Chris Schmitt Photography: 10 Questions with Chris Schmitt

Photographer - Chris Schmitt

Business: Chris Schmitt Photography
Location: Moorpark, California CA
Experience: 20 Years
Photography Types: Weddings
Profile: Chris Schmitt Photography
Website: www.chrisschmitt.com

1. Introduction: What's your story?

Chris Schmitt Photography is a Boutique Wedding Photography Studio based in Moorpark CA. Chris and his wife Andrea opened the business together in 2001 in Hollywood, CA. They spent the first 8 years building their business and their brand there in the city. After their first born Sawyer, they decided to leave the city and move out to the suburbs for a better quality of life. His images have been published in media outlets such as the Today Show, OWN Network, Good Morning America, Los Angeles Magazine, InStyle Magazine, Destination Wedding Magazine, The Knot, Brides Magazine, Ceremony Magazine, J-Date, SELF Magazine, Grace Ormonde, California Wedding Day Magazine and dozens of wedding blogs and websites. He has also been featured on the Wedding Reality T.V Show, For Better or for Worse on TLC.

Last year, the studio celebrated photographing their 1000th wedding!

Before photographing weddings, Chris had the incredible experience of working with legendary celebrity and commercial photographers including Annie Leibowitz, David la Chapelle, Herb Rits, Bruce Weber, Matthew Rolston, Peggy Sirota and many others who all encouraged and influenced him to pursue his own photography career. Those years of working with "the masters" inspired him to bring a sense of style, fashion, elegance and fun to his wedding portraits. When asked why he became a wedding photographer, the answer was simple... "It's the most rewarding responsibility and an honor documenting one of the most special days of a couple's life. And who doesn't love an excuse to eat cake every weekend?"

Our style is a vibrant blend of Modern Elegance,Authentic Candids and Cinematic storytelling. Our pictures pack a punch and we know how to use lighting (in any circumstance rain or shine) to make everyone look their best. On any given wedding day we see it all...from laughter to tears to joy and romance. We strive to both blend into the scene as photojournalists to capture these candid moments and also be able to step in when needed to direct and document important times like family portraits. We also love to create unique portraits of our couples and are always there to help with posing and tips to ensure they look amazing!

Our passion for photographing weddings has taken us around the world documenting one of the most special days in a couple's life and we feel honored to be chosen for this. We truly love what we do for a living!

When Chris and Andrea are not taking pictures, you can often find them hanging out with their two kids Sawyer and Siena. We have a love for Travel, Mountain Biking, Snowboarding and WakeBoarding."We are big kids ourselves and we believe in a good balance of working hard to play hard." We are excited to be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary this year! We are honored to have just won the 2022/2023 Couple's Choice Award for the 12th year in a row naming us in the top 5% of all Wedding Photography Studios nationwide!

2. How long have you been shooting weddings? How many weddings have you photographed?

Chris Schmitt opened his boutique wedding photography studio in 2001 along with his wife Andrea. Together this husband and wife team have photographed over 1000 weddings and over 60 destination weddings in many countries including Italy, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, and Australia.

3. How would you describe your photography style?

Our style is a vibrant blend of Modern Elegance,Authentic Candids and Cinematic storytelling. Our pictures pack a punch and we know how to use lighting (in any circumstance rain or shine) to make everyone look their best. On any given wedding day we see it all...from laughter to tears to joy and romance. We strive to both blend into the scene as photojournalists to capture these candid moments and also be able to step in when needed to direct and document important times like family portraits. We also love to create unique portraits of our couples and are always there to help with posing and tips to ensure they look amazing!

4. How well in advance should couples book their wedding photographer?

Post covid, our average booking time is approx. 6 months out. We do book out longer and shorter. It never hurts to call or email us to see if we have your date available.

5. What are the different packages that you offer and which one is your most popular package?

By far our most popular wedding photography package is called "The Brides Favorite Collection". This package includes a fun engagement session, a full day of coverage with two Master Photographers and a beautiful wedding album filled with your favorite photos from the day!

• Free Engagement Photoshoot
• Up to 8 Hours of Full Day Coverage
• 2 Master Photographers
•10”X10” MODERN Wedding Album
• Hi Res Color Corrected and Enhanced Images
• Free Online Photo Hosting/Backup
• Free Retouching upon request on any print order
•15 % off on any professional print order

6. Are you the wedding photographer who will be shooting on the wedding day? Who else is there in your team?

Yes both my wife Andrea and I are the two Master Photographers for our studio. We most often shoot together depending on the package booked.

7. Do you charge a travel fee? For what distance? What does that cover?

Engagement Sessions a la carte for $700.00
Local Weddings in LA/Ventura/Santa Barbara start at $3500.00
Continental U.S Destination Weddings start at $6000.00
Hawaii + International Destination Weddings start at $7000.00