjects come to life. His use of color and composition set the stage for the perfect image to hang on your wall. Right off the bat, Joel was funny, extremely personable & amazing to work with! He made it fun to be photographed (especially if you don’t do well in front of the camera but love the end result). Joel really made the whole process very easy and enjoyable by explaining everything and answering all of our nitty gritty questions. And believe me, we had A LOT of questions! With every request, he did not disappoint! He mastered the skill of capturing our love and our personalities in every photo he took! Through his creativity that shows in our engagement & wedding photo album… I can’t help but smile, laugh and get a little teary eyed. It was such a great experience. If you are looking for a photographer for your wedding, I would highly recommend Joel Thomas!! I will definitely be using him again in the future for our family photos!!!
Ryan
Ryan Sent on 10/30/2022
5 out of 5 rating

The best Photographer you could hire

We were so, so lucky to have Joel as our wedding photographer. He is an incredible person who has a talent to make you and your family feel welcomed, excited, and at ease to have him capture every moment from your big day. Joel is incredibly professional and will work very closely with you to make sure he is able to capture every moment from your day. Joel caught so many special moments not just between us but between friends and family who just only connected with each other for the first time at the wedding. We felt like we were friends with Joel by the end of our wedding day, and wish we had another event coming up soon that we could work with him at. If you are reading this review, just take this as your sign to book - you will be blown away! Thank you joel, we will be recommending you as a photographer for the rest of our lives.
S
Scott Sent on 10/02/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Joel tricked my wife into liking taking pictures

From our first interaction, I could tell Joel T. and team was the right choice. Prompt, professional, courteous, and thorough, Joel put my bride-to-be and myself at ease during our stressful pre-wedding planning phase. Complicating matters was that my wife is not a fan of having her picture taken, so I knew I needed a special photographer that could just help her to forget focusing on that, and just relax and enjoy our wedding day. Joel delivered that in spades. It has been over a year since our wedding, and we still look through our gallery and smile at the many various memories from that day. You can not go wrong with Joel.
K
Katy Sent on 08/28/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Best Photographer

We are so glad to have worked with Joel! We couldn't have asked for a better photographer. From our engagement photos to the day of, Joel and Kristin were such a joy to work with. Our photos are absolutely stunning, and we can't recommend them enough! We are going to treasure these for life!
R
Raafiah Sent on 01/09/2022
5 out of 5 rating

So happy we worked with Joel!

Joel was awesome to work with! Super glad we went with home for our wedding photos! Would totally recommend. He is so professional and plans ahead!
M
Maddie Sent on 12/30/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Best decision!


Joel was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding day! He was absolutely amazing to work with. From start to finish Joel made us feel comfortable. When selecting wedding vendors it isn’t an easy task (so many options) but one thing my husband and I constantly went back to was who we thought was a good vibe / fit for us, after all you spend the whole day with them on one of the most important days of your life. His goofy, honest, down to earth personality was one of the many reasons we booked him. Our engagement shoot was so much fun! Joel had us laughing the whole time, he showed us all the tricks to be prepared for posing on our wedding day, and made us feel comfortable. Leading up to our wedding day, Joel was very responsive and great with communication, willing to answer any questions we might have. He was very organized and knew all the tricks to help make our day run smoothly. The day of our wedding him and his wife(kristin) were an absolute joy to work with. They made us all feel so comfortable. Our guest are still raving about how awesome they were! Now on to his TALENT! He truly is so talented, his photos are incredible! Our engagement and wedding photos are absolutely beautiful and memories we will treasure forever. We have received so many complements and we can’t thank him enough for capturing the special moments. You can feel like emotion through ever candid photo and we love them. We can not say enough great things about him and would recommend him to anyone looking for an incredible wedding photographer!
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.

Awards

42
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2022 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2020 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2019 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner

Professional Network & Endorsements

2 Endorsements
Dragonfly Alpacas, LLC Dragonfly Alpacas, LLC Barn & Farm Weddings

Joel and his wife are exceptionally creative artists with a vision that produce results guaranteed to amaze. They are kind, patient and partner with their clients for a wonderful and imaginative experience. We would love for them to return to our venue to capture even more outstanding moments.

Titus Touch Music Professional DJ Services Titus Touch Music Professional DJ Services Wedding DJs

Had the great pleasure of working with Joel at a wedding and I can't express how awesome it was! Being a DJ, it's imperative that all the vendors work cohesively together to make the special day run smoothly. Joel always was courteous and flexible to provide feedback on how he could get his photos, while still keeping within the timeline of events. I can't wait to work with this exceptional vendor again! Titus Touch Music

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Joel Thomas Photography frequently asked questions

Joel Thomas Photography includes the following photography services in the starting price:
  • 2nd Shooter
  • Engagement Shoot
  • High-Res Images
  • Digital Files
  • Prints
Joel Thomas Photography includes the following photography services in their most popular wedding package:
  • 2nd Shooter
  • Add'l Hours
  • Engagement Shoot
  • High-Res Images
  • Multi. Locations
  • Albums
  • Digital Files
  • Prints
Joel Thomas Photography offers the following photography styles:
  • Contemporary
  • Photojournalism
Joel Thomas Photography offers the following photography services for weddings:
  • Additional Hours
  • Destination / Travel
  • Engagement Shoot
  • High-Res Images
  • Second Shooter
  • Wedding Portraits
Joel Thomas Photography offers the following photography materials for weddings:
  • Albums
  • Canvas
  • Digital Files
  • Matted Prints
  • Prints
Joel Thomas Photography is recommended by 100% of couples who have used their services. Their overall rating is 5.0, with the same score awarded for quality of service, flexibility, value, professionalism and average response time.
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