Polka Photos

Aleks is by far one of, if not the most talented photographer in Los Angeles. We told her what we had in mind for our downtown wedding, and not only did she understand our vision, but she took to it to such an artistic level that blew us away. Her skills really put her in a different catagory, separating her from the amateurs. We strongly recommend Aleks and would hire her time and time again!

We have used Polka Photos for 3 years now to capture our family photos and every year Aleks goes above and beyond. She continually captures amazing moments in the photos. She works well with young children and knows have to get them to cooperate, even when they don’t want to! Aleks has been a pleasure to work with and always gets professional photos to us in a timely manner. I look forward to working with her again next year to capture out family pictures.

I knew about Polka Photos long before I had a wedding to plan for, because her sister is a friend of mine and had shown me her website and photo blog. I had always admired Alek’s work for being fun, romantic, and modern while feeling completely free of being stilted, stagey, or cliché. You always felt like the couples’ personalities really shone through in the pictures – they weren’t just going through the motions. So when I got married, it was a no-​brainer to go with her. Even though I live in Chicago she doesn’t charge travel for shoots out there since she has family in the area, so I still had the benefit of the full Polka Photo experience even from there. Since our package came with an engagement photo shoot, we did it even though this hadn’t originally been in our plan, and I’m so glad we did. Aleks was really easy to work with and delivered gorgeous and fun photos. We ended up using several on our save-​the-​dates, and treasure them as much as our wedding photos. As for the wedding, she and her assistant Michael were totally on top of things and came up with some really excellent shots. She totally worked around what could have been a huge snafu when our venue was inflexible about letting us in early to shoot, and totally de-​stressed what had been a pretty stressful situation, giving us some really awesome and memorable shots around the city.
We were so impressed with the professionalism and creativity of the Polka Photo crew that we referred Aleks to a friend of mine when she had her original photographer flake out on her and go unresponsive shortly before her wedding. Amazingly enough, Aleks was able to take the assignment over even with the relatively short notice and she did a really fantastic job for my friend as well, who couldn’t say enough good things about her (and I really think Aleks might have saved her sanity as well). These guys are really dependable and will come through for you.

Singer Ani Difranco’s lyrics resonate with me: «It took me too long to realize /​That I don’t take good pictures /​Cuz I have the kind of beauty /​That moves.»
In other words, I’ve never been particularly photogenic. I’m not a monstrosity or anything in real life. But in photos I feel like I appear criminally insane or heavily drugged or posed and simpering. Those are the options. I hate having my picture taken. I wind up saying, «But that looks nothing like me. At least, nothing like who I really *am*.»
So when I tried a portrait session with Aleks and saw the results, I was fairly astounded. My personality came through. There’s so much energy in these ostensibly static images. And I look, imnsho, beautiful. The picture attached to this Unilocal post? Hers. I am soooooo using that for my online dating profile. Huzzah! I understand she takes a photojournalist’s approach to potraiture, so maybe that style and mindset is what creates such animated results. Not just some staid, flat, fake-​looking headshot.
During the shoot Aleks gave me some pointers on how to shift my shoulders and head so a person’s natural 3-​D beauty renders best in 2-​D. It took some minutes to get comfortable being photographed, but then I settled in because she’s so amiable and accessible as a person, and the session got wicked fun. I had a blast. Even with the pointers she gave me I didn’t feel like I was being art-​directed, or forced to stand or sit in poses she’d already pre-​imagined and was just fitting me into some template she already had in her head. I felt at ease and like she was documenting visually how I naturally am. Then the pictures come out and they’re somehow of an improved version of me. Awesome.
Her pricing is really accessible, too. Having now done a casual session with her because I needed some headshots for various uses, I would definitely trust her with major occasions like a wedding and baby portraits. But I’m also thinking of asking her for quotes on things like a destination family reunion or the first time I run a half-​marathon or other milestones I’d love to have albums of. She puts such great, economical packages together and can tell a story with pictures that I think they’d be phenomenal to upload to
. Instead of just off-​the-​cuff random shots I’d have more, I dunno… polished life narratives worth preserving.
Maybe it’s weird to have a photographer, in the way you have a hairdresser or an accountant or a dentist — people you need to see on a regular basis. But that’s how I think of Polka Photos. It’s so cool to have that resource now.

Let me start by saying that Aleks is primarily a wedding and event photographer.
Let me add that I am not married, nor am I engaged, nor am I almost engaged, and I’m not having an event that needs photographing.
I’ve known Aleks for over a decade, and have known how incredibly talented a photographer she is for at least that long. So when I needed some headshots done, she was the first one I called.
She fit me in that very weekend, and we did about 100 shots in about an hour and a half. Now, normally, I am not a huge fan of photos of myself, but there were at least 30, even pre-​Photoshop, that I adored. Seriously. According to these still un-​retouched photos, I’m kinda hot. Based on these pictures, if I swung that way, I’d totally do me.
Check out her portfolio if you’re having a wedding or an event any time soon– you will be duly impressed. And if you’re in need of headshots, even though it’s not her main thing, she does a hell of a job, and, for what it’s worth, she’s extremely professional and a pleasure to work with. For serious and for true.
(I’ve posted a few of the pix she did of me on my profile, in case you’re interested. Just don’t go licking your computer screen. That’s nasty.)