Secrest Wedding Photography

Stephanie is amazing! Not only is she a terrific photographer, but she is so easy to work with and super creative! We really wanted photos that told a story. Stephanie used her amazing photojournalist skills to do just that. Moreover, my husband and I are pretty much the most unphotogenic people on earth. We just got our pictures, WOW! We couldn't be happier. HIRE HER TODAY!

I highly recommend Stephanie Secreast for her photography. She beautifully captures moments and we are all very happy with our wedding photos. Also, Stephanie is a dream to work with as she makes people feel comfortable and you hardly notice she is there until you look at the photos and see she was everywhere! She will be my photographer for life.

We really wanted wedding photos that captured the moments and emotions of the day, not just simply staged pictures of the bride and groom with the guests. When we first met Stephanie, she showed us photos that were really beautiful and she was really such a pleasure to talk with! We knew immediately after our first visit that we wanted her to be our photographer. We found Stephanie very easy to communicate with before the wedding day and I met with her beforehand to scout out places to take photos which made the wedding day itself hassle free. She was awesome at the wedding and her photos that she took for us were exactly what we wanted! She really did an outstanding job capturing every moment of the day, from getting ready, to ceremony, to the dinner and dancing. We highly recommend her to anybody looking for an amazing photographer!

Stephanie is nothing short of amazing.  Aside from her obvious talent as a wedding photographer, she is super-easy to work with, has a flexible schedule, and strives to keep  her clients happy.  Your first meeting with Stephanie will consist a viewing of some of her recent work.  You will be, as we were, amazed with her talent with the camera.  Stephanie gives her clients a nice balance of artistic and practical wedding photos.   Immediately after seeing her work, we knew she was the right photographer for us.

Stephanie spent quite a bit of time talking to us in order to get a clear understanding of how the ceremony would take place.  Obviously a wedding photographer only has one chance to get things right or it will be a complete disaster.  Stephanie understood our wedding schedule so well that she had numerous ideas of what types of pictures she should take before the wedding day had taken place.  She attended the walk-through of our wedding venue with zero complaints and always showed great flexibility with her schedule whenever we needed her.

The day of the wedding was no exception to Stephanie's professionalism.  She was on-time, happy, helpful, and when we received the final pictures, we were floored.  Her services come at a slight premium, but believe me, you get what you pay for in this case, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better wedding photographer than Stephanie.

Stephanie is nothing short of amazing.  Aside from her obvious talent as a wedding photographer, she is super-easy to work with, has a flexible schedule, and strives to keep  her clients happy.  Your first meeting with Stephanie will consist a viewing of some of her recent work.  You will be, as we were, amazed with her talent with the camera.  Stephanie gives her clients a nice balance of artistic and practical wedding photos.   Immediately after seeing her work, we knew she was the right photographer for us.

Stephanie spent quite a bit of time talking to us in order to get a clear understanding of how the ceremony would take place.  Obviously a wedding photographer only has one chance to get things right or it will be a complete disaster.  Stephanie understood our wedding schedule so well that she had numerous ideas of what types of pictures she should take before the wedding day had taken place.  She attended the walk-through of our wedding venue with zero complaints and always showed great flexibility with her schedule whenever we needed her.

The day of the wedding was no exception to Stephanie's professionalism.  She was on-time, happy, helpful, and when we received the final pictures, we were floored.  Her services come at a slight premium, but believe me, you get what you pay for in this case, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better wedding photographer than Stephanie.

We looked at a lot of photographers, until I decided to try Blackhawk Country Clubs website of preferred vendors which is where we found Stephanie. She is grrrrrrrrreat! Not only is her award winning photography beautiful, but she is wonderful to work with. The quality of her photography and good pricing makes her a very good value. We highly recommend her.

Sue and Rich

Stephanie was recommended to us by my co-worker and she was fantastic! We took our engagement photos with her and we got some beautiful shots that we used on our holiday cards, wedding favors and more.

Stephanie is a doll and she is so easy to work with. On the day of the wedding she captured gorgeous shots of my husband and me. I really love all the moments she caught of everyone dancing and being silly. When we got the photos a couple weeks after the wedding I kept saying "gosh, I didn't even know Stephanie was there!" because she is so talented at grabbing shots of all your special moments.

My only small critique is that I wish the family portrait portion of the day was better organized. I totally understand that this is traditionally a hectic moment however I would have liked to see Stephanie take control and direct everyone to take their places.

Even though Stephanie shoots tons of weddings, she really makes you feel like the most special and beautiful bride! I plan to recommend Stephanie to all my friends who need a photographer in the future because she provides a personalized experience and she shoots absolutely gorgeous photos!

The most professional and talented wedding photographer I could ever ask for. Very reasonable prices and she has a PASSION for what she does because she captures beauty very well. You are missing out if you don't pick Stephanie!!!

Let me start by saying, "Absolutely the BEST Photographer!!!!" I found Stephanie by searching the web and immediately was captured with her photos. Right away, we spoke on the phone and she wanted to meet for coffee. Since, I live in Florida that couldn't happen right away. She was so nice, welcoming, and funny which made my decision easy. I knew right away I wanted her as my wedding photographer. When we finally met in person it was like we had known each other for years!!! I could honestly say she made our wedding even more memorable. To this day, we still keep in touch and cannot wait to go back for my baby portraits...LOL She's the best.... very professional and devoted person!

Stephanie is amazing. She is warm, funny and genuine. She has a way of setting you at ease and that brings out some amazing photos.
Our journey with Stephanie started out over coffee at a little out of the way place in the east bay. She spent the better part of 90 minutes discussing our plans for the wedding AND finding out what we were like. We discussed engagement shoot locations and possible shots at the wedding. That meeting set the stage.
Stephanie is very organized. She promptly returned every communication, had the contract out in the mail very quickly after she signed it and was very helpful with reminders. She made the process very easy.
We met for our engagement shoot at about 2:30 pm in hopes of getting great afternoon light. To make a wonderfully long story short, we parted that afternoon almost 4 hours later. It was a truly rewarding experience and Stephanie made it super fun.
We got the engagement photos about two weeks later...both emailed and a copy on a disk. I can't say strongly enough how great it was having her be so organized and professional...and super nice.
Prior to the wedding, Stephanie confirmed all of the details and worked with us to create a "must have" list of photos. That made it very easy to organize the people we wanted to have formal pictures with from the wedding.
At the wedding, Stephanie seemed like she was everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. When we wanted her for a shot, she was ahead of us and planning it before we knew we wanted it. But, she was never in the way.
Now for the most important part of this review...the photos. Stephanie gave us 160+ photos from the engagement shoot, and 900+ photos from the wedding. All of them are absolutely amazing. Her eye for a shot is unequalled. Her background as a photojournalist gives her the ability to not "miss" important moments. The lighting, color, balance and framing of every shot was perfect.

Stephanie took our engagement pics and was the photographer at our wedding. We feel so lucky because we have hundreds of amazing photos! My husband said that our condo is starting to look like the Heather & Steve museum. Okay, I might go a little overboard on hanging up our pictures, but they are all so good!! The best part about Stephanie is that she is a photojournalist so she captures life. Some of the best pictures are the ones she catches without you even knowing she's clicking away. If you are looking for a photographer - go with Stephanie. She is AMAZING!!

First of all, I would like to say that Stephanie Secrest is an absolutely wonderful person and a remarkable photographer!!!
My fiancée and I are living abroad and we needed to find a photographer. We saw so many websites, and Finally we saw Stephanie's site and her amazing photos, her sweet sense of humor. We could tell that she is devoted to her work and it is her passion. We called her and she was as sweet as we thought she would be.
When we arrived in the bay area, she insisted to get know us better and we got to know each other by eating a pizza (before my dress fitting).
On the day of the wedding she was super relaxed but at the same time, super professional. She made us and our families feel so comfortable with her and Edwin (the second photographer). She thought about so many extraordinary shots and let us feel that we are in good hands (we were).
During our wedding day Stephanie made us feel like she is a part of our family and we had such a good connection with her.
We felt the whole day that she really loves her work and we were moved by her excitement and joy.
After the wedding she sent us a sample of the photos and when we saw them we knew- we made the right choice by choosing her.
She is really an amazing person and she is an amazing artist. She can capture the moments that you like to capture, and she does that and it felt like she was not there.
Having her as our photographer was an amazing experience.

YOUR SEARCH ENDS HERE! Stephanie is an amazing photographer, and an even more amazing person! Stephanie came highly recommended by the manager of our venue at Blackhawk Country club. She was the only photographer that I met with and I knew the instant I met her she was the one I would chose. Stephanie met us in Half Moon Bay for our engagement photo session, and right away my fiance and I we comfortable with her. We had so much fun that day. By the time the wedding came around Stephanie felt like part of the family, I was genuinely excited to see her on my wedding day. Stephanie Loves what she does and it shows, our engagement photos and wedding photos turned out amazing.

Not to put any pressure on Stephanie because I believe it is pretty much unheard of with wedding photographers, I was so shocked that we actually received our wedding photos while we were still on hour honeymoon, 13 days after the wedding. What a fun experience that was. I look forward to the day that Stephanie does our baby photo session. Yup she does a free baby photo session for all her couples. I Honestly believe that there is no reason to look any further, Stephanie is the BEST!

I heard about Stephanie from another girlfriend of mine.
As soon as we meet up we hit it off. She is very professional, yet fun loving and easy to talk to.
We decided to do our engagement photos in Murphys, Ca. We made a day trip of it. Stephanie met at our house and we all drove together. Spending the day with her was wonderful! She made us feel at ease during our shoot.
She is quick too! You don't have to worry about spending all day posing. She has a natural eye and can get those special shots in a flash. We got the photos back in a week and we couldn't have been more happy with them.
When it came time for the wedding we felt like we had made a friend. We were so happy to share our day with her.
She met me at my reception site. All of the standard photos were already taken (flowers, tables, ceremony site, etc) so she could focus on my groom and me.
After the ceremony we had a big job of getting my husbands family together. Doing this was a big deal for my husband. Stephanie was great about getting people to do what she asked! I still can't believe we got them to stay put for 3 minutes! The family photo turned out great and everyone loved it!
Before the wedding she asks you to email her a shot list. She makes sure to get those pictures for you. When you are in the moment at your wedding you think you have more time than you actually do, Stephanie knows this and makes sure you get all the shots you ask for without pestering you.
We got all of the photos quickly in about a week and a half. We loved all of them!
I can not say enough good things about Stephanie..My husband and I are truly without a doubt happy with her work. We will be using her for all our life events. I would recommend her to anyone in need of a photographer

Stephanie is terrific in every way- her photography, personality, flexibility and work ethic is all top notch! We were thrilled to have her photograph our wedding- she did a fantastic job. We did not have a videographer and we really did not need one with Stephanie clicking away- she was on top of the action and captured all the moments to remember. Her pictures really captured the essence of the day and the people, and came out beautifully. Thanks to Stephanie, we have fantastic memories captured in gorgeous photographs to share, and stunning photos from the engagement shoot she did with us. I have to say the quality of the photos from the engagement shoot were a happy surprise because the conditions were challenging...changing light in WINDY San Francisco, but she made it work and she kept it fun! People actually thought my windblown hair was an effect we used a fan to get, b/c she knew how to work with the conditions to get beautiful photos!

You cannot find a more accommodating and talented photographer- we interviewed several and she was hands down the most down to earth and customer service oriented one. Her photographs stood out, but what really makes her a gem is how great she is to work with and how focused she is on delivering value as well as quality.

OOOOOOOOOh Stephanie! After e-mailing more than 40 photographers and meeting at least 5, I knew Stephanie was the one the moment I walked in the door for our interview. WOW. She is amazing and passionate and LOVES what she does. Those qualities make her incredibly easy to work with and her enthusiasm shows through in her art.

Stephanie photographed both our engagement shoot AND our wedding.Not only are there great posed shots, but there are amazing moments she was able to capture that I would otherwise have missed. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to select the shots.

Oh... And did I mention my parents are wedding photographers? The LOVED Stephanie's work and she was even willing to go the extra mile to make them feel comfortable... (She even met my mom and me at the church the week of the wedding to assess the lighting situation! AND let my mom step in on the posing that she is oh-so-particular about... Stephanie COULD be a diva with her talent, but definately is not.)

I recommend Steph with absolutely NO reservations. Hire her now. And the bonus? Steph loves all of her couples SO much that she even includes free baby pictures!

When my fiancé and I got engaged one of the tasks I was not as excited by
was trying to pick a photographer. How were we ever going to decide as
wedding pictures are always pretty. Many of the venues we looked at had
preferred vendor lists and Stephanie's name kept showing up time and time
again on these different lists so I knew I needed to check her out. I went
to her site and instantly fell in love with her pictures. I kept searching
all the different photographers but kept going back to her site and I just
was drawn to her work. Finally, after agonizing over it too long, I
contacted her and set up a meeting. Within minutes of meeting Stephanie
myself, my fiancé, and my mom all knew that she was the perfect person to
ask to be part of our special day. In the months leading up to our wedding
she was always very responsive to all my emails and was a pleasure to
communicate with. She is really one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met
and always makes you feel like the only person that matters to her.

Not only is she amazing to work with from a personality and professionalism
standpoint, her pictures are beyond beautiful. She captures every detail of
the wedding. I am not sure how she captured half the things she did as she
was never intrusive at all, just somehow managed to quietly sneak up and get
the shots. I do not think she ever sat down all evening. We ended up with
over 3000 pictures from the day!!! The only hard part is how to decide
which ones to get framed.

Once the wedding is over, she gets you a teaser picture or two with a couple
days and more teasers as you wait for the full batch of pictures. And she
does not keep you waiting long. We had our DVDs in hand just 3 weeks after
our wedding.

She is amazing!

Stephanie Secrest is amazing! A friend introduced us and I knew right away she was the photographer to work with because of her talent, passion about photography, and her happy attitude (which is key to have happy people around you for a happy day). She is very quick to respond and really goes above & beyond the call of duty. I am incredibly lucky to have had a photographer like her at my wedding. She made everything easy. I would recommend her again in a heart beat for any occasion.

*Addition: I was in my brother's weekend this past weekend and his photographer was in all of our faces and incredibly intrusive. Made me think back to my wedding and how Stephanie and her 2 other assistants/co-workers were complete ghosts. They got amazing photos and you could barely tell they were there. That is a perfect team of...

Stephanie is beyond incredible. Her work from my wedding covers everything I could have hoped for. It is beautiful and fun, and it also documents everything about the event--from the big shots of the ceremony, dinner, and dancing, to the little moments throughout the evening.
My husband and I looked at many photographers in the Bay Area when we were looking for our wedding photographer, and we didn't see work from anyone else that came even close to Stephanie's. Moreover, you can hire her without spending every last penny that you had saved for the honeymoon! She does engagement and baby shoots for all of her wedding couples.
Stephanie is also incredibly professional. When we interviewed her, she met us at our house and brought a huge portfolio for us to look through. She spent as much time as we wanted answering our questions, and she answered more via email. Because we don't currently live in the Bay Area, we had to squeeze the engagement shoot into a short visit over the holidays, and Stephanie spent an entire day, four days before Christmas, traipsing around (cold) San Francisco with us. Then, she had the photos ready for us to see within a week! (She also had our wedding photos ready for us, on our own website, within days of our return from our honeymoon!)
The engagement shoot was also a great way to get to know Stephanie better. By the time we saw her at the wedding, it felt like seeing an old friend! Stephanie was just fantastic. She made me feel so special on my wedding--like I was the most important bride ever!
Stephanie also does a pretty incredible job of "disappearing" while she's working. Other than when she did the portraits of my husband and our wedding party and our families, I didn't see Stephanie the whole five hours, but it's clear from the photos that she was everywhere at once.
Stephanie is the BEST!

There is just not enough I could ever say about Stephanie. She is so warm and friendly- my husband and I knew right away that we wanted to work with her to photograph our wedding. Stephanie took amazing photos, and we get to keep them all! From start to finish, wedding dress shopping, engagement photos, etc Stephanie has always been there for us and willing to go the extra mile. She is the best, and you will have such a gift in your photos for the rest of your married life!

As most people know... your wedding photographer is one of the most important aspects of your wedding. The pictures will serve as the memories of your special day for the rest of your life. To my husband and I, our wedding photographer had to be outstanding. I searched high and low through magazines, personal recommendations and the internet to find the most perfect photographer. Stephanie Secrest was an absolute treasure amongst the hundreds I found. As soon as I read through her amazing reviews on YELP, I sent her an email and she responded very quickly. She made a trip to our town to meet with us face to face and show us some of her beautiful work. Stephanie is an artist. Her photographs are like pictures in magazines and perfect in every way.

She did our engagement shoot a few months before our wedding and we couldn't believe the beauty of the pictures she took. Each one captured the love my husband and I have for each other in the most perfect way. I had hundreds of my friends and family comment on how lovely these pictures were when I posted them for everyone to see. We knew that when it came to our wedding day, Stephanie would know just how to photograph those priceless moments and unforgettable times. She did just that. Along with her co-photographer Edwin, they captured some of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen at a wedding. Everyone who saw the pictures commented on the excellence of each one.

Beyond the exceptional photographs, Stephanie also showed such incredible passion and excitement when it came to being a part of our special celebration. I highly doubt there is another photographer out there that shows such enthusiasm as Stephanie does. She is also polite, kind, professional, and extremely easy to work with. If I could give Stephanie 10 stars, I would. She is a fantastic photographer and we felt honored to have her for our special day.

Thank you Stephanie!!!

Best wedding photos on earth. Stephanie has an artist's eye and her photos look stunning. We were especially impressed with how she captured expressions; the delighted, surprised looks when the lid flew off the ring box in our ceremony (cuz I wore it out looking at the rings beforehand), the adoration as I looked up at my father in our dance, the tenderness my husband feels for me showing in his face during the ceremony. Weddings are emotional, and Stephanie tells that story well. She has won numerous awards as a professional photojournalist. She took 1507 photos, and the final cut of "only the great photos" was 575. Everyone who sees them says, "Wow! You had a GRRRREAT photographer!" Plus, Stephanie is a wonderful, caring person, the kind of gal you'd want for a best friend. We were completely happy with our photos, and so was everyone else in them.

Over two years ago, we were looking for a photographer to capture our wedding on June 5, 2010. I found Stephanie, a five star rated photographer on Yelp and decided to shoot her an email to get more information. I emailed a few other photographers in the Bay Area as well, but to be honest, wasn't as excited about them after seeing their "best of shots" from their websites. I was more engaged with Stephanie's artistic eye and ability to capture the moments I was looking for in my own wedding. Her photojournalism style was what I preferred - candid and on cue.

Stephanie responded to my email that night, hours later. I was immediately impressed with her quick reply, fun-loving attitude and obvious passion for her career choice. I couldn't wait to meet her!

Stephanie invited us into her home that weekend. It was an overall lovely experience. When I first met her in person, I felt like I already knew her. She is a very welcoming and warm person. Her samples were impressive, and pricing structure was based on her time spent on the job (no price per print or mandatory purchase of a photobook, like some photographers do). We enjoyed our time with her so much that we stayed for three hours and had no problem signing the contract about half way through our meeting.

The day of our wedding, Stephanie was punctual and already behind the camera the second she got on site (she actually got a hotel room for the night before to ensure she didn't get stuck in traffic, even though she lived only an hour away from the venue). She worked hard - taking 2500 pictures in 6 hours (that's about 7 pictures per minute if you do the math!). Our pictures came out better than we could have imagined. Our family and friends continue to compliment us on our pictures. We couldn't be happier!

Thank you, Stephanie, for allowing us to relive our special day exactly as we had hoped for years to come!

What can we say about Stephanie? Not only is she someone you would want to be responsible for recording your day on film, she's someone you'd want to have around at your wedding. She is positive, upbeat, calming, friendly, warm, professional, kind, caring and an extremely talented photojournalist. She is creative and sees the world in a different way giving her photography that special something we were looking for. Stephanie gave us much more than our money's worth on our day and our pictures are absolutely stunning. Please do yourself a favor and meet with Stephanie before you book a photographer. You won't be sorry.

All I need to say about Stephanie is WOW!

Prior to the wedding she came to my house to show me and my fiance albums and pictures she has taken for other couples. I was sold after just looking at one album! She has a great style and good eye for catching amazing shots! I love that she tells a story in her pictures.

I am so happy we chose her to photograph our wedding on 11/7/09. She is very professional and so easy to work with. Not only does she know what looks best in a shot, but she works quickly. And, she had our photos ready to view only 2 weeks after we had gotten married! My husband and I went to her house to view them on a slideshow- I was blown away with all the shots!

I would definitely recommend Stephanie Secrest as your photographer! You will not be disappointed at all!

I have to write a disclaimer: I know Stephanie from having worked with her at two Bay Area news publications. Naturally I wanted to select her for my wedding from knowing her work as a journalist.

However, after reading her other reviews on Yelp, I have to say that it seems she treats all her clients the way she treated me and my now husband- as a someone she purposefully got to know well so she could do her best in showcasing what was important on the wedding day.

She had us over to her studio twice to pick our brains on what we wanted from a photographer: shots of some of the guests we probably wouldn't see a lot of given our quick time frame and artistic shots of my dress, our dog, and the beauty of Tilden Park.

Stephanie is a consummate professional who loves what she does- and it shows so well in her photos. She understands the stress of juggling different vendors and respectfully worked well with everyone else on our day.

But above all it's her skill that made me want to review her on Yelp. I highly recommend her.

I love working with Stephanie!
The photographs are fabulous and she just knows how to capture those special moments! Stephanie also makes it easy to have your photo taken..and putting you at ease on your wedding day is important!
You need to feel comfortable with your photographer as you will be spending a whole day with them!
You will not be disappointed when hiring professionals that create the spirit of your event and Stephanie is one of...

Wonderful to work with. Total pros, whose care and talent produces
beautiful photos and memories. They have a gentle, but professional
air which made taking the pictures a joy, so the Bridal party was able
to celebrate throughout the picture taking. Because you can't be everywhere,
they show you parts of your wedding you didn't see. A...

Stephanie does wonderful work, as you can see!