Matushek Photography

If you’re thinking of booking Jessica and Peter just stop reading this and book them already. Our wedding was very non traditional and they fit in so perfectly with our vibe. We were really nervous about working with photographers, but they put us completely at ease. Peter knows exactly how to get you out of your shell and Jessica has such an amazing eye for composition. We cannot recommend these two enough. Book them now before they realize they can get away with charging way more.

Jessica and Peter are fantastic– both as photographers and as people in general. I am a Type A person and they handled my numerous emails and requests about scheduling my engagement shoot professionally. We live in St. Louis so scheduling the session was difficult due to our limited availability to go to Chicago. Overall, they worked with us up until the night before the session to pick a location that worked for us both. The place we ended up at was exactly what we were looking for!
Jessica has a great eye for photography and coordinating the technical aspects of the situation. Peter is HILARIOUS– incredibly cool and genuinely cares for his clients. When we received our engagement pics, I was surprised as to how well they captured our personalities. I am not comfortable in front of the camera (whereas my fiancé is) and Peter did a great job bringing me back into my comfort zone in a situation that I would normally find awkward. I actually left the session joking that we are going to have to fly them out to wherever we end up settling down to take photos of all the special occasions we have throughout our lives.
The day of the wedding was very typical for an Indian wedding– everyone was late and all over the place. Peter was fantastic– I think he busted out his teacher voice a couple times, which was AWESOME. He is a down right pro at wrangling together a large group of family members for group shots. Despite the bridal party/​family being an hour late to both the morning and evening group photos, they kept things moving. I am forever grateful to have lucked out with photographers with such calming presence. Despite them knowing little about the actual Indian ceremony they jumped in and captured all the key moments. Within a couple of months we had our photos mailed out to us and they were perfect!
Some Tips:
1) Book them early! I have friends that have contacted them for their FY12 weddings, and they were already booked for their dates.
2) Schedule your engagement session early and think about what season you want to take your photos. Likewise take weather into consideration. I noticed the early fall dates were picked quickly so I wish I thought about scheduling the engagement session during our first meeting with them.
3) Note that you won’t get your engagement pics for at least 4 weeks. Be sure to let them know if you need a picture for the save the date so they know to edit one picture early for you.
The Matushek’s are completely worth the investment. There are few things during your wedding you will truly look back on and your photos are one of them. Can’t wait until the next occasion to work with them, again!

Peter and Jessica shot my son’s wedding and reception in July and they were fabulous — easy to work with and the photos were so beautiful! They did a great job of capturing the surroundings and the spirit of the day, and made everyone look good! It’s hard to even pick our favorite photos — they are all so great! I can’t recommend them highly enough — but see for yourself! Take a look at the blog on their site for lots of samples.
Thanks you Peter and Jessica for ensuring that the photos that captured my son’s and daughter-in-law’s wedding day are as special as the day itself!

I found Matushek Photography right here on Unilocal and honestly my husband and I couldn’t have been happier with their work. Jessica and Peter are so easy to work with and their unique photography style was absolutely perfect. Honestly, I don’t know that I could praise their work enough. My husband is pretty laid back guy and doesn’t necessarily love being in the spot light but the Matushek’s effortlessly put us both at ease. Our engagement photos were a wonderful preview of what was to come. None of our photos felt or looked posed or forced. They were open to suggestions and had plenty of their own. We received our wedding photos just this week (over 800!) and they are awesome! Peter and Jessica documented each part of our day with both personality and professionalism. Their pricing is extremely fair considering that they included the engagement session and give you a CD with ALL of the photos, which you can print however and whenever you would like. Honestly my husband and I love working with them and will definitely contact them again in the next few years when it’s time for baby photos!

I found the Matusheks from
. We first met them for coffee and instantly felt a connection and knew that we made the right choice. We took our engagement pictures with them in April 2011. For two people who are completely camera awkward, they made us feel so comfortable. The engagement pictures were the most creative engagement shots I had ever seen. We didn’t want the standard cookie-​cutter pictures, they understood that, and ran with it. We got married April 2012, and I have to say they honestly made the day. Not just us, but all of our family & friends have said they felt like we’d all known them for years, like the day wouldn’t have been the same with out them apart of it. They are so fun, creative, innovative… I could honestly describe how great they are for days! Our pictures are amazing! We are already planning to take a follow up bride & groom session this summer, and we will recommend them & use them forever! Peter & Jessica are wonderful, and you’d be missing out if you choose anyone else.

I found this amazing duo on Unilocal and our experience with them thus far has been fantastic! We recently finished our engagement session with them and I have to say we had a great time. My fiancée and I are not «naturals» in front of the camera, but Peter and Jessica are great to work with and they both play off each other to put you at ease and capture the shot. I mean they even got a good pic with our insanely, hyper dog who wouldn’t sit, now that’s impressive!
I will update after the wedding, but I highly recommend these two. They are a very talented pair who turn everyday places and objects into beautiful photos.

My update is that we got all our pictures back from Peter and Jessica and if I could, I would give them 10 stars (which I guess I did, since 5 + 5 = 10). We are hopelessly in love with all of our pictures, they did an amazing job and we cannot stop singing their praises. They gave us TONS of pictures and we love that they are all for our own use, no silly ordering from a website, no cheesy mandatory photo album. Love!
I have two words for you: USE. THEM.
Thanks Matushek Photography! Keep up the amazingly beautiful work!

Let’s just jump into the heart of the review, shall we? Simply put, with Matushek Photography (MP) you won’t be disappointed. Reference this review, we used MP for our engagement photos and our June 2011 wedding.
In the infancy of planning our wedding, the first thing we did was seek out photographers. Having had access to some of their work, I completely felt comfortable having MP be the documenters of our big day. We were also greatly satisfied at the affordability of it all. Prices run the gamut and this doesn’t even take into account the level of skill photogs possess — so in this case, you’re getting more than equal bang for your buck. When we had our engagement photos taken, they were at the Lincoln Park Zoo which was great for two reasons: 1) MP suggested the venue and the locale provided for some great photos and 2) they were more than willing to travel quite a ways to accommodate this day. I really think that just goes to show the level of commitment and time taken to satisfy every customer they take in.
When people speak of «ma & pa» operations, this is what they’re talking about. Jessica and Peter are gifted photographers and also great people. It was refreshing, and put it us at ease, to see a happily married couple lend their passions to crafting a complete package for the wedding. They work well together with you in accommodating your requests and wishes. I feel confident in saying that their personalities allow for instant chemistry for any clients they pick up. Humor and benevolence goes a long way, people!
Flash forward to our wedding day and I think a cool thing that MP did was branch off — Jessica with the bride and bridesmaids and Peter off with the guys. This captured the intimate moments of family and friends leading up to the ceremony that I’m sure most people don’t possess. At the ceremony, we were allowed to concentrate on the moment as MP effortlessly shot the church, crowd, and service. After receiving our edited images, there were so many shots that were phenomenal. I saw a ton from the reception that made me happy as I got to see many things I missed out on as the day goes by so fast for the bride and groom.
Unique to MP is their accessibility. MP itself has a website for general info about the company and other FAQs, then there are the blogs. Jessica and Peter both maintain personal blogs but much of its content consists of MP photo shoots. For weddings specifically, MP has an entire wedding blog filled with engagement and wedding shoots. This is much more informative and in depth than a five page portfolio you typically find on photographer’s websites. With this in hand, you can familiarize yourself with their talents. In choosing MP, you’ll get a great sit down session where you can express your desires and plans for your event. For the legal hawks out there, don’t worry, you can ultimately nail out a contract to CBYA (cover both your asses).
A final observation that stands out about MP is the emotions that are captured in their shots. Yeah, they’re unique and make you want to ride a bald eagle into the sunset but every shot, I felt, completely caught the awesomeness of the moment. Your wedding day is full of unbridled love, adoration, and excitement and I relive that every time I look at a picture from that day. We received so many compliments on the photos in the days since then and that just speaks to their talents. MP photographs just about any other occasion you can think of (birthdays, portraits, parties, Facebook profile pics — well, maybe not the last one — yet?). That being said, we’re sure to use them again in the future.
Let me just go on the record that I find it rather humorous in using written word to describe a photography business BUT you have eyeballs, so go scope out some of their amazing work. I know their clientele base is growing each passing day, so go ahead and check out Matushek Photography.

Although still just a startup business, Peter and Jessica of Matushek Photography delivered us a remarkably good end product for our engagement photos.
The process of getting the photos taken took quite a long time, but that is mainly because we traveled to numerous parts of the city for the pictures. We were in Lincoln Square, Millennium Park, a CTA platform, a CTA train, on State Street/​Michigan Ave, and a few other places. Although it was a very long day, we definitely got some great pictures that we will cherish forever.
Along the way, Peter and Jessica were friendly and professional. They really work well together as a team. They both have different styles and perspectives, which really allows for some unique photos.
Whenever you’re working with a start-​up business, there can be a little unease. Are we going to get good pictures? Are we wasting our time and money? Luckily, I can recommend Matushek Photography with confidence. The cool thing is that even though we LOVE our pictures, I know that they are going to continue to get even better and better as they get more jobs and become more familiar with what works and what doesn’t.
All in all, it was a great experience.

When Peter & Jessica asked if we would let them take our engagement pictures, we were thrilled because of how awesome their photos in general are. We are so happy we took them up on their offer!
The husband & wife duo just recently launched Matushek Photography, however, they are not new to photography as their portfolio can attest. Because of this, they did our pictures at a very reduced rate as we were helping them build their professional portfolio as well as giving them truthful feedback on their photos. A win-​win situation in our book!
Jessica and Peter of Matushek Photography are really professional, yet laid back, friendly and give you such a quick turn-​around with the pictures! Our CD of edited digital pictures was ready in about a week and they had already sent us some unedited previews the same night (which is great for someone like me who loves immediate gratification)! I loved not having to deal with having to buy certain pictures, etc. and this way, we can use the images however we choose which is really great.
Jessica has a great eye for style in her pictures and poses while Peter is silly and you never know what he’ll say or do next, but this means that he can make anyone smile and feel extremely comfortable. He is also super professional at the same time. Together, they worked as an amazing team and there never was a boring moment.
Before the shoot, we discussed specific shots we wanted, as well as locations around Chicago we might consider. They were really open to our suggestions and came up with their own ideas too which worked great — giving us unique, high-​quality pictures that we’ll treasure.
The two of them worked really hard and did a lot more than what we had agreed. We had initially agreed on doing about 2 hours worth of pictures in our neighborhood, however, it was so fun that we ended up covering ground all over the city — from the loop, our neighborhood on the north side, and even by the Chicago River. They never complained, we never asked. They love what they do.
The photos speak for themselves. I definitely recommend Jessica and Peter as photographers. They do a broad range of photography, from portraits, to family photos (great for Christmas cards!), engagement sessions, weddings, and anything in between. If you’re looking for a photographer, drop them a line!