Ian Chin Photography

Ian did a fantastic job with our wedding photos at City Hall in San Francisco. He advised us on how to schedule the photos to make best use of the space, what to expect at City Hall, and where to take group and individual photos. We had a very large and unwieldy group that he charmed into position with deft and polite instructions. Everyone raved about his amazing ability to quickly position the group and take gorgeous photos in a short period of time. We feel so lucky to have found Ian and worked with him. I don’t think we could have found anyone else who could live up to his amazing skill. We also really appreciated that he gave us the negatives for the photos when he was finished. We cannot recommend Ian highly enough.

Ian is the best! I got my wedding photo shoot pictures today and I love them!!! I first found him through Unilocal,then went on his website and already loved the pictures I could see there. Ian was very friendly in his emails and made a lot of recommendations (I wasn’t exactly sure where we wanted to take the pictures), and was very patient in answering all my questions.
When we met him in person to take the pictures, Ian was really nice and he knows how to make people feel comfortable in front of the camera. It was my first photoshoot (actually, my second, I took some professional pictures as a baby, but I can’t remember it, so let’s say this is the first photo shoot I remember), and it was really fun!
I will definitely come back to Ian for my future pictures needs. His rates are affordable, he’s a really nice guy, and very skilled. What more can you ask for?
Thank you so much Ian! :) (and I’d give you a million stars on Unilocal if I could! haha)

We hired Ian for our SF City Hall wedding, 6÷19÷15. This happened to be the same day as City Hall’s 100 year anniversary party and the whole rotunda was roped off, but luckily he knows all the beautiful secluded spots that make for great photos. We hired him for an hour and a half, which I think was just the perfect amount of time for the ceremony, a couple of family shots, and both posed and candid of just the two of us. He made us both feel at ease and brought out our true smiles, which can be hard to do. Thank you Ian for our lovely photos!!!

Ian shot my surprise marriage proposal on Treasure Island. He was very helpful in working with me to come up with angles and background shots, flash vs. no flash, etc. We did a consultation on T.I. a couple of weeks beforehand so he would know where to shoot from so as not to be noticed, and he told me where I should stand.
The morning of, my fiancé arrived later than planned, so Ian and I were standing it the cold wind for quite a while. He was very patient for that and we just chatted to calm my nerves – much appreciated!
Everything turned out as planned, and the photos look fantastic! His rates are affordable and the quality and service was top notch. Highly recommend for your photography needs!

A little over due but Ian was one of our engagement photographers! He isn’t afraid to get down and dirty and has a wonderful artistic eye. We did our e-​shoot at Crissy Field/​Presidio on a cold August evening. He was our favorite photographer to work with and I don’t think any of his pictures looked the «same.» I feel like a lot of professional photographers go for the same look or angles with their photos. I’ve even seen some do what he calls the «Instagram effect» where it looks like a slightly blurry photo.
He isn’t available for our wedding, but we’re so fortunate to have him do our engagement shoot. He does it all — weddings, engagement shoots, birthdays, and even boudoir photos. He took classes from a Playboy photographer, so his images are less whimsical kinda soft lines typical boudior shoot style and makes you feel more like a centerfold. I highly recommend Ian for all of your professional photographer needs.

This review is a bit overdue but better late than never. After spending quite a bit of time researching bourdoir photographers online, I finally settled on Ian, and I am so glad I did. Mostly because of his other Unilocal reviews and the professionalism of his website.
I wanted to do something special for my boyfriend for Christmas. I met Ian at his place along with the make-​up artist, who was referred by Ian and did a great job. I had never done anything like this before and felt fairly awkward in the beginning. But Ian was really great at making me feel comfortable thank goodness! The shoot lasted for 1 hour or so and I never felt like anything was rushed. I would recommend following the directions in the attachment he emails after booking as the advice makes for a better shoot.
Ian also assisted me in helping me select outfits for the shoot. I believe we shot 4 – 5 «scenes». It was all very fun. Letting me bring my own playlist to play during the shoot was really nice and helped me feel relaxed.
When I returned to view the photos, we widdled down the selections together. I trust his eye much more than mine and we chose enough to create a photo book. I was SUPER pleased with the results. I saw a friend who did her shoot thru livingsocial and boy do you get what you pay for. Ian– my boyfriend loved his book and when the time comes when we need another professional photographer I will be calling you! Keep up the good work!

Ian is AWESOME! My husband and I had a last minute elopement (with our two daughters) at San Francisco’s City Hall, and we needed a photographer to capture the moment. Luckily, Ian was available.
About two days before the ceremony, I realized that we needed a witness… which of course, it just being us and our girls, we didn’t have. I asked Ian, on short notice, if he could be a witness for our wedding, and he graciously said, «yes, I’d be honored to.» He arrived early (before us, in fact), and as we were waiting for our marriage license, he began taking pictures.
The moment I met Ian, I felt that we were in good hands. He is extremely professional, patient, creative, and kind! I had no idea what type of style I wanted for our photos, and that was fine, Ian took care of it all. I plan to hire Ian again on our next trip to San Francisco for a second round of family photos.
Pick Ian Chin as your photographer, you definitely wont be disappointed!
Thank you for all the wonderful memories, Ian!

I booked Ian for a surprise proposal photography session. He was extremely helpful in giving me ideas for awesome locations to propose at. My heart was set on Baker Beach and he was quick to respond in how to position my girlfriend to get the best shot possible. Since it was a surprise, Ian was able to stealthily take some of the more intimate moments of the proposal.
Once the jig was up, he gave even more ideas on how to create some more memorable moments with the Golden gate Bridge in the background. He even got my now fiancé to give me a piggy back ride, one of my favorite pictures of the day! The photos came back very quickly (less than a week!)
Ian was an absolute pleasure to work with and also a steal at the price he asked. His photos came out amazing and I would not hesitate to work with this man once more.

I hired Ian Chin to capture my proposal at Baker Beach in San Francisco. Ian was very prompt to respond when I contacted him about a week and a half before the big day. On the day of, Ian was sure to stay in great contact to insure things kept to plan. After capturing my proposal, and meeting him for the first time, Ian had several ideas to get wonderful shots of us on the beach. A few short days later, we had roughly 75 quality photos of my fiancé and I at Baker Beach. If you’re in need of a photographer, I would highly recommend Ian Chin to do the job.

I have always felt awkward in front of cameras and my 4-​year-​old daughter always shies away from photographers as well, but Ian just has a knack for making me, my husband, and my daughter feel comfortable during our photo shoots. It is extremely difficult to take a decent picture of my daughter since she refuses to smile on cue or look at cameras, but Ian had so many tricks to get her laughing and because of this, he has been unbelievably successful at capturing numerous, endearing photos of her.
Ian has been our go-​to photographer for 4 years now! And there are several reasons why we keep calling him up, year after year. We trust his artistic eye. We trust his ability to capture social moments. We trust him to make every photo shoot fun and comfortable.
He’s very professional, yet approachable. Turn around times for photos are short, which is perfect for any family who is anxious to see the finished photos. His work never ceases to impress.
The holiday season is upon us and I have already scheduled my holiday photo shoot with him because I wanted to make absolute sure my family and I got on his calendar.
All-​around great photographer. Highly recommend.

Ian was our photographer for our San Francisco City Hall wedding. We hired him for an hour and he was wonderful. He worked so hard to give us a nice variety of shots, taking full advantage of that beautiful building.
Ian is super friendly and made our entire family feel very comfortable. The pictures are beautiful and he got them to us so quickly! Highly recommend and would definitely work with him again. I would give him more than 5 stars if I could. :)

We had a reservation for a ceremony on October 6 at City Hall. But we didn’t decide to use the reservation until the Friday before. We found Ian through a Google/​yelp search and got so lucky he was available. He showed up on time and was extremely professional. He was friendly, engaging, and utterly fantastic. Ian has a great sense of humor and easy going. His photos were more than we could have hoped for. And his hourly rate was extremely reasonable. We cannot recommend him enough. Thanks Ian for capturing our special day!!!

Ian is innovative, detail oriented, patient, photographer who is fantastic to work with.
His experience in lighting coupled with his photography experience makes every shoot with him turn out one hundred times better than expected.
He is professional, and provides an easy going, work environment.
His feedback during the shoot and after were helpful and produced incredible photos.
I cannot wait to work with him again in the future!

Ian is fantastic, plain and simple.
From our initial phone consultation to our photo’s being uploaded onto an easily view-​able online gallery, Ian did an amazing job.
I’m so happy we were able to get the perfect photographer for the job, to capture my surprise proposal to my now Fiancé. Ian is very good at capturing the most intimate and important moments, and I would not hesitate to hire him for any other important events I needed to capture. He is very dependable and made me feel very comfortable as to finding the perfect location and time to propose.
He was always quick to reply back to any concerns, and also updated our photo’s online speedily. It was less than a 2-​day turnaround, and we were so thankful to have him be so accommodating.
It is easy to tell that Ian has a passion for photography. His work is a reflection of his skill and effort he exacts into every job. Not only were the pictures from his website fantastic, but he was able to capture so many beautiful shots of us, and now we have these perfect photos to look at while we build a lifetime of memories to add to them.
Thank you so much Ian.

Ian is just awesome! My partner and I used him to capture our San Francisco City Hall wedding moments and were amazed at his photography! Ian proved to us that you don’t need to pay big $$ to capture your special moments! With Ian you «don’t just get what you pay for»; you get so much more and from such a kind person! He was so professional from our first dealings with him till we received our finished photos (they were wonderful by the way)! We almost skipped on having a wedding photographer, I am so glad we didn’t and thank you Ian!

I had the distinct pleasure of working with Ian on a last minute referral, I’m a Secular Officiate. Ian showed up early, worked his proverbial behind off, delivered beautiful and moving photos of the consummation of a 35 year old same sex loving relationship who flew in from Texas. He was professional, unobtrusive, a delight to work with and completely got what the couple wanted. I would very highly recommend hiring Ian for any of your wedding photography needs, I certainly will!
Irv Spivak, Ordained Secular Minister

Highly recommended!
At first I didn’t think we needed a photographer, thought we had some gifted friends who could take care of it, but I’m so glad we decided to get one and that our photographer was Ian! A really nice guy, with a good eye — we did a standard wedding package, which was equal to or cheaper than other photographers we were checking out, and it came with an engagement shoot, where we got some lovely shots of us looking so happy together.
At the wedding, Ian also managed to capture some great shots of friends and family, as well as us. He also covered our reception, and we have lovely group shots from that event. Thanks again so much for your excellent work, Ian!

Where to begin…
I called Ian on a Tuesday for a party being held that Friday. I mean, what nerve! The idea to hire a photographer just happened to pop into my head that Tuesday morning and Ian was the first person I called. I knew right away upon speaking with him I had made the right decision to call; Ian couldn’t have been more accommodating, professional and quite frankly, down for the task. Without hesitation and even with such short notice, he agreed to the job.
This is the first time I hired a photographer for a private event and now, Ian will forever be my GO TO PERSON. He is professional, talented, fun and offers reasonable rates. Ian felt like a good friend attending my party who just happened to be taking photos; everyone in attendance loved him. In addition, Ian is also incredibly patient, as it took me well over a year to decide what photos I actually wanted retouched. (Oops!)
Having the opportunity to work with Ian has been fantastic. I look forward to continuing to work with him. To say that I feel lucky to have randomly stumbled upon his contact info would be an understatement. Hire this man! You wouldn’t regret it.

I’m writing this review in part because Ian was excellent & deserves the props, but mostly because I rely on Unilocal reviews a lot when choosing a business, especially when it’s a higher commitment/​sight unseen undertaking like photography. Eat at a lousy restaurant? You’re usually over it in a couple hours, maybe a couple days if that harrowing discount sushi gets the last word edgewise. For something as emotionally fraught (& expensive) as boudoir photos, the stakes are higher. So I’ll go through and try to address all the concerns I had prior to the shoot, in rough chronological order.
SCHEDULING: I bought my boudoir package Dec 2011 as a Living Social deal, and it moldered in my inbox till this past October, when I realized it was due to expire in 2 months and emailed Ian about getting things squared away. Given that (a) he shoots in daylight hours only for the natural light, (b) I could only do the shoot on a weekend, © he was deluged by other LivingSocial procrastinators, & (d) he [presumably] had to sweet-​talk a hair & makeup artist into beautifying me at a discounted price, it took a few weeks before we could all set a date. This was fine by me, as I had no deadline other than getting it in while the deal was still redeemable. Had I required a stricter deadline, Ian would have tried to accomodate me, but it’s definitely smart to have your conversation about the timeline sooner rather than later.
PRE-​SHOOT CORRESPONDENCE: When the date was set, I called Ian and he gave me a run-​down on what to expect day of. He also sent an useful & comprehensive checklist on what to bring, practice suggestions, & logistics. He requested that I send images that I liked (either from his gallery or from the web) for inspiration. During the shoot, he had the pictures I’d sent on his laptop for reference, which I was really impressed by.
DEMEANOR: The most important thing to me is whether the photographer makes you feel comfortable. And Ian absolutely nailed this. He was relaxed without being inappropriately familiar. Despite having a really packed schedule, his pacing was unrushed — he took multiple shots with slight variation in pose to ensure he gets some good ones. He went beyond the limits in the deal offering (took longer than the hour allotted, more than two outfits). Also, he was great at directing, which is super helpful if you’ve never done any sort of posing before, as was the case for me. He was careful to ask what areas you’d like to highlight and what you’d like to camouflage, and absolutely respects your comfort level.
Part of the being comfortable in this shoot comes from knowing that the photographer is sufficiently patient & detail-​oriented enough to have you fix something that doesn’t look quite right. It’s not easy to tell someone in a delicate & professional manner that their underwear is bunching weirdly, but Ian somehow managed it. A less adept or conscientious photographer might let it be rather than risk making you uncomfortable, and as an end product you’ll have a bunch of shots with wonky underwear. Not Ian! Your undies & garters are gonna be as picture perfect as you could possibly hope for!
PHOTOS: Ian put the pictures up one week after the shoot, and I couldn’t be happier! The lighting, the clarity, and the variety are all excellent. We shot in his apartment, which is a fairly small space, and it’s incredible what he can do with the various backgrounds and tight space. And I think I look beautiful, which is really the end goal, isn’t it? =)
HAIR/​MAKE-​UP: Ian hires various hair/​makeup artists freelance to do this piece. That all went very smoothly — the girl he brought in was really friendly and knowledgeable. I haven’t ever sat in a formal photo-​shoot, [other than school yearbook photos, of which the less said is better], so I my immediate impression after looking in the mirror was, «Woah, that’s a lot of makeup». For the most part, I think it worked out, but there are pictures where I feel my face looked a little overly sculpted/​unnatural, and I don’t think she did the best job applying the false eyelashes. Though I’m glad I got my make-​up done, I wish I’d gone to a beauty counter at Macy’s or Sephora or something for a consultation beforehand, so I’d have a better sense of how I’d like it to look. Also recommend bringing more than one of eyelashes, with varying thicknesses.
PRIVACY: Ian uploads his galleries to a photo site, & each boudoir gallery is password protected. To be honest, I am not crazy about this system — I’d prefer it if my gallery had a private link, and I also think he should use a password generator to create safer passwords. He changed my password upon request though. If this is a concern to you, I’d talk with him about it during the shoot — he was accommodating in every other respect, I trust he’d be in this one as well.

My whole experience with Ian was incredible. From the initial contact (he responded quickly) to planning our session, to the actual session, and finally… the pictures!
I went with my college roommate and we both got pictures done. It was seriously one of the most fun afternoons of my life. We were both very nervous ahead of time, but felt right at ease once we got to Ian’s studio (the champagne helped too). Ian was profressional, yet young and fun. His sets were amazing and his help with poses and everything was great. In the beginning I had no idea what I was doing, and only a few minutes in I felt super comfortable and confident.
Ian also did an incredible job on the photos themselves. He gave us each about 5 «teasers» to tide us over, and then an online album. He didn’t watermark the photos, so you have unlimited access to as well. My husband was VERY impressed with the final results, and I’m considering making this a yearly thing, haha.
If you’re even thinking about doing this, you HAVE to. I suggest bring a friend and some champagne as well, but any way you do it, it will be amazing!