Michele Mateus Photography

We are so lucky we found and hired Michele to be our wedding photographer! She was the first vendor we booked (even before we had paid the deposit on our venue!) and from the start she has been such a pleasure to work with. We knew after our first meeting with her that her personality fit with ours- she is down to earth but loves to have fun, and that's exactly what we were looking for!

We did our engagement session with Michele just over a year before our wedding, and as we had never done a professional photoshoot before it was a really nice way to get a sense of what it would feel like to get photos done on the wedding day. Michele was really great about letting us be ourselves and feel natural, but also directing us when we needed it- and she had some great fun suggestions! We loved how our engagement photos turned out!

Leading up to the wedding Michele was very helpful, and even met me at the wedding venue one day to talk about possible photo locations (and good thing we made a back up plan for a rainy day, because it was quite rainy the day of the wedding!). There were other vendors who I felt were hard to get in touch with before the wedding or that I wasn't sure if we were on the same page, but Michele was always on top of everything and even called me a few days before the wedding to check in and make sure we were feeling comfortable!

The day of the wedding, we were running behind when Michele showed up, but she took it all in stride and somehow managed to not only get us back on track before the ceremony, but also to get all the before-ceremony photos done that we had asked for (we did first look, bride & groom photos, wedding party photos, and some family photos all before the ceremony)! I was so grateful because I was feeling stressed about time but she got us through all the photos without feeling rushed at all :)

She sent us our wedding photo gallery 5 weeks after our wedding, and we love all of our photos! We have such a nice mix of delightful candid photos, both of us and our friends & family, and of gorgeous posed shots. I have probably looked through our photo gallery a million times since Michele sent it to us, and each time I find new favourites! You can tell Michele really cares about her customers and in capturing these special life moments :) We could not be happier- if you are looking for an excellent, fun, organized, caring photographer, we highly recommend Michele!

We knew we made the right decision when we met Michele. Her talent speaks for itself when you look at her work but it’s when you’re working with her that you get a sense of just how good she is at ALL aspects of being a good photographer. She catches the hidden moments; doesn’t get phased by chaos and meddling family members; can connect with shy kids (and adults); takes initiative to support the bride and groom as needed; has a keen eye for detail, lighting, atmosphere, etc.; and all-in-all really puts her heart into her work. Couldn’t be happier!

We met Michele through a mutual friend long before we hired her for our engagement photos. We were looking for quality photos to capture our whimsical personalities and the essence of the Northwest, and Michele did not disappoint. Neither of us have spent much time in front of the camera, but with simple instruction, great lighting, and maybe a bit of luck, Michele captured great shot after great shot. We really enjoyed the experience and the photos delivered exactly what we were looking for. We only wish she could have captured our Washington wedding.

Michele was our wedding photographer in 2017 and she was absolutely amazing! She really focuses on communication to make sure you are getting what you want, worry-free. She is great at helping you pose and also capturing the spontaneous and unplanned moments. From our first meeting, we could tell Michele truly cares about her clients and loves what she does.

We had a somewhat unconventional wedding with a small and fun ceremony in our living room and then later a house party with all our friends. We skipped most wedding gadgets but were sure that we wanted a photographer but it had to be the right one! Michele was awesome from the initial relaxed but professional phone-meeting to the day of the wedding and the party. I am not sure how she managed to get the fantastic shots she did because I did not notice her moving around most of the time. We definitely wanted in-action shots and to avoid posed pictures and she gave just the right amount of suggestions and directions and they turned out wonderfully quirky. Thank you Michele!!

Our wedding was very fast... We got engaged in March and married in July... No shot gun, just had no reason to wait. So finding a photographer and nailing down all the details was a task I had to take on quickly. I wanted a small wedding so finding someone who was flexible and able to work with my budget was a must. Finding Michele was the best of both! I had found photographers who offered a better rate but after speaking with them all and viewing their websites, Michele really stood out. She was so personable and although I only had her for two hours the ceremony and pictures afterwards she was so great! She was able to work with my budget and my timeline. The day of came and I finally got to meet the woman who I had been speaking to! She was so refreshing, the big day can be super overwhelming and she made me feel at ease. She was able to deal with stressed out family members, my husbands non-smile face, and his hatred for having pictures taken. She captured a day that I will remember for the rest of my life -- it was the best day! And her photos really showed it. She also was able to travel to our home town to a park my husband and I love, and grew up going to... Thank you Michele for making even the smallest of weddings the biggest day for us ? I highly recommend Michele!

Michele is an outstanding photographer! She went above and beyond to catch every detail of our wedding, yet she never interrupted the natural flow of the event. On top of that she is a wonderful person with so much passion for her work and the people within it. She will support you, make you feel beautiful and she will capture every smile along the way!
Just talk to her. It'll be worth your time!

We were initially introduced to Michele's work at a friend's wedding. After viewing some of the amazing photos from their wedding we chose to add Michele to our list of potential photographers for our own wedding (an out of town one). We compared her offerings and pricing to several photographers local to the wedding venue and found her to be very competitive and also offer a more extensive photography package.

Our package with Michele included 8 hours of photography at the wedding venue and an engagement shoot at a Lower Mainland location of our choosing. In addition to this she met with us on two occasions, once after the engagement shoot to discuss preliminary information and again closer to the date to finalize details. She also provided us with a questionnaire to get a more complete understanding of the day, the guests and our particular desires.

We had an amazing time with Michele during the engagement shoot and she made us feel extremely comfortable and relaxed. We did an outdoor session at Lighthouse Park (West Vancouver) and she was able to work with all of the environment and provide great suggestions for what colours to wear in what area (we brought a couple different shirts and shoes with us). From this one hour session we received 85 incredible images. She even picked us up from the Skytrain station as it was on her way.

As our wedding venue was out of town over a weekend we invited Michele's husband and young son to join her and provided them with accommodation and food. Although he was the only child at the event, her son was exceptionally well behaved and her husband did a fantastic job of keeping him busy and letting Michele do her magic without interruption. The three of them joined the wedding party for dinner and blended seamlessly with our group. Her son even wrote the bride a little love note, although we may need some help translating it.

On the wedding day Michele provided services while we were getting ready, during the ceremony, dinner and reception and even a few pictures around the campfire late into the evening. She again made us feel extremely comfortable and we felt she was always in the right place at the right time. We never felt any pressure from her, that she was getting in the way or that she was holding up the show.

During the ceremony we never even saw Michele, which we believe is a credit to her excellence as we were able to focus entirely on each other. However, from what we heard from the guests she was working extremely hard and practically running from place to place to get the shots. She continued to work extremely hard during the rest of the day as well. We're not sure how but somehow we think she managed to eat dinner as well.

Despite having multiple weddings after ours Michele provided us with 800+ photos and an adorable video collage within a month of our wedding. We have shared and showed these pictures to our friends and family and there has been a unanimous response that the pictures are incredible. Many of our family members tell us they keep looking at them again and again.

We are extremely satisfied with Michele's services and very glad that we chose to work with her. We don't want to even think about how many hours she actually spent shooting, driving, planning and editing on our wedding but it is definitely safe to say she earned every single penny.

We would highly recommend Michele's services, not only as a wedding photographer but for any other sort of portrait photography you could need. We are considering having some more photos taken with her in a year or so because the results are so amazing. After spending so much time with Michele we also consider her to be a good friend, an excellent person and, of course, a highly skilled photographer.

Wedding date: July 9, 2016.

Michele took my wedding pictures in July 2016. She is an amazing photographer and very professional. The pictures she took were awesome! I am very happy with her service and would recommend her to my friends.

Michele was fantastic!
She was extremely accommodating since we were from Ontario and decided to elope in BC we had to correspond through phone calls, emails and txts. She was able to recommend different spots and give her opinion on things since I wasn't able to check it out for myself.
She went above and beyond from helping me with my dress, to making my grumpy kids smile, to suggesting different poses and even recreating some of the photos that I liked from Pinterest (and made them better!)
She suggested some detail photos, which I didn't really think was necessary since it was an elopement, but they ended up being some of my favorite of the bunch. She made my simple little elopement look so extremely beautiful and I truly do not have one negative thing to say about our experience with her.
I would 100% recommended Michele.
You will not be disappointed.