Studio EMP

Studio EMP photographed my wedding in September 2015. The photos we received are beautiful; however, the photographers missed a number of opportunities and moments we’ll never be able to get back.
They did NOT take the following pictures:
— BRIDE AND PARENTS
— Newlyweds and bride’s parents
— Groom and groomsmen getting ready (we got one photo)
— Groom and each groomsman individually
All of these missed pictures were on our must have photo list given to the photographer and second shooter.
I’m sorry, but there is no excuse for not getting a picture of the bride with her parents, especially when they’re footing the almost $ 5k bill for photography. When I look at my wedding photos, I feel like CRYING because there are SO many MEMORIES MISSING.
Please note that I did enjoy working with Studio EMP. Everyone was very nice, but that doesn’t take away the fact that I will never have those pictures.

I just picked up our wedding album. My husband and I celebrated three years of marriage this July. We had to wait two+ years for this album. Joel sent a few emails apologizing, saying we were next on his list, editing was complete etc. etc, then a few weeks later it was «I’m just waiting for final approval». It was always something. They were all empty promises and meaningless words. I was shocked at how unprofessional he was being, he came highly recommended and his work at the studio looked great. We paid a pretty penny for his services. We finally had to get legal advice, which we didn’t really want to do, we wanted our wedding album. Again Joel promised he was done and we’d have it in three weeks, so six weeks after that the album was done. Finally, tonight I picked up our book. Joel was there, however he didn’t say much, not even when I said our name. I expected some kind of in person apology I guess, nothing, nothing at all.
I looked at our album, the photos are memorable, it was a great day. We now have the memories documented. The smiles on our faces put a smile on my face.
I am still kind of in shock that we were treated so poorly. I’m sure with his wife’s booming business he doesn’t care about us few that he failed. I hope he treats his future clients better than he did us.
I would not recommend his services. I did question some odd placed numbers on one of our pages but was told «it’s the paper» even though none of the other pages had them. I don’t have the energy to deal with him or his teams lack of service.

We felt so lucky to have Joel as our wedding photographer. He added so much personality to our wedding and was fun to work with. We are not the kind of couple that likes to sit still and pose for photos and Joel was totally fine with that. He kept up with us throughout the day and took amazing candid shots that I absolutely love. You can tell he loves what he does and that made all the difference. His excitement for taking photos is contagious.

Let me start off by saying Joel is an absolutely phenomenal photographer and our wedding pictures turned out great. He was great the day of our wedding and blended in with the crowd which is good for any wedding photographer.
However 2 years and 25 days after my wedding I just received my album today and it took 3 prints of it to get it right.
While he may be an excellent photographer Joel highly lacks in the area of customer service (this might be due to the fact that he is good at what he does best which is photograph, not take care of his customers). We received our first wedding album 1 year and 3 months after our wedding, which seemed long to us but justified by Joel stating that he had a large amount of albums to process.
HOWEVER to fix the problem it took almost another year and countless emails and reaching out on our part to garner a response from Joel and to finally have him address the problem at hand. When we received our second album 5 months later it was not photoshopped and he did not at all follow the directions we provided to him on what had to be fixed.
Then story gets better. After we received our second album with the changes still not made we tried conveying our frustration to Joel who finally replied and told us his server had crashed and he lost all of our album and then had to rebuild it. Instead of taking care of the situation immediately and writing to calm down my wife and I, he wrote us a short email and then had the nerve to end it with «#cananythingelsegowrong «
Fast forward 6 months from receiving album #2 and we finally today got an album we are fine with.
So if you are looking for great pictures for your wedding I reccomend Joel, however if you are looking for customer service and prompt response to any problems that arise… Studio EMP and Joel are not where to go.

Even though Joel hasn’t shot my wedding (Someday!), I have worked with him in the community and think he is just the best. He’s wonderful to work with and has a fantastic personality. I also love his dog that I’ve met a few times! :) I’d seriously recommend Joel for any of your photographic needs.

Joel did both my engagement and wedding photos. He was amazing and helped my husband and I both feel comfortable in what is a bit of an awkward situation. Love love love Studio EMP!

Studio EMP was recommended by, our wedding coordinator, Katie Webb. While we waited to meet Stef Ortiz at the EMP studio, a couple wedding albums caught our eye; they were of our friends.
Studio EMP is tucked away in an alleyway in an eclectic section of downtown Fullerton. The place itself is small and super cute! The décor is artistically well thought out. Pictures and portraits carefully depict the expertise of the studio’s artists and the pride they put into their craft. There was no doubt about the quality of product we would receive. Right on time, in walked Stef.
Like the studio, Stef had all the qualities we were looking for in a photographer. She was professional, straight-​forward and was also nice and friendly. She asked all the right questions; many that led us to think about things we never thought about. For example, whom did we want in certain shots and how we did we want the set-​up to look, in every variation? Stef was open about sharing her work, making her come across as honest and confident. After hiring Studio EMP, there was no end to the feedback we received from people who asked who our photographer would be and had heard of Studio EMP. Every comment included the words amazing.
Update Bonus: Stef was everything we imagined. Her talent for capturing special moments and attention to detail was impeccable. When she couldn’t get a particular shot to her satisfaction, she hustled us into a position or place to reenact the moment until she got what she wanted. Those captured moments turned out to be some of the best photos. As a huge bonus, Lorely was the second photographer. Her expertise, besides capturing wonderful moments, was her ability to get her subjects smiling or laughing. Finally, the price-​tag was fair and reasonable. There is no doubt that this company and these photographers love their craft and get genuinely excited about capturing special moments.

Joel is THE BEST! I may have been too late to get him for my wedding (that was way before I knew him) but in the years that I have known him, he has taken my work photos and my son’s senior photos. EMP also did my son’s senior announcements, prints, invitations… you name it; they did it!
Thank you Joel and EMP for all the good you do in the community and for making the community look good. You are AWESOME!

We are thrilled with our engagement and wedding photos by Stef at Studio EMP. She is an AMAZING photographer, so easy to work with and so prompt with her responses and getting the photos back to us. We loved our wedding day and are so grateful for the moments she captured. We 100% recommend Studio EMP and Stef! Prices for engagement and wedding packages are comparable to other studios in the area (spent hours researching before choosing Studio EMP) and the results of our photos were well worth the price. Thank you Stef!

Joel and everyone at Studio EMP (Stephanie and Lorely) are without a doubt the class of the industry! The experience my husband and I had with them helped us have the fairytale wedding. They were able to capture every moment so perfectly, and the best part is that throughout the day I never really noticed they were there. Joel’s personality is so awesome (SUPER funny) and he knows how to get the pictures you want without being in the way. As many brides will tell you, the day of the wedding goes by too fast, but it’s the pre and post wedding business that you really get to know your photographer. On the day of our engagement photo session we had planned to meet at the beach. Unfortunately the weather that day was terrible it was typical June Gloom: Cold and windy. Joel arrived and quickly turned the situation around. He lead us to an area in laguna canyon where it was absolutely gorgeous and fit both our personalities and he took us to the beach anyhow for some shots. He is not a clock watcher, he went above and beyond the industry standards to turn a potential bummer into excitement. Joel surprised us with so many special things, I honestly could go on and on. I would recommend Joel and Studio EMP to everyone! The photos he gave us will be cherished for generations.

We were SO lucky to have Joel at our wedding. He was so wonderful to work with and everyone kept coming up to me to say how cool he was and how comfortable they were to work with him. I don’t think there is anything more important than being comfortable with the photographer so that everyone looks natural and like themselves in the photos. We did an engagement session with Joel first and we knew right away that Joel was easy and great to work with and that we felt comfortable with him to have our pictures taken. Joel is the kind of guy you wish you could hang out with even though your wedding is done!

Great place… went here to see a photography exhibit and the gallery itself is just adorable. Joel was also super friendly and welcoming, as was his too-​cute-​for-​words doggie Lulu. The gallery also had a great little goodie bar set up for everyone which was really generous. I loved wandering around and looking at the beautiful photography.
The only downside is the location is in the heart of downtown Fullerton so it was a little hard to find parking but a small price to pay to view some beautiful work. :-)

Studio EMP exceeded my expectations in every way possible. I highly recommend and will follow up with a full review when my new wife doesn’t crowd my Sunday’s with honey do’s.
To be continued:
~ |2ichie |3ernal

I called Studio EMP looking to get a professional portrait shot for a professional bio (just a digital image). Joel was easy to work with and straightforward about how he prefers to operate (for instance, he wanted to shoot outdoors rather than indoors), and I met him the next day at the studio for a quick shoot.
The following day, Joel emailed me images to choose from, and in a couple of hours I had my final, touched-​up digital photo in my email inbox. Easy peasy.

After getting married over 9 months ago, I am still without my photo album. Additionally, Joel set up a display of the photos at my wedding without consulting me or asking me if this was acceptable. I found the phtographs to be mediocre and had very few pictures of my bridesmaids and mother. I feel like I have hounded them every step of the way to receive the items that I paid ALOT of money for. I am extremely disappointed and would not reccommend EMP.

Joel did a beautiful job shooting my sister’s wedding. We had a great time working with him and the other gal (who I cannot remember her name, sorry)! I ordered some pics last minute for xmas gifts and everyone I spoke and worked with were more than accomodating in light of the time constraint and busy time of year. Thanks again Joel.

Joel did an amazing job with our wedding. He was so easy to work with and our pictures turned out beautifully. We get so many compliments. I honestly don’t think you can find a better photographer. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on pictures, but I was sold. His wife Jeni did our invitations, programs, and placecards which were beautiful and affordable. We’ve kept in touch with them and they are great people. I recommended them to anyone getting married.

Our wedding was last weekend, and we had the good fortune to snag Joel as our photographer early. He was the consummate professional, while also possessing the ability to deal with kids and family members pretty much intruding on every shot with their own cameras! He went out of his way to put my husband and I into interesting settings and make the most of our location. I would highly recommend Studio EMP for your event — and I can’t wait to see our pictures!

I became acquainted with Joel and his wife through The Fullerton Chamber. I enjoyed their very relaxed way of marketing the business. When I need to update my business portrait I knew just where to go.
Joel made me feel very comfortable and brought out just the right look me. Ho took so many great shots I could not just settle with one! He was very patient with me even when I kept changing the day for our shoot since I had a been sick.
Thanks Joel for making me look beautiful and professional!

Joel Maus shot our wedding on July 22, 2007, at the Jones Victorian Estate in Orange, and prior to that, our engagement photos in March at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. But maybe I should start at the beginning…
After we booked the Jones Victorian Estate for our wedding, the owner and coordinator, Michelle Gregory, gave us a list of her three favorite photographers. Joel Maus, the owner of Eckman Maus Photography, was the first one on the list, and with good reason. While we met with all three of Michelle’s recommended photographers, I knew instantly that Joel was the right guy for us.
Before we met with Joel, I checked out his past work on his web site, and I was instantly impressed. His style is mostly photo journalistic, so it has a really natural feel and isn’t too posed. When I emailed him to find out about meeting with him in person, he got back to me right away. (With one of the other photographers we wanted to meet with, I called and emailed numerous times and waited weeks to hear back.)
When you meet Joel, you instantly get the sense that he’s a really good guy who loves what he does. He’s the kind of guy you’d want to hang out and have a beer with. He’s friendly and relaxed and not at all pushy, but still very professional. We met with him in his home office, in a cool little old house near downtown Fullerton. He chatted about how he got into photography and the time he drove solo up to Alaska after college just to take photographs. (How cool is that?) We probably hung out for an hour, looking at his work, chatting and getting to know each other a bit.
After meeting with the three aforementioned photographers, Joel was the only one to follow up on email to see if we needed anything or had any questions. We’d already decided to go with Joel at the point, but that just reaffirmed that we were making the right choice.
When my then-​fiancé suggested that we shoot our engagement pictures at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Joel loved the idea. He hadn’t had a chance to shoot there yet and was excited to check it out. We met him there on a Friday morning for the shoot. In a little over an hour, I think he took over 400 shots. We went all over the exterior of the building, and Joel was having a blast the whole time. He kept raving about the great light and giving us words of encouragement. It was so much fun!
Now, I’m not the most comfortable girl in front of a camera, but Joel put me at ease. And when we saw the engagement shots, I was floored. I usually don’t like the way I look in photographs, but not so with the ones Joel took. In fact, there were so many good shots that it took us weeks to decide which one to frame and display at our wedding.
Next up, the wedding itself, and Joel didn’t disappoint. He showed up with Stefanie, who according to his blog has been assisting him for a couple years and recently shot her first solo wedding. I hadn’t met her before, but she was just a nice as Joel and instantly complimented me on how beautiful my dress looked. While Joel took photos of the wedding party prior to the wedding, Stefanie assisted him and held the reflector. Joel chatted and joked as he shot, making everyone feel at ease. He even goofed off to get my three-​year-​old nephew to smile and got down on the ground to show him a little trick with a flower.
During the wedding, Joel was positioned down the aisle and Stefanie shot from behind the ceremony. Midway through, I realized that Joel also had stealthily placed another camera on a tripod under the corner of the huppah too. (For the uninitiated, a huppah is the canopy the bride and groom stand under during a Jewish wedding ceremony.)
Throughout the reception, Joel and Stefanie were all over the place, deftly capturing photos without ever being the slightest bit obtrusive or obnoxious. They caught every last detail of the day, and Joel still made time to talk shop with my husband’s chatty photographer father.
Partway through the reception, Joel set up a slideshow on the back porch of the estate, giving our guests a chance to see some of the wedding photos right then and there. So cool! Everybody was raving about how phenomenal they were, including me and my husband.
Joel even printed up some little business card-​size thank-​you cards for our guests with an image from our engagement shoot and his web site so they could look up the pictures afterward. And as if all that weren’t enough, he and Stefanie waited around when our car showed up a little late just to get the shots of us leaving.
When we got back from our honeymoon, we were dying to see our wedding photos, and they were well worth the wait. In a word, they were amazing. Everything about our wedding day was so perfect, and Joel and Stefanie managed to capture so beautifully the essence of how everything looked and felt. So If you’re looking for a photographer, do yourself a favor and call Joel!