Joe Payne Photography

We loved having Joe as our photographer back in March. My husband and I did not want a ton of photos of just the 2 of us after the wedding and he listened! He got some great shots in a short amount of time and we couldn't be happier. He also did my bridal portraits which turned out great. All of our guests were impressed with the photos as well. Highly recommend!

I cannot emphasize enough what an exceptional job Joe and his assistant Richard did as our wedding photographers. Joe was the first vendor I booked after we had our date and location, which was super lucky as he is in high demand. His expertise in documentary and portrait style photography is immediately evident in his online portfolio, and completely sets him apart from other wedding photographers. His use of lighting and composition is simply STUNNING. When I called to inquire about his availability, Joe’s warmth and easy-going nature came through even over the phone. He met in person with my (now) husband and I, and sent us a detailed questionnaire to get to know us better and make sure he understood exactly what was most important to us to capture that day. Our other vendors were also excited to learn we hired Joe, as they enjoyed working with him previously.

On the wedding day Joe and Richard were right on time and both had a great sense of humor that put everyone at ease. We wanted a full hour for our first look since we don’t have a lot of great photos of us as a couple. Joe scoped out sites all around the venue earlier that week to take full advantage of the time. We took a few formal family photos, mostly before the ceremony, so we were able to make it to most of our cocktail hour. The majority of the event I didn’t even notice he was there and was able to just relax and enjoy the time with my guests.

Both Joe and Richard worked SO hard. They were down on the floor, up on chairs, constantly moving around the room, whatever was needed to get the most unique shots. They really did the beauty of our venue justice (The Cotton Room), but it is the intense emotion they captured from so many of our friends and family that we will truly treasure forever. Joe did a fantastic job editing the close to 900 photos he shared with us. The turnaround was impressive (6 weeks), especially considering this was peak wedding season and included a holiday weekend.

Bottom line, it is SO critical to hire a wedding photographer with a lot of experience in the particular style that draws you in. For us, we wanted a more artistic and authentic representation of our day and there was no question Joe was the best choice for this. We are giddy about the results and can’t wait to share the photos with everyone with love.

I am the kind of bride who puts a lot of time and effort into researching each and every vendor till I find a perfect match. I rank my wedding vendors in an excel spreadsheet and Joe was my number one choice in the photographer category. My husband and I planned our wedding on a moderate budget but we knew we had to prioritize photography and videography because years from now, photos and videos will be the only physical things we have left with to remember our wedding day by. One of my husband's groomsmen who is a wedding photographer recommended Joe and said he was the best wedding photographer in the area. When we saw Joe's photos on his website and instagram, we knew we had to book him fast!

Joe was so accommodating when my husband and I wanted our first look to be at a different location. He reached out to the location to ask for permission to take pictures there. On our wedding day, Joe drove me while his assistant, Erin drove my husband to our first look location. It was a pretty warm summer day and I am sure they were exhausted taking pictures for hours in the sun but both of them stayed enthusiastic and excited throughout the night. Joe and Erin were very dedicated, professional and easy to get along with. We were able to see our first photo on Joe's instagram and thought it looks stunning. We highly recommend Joe and Erin and we truly appreciate all of their help on our big day.

5 stars all the way! We had the honor of having Joe as our photographer for both our wedding in Wisconsin and during our engagement session at Duke Gardens. The photos turned out amazing as expected. His style captures real life moments and great lighting. I would highly recommend Joe Payne Photography. Thank you so much Joe!

Working with Joe on my wedding was an amazing experience. He was very focused and organized the day of the wedding and took the time and effort to get to know about my husband and I before the wedding. The pictures are spectacular and we could not be even more excited about the life long memories he was able to capture. I would definitely recommend Joe for your wedding.

Choosing the right photographer was the most important decision for my wedding day! Joe not only took incredibly stunning, artistic photographs that captured our emotions and precious moments perfectly, but he also did a great job wrangling my large bridal party. We were married at Duke and had the reception in Chapel Hill and he knows both towns (& the best places to shoot photos) like the back of his hand, which made for fantastic scenery for the photos. He was with us every step of the way throughout the entire day and handled everything with kindness and professionalism. Thank you Joe!!!

After reviewing several photographers portfolios, my wife and I decided to work with Joe. Joe is not the cheapest, but like most things in life, you get what you pay for. For documenting the biggest day of our lives, I was not going with a sub par photographer. Joe has tons of experience and is extremely professional. We were extremely happy with our wedding photos. I do not consider myself a photogenic person at all, but Joe was able to position us and talk us through everything to produce photos worthy of a magazine cover. We cannot say enough good things about Joe, and are thrilled with our wedding photos!

We had a wonderful experience working with Joe - both for our engagement photos and our wedding photos. The composition and lighting in Joe's photography is incredible. We could not be more pleased with the results. Thank you, Joe for capturing our special memories in such an artistic, tasteful way!

Pretty much right after booking our venue, my husband and I went through their list of recommended photographers because we knew that having amazing photographs from our wedding was a high priority for us. As we reviewed all of the photographers' websites, Joe emerged as the clear frontrunner because of how beautifully he leverages natural light in his work and how nicely he captures genuine emotions. Meeting him on a video call further reinforced that he was a great fit for us because he is down-to-earth and has a great sense of humor but also takes the quality of his work very seriously. Joe ended up doing both our engagement photographs and our day-of wedding photography. He has a very well-organized process for gathering information about couples' styles and the types of photographs that they want leading up to the wedding through distributing periodic and detailed online forms, which made communicating everything to him super easy for us. Joe also set aside some time to grab a drink with us before our engagement photographs and get to know us, which was an excellent idea and helped further refine his understanding of relationship dynamic, which we feel really contributed to the quality of our photos. We don't have formal photographs taken of us very often and knowing that that is the case with most people who get engaged and married, he was also awesome at making us feel comfortable and providing clear and helpful instructions to us about how we should stand, pose, and interact to get the best shots. On the day of our engagement pictures, his commitment to getting the lighting perfect and varying it for different settings was also seriously impressive-- we moved around quite a bit and the variety of the resulting work product was lovely. On the day of our wedding, it was raining on and off and Joe was super flexible and patient with the way in which the circumstances threw our original schedule off. In the end, we got a bunch of stunning rain-free photos and also got a few bonus artsy ones that featured a bit of rain, which we loved. The wedding party echoed our opinion that Joe was wonderful to work with and made everyone feel so comfortable, which contributed to the overall positive vibe of the day. The pictures that Joe delivered from our wedding were the perfect balance of traditional group portraits, shots of the decor and details that we valued capturing after having spent so much time wedding planning, and a lot of great candids. He captured my desired aesthetic of a little bit of glamour, romance, and tradition and a lot of fun in the most gorgeous way. Long story short, hiring Joe was a no-brainer for us and a choice that we would make again and again if we could do things all over! :)

If we could rate Joe Payne higher than 5 stars, we would. Joe not only captured our wedding day with impeccable talent, his work actually tells our story as a couple.

He made us feel comfortable from the very beginning and took the time upfront to get to know who we are as individuals and as a couple, as well as our expectations for our photos. He was patient when we didn't know where to put our hands and taught us how not to be super awkward. He even made it fun to be all dressed up and taking photos while sweating bullets on a typical North Carolina summer day.

Watching Joe do his thing was actually something I got a few moments to sit back and watch on our wedding day. He works tirelessly to find just the right angle, backdrop, and light. His passion is evident in the service he provides to his clients and in the final products that he creates.

We can't wait to work with Joe again in the future for other special moments in our lives.