Hay Mckenna Photography - Elaine Studley

We had an amazing experience with Hay McKenna Photography. Elaine shot our engagement photos and our wedding. The photos turned out beautiful and so natural! She caught the light just right and did a great job at getting the right shots. We had fun and the pictures reminded us of all the fun we had on our big day! She was also able to get good shots of things I missed! We will continue to use Elaine for all our future photography needs!

We had some trouble deciding on our wedding photographer, but once we talked to Elaine we felt she’s the one! It turned out we made the RIGHT decision! From the time of consultation at her home studio, to engagements shot @ Great Falls, then wedding & reception, she was friendly, efficient, courteous, artistic and professional. She effortlessly guided us to pose for photos and listened to our ideas. Elaine and her assistant Melissa were very spontaneous, they appeared with their cameras (even when it was their time to take a break) whenever there was laughter and commotion, captured a lot of precious moment that we would’ve otherwise missed. We truly feel like they were not just the photographers there, they were part of us. And after wedding we got to see all the AMAZON shots online within days.

All in all it was an awesome experience to work with Elaine, we could not have asked for a better photographer for our big day! Thank you Elaine and Melissa!

Elaine and her team are one of a kind! They take BEAUTIFUL photos and make a tremendous effort to learn about the taste of the bride and groom. They have a tactful and graceful ability to work quickly and take into consideration uncomfortable family dynamics, elderly guests, children, and of course....DOGS!!

After our first visit with Elaine, we knew we had found our photographer. Looking at her previous works in the studio, it was obvious with Elaine; I would be dealing with an experienced and qualified professional. Our engagement pictures were beautiful. Our picture session flew by, even my fiancé who gets stiff when taking pictures enjoyed the session and loved the pictures. We both come from big families, and family portraits were challenging, but with Elaine’s delegation we breezed right through. She was my companion on our wedding day and was very accommodating to our needs, and had helpful advice for my girls and I. I must say, after our Wedding I realize how important it is to have proficient vendor, because a good vendor can make your day smooth sailing and a bad vendor can ruin a beautiful memory. My husband and I both agree, we have found a good photographer to capture all our special moments here onwards. We love you Elaine, thank you for our beautiful memories... Lynette & Allan

Our album is so beautiful!!! Their work is so creative and beautiful. Elaine and Melissa were so easygoing and fun to work with. I cannot recommend them more highly. They never sat down all day and the the end of the day they stayed for an extra half hour without asking or charging us. Elaine and Mel thank you so much!

I LOVED working with Elaine. She was so easy to work with. She was there when needed. She made my life easy. I would recommend her without hesitation.

Her work is BEAUTIFUL! We love our...

We could not be happier with choosing Elaine! She was perfect for us and our wedding. Elain is able to use the natural beauty of the surroundings and architecture to make the photos stand out, which is great for a downtown DC wedding. We haev enjoyed our photos so much and both of our families have commented how gorgeous they are.

She and her staff are incredibly easy to work with and will accomodate you as much as possible. She stayed with us for the entire night and we could not be more grateful.

Elaine was AMAZING! She worked about my budget and worked out a package that has everything I wanted yet within my budget. My family loves the images she delivered to us! She really spent the time to know us and to understand what we are looking for in the images. She is always very responsive to phone calls and emails. We had an engagement session with her first and she was able to make us feel very relaxed during shooting, and she shot 160+ good images within half an hour! We knew from that point that we wouldn't have to worry about our photos. She made our wedding day fun and enjoyable. The wedding photos came out and we just loved them!! She even said our first baby photo is on her! We were so happy about our photographer choice.

Elaine is AMAZING! She has such an eye for the right light and the right angles, it's just amazing. I think of all the vendors for our wedding, we were happiest with Elaine. The pictures were amazing. We did a handful of the posed shots at the church, and then walked around the reception venue for some kind of impromptu pictures there when the sun was just right outside. The rest of the night for the dancing, and everything else, you never knew she was there because she's not obtrusive or "in your face" at all, and yet there are pictures of everything and everyone. The quality of the pictures is incredible, and like I said, the angles and light cannot be beat. We would HIGHLY recommend Elaine for anyone doing a wedding in the DC area, she's phenomenal.

Amazing!!! Totally amazing! We asked for no traditional portraits. We really just wanted a photojournalistic, relaxed day. We barely saw them and then all of these amazing image came back in 1 week!!!! I am adding an album for my folks because everyone is so thrilled. I highly recommend Elaine.

Elaine has an incredible eye. That’s the number one reason to work with her. She sees you, your family, your friends. Really sees you. She captures your spirit and the spirit of the day. We shot our wedding documentary style (highly recommended), which meant Elaine was very much in the action. However, we don’t have a single memory of the camera. She always let the moment dictate her presence. Her team is wonderful. Her price is fair. We truly got so much value from her service. And, in all honesty, while getting ready, when my nerves were frayed, Elaine had the experience and professionalism to give the only advice that could calm me, “A little less rouge and you’re ready to go.” I will forever be grateful for that. It was an honor and a pleasure to work with Elaine Studley Photography. Thank you, forever!

We had the best experience with Elaine and her staff. Prior to our wedding day, we sat down with Elaine to let her know what we were looking for in terms of our wedding pictures. Elaine took down all of our suggestions and made it happen! We were looking for a photojournalist that would capture DC and our wedding day. We chose her because of her portfolio and how easy she was to get along with. Not only did Elaine do our wedding day pictures but she did our engagement photos. She is very professional and creative and we received the best pictures ever! All of our family and friends loved her photography and we received the best compliments. She was such a pleasure to work with and very flexible. While she was taking our photos, we didn't even realize she was there taking our picture. We had the best experience with Elaine and will look forward to working with her in the future. In addition, we can not forget her Assistants along with Eva are incredibly professional and made our day awesome. Every email that I sent, Eva responded within the hour or that day. It was fantastic!

If you take photography serious and want to have the best wedding pictures, you need to call Elaine and make an appointment with her. She is amazing and you will love the experience!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this photographer! Not only were the pictures incredibly awesome, but the professionalism and friendliness of the photographer and her staff (thanks, Eva!) were fantastic! I would HIGHLY recommend Elaine Studley Photography! They were great to work with: working around our schedule, working out a personalized package, posting our images as quickly as possible...the list goes on. In fact, I'm definitely keeping them in my phonebook for future events and have been giving out their info to anybody who might be even the *slightest* bit interested in hiring a photographer! They are simply the best!

TJ & Abby

Elaine and her staff were the most professional group of people we worked with throughout the entire wedding process...and we had all great vendors so that's really saying something. Our wedding photos are unbelievable and far exceeded the high expectations we already had for Elaine (she did my sister's wedding). Elaine is a true master of photography and also a really fun person to be around. She's a calming force on a hectic day and makes sure the photos are nothing short of perfect. Book her, cut the check, and then just sit back and let her do the rest...she knows what she's doing.

Elaine is amazing with light! She knows exactly where to find the perfect light and she and Ryan were so quick. After the wedding, I was completely amazed at the size of our wedding set. It was almost impossible to narrow down the set to create an album as the pictures were so beautiful. they were also fun and easy to work with all day long. At the end of the day, they stayed for an extra half hour and never charged us. Thank you Elaine and Ryan!

Two weeks after our wedding we received over 700 pictures from our fabulous photographer Elaine Studley. Each picture was better than the next! The whole set of pictures does a phenomenal job of capturing all the special things that went on during our day. She has a very creative way about looking through the lens of her camera and setting up shots that bring out everyone's best features. We absolutely love all of our pictures! A few months before our wedding, Elaine did photographed us for an engagement picture session. This was the first time she took our pictures and we know from that moment that we had made the best decision in hiring her for our wedding. She was enthusiastic, creative, and made us both smile in a fun way-- and again, the end results were phenomenal. We cannot say enough good things about Elaine. Her office assistant, Eva returns every email back with in 24 hours giving you all the details you need for your day. Elaine, Eva, and the rest of her staff are a pleasure to work with. If you choose Elaine, the experience will be better than you ever expected and you will end up with pictures that you and your family will treasure for years.

Elaine Studley is incredibly talented! When we received the wedding photos I was in tears (of joy). Our only challenge now is trying to decide on which ones to frame out of so many perfect pictures. Extremely professional and an absolute pleasure to work with. If we could rate Elaine at six stars out of five, we would!

Elaine did an exceptional job! Proof is in her photos! Not only did she have the personality to know how to have fun and be professional at the same time- she took beautiful photos. We are so pleased and will always be grateful to her and her work.

Elaine and her assistants were a delight work with. Elaine's wealth of experience and her relaxed yet unfailingly professional manner put me at ease through the whole process. Because I'm an artist myself, it was very important to me to have beautiful pictures of our big day. Elaine did not disappoint, taking literally thousands of pictures -- there will be plenty to fill our album. Leading up to the wedding Elaine and Eva were always available to answer and questions I had. We met ahead of time to discuss what I had in mind and I knew from the start that Elaine knew where I was coming from. On the wedding day we had no problems at all from her end of things, and she got along seamlessly with the event's logistics. I highly recommend her. We have beautiful pictures that I never could have had otherwise.

I absolutely loved Elaine! I had booked Elaine after a friend's wedding because I was so impressed with her photos. I live in CA but my wedding was in MD so I just put a lot of faith in my friend, the online albums and these reviews. After I met with her for the first time in the studio I knew that the one "thing" I didn't need to worry or stress about on my wedding day would be my photos. She has an outstanding portfolio and years of experience which put me at ease. Elaine and her assistant Eva were extremely prompt at responding to all my numerous questions leading up to the big day.
On my big day I was absolutely blown away by Elaine's professionalism and quick work. We had fun and flew through the photos. She was open to a few silly shots I wanted to take but otherwise directed my friends and family through some of the most amazing pictures we will ever own. I could be myself in my pictures because she made me feel so relaxed. During the ceremony I didn't even know she was there and the pictures are breathtaking! The reception photos make me laugh out loud, I keep thinking to myself how did she catch that! My photos are one of my most memorable keepsakes from that day and I have Elaine to thank! I highly recommend her.

Elaine Studley and staff were very professional and a joy to work with. They all have provided top notch customer service with high quality work. They were extremely patient with us in our delays for picking pictures for a wedding album and never rushed us. We will definately use them for other photography need in the future.

We knew we were lucky to find Elaine the first time we met with her. Not only is she a fabulous photographer, but she is a dream to work with; she helped make the process of planning our multi-cultural wedding flexible, happy, and relaxed! She seems to truly have a gift for bringing quality, openness and respect to every situation along with a bright and wonderful attitude - and finding amazing shots. She was supportive and understanding every step along the way. We were sooo happy with the quality and artistry of the shots she found, all we could say was WOW when they arrived (quickly, too!) She truly went out of her way, and we would recommend her without hesitation to anyone who wants wedding photography to be a smooth, easy, and beautiful process!

She was wonderful! I got so many great shots!

The memories you have of your wedding are captured and shared for a lifetime through photographs. Our entire experience working with Elaine and her staff was nothing but professional, precise and effortless. On the day of our wedding she was discrete and unseen but did not miss one smile, kiss or special moment. Out images were unique, original and captured our personality. They were simply beautiful.

We can not express enough thanks for the professionalism, attention and sincere thoughtfulness of everyone we worked with. Truly it was our pleasure to have been able to have such a professional team on such an important day in our lives.

We look forward to continuing to capture our family memories with Elaine in the future.

Elaine and Eva are the BEST! Working with both of them was a true pleasure. I would recommend them to ANYONE! Elaine was so easy to work with and just put Chris and I at such easy. The pictures she took are phenomenal! Her assistant photographer, Melissa was also very professional. Eva is Elaine's production manager and is the usual point of contact and was super responsive at all times! She was a delight to chat with and very helpful. They have a great team. I can not thank them enough for capturing our special day so well!!!

Elaine Studley was an extraordinary photographer for our wedding. She was discrete and unobtrusive, yet obtained extraordinary shots of all our special moments. When we did choose to pose for portraits, she kept us laughing and relaxed and moved it along quickly, giving us great pictures and allowing us to enjoy our event. The quality of her photographs is extraordinary. She does absolutely beautiful work -- much more professional and higher artistic quality than her competition yet at a very reasonable price. With Elaine, you get much more than what you pay for, and she is an absolute delight to work with. I could not recommend her more highly!

Elaine was terrific. We liked her and felt comfortable with her from our first meeting with her. We met in her studio for over an hour, and it was clear that she really wanted to understand us, our vision for our wedding, and how her photography could help us achieve that vision. She has a tremendous amount of experience and is very responsive to couples' individual preferences and needs. Elaine also has a wonderful presence that put us and our guests at ease on the big day. Simply put, she and her assistant photographer did an amazing job photographing our wedding and reception. We are thrilled with the photographs and are so happy that we will have them as memories of our special day. In addition, she and her team, including her production manager, Eva, were so great to work with -- very helpful, very responsive, and always supportive and enthusiastic. We HIGHLY recommend Elaine and can't say enough good things about her.

I would highly recommend Elaine Studley photography to anyone who is planning a wedding. Not only are her pictures beautiful but she truly captures the essence of the couple in the moment. You will find her professionalism, flexibility and unobtrusive charm a pure delight.

We found Elaine by doing an internet search with the help of my brother, who is really into photography. As soon as we saw her website, we were immediately impressed, especially by Elaine's amazing photojournalistic style. From the very beginning, Elaine was incredible. We scheduled an appointment to meet her at her studio and she spent over an hour with us and with my family discussing our expectations for the wedding day and all the different styles we would be interested in having - e.g. formal portraits versus more photojournalistic candid photos, color versus black and white. We immediately felt so comfortable with her. In addition, Elaine herself is so nice, elegant, and sophisticated and has so much style, that we knew she would do a fantastic job at the wedding.

Our wedding was a little complicated as we had a big gap between the ceremony and the reception (ceremony was at 12 noon and reception was at night). Despite this, Elaine worked with us within our budget to come up with a package that was really fantastic for us and within our price range - AND she found a way to cover both the ceremony and the reception despite our time gap! By the way, a lot of other photographers are either unwilling to cover an event with such a big time gap or are charging a premium to compensate for that. Elaine was so unbelievably kind and accomodating and came up with a very fair package to cover both parts of our wedding - we are so glad we found someone like her!

Throughout the planning process, Elaine and her assistant Eva were incredible in terms of their organization and their constant communication with us. Eva was constantly checking in, coordinating how we wanted the schedule to unfold on the wedding day, and coordinating various mailings to make sure we had expressed all our needs for the wedding day.

Our wedding day was wonderful and Elaine was there way ahead of time, setting up at the church and ready to take photos as soon as we started the procession. There was no flash photography allowed inside the church and Elaine already knew that ahead of time, so she used equipment that allowed her to take amazing pictures without flash. Our whole ceremony was so beautifully documented with her pictures, which she took from so many different vantage points, I don't even know how she was able to move around the church so carefully and completely unnoticed!

After the wedding ceremony, we did formal portraits and Elaine and her assistants were so great at making that so quick and easy for all involved - my family does not have very much patience for posing for pictures, yet Elaine managed to make them feel at ease and to take the portraits so efficiently that everyone was happy with how smoothly it all went - and the formal portraits came out so beautifully -she even included black and white photos that look unbelievable. There are so many pictures from those portraits that we want to frame, they all came out so well and will always serve as such wonderful memories from our wedding day.

Elaine and her assistants arrived at the reception early and spent a good amount of time taking pictures of details, such as the ballroom set-up, the flower arrangements, the place cards table, the bridal bouquets, and the cake. I have such good memories of how wonderful everything looked and I'm so happy that Elaine captured it through these beautiful pictures. She even managed to capture the mood and the lighting through the photos (it was pretty dark in the ballroom with low lighting and lots of candles), I don't know how she did that!

During the cocktail hour and reception, Elaine did exactly what we wanted - she took mainly candid, photojournalistic style photos and as a result we have beautiful pictures of our family and friends enjoying a good conversation, having a drink, dancing, and generally having a great time. She also did an amazing job capturing our first dance, which was very important for us. What was really remarkable, is that Elaine took all those pictures without anyone noticing, she and her assistants were completely unobtrusive and discreet!

The best part is that we received all our pictures on the online website within one week!! We were able to share that website with family and friends right away. And then when we returned from our honeymoon the proofs book and the CD of the negatives were already waiting for us at home - Elaine and Eva did an amazing job in getting all of this to us in such a timely fashion after the event was over - and they even checked in with us to make sure we were happy with everything!!

We cannot recommend Elaine Studley enough - she has such an amazing talent as a photographer and photojournalist, and in conjunction with her assistant Eva, as well as her assistant photographers, she runs a very smooth and professional operation, while at the same time keeping it very personal and comfortable for the bride and groom and their families.

If you are a bride getting married in the D.C. area, you should not hesitate to hire Elaine Studley as your photographer - believe me, you will not be disappointed and you will get the best service and the best photographs you can imagine for your wedding day!! Elaine is by far the best in town, we cannot recommend her enough!!

Elaine and Melissa were amazing! They were very patient especially with the flower girls and ring bearer. They made it all fun and took beautiful photographs. We did not want a lot of traditional portraits. Elaine took a few for our folks but most was photojournalism staying exactly with our specifications. Elaine helped make the day better than I could have ever imagined! I recommend them 100%!

We are so glad we decided to go with Elaine as our photographer. She was professional, but fun to work with from beginning to end. There were a few people in our wedding party who do not like taking pictures at all, but Elaine made it so painless! We also just received our wedding pictures online (only 1 week after the wedding day!) and they are so amazing! Not only is Elaine wonderful to work with, but her production manager, Eva, answered our never-ending amount of questions patiently and in a very timely manner. Her packages may seem pricier but she is very willing to work with you to build any type of package you would like and after receiving our pictures, she is definitely worth it! If anyone is considering Elaine Studley Photography as a vendor, we would highly recommend her. Thank you Elaine and Eva for all your hard work and the wonderful service you have provided us so we can always have the best memories of our special day!

I found Elaine through the Washingtonian Wedding Guide, but I was particularly drawn to Elaine because of her website and the advice she gives brides. The nice thing about Elaine is that she interviews the couple while they are interviewing her. She actually chooses who she wants to work with so that she is sure she can work well with the couple. After all of her years in the business, none of her couples have gotten divorced. I think she chooses well! She also has an amazing staff including her office manager Eva who was in touch with me on a regular basis to set up all the details. Elaine's assistant photography staff is AMAZING. They are not just junior photographers, but rather seasoned photographers who have been in the business for years but choose to work with Elaine so they can pursue their art without having to deal with the business side of things. At the wedding Elaine was a calming presence and she got beautiful shots. It only took a week and a half for us to get our proofs. That is an very quick turn around!

Thanks to Elaine Studley Photography, I have the perfect pictures to remember the happiest day of my life. Elaine and her assistants were AMAZING! My pictures were incredible; Elaine captured the beautiful fall colors, and my wedding looked like a fairty tale. Elaine has a unique way of catching a moment in her photographs; for example, on my wedding day my bridesmaids and I played in the autumn leaves. The fun pictures of us playing with the red and yellow leaves are a special memory I have of my wedding day. She suggests photographing different experiences that create wonderful personalized wedding photos. My formal portraits were breathtaking, Elaine captured the perfect lighting and the photos turned out stunning and gorgeous. There were so much great pictures, it was hard to chose what ones I wanted in my album.
Everyone at Elaine Studley Photography was extremely helpful through out the whole process. The staff was delightful, kind, and worked closely with me. They were flexible and set up meetings that worked with my schedule. They even sent me a bonus calendar and a DVD slideshow of my wedding pictures.
For any important event that I want photographed, I will use Elaine Studley Photography. Her pictures impressed my entire family and friends, and I know that when my sister gets married, she wants Elaine to photograph her wedding. I highly, HIGHLY recommend Elaine to photograph any memorable event. She is worth every penny of the price, and you will be happy that a true professional gave you the perfect photos to remember your wedding!

Elaine and her team were an instrumental component of our wedding being a success. I interviewed several photographers and found that Elaine's team had qualities above and beyond the rest - professional, dependable, honest, and truly caring - and more. From the very first appointment, we found Elaine's vast knowledge and experience to be extremely helpful as she advised us on many different levels. Unlike many photographers, Elaine possesses such a strong grace and elegance which able her to blend with wedding guests, allowing her to capture so many perfect moments without being intrusive in any way, shape or form. She was able to catch moments my husband and I didn't realize had occurred until we saw the pictures. Speaking of pictures, they are beautiful. The individuals that were not able to attend our event called us and stated that they felt like they had been apart of our wedding after viewing our photos online. The images that Elaine and her associate took told a beautiful story of a great day that we will never forget. I highly recommend obtaining the services of Elaine Studley Photography for a any event or moment that you want to remember forever.

Working with Elaine and her team was a dream. Most important: we loved the final product. The images she and her assistant shot were beautiful, varied, and creative. The Italian company she works with to create the final album does amazing work. Everyone we have show the book to has been impressed. From the start of our relationship through to to delivery of the book, my partner and I felt that Elaine had our best interests at heart. She was kind, flexible, knowledgeable, and most of all, enthusiastic! Her office staff was very responsive and helpful. This studio is not inexpensive, but you absolutely get what you pay for. Also, for those couples trying to decide where to spend their money, my advice--almost six months after our wedding--is that the photography is the only thing that lasts. All that food, all the music, all the fun--it's but a memory. The wedding album is the one tangible thing you have left. It's worth every penny to invest in this studio's work. You will not be disappointed.

Every aspect of our interaction with Elaine Studley Photography was positive.

Elaine's staff did a great job of helping us plan the photography at our wedding.

We met with Elaine in her studio and were able to see the extraordinary quality of her work, and experience Elaine's calm, and friendly demeanor. Elaine was professional, and very flexible throughout all our interactions.

A number of our relatives and guests noticed Elaine's professional manner at our wedding and mentioned it to us.

The bottom line for us of course was the photographs, and they fully met our expectations, and then some.

We were exceptionally lucky to have gotten Elaine for our wedding. Her and her team's support from the very beginning allowed us not to worry about how the pictures would turn out.

During the ceremony and the reception, we hardly noticed her there, yet she managed to get some amazing pictures highlighting her skill. We also took pictures in the park after the ceremony that were beautiful!

Afterwards, she and her team were extremely patient with us as we looked through all the amazing pictures to decide what pictures get into the album. They provided the proper level of support to make sure that we put together an album that everyone who has seen it has fallen in love with it as well as listening to our suggestions.

Both my wife and I highly recommend Elaine and her team. You will have a choice of several options that would fit your budget and they also work with you if you prefer a more "a la carte" option.

Friends who had gotten married before us, all agreed that a photographer can make or break the memories, and they all agreed that Elaine is the best out there.

Regards,
Massoud and Karina Marzban

Simply put, we were thrilled to have Elaine Studley as our wedding photographer! Without exception, we loved every one of the portrait photos, and Elaine captured many candid shots which became instant family "classics" that we couldn't wait to share. Many friends and relatives have commented on our great photos. One friend who could not attend the wedding commented that judging from Elaine's work, every single person in attendance must be incredibly photogenic! We're not, of course, but Elaine made us all look good. And our wedding album is spectacular--the only hard part was choosing from so many great pictures. Elaine did a fabulous job for us from start to finish, from helping us plan our wedding-day photography and keeping us all relaxed during the portrait photos, to blending in seamlessly with guests during the reception for the numerous candid shots. Elaine's assistant photographer and her staff are also a joy to work with--pleasant, enthusiastic, incredibly organized and very customer-oriented. Elaine offers many flexible packages to meet a wedding couple's needs, and explains all charges clearly and in advance. I highly recommend Elaine Studley as your wedding photographer. We were absolutely delighted with her services--and you will be, too!

Elaine and her staff were excellent. Our wedding pictures were beautifully done and by far, the best pictures that I have ever seen of other friends' wedding photos. The service was by far exceptional and efficiently performed, without "getting in the way" . We had a hard time selecting the final pictures, because there were so many that were perfectly taken. I highly recommend Elaine Studley Photography for weddings, but other important events as well!

Elaine's work is excellent (check out her portfolio) but what really sold us was Elaine herself. We liked Elaine immediately. She greeted us with a warm friendly smile, was nice, not overbearing, and truely listened to what we wanted (all qualites that were missing in other photographers we met with).

Her office manager, Eva, is excellent as well. she was extremely helpful and patient when it came time to putting the albums together.

Overall, we would highly recommend using Elaine and her team.

Elaine and her team (Eva) were extremely attentive to what we wanted for our wedding and we could not have asked for a better experience. They were there when we needed them and invisible when we did not since we really did not want a photographer in our face, pulling us in different directions away from our friends and family, making unnatural poses, and trying to force pictures of friends and family. Elaine and her team were perfect, professional, quick with certain posed pictures since it was very hot, great with family members, and knew exactly what we wanted when we wanted it. It was also very important to us that Elaine herself would be taking the pictures since all of our consultations were with her. In fact, Elaine even stayed beyond her contract time simply because she wanted to get a shot of my husband and I leaving from our site in our limousine that was about an hour late.

Also, Elaine and her team were extremely accessible and even referred a florist to us who did an absolutely beautiful job with my vision that even the band leader took notice of, which Elaine memorialized with her attention to detail.

Simple put, my husband and I could not have been more satisfied with the level of professionalism and courtesy from Elaine and her team all the way to the very end with purchasing a wedding album. We would recommend them to anyone.

Elaine Studley was exceptional! When I began planning our wedding, I knew that the photographs of the big day were my top priority. I searched online for photographers and viewed their galleries to find a style that I liked. Elaine's photos of previous weddings were beautiful, and I especially liked her emphasis on the flowers and "catching the moment" shots. Although Elaine Studley was more expensive than the wedding budget allowed, I am so glad that we hired her anyway. Our own wedding photographs are perfect, and we will cherish them forever.

Elaine was a joy to work with. She was kind and professional. She blended with our guests so well that most of the time I didn't have any idea where she was, but she still got gorgeous shots of the reception and wedding. She was even kind and patient with a drunk aunt who wanted more pictures when she was trying to leave. Elaine was absolutely wonderful!

Elaine and Eva were wonderful to work with and did an amazing job. The time they spent working with me to choose the right photos really allowed me to create the album of my dreams and it is better than I ever imagined it could be. I highly recommend her and plan to go back for all my future photography needs.

Elaine was great. She did a wonderfull job and we really liked her. She was so friendly and easy going. I would defently recomend her to anyone.

I would absolutely recommend Elaine to any bride. Not only was she extremely professional but her pictures are absolutely beautiful. My cousin got married three months before me and used a different photographer. After I sent my pictures out to friends and family she said "I thought my pictures were beautiful until I saw yours". She said "I didn't realize what a difference a truly good photographer can make". In my opinion pictures are one of the most important things from your day. It goes so fast and they're all you have to help you remember. Hiring a fabulous photographer is one of the best things you can do.

Elaine and her assistant did a wonderful job at catching moments when we didn't know they were around. I've been in other weddings where I felt like the picture portion took forever and your smile faded because of that. Elaine kept things moving so we didn't lose that perfect smile. I just couldn't believe how when we got the pictures back we really didn't have any "bad ones".

Elaine is classy professional and will capture every beautiful moment of your wedding.

We are very happy with the quality of our wedding photos. Elaine was a pleasure to work with. We would definitely recommend her to anyone.

I don't have enough great things to say about Elaine, her assistant, and the photographs from our wedding. Elaine is warm, friendly and fantastic at what she does. She was extraordinarily flexible leading up to the wedding - meeting with us in the evenings to accommodate our work schedules. Most importantly our wedding pictures capture every detail - big and small - perfectly.

Also, I feel it's important to point out that she manages to take exquisite pictures without you even knowing that she is there - she's that good. This particularly impressed my father-in-law, who still speaks about her to this day (and it's almost two years later).

One last thing, my husband and I are modern orthodox Jews - Elaine did a fantastic job of capturing every aspect of our orthodox wedding.

Elaine Studley and phographers were great to work with.
They are extremely organized and do exactly what you say.
So be very clear about whether you want candids or formal pictures
with friends and family. Remember to communicate, they have
great experience with great color schemes available. Thanks for everything!

As an event planner who's worked with many photographers on other people's weddings, I was thrilled that Elaine was available when it came to planning my own wedding day. My heart was set on finding a photographer who would be unobtrusive, so that picture-taking wouldn't take over as the focus of the day. Elaine captured moments beautifully without interrupting them - a true testament to her incredible talent. She somehow even made the posed shots felt relaxed, and was a calming presence throughout the day.

My family was so happy with Elaine and her photography that we hired her the following summer when my dad got re-married, and she did another terrific job.

With Elaine Studley Photography, the saying “You get what you pay for” is an immense understatement!

Stunningly beautiful photos are only *part* of what you get when you choose to work with Elaine Studley; you get a truly memorable experience. I felt extremely fortunate to find someone so amazing at what they do, yet so humble, personable and fun. She is a breath of fresh air for the wedding photography industry! If it were even possible for someone to care more than you do yourself about capturing your most prized memories just as you imagine and want, Elaine would be that person. Her passion, her attention to every detail, big and small, and her emphasis on your happiness with her work allows you to focus your attention on just enjoying yourself.

I have hired Elaine on four occasions: engagement photos, formal bridal portraits, wedding ceremony and reception photos, and years later, first birthday photos of my darling son in her beautiful outdoor studio. Working with her and Eva, her Production Manager, has been nothing but a joy, and I plan to continue to turn to Elaine Studley Photography for all future important photo sessions.

Elaine really went the *extra mile* taking our engagement photos. She traversed the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls in Maryland with us and hung herself off the side of the cliff to capture us in the exact location where my husband proposed! Following our wedding, there were so many amazing photos of our special day (thanks also to Elaine’s awesome assistant photographer, Ryan) that we actually had trouble narrowing down which images to include in our album. We ultimately selected twice the amount originally planned for and worked with Elaine to create a truly unique and artistic 11x17 formatted wedding album. We couldn’t have been more impressed or happier!

We knew Elaine was the right photographer for our wedding within minutes after meeting her. We could tell from her work that she was not only extremely talented, but was clearly able to connect with her clients in a way we were sure would create memorable photographs for our wedding day.

Elaine's approach to photography was perfect for us. We wanted to take a more photojournalistic approach to our pictures with fewer "posed" shots. Elaine worked quickly and efficiently in a very tight timeline. (We didn't want our guests to have to wait too long in between the ceremony and reception and only took 20 minutes of pictures in the cathedral after our ceremony).

After we saw our pictures, we were surprised to see some of the moments she captured that we didn't even know were being caught on film! She is very discreet, but is always observing everything to catch special moments...even the ones you don't know about.

We did not videotape any part of our wedding day, making the photographs more critical for us. We feel very lucky to have been fortunate enough to work with Elaine and her amazing team. We have an album ful of pictures that we love and memories that will stay with us forever.

Elaine and Eva were great. Very professional and great to deal with. I have already referred my best friend to them. My photos are amazing.

We have only the highest compliments for Elaine Studley and her staff. Elaine is organized, professional, fun, and an amazing, amazing photographer. From the beginning, we felt very comfortable with Elaine. Having exceptional, artistic wedding photographs was very important to us, and Elaine delivered all of that and more. She made everything very easy, and kept it lighthearted. She generates incredible images in all kinds of lighting conditions with seemingly little effort. Elaine truly captured the loveliness and magic that we felt at our wedding.

My husband and I have nothing but outstanding reviews for Elaine Studley Photography. Elaine and her staff demonstrated a very high level of professionalism and quality throughout the planning and on the wedding day. The quality of the photos was outstanding, and the experience of working with her on the actual wedding day was a pleasure. We would highly recommend Elaine Studley to friends, family and acquaintances without hesitation.

I absolutely loved working with Elaine for my wedding. She was very professional and polished. From the first appointment I felt comfortable and relaxed and knew that we would be in good hands. I quickly realized that she "knew what she was talking about". I didn't worry at all that we would have good photographs. As someone who does not like to see themselves in photographs, I truly love all the pictures from our wedding. She knew exactly how to frame the photos and catch all the beautiful expressions and actions. I had a very hard time just selecting a few for our album. I highly recommend her to anyone who wants to just sit back relax and let a professional do a great job while you are busy having a fabulous wedding.

I cannot say enough about the stunning pictures Elaine took of our wedding. I have had more than one friend who married before me look wistfully at my album and say "I really should've used your photographer." Elaine was the single best vendor experience I had in connection with my entire wedding. Indeed I was so confident in Elaine's (and the whole team's) terrific and professional work and that they all are so genuinely nice and pleasant to be around, I recommended her to my boss (a practice I normally would consider a bit risky!). There's no question that we will avail ourselves of her services again when the opportunity presents itself!

Elaine and company did an excellent job for our wedding. Not only did she make us look wonderful but she made us feel comfortable through out the entire process. From our first meeting, to our engagement pictures, to the wedding, to picking out our album, everything was first class. I feel like Elaine is a friend and she made us feel like our wedding was truly special at every point of the process!

I wrote in as a voice of support for Elaine on Weddingwire. She photographed our wedding in 04!!!! and has been our family photographer ever since. She came to the beach to photograph my girls. The images are amazing! She has documented the arrival of each of our children with real love and care. She will be our friend and family photographer for ever. Good luck Elaine!!!! Thank you for all you have done. You are the best!

I can't begin to say how pleased I was with Elaine Studley photography.
The pictures turned out beautiful and they were wonderful to work with. She made sure that she captured ever special moment on our wedding day.
We look forward to Elaine photographing our first child - she does great work.

My husband and I loved Elaine and her amazing photography. Two years later, I still love looking at the beautiful pictures she took. She captured all of the right moments. I would recommend Elaine to anyone wanting exquisite photographs of their wedding memories. Her professionalism and sense of humor made her very easy to work with.

Elaine is wonderful during the wedding planning stages. She's fun to meet with and has some great advice for brides and grooms. Her assistant Eva is extremely responsive. She's open to ideas from brides and grooms. On our wedding day she and her assistant Melissa were very professional and efficient. They arrived 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time because they were in the area and started shooting details like shoes and jewelry. In a tiny church nursery Elaine found a perfect window in which to showcase my dress. Despite the fact that our flower girl didn't want to smile at all, Elaine got some cute shots of her. She managed to get everyone smiling and eyes open, the lighting on our pictures is generally great, and everything is in focus. Elaine got all the shots that we asked for in all the locations we asked for. There are a few moments I thought our guests captured from angles that I wish Elaine or Melissa had been at, but of course two people can't be everywhere. She did manage to get some pictures that we didn't know she was taking! While Elaine's starting prices are higher than many other area photographers, you can't get the same or more for less in DC; with some photographers you get less for more!

We received our proofs within 2 weeks of the wedding and our DVD of all negatives within 6 weeks.

I have heard so many stories from brides who have had trouble with vendors: florists who never showed up, limo drivers who got lost etc. So, before my wedding, I aspired to be as organized as possible so that when the big day arrived, I could enjoy the day without worrying about ANYTHING. To do so, I booked all of my vendors more than a year in advance and I met with them on multiple occassions, created Excel spreadsheets of any grouping of information imagineable, and also I was in constant contact at all times. Elaine Studley and her team (Eva, Jackie and Korrin) helped me to accomplish this goal. We met with Elaine a year before the wedding and decided immediately to booked her services for our day. She was professional and custom-tailored her style to meet our needs. In addition, she had proven experience in taking beautiful photos. Her assistant Eva tolerated and even warmly responded to all of my emails- both the frantic and calm ones- in a timely fashion. She was incredibly helpful in the planning process and kept me on track with payments and scheduling for the wedding day. When my bridal party arrived at the venue on the big day, Elaine and her team were ready to go with cameras in hand. Elaine and her team were courteous with all of the guests and when it came time to photograph the family, her experience in working with people truly shined. Our favorite photos took place when my new husband and I took a 20 minute walk alone with Elaine and Jackie and Korrin - the pictures were beautiful. She captured the essence of our love (I apologize if that sounds really corny but its true!). Thanks to Elaine and her team, I was able to enjoy my wedding day worry-free and everything played out exactly as I had imagined it.
I would recommend Elaine Studley Photography to any of my friends and family and to anyone who wants superb quality photos to remember their wedding day.

I would highly recommend Elaine Studley Photography for any friend's wedding. Elaine and her staff have consistently offered us outstanding service, starting when we began working with them several months before our wedding and continuing until now, two years after our wedding. We love our wedding album and receive compliments on it all the time - one friend decided to finally order her own wedding album after seeing how beautifully ours turned out! We really enjoyed working with Elaine on our wedding day as well - she seamlessly incorporated photography into the day and responded to all our requests regarding timing and style. My husband and I worked more closely with Elaine than with any of our other wedding vendors in preparation for the wedding, because she considers getting to know the couple to be a part of her job. She goes far beyond having a bride fill out a questionnaire on her own. She wants to see how engaged couples interact and make decisions together, because it gives her insight into their personalities and their preferences, and ultimately what kinds of photographs they will be pleased with. We could not be more pleased with our wedding photographs, and we are grateful for having the chance to work with Elaine!

Elaine and her team were excellent. Their photos were amazing and we are so happy with how they turned out. Elaine and her team were very professional before, during and after and I would highly recommend her for weddings or other events. They kpt us on time and made sure we got all the shots that we wanted/requested. My only concern was the price -- Elaine is not cheap, but her photos are evidence that she is worth the cost.

Elaine and her team were extremely professional. They provided the best photography service and even showed up early! They helped make my wedding day go smoothly and took hundreds of pictures of every aspect of the wedding!

Elaine is the best DC wedding photographer--hands down!! Our wedding was perfectly documented thanks to her and still three years later we look at our album and marvel at how well done everything was.

We still stay in touch with Elaine and love her work so much!!! Please go visit her studio and see how she can make you day even more special.

I am amazed at all the nonstop positive reviews of Elaine. I could not have been more disappointed in her work and her attitude. If you don’t want to read all the way through this long review, please take away this one piece of advice about choosing your photographer: this is the only vendor you will have to deal with after your wedding, so think very carefully about whether this person will do a good job generating lots of beautiful and memorable images of your wedding day AND who will be respectful and professional that day, and in the months following the wedding. Elaine was disappointing to me on all counts. Her shot selections were poor, and when I questioned her about that, she became defensive and produced excuses rather than re-doubling her efforts to rectify the situation in some way. I have spent the last year warning a number of people away from her and now get the opportunity to do so for online for the first time. It’s taken me a year to write this review in part because of how long it took to finalize the album, and in part because I had to find someone else to retouch some of her images for enlargement, a process made a more difficult because the images I was working with were overexposed.

The one positive I will say about Elaine’s work is that she took some beautiful images of my husband and me, prior to and during our ceremony. But the images after the ceremony were mostly a joke. It was almost as if, once the ceremony was done, she got bored.

As way of background, we signed with Elaine more than a year before our wedding. At the time, she gave us a paper questionnaire and told us to complete it as we got closer to the date. It was a two page questionnaire, with some simple questions about the timeline, and names of family and wedding party members. As we got closer to our wedding date, Elaine changed the format of her questionnaire, and sent us a link to an online version. We could never open the various links she sent, with each one having some technical glitch. My husband, who is a tech-y guy, gave up. So I called Elaine to talk with her about the wedding day photography. The phone call lasted about 90 minutes. I should have started to worry when I realized she was doing most of the talking (when people are talking, they aren’t listening.) I tried to emphasize that since we were using pre-ceremony time for photographing the bride and groom and immediate family, we were looking for her to get candid and semi-posed shots of our guests during the reception and luncheon. She made it clear that we weren’t leaving enough time pre-ceremony for the various configurations of family shots. So we moved around the timeline, moving up the time for hair and make-up and limo. Meanwhile, we were working with a DOC, who had a much more detailed questionnaire and timeline, which we forwarded to Elaine. Elaine seemed satisfied with how we had juggled the timeline.

Day of the wedding, Elaine was energetic. She seemed to be having fun with the process, enjoying the fact that my husband had brought along a little toy (a family mascot of sorts) that he thought would lighten the mood if I was stressed. I felt like we were in good hands with Elaine, especially after she sent us a montage of images. (Prior to seeing the montage, I was nervous because in the images my friends took, I looked tired and old; in Elaine’s images, I looked relaxed and happy.) A couple of days after the wedding, Elaine sent me an email thanking us for including her in our big day and noting that she had such a good time, she was worried that she had let her professionalism slide. I thought she was kidding.

My horror with Elaine began as soon as I saw the entire gallery of images, in which there were dozens of images of my husband’s young nieces and nephews and the little toy, and of the toy by itself! And less than 10 images of family and friends who were not in the wedding party. I do not exaggerate on the lopsidedness. When I asked Elaine why she took so many photos of a little toy and so few of our guests, she got offended. And then came the excuses. First, she said it was my fault because I hadn’t completed the questionnaire. Next, she said she asked people if they wanted their pictures taken and they mostly refused. Finally, she said she only took the Toy pictures during lunch hour, when she couldn’t get shots of guests anyway.

Regarding her questionnaire excuse: I am still not sure how completing her questionnaire would have prevented Elaine from taking handfuls of pictures of a plastic toy. Was I supposed to have written under the “additional comments” section, “if my husband surprises me by showing up with a toy, please restrain yourself from taking dozens of images of it. And, oh by the way, please take more than 10 pictures of our guests.”? And if the questionnaire our DOC had provided wasn’t adequate for Elaine’s planning, I needed to know that before, not after, the ceremony. As for the excuse about guests refusing to let her take images of them, I couldn’t imagine people getting dressed up to go to a wedding and then refusing to let a photographer take their picture. So I asked some friends what happened. They all said the photographer never approached them, but they did see her (and her assistant) with the nieces and nephew during cocktail hour, clearly having a ball. And they all wondered what she was up to. Those observations from my friends confirmed what I already knew: that Elaine had wasted a bunch of time during cocktail hour, taking pictures of a toy. Elaine’s Lunch Hour excuse was nonsense; in the Toy images, it can be clearly seen that the tables inside the venue were set and vacant, and that guests were in the background, mingling on the terrace, enjoying pre-lunch cocktails.

Completely missing from her response to me? An apology of any type or an expression of a desire to work doubly hard on the album to make it up to us. Instead, she offered to refund some of our payment and told me we could find someone else to do the album. As I didn’t think this was going to make our lives any easier, I declined. Her excuses and defensive attitude were aggravating. When my husband advised me that to treat Elaine with delicacy, because she’s an “artist” and I shouldn’t risk offending her more, I turned over the album process to him. I stopped communicating with Elaine. Over the ensuing weeks of emails discussing album design and layout, he periodically commented to me that she would get a little touchy when he suggested changes here and there. Mainly, he did not share commentary about his interactions with her. Oh, but he did say that at one point down the road, she apologized to him about the “Toy thing.” So score one for my husband for figuring out that the way to be treated with a little bit of respect by Elaine is treat her with kid gloves. Me? I think paying nearly $5,000 for a professional to photograph our wedding and getting back dozens of images of a plastic toy entitles us to be the offended party, and the ones who should be treated with extra respect. But what do I know?

The album we ended up with is as good as we could get, considering how few images of our guests we had to work with. (My sweet husband put together a little side album consisting of shots family and friends took, iimages that Elaine should have gotten. ) To those reviewers who got a great job out of Elaine, I’m happy for you. For future reviewers who don’t want to risk working with a photographer who can be inconsistent in her quality and unprofessional to boot, go with someone else.

As a post-script, Elaine was notified of my negative review before it was posted, and sent my husband and me an email in which she cited yet ANOTHER excuse for wasting time and our money on taking gobs of photos of a toy: she was told that we only wanted five family photos. How on earth she translated that supposed direction into producing dozens of pictures of a toy is beyond my comprehension. I felt the need to update this review with this comment because of how telling it is about her judgment. Even more than a year later, she’s working on excuses for a poor job. I wrote the original review because I wish someone had written in their reviews that Elaine can be difficult to work with when things go wrong. I assumed, based on the large numbers of unfailingly positive reviews, that she was having an off-day when she photographed our wedding. But her “five family photos” excuse has me questioning her judgment as a professional wedding photographer. I am pretty sure the genesis of the “five family photos” came about because of how pressed we were for time pre-ceremony, and her admonishment that we needed to narrow down our “must have” pre-ceremony shots. To me, being told to zone in on five must-have family shots is NOT the same as directing a professional wedding photographer to take five family shots and then enjoy the rest of the time doing whatever strikes her fancy, even if that happens to be a whimsical photo shoot of a plastic toy. And yet that’s apparently how Elaine interpreted our conversation about narrowing down the pre-ceremony family shots. Her judgment on this is terrible, but it does explain why the number of good, appropriate images post-ceremony were so few – once she got her “five family photos,” she thought she was done! This photographer advertises herself as a “photojournalist,” but she spent much of her time posing a plastic toy and taking images of it, as opposed to taking images of loved ones gathering to celebrate our wedding. Be warned.

I LOVE this photography business! They are every floral designer's dream! I have worked with a great many photographers in the past 28 years but Elaine Studley (Hay-McKenna) takes shots of the flowers and designs that no one else bothers to feature. The quality of the photographs is second to none.
I only wish that I could hire them to photograph the flowers at all my events!

I have worked with Elaine Studley many times and it has always been a pleasure. Her attention to detail and laid back approach makes her an asset at any event!

It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to write an endorsement on one of the best photographers Stone Manor Country Club has had the pleasure of working with. Elaine is one of those rare photographers who truly is an artist. Her ability to see things in a different view is what sets her apart from the rest. Elaine and her team will make your wedding photos unforgettable.

Working with Elaine Studley is a true pleasure. We were the only professionals at a VERY small wedding and during the ceremony, I didn't even notice she was there. She is quiet and discreet and yet she manages to capture the entire event in a truly imaginative and sensitive way. When the ceremony was over her warmth to the couple and to their needs was obvious. I knew was "handing them off" to someone I could trust. I look forward to the pleasure of working with her again at both large and small wedding ceremonies and I know my couples will as well.

Elaine is such a wonderful person and a great photographer! Her work is fabulous, and she has such a warm personality - I'm definitely looking forward to working with her again!

Elaine Studley and her assistant Eva are absolutely wonderful to work with! We have worked together time and again over the past five years and each experience has been positive. Elaine is easy to work with, extremely professional, considerate and provides gorgeous images to boot! My favorite aspect of Elaine's work is the ambiance and emotional weight she manages to capture with each shot. I highly recommend her!

Delightful ... elegant ... personable ... classy ... professional ... These are accolades bandied about in the wedding industry, but they are not cliches when it comes to Elaine Studley ... They are the truth. As an experienced wedding DJ myself, I am always pleased when I find that my bride and groom have hired Elaine Studley, as I know they are not only in good hands, they are in the best hands!

Elaine's work is lovely.......her style is romantic and timeless.

Elaine's work is just wonderful & genuine! We have worked together many times, and she is such a pleasure to have on your big! The images are very important to capture but so is having a true professional who really has a special connection with their clients. All my best, Giselle :)