Joe Nowak Photography

I would highly recommend Joe he did our family pictures including a newborn. He was so patient with my 3 kids which made things less stressful thank you so much!
Nov 8th, 2021

I highly recommend Joe!! Joe filmed and edited a video ad for me a few months back. He helped me come up with some key things to talk about, where to film the video and did an amazing job editing through my screw ups haha. The video looks like a commercial youd see on tv, thats the quality you get from Joe. He was also very professional, quick and overall a very nice guy. If youre looking for a photographer in St. Charles or anywhere in the fox valley area, give Joe a call.
Nov 25th, 2019

Joe was the photographer for my sister's outdoor wedding and the photos are fantastic! He also went above and beyond by taking the opportunity to come and meet the whole extended family before the wedding by stopping by her bridal shower at no charge after taking their engagement photos. Joe was so personable that many family members joked about either adopting him or setting him up on dates with all the single ladies! I plan to call him in the future for family photos I need taken. I can speak for his excellent character, but his wonderful portfolio of work speaks for itself!
Apr 10th, 2018

I have been to three weddings where Joe was the photographer. He's excellent at what he does. I would, and have, recommended him to anyone looking for a professional photographer.
Jan 20th, 2018

Unfortunately, the experience I had working with Joe was unprofessional. I wanted to hire him for a regular, paid, ongoing project and he was also looking for strategies to improve his digital business presence. We had one shoot and it went well, but when it came to receiving the photos, Joe did not stick to the original agreement; and he was not receptive to the reminder of what the original agreement was. In fact, Joe's attitude became combative and dismissive. I think Joe has an eye for capturing a beautiful photo and he is knowledgeable about photography, but there are many Chicagoland photographers who also have those skills, keep their integrity by sticking true to their word and also maintain a professional attitude from start to finish. The photos I shared are screenshots of conversations I had with Joe first via his Facebook photography page and also via text. The blue and grey screenshot is from our first conversation. I was completely transparent about what I wanted and what I expected from Joe. The green and grey images are text message screenshots. The background of Joe's words are in grey and mine are in green. I reminded Joe of our expectations prior to shooting. Joe had created a Google Drive folder where he uploaded the images. Unfortunately, that method was not working as the files were viewable on Joe's end (on his Macbook Pro), but on my end (on my iMac) they weren't all showing up, some were corrupt and when I tried to zip the files, download then unzip, the images were not all downloaded. I tried to make things very simple for Joe and let him know there was no need to edit or go out of his way. Joe did not uphold his end of our agreement and I gently let him know I was grateful for his time, but I'd have to work out a photography setup with someone else. Joe's final response in grey shows his lack of professionalism. I suggest working with a photographer who has integrity, and stays professional from start to finish. Unfortunately, Joe does not have my recommendation on that front.I had to add to my review because Joe has shared untruthful information in his owner response. The point of my review has everything to do with service and nothing to do with the product (images). Here is exactly what happened: I reached out to Joe via messenger on his FB page and explained what I was looking for. I was looking for a photographer to pay for an ongoing project. I also said we could use my memory card and even my camera and he would not even need to edit any photos. Joe was interested so we met for coffee to discuss what I was looking for and my goals. In that conversation, Joe also shared that he wanted to increase his social media use/presence and also blog more. I gave him some suggestions and offered to regularly help him. Joe agreed and wanted to collaborate. We met up that afternoon to shoot some photos. Joe wanted to use his camera equipment, so that was fine. After shooting I offered my flash drive and asked Joe to add the images there. At first, Joe agreed, saying he had extra flash drives and he could add the images then drop the flash drive off by me, but he later changed his mind and wanted to create a file of the images in Google Drive. I said that was fine but after the images were uploaded, not all of them were viewable. I tried to zip and download the Drive file, but not all images were in the zip and download. So I went back to my idea of using the flash drive. During those conversations, Joes responses were combative and dismissive. Ultimately, I gently let Joe know that going forward I would move on with a different photographer. Joe removed me from access to the Google Drive, so I did not get the images, and he also sent text messages to me insulting my photography knowledge and blog. So I wrote the above review about Joes unprofessional actions. Joe then proceeded to Facebook message me, text me, call me and leave voice messages all threatening me and insulting me. His actions and messages further substantiate the point of my review: I received unprofessional service.
Feb 21st, 2018