Masterwork Weddings

James is a true artist! He’s just amazing to work with, creative and accommodating. My husband kept whispering to me during our pictures at our wedding: «these photos are going to be amazing!» And they truly are! Thank you James! You are the best!

I feel really lucky to have found James as my wedding photographer. As a bride, I was looking for somebody organized, easy to work with and would be good at shooting an outdoor beach wedding. I highly recommend James as a wedding photographer. He was such a pleasure to work with during my wedding on 2.27.2016. He was very organized and helped us plan our group shots so we could maximize time. Thanks James for capturing my beautiful sunset wedding photos on the beach. 5 stars.

My husband and i hired James for our wedding and engagement photos. And he is absolutely the best ever! My family and my husbands family loved him and loved how professional, respectful and kind he is! He is such a blessing and has a true talent! When my husband and i decided to have a family, we want to hire him for a maternity shoot. You won’t regret it and his prices are also the best in SD and he is very straight forward with what his packages offers! He is such a natural! YOU WILL NOT REGRET HIRING HIM, BUT YOU WILL REGRET IT YOU DONT! Thanks James, once again, for being absolutely awesome and yourself and making everything as perfect and as smooth as it was!

James is so personable and he works so hard! We just had our wedding last Saturday, 11÷14÷15. We had a wonderful day with James and his assistant capturing all of our important moments. I can’t wait to get the photos back to write this review, so I’m just going for it and will add some in later. James is such a fan of marriage and went into wedding photography after tying the knot himself. (He had many years of professional/​commercial photography prior to this.) He is truly a pro and knows exactly what to shoot so that you will have photos to remind you of your special event. Ahead of our wedding, James met with us and went over our ceremony locations and helped us review places where we wanted to take bridal party shots. Then when our day arrived, it was a breeze to move from place to place knowing that we had everything pre-​planned. Having seen James’s work on his website and in albums from our initial consultation, we are confident that our photos are going to be amazing. Also, his pricing is very reasonable and he includes full ownership of all images for the client. Five star experience, highest recommendation!

I came across Masterwork Weddings while searching for a photographer for our destination wedding in San Diego (we are from Minneapolis). We knew right away when we met James that he was the one we wanted to have photograph our wedding. He could not have been more professional, engaging, polite, passionate and caring! All of this extended into our wedding day! We had guest telling us how friendly and professional he was throughout our day! Our wedding photographs turned out beautifully and I wouldn’t have changed a thing– I cannot give enough credit to James for his hard work and dedication. We truly felt like we lucked out with him and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a photographer, he won’t disappoint. Thank you James!

James was amazing! Love the pictures and his enthusiasm! He was climbing the walls to get the perfect angle!

I would have to say that James deserves a 5 out of 5 for our wedding and engagement photos. He is truly an amazing photographer. My wife went to the San Diego bridal bizarre with her sisters which is where she met James. They all really liked his work, and they said he was a very nice and approachable guy. When I met him for the first time in the interview, I knew exactly what they were talking about. My wife and I walked away knowing that he was going to be our photographer. He was so nice and comfortable to be around, and also didn’t pressure us to make a decision right away. When shooting our engagement photos, he did everything he could to capture the perfect picture. I still remember him climbing up a tree to get one picture, which turned out great. I would have to say that James is a true professional, with so much that goes on during the planning process of a wedding. He gets back to you right away if you have any question, and he did all the shots we asked for. We couldn’t be happier and I recommend him to anybody looking for a photographer.

James with Masterwork weddings was phenomenal for our recent engagement shoot. Right at the beginning of our interview with him I knew he was the photographer we would choose for our engagement and wedding photos. He’s super easy to work with and his calming personality puts you right at ease. We did two locations for our engagement shoot and even with the high humidity and temperature outside he didn’t miss a beat! The photos came out wonderful and can’t wait to see how our wedding photos turn out!

If you want the BEST photographer and the most creative photos, you must work with James at Masterwork Weddings! His work is amazing.
My husband and I are extremely
happy with our engagement and wedding photos.
We learned about Masterwork Weddings through our friends who had also used James for their wedding. All of the photos we saw were amazing! I highly recommend working with James and his team. They will work so hard to capture the most important moments.
Masterwork Weddings was hands down the hardest working vendor I hired for my wedding day and the one I am the MOST pleased with! Thank you so much James for everything!

My Fiancé and I met James at the San Diego Bridal Bazaar and we are go glad to have booked him as our photographer! He has the best personality and is very down to earth. He went out of his way to understand what our needs and preferences would be for our engagement photos and then offered his own opinions and suggestions to ensure that our photos would be perfect. And they came out fantastic! We could not be happier with the quality, style, and professionalism that James offered us. James responds to emails very quickly, accepts payments through Paypal, and allows you the rights to your photos. Which to me is highly professional and reasonable. I would absolutely recommend him to everyone.

James was so awesome to work with. He was creative and definitely gives you the tools you need to get your wants expressed prior to the wedding. I was overwhelmed and slacked on putting together the correct list, but I got all the pictures I wanted. He was so zen, kind and creative. The pictures look beautiful. I give my highest recommendation to James.

My one year anniversary is coming up, so naturally, I’ve been looking at photos from my wedding day and realized I never gave James the review he deserved!
I found out about James from a coworker who saw his work at Bridal Bazaar. She wanted to book him, but he was already booked for the day of her wedding. I figured he must have been good, so I reached out! From our first meeting to the days after our wedding, James was amazing! He was so sincere and was truly concerned with what my husband and I wanted for our photos. He was extremely responsive/​communicative and truly made me feel confident that everything would be taken care of in his hands. All he asked is that we provide a day-​of schedule and that if there were specific photos we wanted, that we provide that list to him. I was upfront with James and let him know that I didn’t have set poses or photos in my mind that I had to have, but that was no problem for him. He scoped out the venues in advance and had great ideas when the big day finally came — he even almost got hit by a car to get us some great shots!
He was so prompt in getting our photos to us! It only took him 2 weeks, meaning we got to see them right when we got back from our honeymoon. Again, James is great! Any bride would be lucky to have him as her photographer!
My only regret is that I feel like I didn’t take enough photos with my husband! But we did choose to not have a first look and had a pretty tight timeline. Keep that in mind, future brides!

I recently worked on a wedding with James of Masterwork Weddings and it was great! I was the wedding planner for a couple who’s wedding was at Tom Hams Lighthouse on the San Diego Bay. James was extremely communicative beforehand and we chatted about the day arrangements well in advance. The pre ceremony photos were quite extensive so I worked the details into the day agenda. On the day of, James and the second shooter were extremely pleasant, professional and easy to work with. The quality of the photos were great! I highly recommend this company!

James was my wedding photographer, and he was absolutely AMAZING! I’ve already recommended him to friends getting married this year.
My husband and I got married in November 2014. We are an adventurous/​spontaneous couple, and we decided to get married 3 months after our engagement. That being said, I booked James 2 months before our wedding. He was extremely professional and accommodating. He knew that we were under a lot of pressure because of our short engagement, and he did everything possible to make our experience with him run seamlessly. He responded promptly to any questions we had, made different timelines for us to choose from, was very open to any suggestions we had, and showed up early to scout our venue for the best places to take pictures.
Because of my November wedding, we were also in a time crunch to get all of my family and bride/​groom pictures in before the sun went down (4:45). My wedding party was not very good at staying focused during the pictures (guys especially), but James managed to keep everyone on point and get amazing shots. A few of the bride/​groom pictures were taken at night, but they were still absolutely stunning.
The final wedding pictures were returned to us a couple weeks after the wedding, and they are BEAUTIFUL! James could not have done a better job! My husband and I were also surprised at the amount of pictures James took. He captured every single moment that was important to us. We’ve received many compliments from family and friends on the pictures.
He was the best vendor of our wedding, and you cannot go wrong with James!

James did a excellent job on my headshots. He’s very professional, friendly, honest made me feel very comfortable. You can tell he loves his job, it shows in his work and that says a lot alone. I had a hard time picking just a few picks for my headshots he did such a great job. I’m a beginner getting headshots done and he was very helpful letting me know what to wear and not, etc. I highly recommend James if your looking to get excellent pictures done and working with someone that was an absolute pleasure, James is your man!

James is awesome! He is very kind & professional. He’s so creative & does great work! My husband & I are very happy with our engagement photos & wedding photos! All our family & friends loved our pictures too! It was very hard for us to pick out which photos we loved the best! There were so many good pictures.
He responds to email & voicemails quickly. He also gets you your pictures back in a good timely manner. You’re not waiting several months for your pictures like other photographers. He is really great to work with & makes everything seem so smooth. He has a very positive happy vibe. I highly recommend him. :)

As everyone has been saying James is amazing!!! He truly has an expert eye in capturing the best moments of your wedding!
I found him at the bridal bazaar and I have had nothing but amazing experiences working with him! Our engagement session was just breath taking even on a gloomy day. Seriously cannot believe how amazing our pictures turned out.
The day of our wedding also he was on top of everything! Our whole bridal party was amazed with James’ passion for capturing amazing photos!
And his communication is definitely on point! You’re not left in the dark wondering what’s going on with your pictures. He constantly keeps you updated!
If you’re iffy on hiring him I say JUST DO IT! He’s amazing and I promise, you won’t be disappointed

We hired James as our photographer for an outdoor wedding on Coronado in May, and we cannot say enough great things about how wonderful the photographs turned out! He worked with us on a timeline, planning for special shots, and lighting well before our event, and then made sure all photography went without a hitch on the big day. His preparation and gentle demeanor made working with him such a pleasure! I’ve already recommended him to friends and family for their special events.

My husband and I were married at The Thursday Club on April 6, 2013, and if there’s one piece of advice we can give to ANY bride and groom, it’s to hire James as your photographer (also – get married at The Thursday Club.). I met him at the Bridal Bazaar about a year before our wedding, and I loved that he wasn’t up in anyone’s face – he stood by his booth with a welcoming smile and let his photos speak for themselves, which they absolutely did. My husband and I met with him and we instantly clicked – we booked him that day for an engagement shoot that took place a few months later. We did Balboa Park and the beach and just got the most beautiful pictures, thanks to James and his willingness to do whatever it takes to get a great picture. Seriously… we wanted a picture of us on the beach, and James was so dedicated that he got in the ocean – FULLY CLOTHED –to take a picture. (PS – our favorite engagement picture is my Unilocal main profile picture!). We booked him immediately after. We really, really loved him after that day – we felt like we were walking around Balboa with a friend. He is so kind, so easy to talk to… just an all-​around good person. Plus, he’s very experienced and had shot at our venue before and knew all the good spots.
The months leading up to the wedding with James were a breeze – we originally booked the 8 hour package but after some debate decided we wanted his all-​day package (both INCREDIBLY reasonably –priced considering he is as good if not BETTER than a lot of the San Diego photographers that charge upwards of $ 3000 for an all-​day package). We talked a few weeks before my wedding and he helped me develop a good day-​of timeline for pictures and the day in general. He was SO helpful, I can’t stress that enough. The day of our wedding, he was there on time, got all the shots, and was truly a calming presence in a crazy day. We got the most BEAUTIFUL pictures. My officiant was 30 minutes late to the ceremony and no one could get a hold of her (my fault – I had told her the wrong time! OMG) and I was hyperventilating in my bridal room… James came in and looked me in the eye and told me it would all be fine, it will all work out, and the worst case scenario is that our guests will have to wait a little bit longer in the beautiful San Diego weather. I will never, ever forget that moment and that genuine moment of compassion he showed to calm me down. After the ceremony, when all the fun began, James was so awesome. He did the same thing as in the engagement shoot – wherever he had to go to get a good shot, he did it. He got some truly amazing shots of our details – I started crying when we looked our pictures when we got them back. He had such cool ways of showing our details… hanging my earrings on the tree trunk in front of our venue, putting our «thank you» place cards on one of the cool wrought iron things at our venue… it was different and so beautiful and cool.
Another thing – we had our pictures back about two weeks after our wedding! We came back from our honeymoon and James had them in the mail several days later… all of our friends who were married were shocked because it took quite some time to get theirs back! I bragged that our photographer was the best, because he truly is.
If you’ve read through this novel of a review for James, I hope I’ve been able to convey how amazing we thought he was, and how much of an important part of our wedding day he was. (We loved him so much we asked him to take a «selfie» with us at our reception!) We would 100% recommend him to everyone, if you’re looking for an extraordinary photographer with attention to detail who is one of the nicest people ever.

Amazing work!
My husband and I were in need of a photographer for our wedding. During our engagement I had researched many photographers and had sat down with a handful. I hadn’t found the perfect fit for our wedding. It was very important for us to find a photographer that we clicked with and felt comfortable. This is because we knew we would share one of the most intimate and special days in our lives with the photographer.
We met James at the Bridal Expo in Del Mar. Although I had attended the prior Bridal Expo. I was determined to find a day of planner and a photographer. I had set my expectations high and wouldn’t settle for anything less. I immediately fell in LOVE with Jame’s work.
My husband and I sat down with James in person and had booked him. James made us feel comfortable during our wedding. I never once felt that someone was lurking over us and taking pictures. Our pictures came out amazing!
I would book him again if I ever need a photographer. He is the best! I would refer James to anyone looking for great experience and most importantly amazing pictures!