Joe Payne Photography

Joe is simply the BEST! Whether the photos taken indoors at the Duke Chapel or outdoors at the Washington Duke Inn - his work is simply OUTSTANDING! Joe created forever memories of our special day. My wife and I HIGHLY recommend Joe Payne. The bonus - Joe is a terrific person.

We could not have been happier in choosing Joe to document our wedding day. Our photos are very much reflective of his use of light, attention to detail, and passion for photography. I have never witnessed anyone that will go to such great lengths to capture the best moments as Joe. Everyone in the wedding party and all of our guests have expressed how gorgeous our photos are and asked where we found our photographer. Joe is a joy to work with and we feel so lucky to have had him as our wedding photographer since he is in high demand in the Triangle area!

As we flip through our wedding album, we are stunned by the superb quality of Joe’s work. His wizardry with light (natural and artificial) is showcased in every photo. Each special moment of our wedding was captured editorial-style, as if readying for a magazine print. Joe is a true artist, and we were so lucky to have stumbled across him during our search for a wedding photographer. Thank you Joe, for your absolute professionalism and artistic vision!

We absolutely loved our experience working with Joe! Joe is a true professional in every sense of the word. Most importantly, his work is amazing and we feel truly blessed to have had our day captured by him! Throughout our wedding planning journey, he was incredibly responsive, available to discuss our questions, communicated clearly with us, and did an awesome job of planning with us on the front end so that we went into the day with a thoughtful plan of the day's photography. On the day of our wedding, Joe was absolutely amazing and captured so many incredible shots that we will keep for a lifetime. We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting Joe and working with him, and can't wait to find any other occasion to work with him again! We would highly recommend him, without any reservation!

Joe is an incredible photographer! We hired him for our wedding and are so pleased with the way our photos turned out. He pays attention to every detail. Joe focuses on capturing great moments between people and also creating beautiful, artistic compositions.

As the mother of the bride and an amateur photographer, the photos were the most important element of my daughter's wedding for me. We looked at several photographer portfolios online and it was quickly clear that Joe was the photographer we wanted. His ability to utilize natural elements to capture stunning images and his documentary photojournalistic approach truly capture the "spirit and emotion of your wedding day" just as he describes in his philosophy statement. You see not just the people who attended, but their personalities as well. Every time I look through the photos from the day, I am immediately transported back to the excitement and emotion that I felt. I have to admit, I had never been a fan of wedding photos with a lot of background, until seeing Joe's photos. I always felt like the people disappeared into the landscape. This is not the case with Joe! He uses the landscape to focus the eye on the people so they are the first thing you see. Then you realize they are standing in this gorgeous place in the most perfect spot possible. Your photographs are your most important and long lasting investment on your big day. Joe is the person you want handling such precious moments!

Joe is such a wonderful photographer to work with. He exceeded our expectations in every way. He came out to our wedding venue a week early and scouted some amazing shooting locations that were definitely off the beaten path. The day of, he was respectful of every wish and need I had during our photo sessions. Joe captured some of the most amazing and artistic shots from our wedding day, and we could not have been happier with our choice of photographer. Our photos were ready in 4 weeks and when we ordered a large portrait to hang in our home, he drove from Raleigh to Greensboro to hand deliver it. We will definitely be using Joe as our photographer in the future as or family grows.

I loved Joe's ability to blend into the background and let moments unfold naturally--not too much posing (aside from what we requested), or otherwise contrived photos. Joe's documentary-style photography was just beautiful--now if I could only get around to picking my favorites to have printed! With so many emotions and endless decisions to make, Joe provided the level-headed confidence we needed to get through the busy day. He's not afraid to tell you how it is, which was a huge breath of fresh air. Joe was such a pleasure to work with! I would absolutely recommend him to anyone looking for a less-structured style of photography!

I hired Joe to photograph my bridal portraits and the session far exceeded my expectations. Not only were the photos unbelievable, (making it hard to choose just one for the portrait), but Joe was also a really awesome coach, which was something I really felt I needed. He's very trustworthy, professional, and funny making anyone feel at ease with being in the spotlight. Not to mention Joe was extremely accommodating when it came to printing and delivering the portrait (we were on a tight timeline, and he went above and beyond to make sure my portrait was delivered by when I needed it). You won't go wrong hiring Joe. My only regret is that I didn't hire him for our wedding as well.

I could not have asked for a better experience! Everyone keeps telling me how incredible my pictures are. They are artistic and capture the tone of the wedding perfectly. Joe is an amazing photographer, hands down the best wedding photographer I have ever seen. If you are looking for beautiful wedding photos that are not the normal cookie cutter pictures, Joe is your man!