James Grout Photography

My husband and I where in a wedding where Jim was the photographer. We immediately liked Jim's style and the quality of his photos. Thereafter, we hired Jim to take photographs of our family for my parents wedding anniversary present. He was a complete professional and captured our children and family beautifully. The photos are all over our house and we are constantly getting compliments about how incredible the shots are. Jim has now photographed our family 3 years in a row and we have developed a friendship that will hopefully last for a long time. His demeanor is relaxing and he knows just how to get that special shot. I wish I had him for my own wedding but am so glad I found him to capture my family as we grow.

If you are looking for a great photographer, here he is! This is one of the most important parts of the wedding. When it is all over, this is what you have left, the photos! These will archive your day and will be passed down through the generations. I will tell you spend less on flowers! No one cares about the flowers on the tables!
My husband and I are not the most photogenic people on earth. My husband HATES his picture taken. James Grout has taken some amazing pictures that my husband even likes! They look like we were in a magazine shoot!
Our wedding went from day to evening. James is a whiz with lighting. This is very important. I also think he was the first to arrive before anyone! He was so happy and pleasant. Plus he looked great and fit right in! You could tell he loves his work!
When you compare his portfolio to others, his style really stands out. Believe me, I put a lot of research into this and he is good. Do not skimp on your photographer. Your family and friends added pictures help, but do not count on these! If in the evening, a lot will come out red eyed and washed out. And video to me was not the way to go. Funny, but no one wants to watch the wedding video more than 1 time.
He was so easy to work with and I never once had to go looking for him. He was just there doing everything that had to be done! Just beautiful pictures and everyone and everything in them looks great. I just can't believe how many good ones there are! I wanted to get 8 X 10's of at least 100 of them!!!
I recommend James Grout 100%

The funny thing is that my husband and I didn't even hire Jim as our photographer. Instead, Jim was our best man. But before you begin to assume that there is a conflict of interest in this review, let me paint the picture for you: Jim drove his family of four from Trumbull, CT to Chicago, IL to attend our wedding, carting all of his photo equipment with him, unbeknownst to us. Like I said, he was our best man, which means that he had a pretty hefty job description already (which he executed magnificently...If you're in the market for a best man also, he's your guy). Only about a week after our wedding, we get about 200 photos that we didn't even know Jim took! He was by mine and my husband's side the entire afternoon/evening and not one of us noticed he was snapping photos. The photos he took were breathtaking - he managed to turn the windy, cloudy, dismal, rainy day that had become our wedding day and, with placement and technique, emphasized the magic and love that my husband and I felt that day, but probably wasn't too easy to see past the clouds, lack of natural light, fat raindrops, matted hair, and smeared make-up. We were immediately in love with the photos which were so organic and real since, like I said, we didn't pose because we didn't even know Jim was there with a camera, and were even more touched that Jim, with his best man duties and two young children at the wedding, still found the focus, attention to detail, and energy to give us the best photos of the night. Don't get me wrong, we loved the photos we got from the two photographers we actually did hire, but when we got their photos 2 months later, they STILL couldn't compare to Jim's. I was and am amazed at his abilities displayed for our event, I can't even imagine how on-point he can be at an event in which he's not also playing role of best man and father of the youngest guests at the party. My familial relationship with Jim aside, any event would be lucky to be captured by his obvious talent and keen ability.

I found Jim on "The Knot" website. He came to our house to show us his portfolio. Jim was very patient and had great suggestions. He answered all of our questions. Throughout the process we were able to get to know Jim and what a great person he is. We did an engagement session with him and it came out amazing. It was so comfortable having him around on our wedding day. He blended in perfectly and took amazing pictures. Our families and friends loved him, he was polite and did not interfere or pull us or anyone away from the reception. We would use Jim again in the future and have recommended him to our friends.

The Conners

We are so happy to have worked with James Grout Photography for our wedding! Jim was so easy to get along with and really understood what we were looking for. We were very focused on enjoying our wedding day- We did not want a photographer who would have a highly noticeable presence or one who took away from us enjoying our day with hours of pictures- Jim was extremely fast/efficient and we forgot he was even there most of the time! I was surprised to see all of the moments he captured throughout the night, when so many times I hadn't even realized he was next to me. The quality of our photos is amazing- I have received SO MANY compliments that I can't even begin to count. Jim's style is exactly what we were looking for, he took great candids and photojournalistic style pictures. Jim went above and beyond to give us beautiful pictures and keep us happy, and didn't even get phased by a slight bridezilla moment. :)
I highly recommend James Grout Photography, I was extremely happy with the end result.
-Julie and Jason Collins

Jim Grout was amazing! He was unintrusive...to the point that my sister commented on how she thought he was one of the guests! The photographs came out beautiful as well!

Hiring James Grout as my wedding photographer was one of the best decisions I made about my wedding. His photos are beautiful. Lots of great candid shots, too. He is really personable and isn't invasive like I have seen with photographers at other weddings. I have known a LOT of photographers as a I am an event chef, and James Grout is one of the best. I will hire him again for sure!

James was great! He took all the right pictures. We didn't even know he was there half the time.
Very Professional, Excellent photos! Would highly recommend him for any of your photo needs.

I am so happy we got Jim Grout to photograph our special evening! I was fairly particular about not having any bright lights or flashes during our intimate wedding, which I know was a difficult situation for a photographer. Jim didn't bat an eye! He listened to what I wanted and completely understood. He created the most beautiful photos. I was not even aware of him shooting the pictures. We put our special evening in his hands and what we got in return was beyond what I ever imagined!

Jim does our family portrait each year, and it always comes out great. He finds the perfect setting and light and is able to capture the moment beautifully. He gets lots of creative, spontaneous shots that are the result of his relaxed demeanor that puts everyone at ease. We highly recommend him!