Kivus & Camera Reviews
Reviews
5.0 out of 5 rating
5.0 out of 5 rating
27 Reviews
100% recommend it
Awards
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![Ryan]()
Ryan S. Sent on 02/23/2023Would book over and over!
You will not regret booking with Kivus & Camera and working with Elyssa. I vividly remember my first call with Elyssa being unique compared to any other possible photographers we spoke with. She asked me if I had a framed photo of my wedding on the wall, what would I want it to look like? And that really made me think, and also let me know how creative and personal her approach is. She was a breeze to work with when prepping for the wedding and was so fun the day of. We were blown away with the results of our photos, they are truly one of a kind. I could not recommend her enough! -
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![Allison]()
Allison K. Sent on 02/14/2020Expect Beautiful & Unique Photos Along with a Good Time!
I used Kivus & Camera for engagement pictures and boudoir pictures. Unfortunately, we were unable to use them for our wedding but definitely wish we could! Not only are John & Elyssa extremely personable and make you feel comfortable, but Elyssa's eye for photography and ability to add unique colors to photographs is AMAZING. I highly recommend them if you want to have pictures that everyone will be talking about! -
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![Victoria]()
Victoria Sent on 01/14/2021The best!
Elyssa and John make the best team! We knew within 5 seconds of talking with Elyssa and John that we were going to ask them to photograph our wedding. When looking for a wedding photographer my husband and I felt like everyone’s photographs looked so similar, but we did not think that when looking at their photographs. Elyssa is so creative and has a true eye for photography. Her photos are so bright and vibrant. Elyssa was so organized and responsive. When it came time for the wedding day everything moved swiftly thanks to all of Elyssa’s behind the scene planning. We are so grateful to of found Elyssa and John. We couldn’t be more pleased with our stunning wedding photographs. HIGHLY recommend! :) -
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![Casey]()
Casey C. Sent on 12/12/2020Yes, yes, a million times YES!
My husband and I hired Kivus & Camera for our wedding day photographers and they hit it out of the park. We are travelers, never in one place for more than a couple of months, but this didn't stop Elyssa & John (the Kivus duo) from accommodating all of our needs and more. Not only did they travel outside of their home territory for our day, Elyssa kept us organized with periodic emails throughout the planning process to keep us thinking about what we wanted to incorporate and making sure they were prepared to help us capture all of it. Aside from being organized, reasonably priced, highly responsive, flexible, and fantastic photographers...Elyssa and John are wonderful, gracious humans and an absolute pleasure to be around. They were able to corral my family for group portraits with a smile (not an easy feat I may add), capture the best candid shots throughout the night, and include various details that I cherish reminiscing. I could go on and on about all of the things I loved about working with Kivus & Camera, but all you really need to know is that they would be nothing but an asset to your event and they are worth every cent (+more). So many of our friends and family have said "these are the best wedding photos I have ever seen" and I can assure you that it has everything to do with Kivus & Camera and very little to do with the us! Haha. -
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![Liz]()
Rikki Sent on 07/10/2020Elyssa was magical!!
Elyssa from Kivus & Camera was absolutely fabulous for our last minute elopement! My wife and I had to postpone our original wedding date due to the COVID pandemic, so we decided to go ahead and do a small local elopement, and have the big wedding celebration later on. Even though it was a very small elopement in a local park, we still wanted to capture and remember the moments of that day. And wow, Elyssa really knocked it out of the park! Not only did she capture perfect moments and gorgeous photographs, but she made us feel comfortable and at ease while doing it. We had such a fantastic time together, it seemed like we had known her for years! Elyssa went above and beyond for our little elopement. She was more than willing to travel all around the park, getting phenomenal images. She was able to catch those oh so difficult moments such as our pup Luna (who always refuses to face the camera haha), the emotion in our eyes, our random bouts of playfulness, and even a champagne popping! Thank you so much Elyssa for helping make our elopement so magical!! -
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![Julia]()
Julia Sent on 11/13/2019Yes! Definitely hire Kivus and Camera
These folks are just fabulous. I can't imagine more gorgeous photos of our day. They're also a lot of fun to spend time with, which is really important when you're basically with your photographer for your whole wedding day! They were so helpful and got our photo gallery to us amazingly fast after the wedding! I highly recommend them. -
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![Samantha]()
Samantha M. Sent on 10/25/2019Most AMAZING photos- and awesome people!
Elyssa and her husband were an AMAZING team for our day (and leading up to it!) We went with a package that gave us an extra two sessions and so we used them for engagement as well as the wedding photos. We still get to work with them again and can't wait! They got us preview photos within a couple of days of our wedding and our large gallery was available within a month! We love them and will definitely use them time and time again! -
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Lauren B. Sent on 06/25/2019
Best People and Pictures!
I seriously cannot stress enough how happy you will be choosing Kivus and Camera as your wedding photographers. The moment I met Elyssa and John, I knew that I had hit the jackpot. They are so flexible and kind, and they went ABOVE AND BEYOND to ensure that every photo I could think of and then some was captured. They captured not only the wedding, but also the personality of our guests, the love present, and the essence of who we are. Our guests commented all night and are still talking to us about how fun the photographers were and also how they knew exactly how to photograph the fun. We had guests who said they wished they had hired them for their weddings and had future wedding couples reach out for their information! I cherish all the sneak peaks I have and cannot wait to see the rest. Thank you is not enough.Kivus & Camera's reply:
Lauren, this made me cry!!! You are too sweet and I'm so glad that we got to be such a small part of your and Dean's day -
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![Roscoe]()
Roscoe H. Sent on 06/09/2019Amazing Engagement and Wedding Photo Experiences
Kivus & Camera were absolutely awesome to work with! They were our photographers for our engagement session and wedding day, and from the very first time we met them while trying to pick a photographer, we knew they were the perfect choice for us. From making us both feel so at ease, to making sure every detail we wanted (and didn't even know we wanted) was beautifully captured. Thank you so much for making sure our special moment was captured for eternity.Kivus & Camera's reply:
Thank you so much Roscoe! You and Stephanie were absolutely amazing and we loved being part of your day :-D -
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![Sarah]()
Sarah H. Sent on 11/08/2018The best possible experience with a photographer
Working with Kivus & Camera was easily one of the best decisions we made for our wedding celebrations. We did both our engagement session and wedding day with Elyssa and John Kivus. In addition to being very talented photographers, Elyssa was incredibly organized, quick to respond to emails and calls, flexible, and full of helpful tips and guidance throughout the entire process. As someone who doesn't love being the center of attention, I found myself growing anxious as the engagement session approached. Every one of my nerves completely disappeared after five minutes with Elyssa. She made the entire process seamless for us, had us laughing and joking the whole time, and let it be exactly what it should be for every couple - a super special opportunity to celebrate this next step. As if that wasn't enough, the pictures were absolutely stunning. Elyssa has a true gift as a photographer. She is able to see light and color as well as capture those "little" looks and moments in a way that is just incredible. Much to our surprise, both my fiance and I shared many happy tears and huge smiles looking at our photos. The pictures were just "us" and somehow they were able to show our personalities and the love and happiness we felt in a very real way. Elyssa kept in regular contact between the engagement session and the wedding. She even helped to review the day of timeline we crafted with our day-of planner to offer advice and feedback. As our wedding weekend approached, she collected information about our priorities for photos as well as information about the special touches we were planning so she would know what to look for. And, no surprise, she and John were an absolute joy to have as party of our wedding team on the day-of. They calmly and patiently helped to organize our family and friends for posed photos and were somehow everywhere documenting it all. Elyssa even let us have some fun with sunset photos and pictures out on a floating dock. We have only received a sample of the photos so far but I already know they will be treasures to us always. We are so, so appreciative of the opportunity to work with Kivus & Camera and cannot encourage others enough to find reasons to work with them! -
![Tara]()
Tara Sent on 10/30/2018Fantastic!
We could not be more satisfied with hiring Elyssa & John for our wedding! They absolutely were beyond amazing with their professionalism, creativity, and fantastic pictures! They did our engagement pictures, rehearsal & dinner, & wedding. We feel like hiring Kivus & Camera was one of the best decisions we made in the wedding planning process. We have received SO many compliments from everyone about our amazing pictures and we can not recommend them enough to anyone and everyone! -
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Shu Sent on 09/24/2018If you were to ask me about the best vendor choice that I had made for my wedding in August. I would answer Kivus & Camera every time. In fact, photography was one of the things I really wanted to get right, and I’m so happy that I went with Elyssa and John.
For starters, Elyssa and John were super understanding about my trying to plan a wedding in NC from CA. I got to sit down and have coffee with both of them in 24 hours’ notice, during a brief trip back to NC. It was also easy to hop on the phone and chat with Elyssa as we were narrowing down our photography choices, and even after just to talk through wedding timelines and details.
From a photography perspective, vivid imagery and bright popping colors are what I love. When I first saw Elyssa’s portfolio, I was immediately drawn to her photos. Having just gotten our own photos back let me tell you, I was not disappointed and I can't not smile when looking at them.
Not only does she deliver on her photos, Elyssa is extremely organized and has her process well defined. She provides specific instructions on what she needs from you ahead of your wedding day, and has you fill out very simple and easy forms to help provide her with your details and thoughts. When I felt like I was drowning in wedding prep, this process and efficiency really made all the difference.
As someone who feels extremely awkward posing for pictures, I was really impressed by the techniques Elyssa used to get me, my husband and bridal party to feel at ease. She also has some really neat tricks to help draw out real emotions, rather than just fake posed smiles.
Did I mention that Elyssa agreed to shoot my wedding which was ON HER BIRTHDAY? I truly don’t think very many vendors out there have the amount of dedication and love for their craft as do Elyssa and John Kivus. I really can’t imagine choosing anyone else to photograph, you will not be disappointed by choosing them. -
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Susan Sent on 05/08/2018Elyssa and John were AMAZING! They understood that we wanted fun and beautiful pictures, and we got them! They worked hard to constantly snap and arrange for the most beautiful lighting and smiles. Elyssa ran back and forth during our hike and even laid in the grass to get some great shots of wedding guests. We had a morning event that ended at noon, they had previews to us by 3pm, and they were back on our doorstep by 4 for more. They had a great sense of how to light us to get pictures that were unique and lovely. I cannot recommend them more for colorful, fun pictures. We can't wait to download the rest!
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Courtney Sent on 01/05/2018I cannot recommend Kivus & Camera enough. Elyssa and John were my favorite vendors to work with because they went above and beyond the normal role of photographers. During our first meeting, Elyssa promised me she was happy to help with any planning difficulties I faced. And she really did! She helped craft the perfect timeline (both before, during, and after the ceremony) and made me feel much better about throwing the biggest party of my life. (A scary feat for an introvert!!)
The pictures were truly outstanding. Our venue was unique and posed a lot of lighting challenges. Our ceremony was in a planetarium and in the dark save for one spotlight and projected stars overhead. Yet somehow, we ended up with an amazing variety of photos. Some pictures showed the whole wedding party (even though they were completely in the dark), while others showed just us and the stars. Photographer sorcery! Likewise, our reception was in an aquarium with lots of reflective surfaces. Again, every photo was beautiful and captured the joy and fun we were having. I never expected to be so happy with my photos, and months later, I still can’t stop looking at them.
The best part about working with Elyssa and John, however, is their amazing personalities. They’re the kinds of people that I’d love to grab a beer and play board games with while debating Star Wars canon. I was so nervous during my bridal portraits, but Elyssa and John had me laughing and relaxed. We worked with a different photographer for our engagement pictures, and I can tell such a huge difference. Whereas those pictures look stiff and uncomfortable, everything Elyssa and John took is natural and captured the real me. It’s all because of their laid-back but organized, professional demeanor.
My only regret is that, living in NYC, I can’t recommend them to more people! I’ll be looking for other chances to work with Kivus & Camera in the future. -
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Michelle Sent on 01/24/2018When you look at your wedding and reception pictures and you start to cry, that's perfection. Elyssa and John have such a creative eye that they captured shots I wouldn't have even imagined possible. Just check out my attached pictures and you'll see what I mean. Elyssa and John immersed themselves and became a fluid part of all our love and celebration. You have to choose Kivus & Camera!
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Sarah Sent on 01/05/2018Elyssa and John shot our wedding and reception, and they were an extremely professional and talented team! Elyssa was also very understanding of some unusual circumstances for our wedding-- we had an international wedding with two ceremonies-- she provided a very extended sneak peek two days after the wedding so we could show the pictures from one ceremony to family and friends at the the other. This personal consideration for our situation set her apart from our other vendors, and I really appreciated it. Above all, the pictures were stunning-- memories that we will treasure for years to come. I hope to have another chance to work with Kivus & Camera again in the future!
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