Photography by Imagine

My experience with Rick and his staff at Imagine was exactly what I was looking for! I can't say enough about his professional yet friendly and funny demeanor...and his work is incredible! From the time we met, I knew he had that creative edge without coming across as some corporate giant company who couldn't care less about us as people.
A family run business is the way to go! Our outdoor engagement photos were stunning! We had a beautiful day to shoot and Rick took full advantage. He made us comfortable so we looked relaxed and natural. The many different angles he shot gave us so many choices, it was a lot of fun choosing pictures. Our wedding day was naturally hectic and nerve wracking but Rick put everyone at ease, made us laugh and gave us the most stunning memories of our favorite day! My family and friends raved about the photos and we have many (probably too many!) framed and hanging in our home. I recommend him, without reservation.

Photography by Imagine did a fantastic job on our wedding photography... can't wait to see our album!!

Everything came out great! I think i got more comments from family and friends about how great the photographer was than how good my actual wedding was. All joking aside, Rick and the videographer were great, the were professional and efficient. Everything we expected to get done got done and more. When we got the dvd back from rick we were absolutely amazed everything from the footage to the editing to the very special interviews he had with certain family and friends. These are the types of things you cant put a price on. I would and will recommend imagine to anyone looking for a good photographer. I have 2 friends getting married in the next year and i know they are both going to be calling Rick very soon

Upon meeting Rick for the first time I knew that we had found the right man for the job. He was so personable and open about what he offered and related well to our needs and with the flexibility of our schedule. Not only did he go far beyond our expectations he exceeded them; we have so many pictures to look back on it is like reliving our special day each and every time we look at them. Everyone enjoyed his creativity and enthusiasm to get the perfect shot. One of our guests is going to be booking them in the near future for an event (and that was based on seeing him work not actually seeing the finished product). For any future occasions we will definitely give Imagine a call befofre anyone else. Thank you so much Rick you added that extra touch to our day that will not be forgotten.

Working with Rick (and his wife and assistant photographer) was amazing. We met with several photographers, and we chose him because he was personable, he seemed like a photographer who would get things done, and his sample work looked great (and price point was good).

The quality of Rick's work is amazing. I've had other photographer friends look at our wedding photos and think that they were better than other wedding photography they'd seen. He captured everything that we wanted on our request lists, tons of additional photos of every aspect of the wedding, and the work was a mix of traditional and creative photos. I also really liked how unobtrusive he was. He (or his assistant) were everywhere and captured everything, but we also forgot he was around during things like the first dance, which was nice because I've been to weddings where the photographer's equipment is so big, or they're so close to the bride and groom that it intrudes on special moments.

There are some things that customers might keep in mind when working with an independent photographer. First, he is working weddings or events every weekend, so if I emailed on a weekend, I might not get a response until during the week. Second, it took about a month and a half to get all of our photos uploaded online and the DVD of the pics sent to us for review. Some people might not like that because they are looking so forward to the photos that they want them right away. However, I found those wait times reasonable during the heavy summer wedding season and also, I felt that I didn't mind waiting a little while if it was for high quality, which it was. In addition, we had about 1500 photos posted online, and I'm sure he spent time editing out poor ones before he uploaded those! Those are the only aspects of responsiveness that might be slow for some people. He called me the week of the wedding to verify our schedule and multiple lines of communication.

Right now we are looking forward to working with Rick on putting together our wedding album from the photos. I would definitely recommend Rick for wedding photography and I personally would use him again in the future for other events.

Dear Rick,

We can't thank you enough for capturing our wedding day as well as you did. Every time we look at our pictures we are completely mesmorized by all of the beautiful photos. Thank you, and best wishes for continued success. You deserve it!

Mike & Stef Scherenberg
8/23/08

Photographers were nice and easy to work with. They followed our schedule and helped us decide which photos would be best. I felt like they really cared about how the wedding turned out. Pictures took a little while longer than expected to arrive, but nonetheless, the service was top-notch.

Of all the photogarphers that we had met with, Rick at Imagine was the best. He was easy to talk to, very professional, the examples shown to us from previous weddings he had done were beautiful, by far the best we had seen. Good value, beautiful pictures. Rick's partner Sheri was wonderful as well. Our albums and pics came out great!

He was the man. Made the wedding remeberable since the day goes so fast it is hard to keep up with all that goes on

Once again a big thank yoe to Rick for Providing exceptional photos but also be a personable photographer

Overall I had a good experience with Photography by Imagine. I was impressed by Rick's portfolio at our first meeting. I was excited to use his services. Our engagement photos turned out nice. These were extra for us, as we had previously taken a few engagement pictures already with another photographer (We didn't want to use that photographer for the wedding.)

Day of Wedding photos were taken by Jen. She was a total sweetheart and boy did she WORK. She did a good job with capturing my pre-ceremony photos while getting ready for the ceremony. Due to rain, me and my bridesmaids were unable to take pre-ceremony photos outside, so we had to take all of our photos at the venue. Jen attempted to take all of the pictures on our Must Shoot list. It came to a point where it was difficult to take all of the requested photos due to time constraints. She did call Rick, the owner, to see if we could extend our time in order to take additional pics outdoors after the wedding (for a small additional fee)...but I declined that offer.

Jen caught some very good photos of us. Overall they were good. We have quite a few photos that we can use to prepare our own photo album, as we chose to receive digital files instead of ordering an actual book.

The drawback we had is that it took longer than we hoped to receive our proofs and photos, but apparently this was due to the owner's illness and other personal issues. Once back on his feet, Rick attempted to get these to us promptly.

I did request a touchup on a few photos (due to personal preference not photographer error) and Rick/Jen made the adjustment promptly and without a charge -- I think this may have been due to the fact that pics weren't turned around as quickly as originally stated. I was very happy with this additional edit/touchup.

We are currently awaiting additional photos with special effects from Rick (owner). Once received I will update this review or write another to advise of our feelings on the remaining photos.

Overall, Jen was a pleasure to work with on our special day. She did listen to us and tried to get photos we requested.

My job sent me out to Chicago for business so my husband decided to join and we decided to look into a couples photography shoot while we were there. So after much considerations, we choose Rick (By Imagine)

It is really hard to get Rick to return an email so calling was my best option. So we met on a Saturday morning (11 am) and he began shooting us. He really had his stuff together. We had some great backgrounds and he posed us in a few locations so I was really really excited when his wife emailed me to tell me the photos were ready.

Then a few days later, I received the CD in the mail.

And it went downhill from there......

The photos were HORRIBLE. Every other photo is at an angle. Only half of the photos are at a straight angle. A lot of the photos we are making awkward faces and not smiling because we didn't know he was shooting us and they didn't look professional at all. Others caught me fixing my hair, and carrying our gear between locations. I honestly feel like I could have had a friend come along with us with a camera to take the photos I paid Rick to take. He gave me a disk of 305 photos and there was only maybe 10-15 photos that wouldn't need any additional retouching. So now I have to pay someone else to try to turn the rest of those photos into something much better than I received. I am so upset over these photos because I don't live in Chicago and I don't know the next time I can go back to redo this shoot--WITH A REAL PHOTOGRAPHER. Please beware. Yes, he is inexpensive, but sometimes it's worth paying a little more to know that you're going to receive quality work in return.

We originally met Rick and his wife at a Wedding show in Lisle. His company offered a great package if you booked with him at the show or within a few days of it. We loved his books and thought the price was such a great deal. In hindsight we should have known the package was to good to be true…\r\nOur package included a free engagement session. What Rick failed to mention was he only does engagement photos at one location, since this was not stated verbally or in our contract this was a surprise. Rick was pretty adamant about not budging on this. He even tried to charge us $150.00 per hour with a three hour minimum to do the shoot anywhere but at the waterfall in Rosemont. After my now husband threatened to cancel our contract and demanded our deposit back, Rick changed his mind. Please note getting Rick to change his mind took about 3 months. He would only do the shoot on a specific day and at a specific time. Not surprising Rick was half an hour late that day. The shoot went well and he did take around 150 images but knowing what I know now I wish I had trusted my gut and found another photographer. \r\nFast forward to our wedding day… I felt everything went fairly smoothly until we arrived at the reception hall. From my understanding after talking to my planner and my husband this is what happened- My DJ asked Rick to move his equipment because it was near the outlet the DJ was using. Rick refused to move his equipment and complained to my husband. My husband told him that they were adults and needed to handle the situation themselves because all of our guests were starting to arrive. Not happy with that result Rick then came to me and lied saying my planner had threatened to cancel his check and my DJ had threatened to ruin all of the wedding pictures by being in each one if he did not move his things. After speaking with my husband I found out none of this was true but what could I do at that point? The rest of the evening went smoothly and it seemed like Rick had gotten over the argument. At the end of the night Rick promised to have my photo discs to me within 3 weeks. \r\nEight weeks later, I finally received the discs and upon reviewing them became aware that pictures were missing from my husband’s and his best man’s speech. Rick checked with his other photographer but could not find them. His reassurance was that I wouldn’t be putting them in my album so it wasn’t a big lose. \r\nWhen we booked Rick he explained how after the wedding he would design our book and enhance pictures to create a really unique book. He showed sample books that had enhanced pages and special effects that I adored. When he gave us our discs he stated he does not do that. It was up to me to choose the photos and how I wanted them to be laid out in our book. When I asked about whether or not he would be adding special effects he said I should tell him if I wanted anything specific done and he would do it. I was under the impression that was what we paid him for. Just yesterday we picked up our albums. They are beautiful. There are not any special effects except the two pages that are in black and white but it is still nice. The cover on my album is incorrect we ordered an acrylic cover and received leather but at this point I’ve given up and considering Rick didn’t reply to my email informing him of this I think he has too.\r\n

Rick is one of the most creative and talented photographers I have ever met. I am proud to call him both a friend and a true professional peer that I respect.

We've had the pleasure of working with Photography by Imagina a handful of times. They are a pleasure to work with, really know their stuff and have a great creative eye as well as superb relationships with their clients. Best of luck to you.

I had the great pleasure of working with Photography by Imagine at several of my weddings. Their photographers are amazing! They were very knowledgeable and professional. The entire team worked closely with the me, and were very accommodating. I would highly recommend them! The pictures came out AWESOME