Reviews: What Clients Say | GoodEye Photography

★★★★★

Words cannot describe what an amazing and special photographer and person Chris is. Although we were one of the wedding couples that had to change our date not once but three times over the course of a year and a half, Chris was always flexible and willing to make any date possible. He was/is extremely reliable and responsive within a matter of minutes throughout the entire process and willing to communicate via email, text and or phone call. (I am old fashioned and hate email so thank you for dealing with that lol) We couldn't have asked for a more genuine, honest and brilliant person to work with and will definitely use him for all of the exciting chapters our future holds. He not only is the person you want to use to capture all of your memories, but he is also the person you consider a friend almost instantly and want to grab a beer with.

My now husband and I first met him in person for our engagement shoot. He went out of his way to drive over an hour in rush hour traffic just to shoot at Filoli Gardens. The fact that he is willing to travel for such a short amount of time is extremely generous and we are so grateful he took so much time out of his day to make that possible.

Now on to the photography aspect of it. Alec and I are definitely awkward in front of the camera and knew we would need some guidance in how to pose and feel comfortable being ourselves. After being open about this, he was able to offer many suggestions on how to stand, where to stand and pick out all of the places he knew would capture many memories. He listened to what we wanted and made it happen. I have a thing for doors and he made sure we got a photo in front of every door LOL. We really appreciated that he took charge and took all the guessing work out of what we needed to do and they came out truly perfect.

Fast forward a month later to our actual wedding day, which happened this past weekend. It was so wonderful to see Chris, a familiar face again, and this time around he truly gave us the confidence we needed on our big day to feel comfortable in front of the camera. It felt effortless the day of the wedding. (If using him before your wedding, I highly recommend meeting him for a shoot prior to the wedding so he can get to know your personalities and on the day of the wedding you feel like a natural. Plus you get to capture not one but two amazing photos of you and your loved one :) Him and his assistant Johnathan (shout out to you for also being kick ass and amazing) arrived promptly even before they were asked to, and were very organized and flexible with all of the planning. He was able to fluidly coordinate with our videographer, wedding coordinator and made things move effortlessly and efficiently.

One of my favorite things about him is is humbled confidence and trust in his ability to do the best job possible for every single person. The only thing he requested from us was a family photos list of people we wanted and other than that we didn't feel the need to tell him exactly what photos to taken, nor did he want us to because he trusted himself to capture what was most important. It was an unspoken language and that is how you know you hired the one. I have no doubt in my mind him and Johnathan captured every beautiful moment of family and friends. He was always right there, but he blended in with such ease and disguise that you never even noticed them being there unless you were really paying attention.

Chris, we absolutely adore you and are so looking forward to having you as our photographer for many years ahead. Thank you for always allowing us to be ourselves and listening to what was important to us. You and Johnathan are one for the books and feel so lucky you too chose to work with us! :)

Stephanie O. · San Francisco, CA · ★★★★★ on Yelp

★★★★★

Chris of GoodEye is the most amazing photographer ever!! When looking for a wedding photographer, we reviewed different portfolios. When we came across Chris's website and body of work, we were mesmerized. His photographs blew every one else's out of the water. Just from his photographs alone, we knew Chris was the photographer for us, which was only solidified further when we met him in person. Over tea at a half-way point (which Chris treated us to generously), we bonded over the Santa Cruz area, pets, and the importance of family-first.

Not only is Chris an uber-professional (creative, responsive, organized, flexible, experienced, interpersonally savvy), but he is an incredibly genuine, warm, thoughtful, and easy-going person. We did a mini-engagement shoot at Capitola Village and Chris made us feel so at-ease and interjected fun into the shoot. Literally 30 minutes after the shoot, he texted us a few sneak-peeks! He sent us our engagement pictures about a week later and our jaws dropped! His shots were works of art! As we shared our photographs with family and friends, we kept hearing comments such as "wow, he is such an amazing photographer," "you can tell he is experienced and passionate about his work," "these are the best engagement pictures I have ever seen."

Before our wedding ceremony, Chris orchestrated a first look at Lover's Point which went super smoothly. This helped our bridal party shake off some pre-wedding jitters. After the wedding ceremony, Chris took our formal family shots and got us back to the party in record time. Throughout the reception, he blended into the intimate gathering and used his "good eyes" (wink) to capture all our special moments. Also of note, Chris is amazing at providing timeline feedback, tips to reduce shiny hair/makeup, and answering all manner of stressed-out brides' questions!

We were sad to see Chris leave at the end of the night because after getting to know him, he feels like a friend. We are excited to see all his amazing wedding photographs--we know they will all be stunning. We are also extremely happy to have found our photographer for life. We cannot wait to work with Chris again as he captures future Luther family memories.

Emily L. · Pleasant Hill, CA · ★★★★★ on Yelp

★★★★★

Today is one month since our wedding. This review is long overdue. When we think back to the big day, Chris is top of mind. It almost feels like if we didn't hire Chris, we didn't have a wedding.

Last year, my then boyfriend hired Chris as his partner in crime to surprise me with a proposal in Santa Cruz. On our walk to the surprise spot I spot a man with two extremely large cameras and the poise of an endearing dad, and I joked to my partner that the waves being photographed could be on National Geographics one day and we witnessed the moment. How cool! Little did I know that he was there for me, for us.

Our engagement photos turned out to be exactly National Geographics level amazing. I barely dressed up that day, and I hate taking photos, but Chris made the experience fun and enjoyable. His camera doesn't have a loud clicking noise when photos are taken, so as our session progressed I sort of forgot that I was being photographed. He was our tour guide for the hour and we simply enjoyed the nice scenery while looking into each other's gaze.

Fast forward to wedding day, Chris came early and spoke to the coordinator directly without any help from us. He is assertive and takes care of the details without adding anything extra to us. Throughout the day, he completed all my wishes (I wanted certain portraits done) AND did a bunch more that he thought would add to our memories. He commanded the crowd nicely and zipped between everyone like a ninja. We didn't notice him, but he was everywhere.

The wedding was a blast, and when we received the photos only 4 days later (your email response to your boss probably takes longer), we were blown away. There were moments we missed that he captured, moments we cherished that he captured, and moments we thought were probably embarrassing to be captured that he captured in the most loving way.

I quit my job a few months ago, and as I finish all the post wedding work I am hit with the question - "what's next?". I can't help but look up to Chris - the man is so good at his craft, and that's where I want to be too one day. An excellent photographer and an even better human being.

Jina L. · Redwood City, CA · ★★★★★ on Yelp

★★★★★

How your wedding photographer captures your wedding day can influence how you remember it forever. Because of this my husband and I felt that it was very important to find the perfect photographer that would capture the feel and all the moments perfectly. Chris was that photographer! Here are just a couple reasons you should book him right now:

1. His incredible professionalism. The first place this shows is his communication. He is super communicative (some emails he responds to almost instantly!) and makes the whole process easy for you. We were living in New York but getting married in California and he made it so easy to ask him questions, work through contracts and book him. It was so smooth and clean. His professionalism also shows while taking pictures. He arrived at the wedding venue an hour before he said he would be there in order to look at the lightning, as he had never shot there before. That was really impressive and that level of professionalism and thought really showed in the pictures. Our guests LOVED his camera holster (one camera clipped on to each hip) and his lighting set up is pretty amazing too. He is great at getting everyone to look good in group photos but also amazing at just blending in so you don't notice him when you want the photos to be candid. My husband and I were super nervous about the engagement shoot (which yes do it, it is sooooo helpful for practice before the wedding day plus you get more amazing pictures) but he made it so natural and easy.

2. The pictures. We love the artistic touch that Chris brings to pictures. If he asks you to go stand in the middle of a group of ferns (or a field, or sit in a tree, or whatever), do it!!!! The result will be FANTASTIC. He looks at the environment and manages to find the best angles and artistic elements to make your pictures just that much more awesome. He is also amazing at group and candid pictures. We really wanted a photographer that could capture all the getting ready, dancing, talking, and lawn gaming at our wedding (edit: when we booked him he worked the whole day for one price, this might not be the case anymore so I removed that claim) and he did that with that same incredible clean, bright, artistic flare. His eye is just amazing and some of our favorite bridal party and bride and groom pictures were those which he took candidly as well. We love all the pictures and the positive feedback we have received from our guests has been incredible.

We would book Chris again in an instant and we look forward to using him again in the future for any of our picture taking needs.

Joan D. · Boulder, CO · ★★★★★ on Yelp

★★★★★

You can stop looking. You found your photographer.

The groom and I had a very modest wedding budget, but hiring a top-flight photographer was priority number one. I'm a spray-paint-and-hot-glue kind of gal, but the day was too important to gamble on an inexperienced photographer. I knew there would be so many moments, so many guests -- age one to ninety-one! -- and I wanted gorgeous pictures of them all.

I reviewed at least ten portfolios. Chris Schmauch had far and away the best, most photojournalistic, most authentic, moment-capturing portfolio of any of them.

The first Skype session showed us Chris's personality: exactly the balance of easy-going and go-getting that you want in a wedding photographer. Family man. Cool dad. Super pro. He sincerely worked with us to find a photo package that met our needs and fit our budget. It was a no-brainer. We were sold.

And that was even before he took the first photo for us!

The engagement session proved we made the right decision. Chris is EXCELLENT at taking charge in a way that still makes everyone feel relaxed. It's a rare skill! We had a great time, got to know Chris, and got some gorgeous pictures -- including some silly ones, which are still my favorites.

On the wedding day, Chris showed up early. He captured everything -- a heart-pounding venue snafu, girl grooming, details, guests, bride's entrance AND groom's reaction AND bride coming up the aisle (how he did that I'll never know! And I never even knew he was there!)... there's more to say but this form's text limit means I must stop!

From the day I first emailed him in September to the day this week that he sent the links to the final photo set, I have been wildly, blissfully happy with our decision. That kind of confidence is priceless, and we got it for a song.

Thank you, Chris, for being a part of our special day. Thank you for working with our budget and never trying to pressure us into spending more. It has meant the world.

Tory H. · Los Angeles, CA · ★★★★★ on Yelp

★★★★★

I would highly recommend Chris to anyone. We loved working with him for our wedding on August 4th & would definitely consider using him again in the future if we ever decide to get any professional photos done.

I found Chris by browsing for photographers online. My husband and I live in Southern California, but were getting married at Bargetto Winery in Soquel. He has nothing but excellent reviews wherever you look, an amazingly wonderful & informational website & then last but not least he's a great guy! As soon as I saw the photos on his site I knew I was interested in having him do our wedding. Then we set up an online video interview with him. We enjoyed meeting him and were so pleased when he sent us his proposal. He listened to what we were looking for and gave us a few different options to choose from that were around what we were looking for in terms of budget.

What was a nice bonus for us is that we weren't considering engagement photos at all due to it being an extra expense. What is great about Chris is that he includes this at no extra cost in his pricing because he likes to get to know the people he will be working with. So, we all got to meet and work with Chris before our actual wedding day plus ended up with more amazing photos that we weren't planning on having. It was great because both my husband & I are very camera shy and Chris was able to put us at ease and get some beautiful photos from gamely hiking through Nisene Marks with us. We were able to reassure ourselves and our guests that everyone would end up with some great memories.

Then it came to the day of - again amazing! Chris showed up not long after I did (and more awake than I was) with his coffee in hand & his cameras on his hip. Love the camera-slinger look! He got along with everyone and worked with us to make sure he got pieces of all the right moments. He's does it all so quickly and makes it look so easy. Our guests thought he was great. My father even mentioned how he was so unobtrusive that the only way you knew he was there was if you happened to catch the flash going off.

To complete my novel Chris had a sneak peek for us by later that night! Then it didn't take long for us to get the rest of the photos either. So many wonderful memories he was able to catch both as candids & the posed formal shots. His results are definitely more than worth what he charges! Don't be afraid to contact him. Thanks Chris!!

Tiia K. · Irvine, CA · ★★★★★ on Yelp

Batteries to Bluffs Trail engagement photography

★★★★★

THE. BEST. PHOTOGRAPHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are looking for a photographer, look no further. My wife and I were looking for someone to shoot our wedding and engagement photos, and we searched for hours. We met over 7 different photographers, and as soon as we met Chris we knew we found the right one.

His work:

His pictures are simply STUNNING! I can not express this enough. My jaw drops every time I see his work. Amazing detail and he has a talent at capturing the perfect moment. The lighting always seems to be spot on, and every picture seems to glow. It is amazing how he gets such wonderful photos yet he is really quick at taking them. He know what he is doing, that is for sure!

Customer Service:

Chris is really laid back and was 100% there for us. Usually companies need two photographers to complete a wedding, but Chris can easily do it by himself. He showed up on time, and gave us the entire day for the wedding. This is uncommon, but help tremendously. Even in a room full of women getting ready for our big day, Chris kept his calm was out of the way and just clicked away. He is very responsive on emails which I am a big fan of. He was wonderful with the children and did not force anything upon the wedding party. After the ceremony and most of the pictures of family and what not were out of the way, I barely noticed Chris being there. He let us enjoy our day, but I could see him moving his light around and getting all of the perfect shots. Every single bridesmaid that got to work with him, agreed that he will shoot their wedding as well. This is from his customer service ALONE! Then double back to his work, and it is a nail in the coffin.

Chris is as professional as they come, and would be hard pressed to beat. I would recommend him to anyone looking for something studio worthy. Family shots, to maternity shots, to architectural, to weddings, he can do it!

Thanks Chris for making our big day the best that it could be, and freezing it in time for many years to come!

Ryan P. · San Jose, CA · ★★★★★ on Yelp