The Experience
with you every step of the way and beyond.
A first phone call, is like a first date, lol. We will get to know each other a bit better and decide whether a 2nd date a.k.a. consultation is in order.
*Let's Chat!!
Time to meet face to face, either in person or via zoom:) At our consultation we will go get to know each other more. I will learn about your hopes and desires for your portrait session. Digging deep really allows us to design your session, before it even takes place.
*Consultation
*Let's secure your date!
*Pre-session Planning
*The ordering appointment!
Now that we have gotten to know each other, let's figure out a date and time that works for both of us. Dates are secured by signing the agreement and paying the creative fee. (Reschedules are allowed for illness or emergency)
Time to plan your wardrobe, props, locations, etc.. Let's schedule a zoom meeting to finalize all of the fun details, to ensure that every look and every image will bring a smile to your face. Plus, I will have you send me images of your homes walls, so I can design artwork sizes just for you!!
After the session, we will schedule an in-person where we get to relax, enjoy a glass of wine or non-alcoholic bubbly, sit back and enjoy a beautiful slideshow of all of your images.
Then we will go through and choose all the artwork you'd love to have in your home and fun gifts you can send to loved ones.
*Delivery
The artwork has arrived!!! It's time to schedule a time to personally deliver the artwork to your home, or mail if you happen to be located outside of the Bay Area.
This is my absolute favorite part!!
"Crystal knew how to bring out the real me in this photo shoot!!
Jennifer
Crystal is a super-star with kids!
Natasha
. Crystal definitely knows how to get kids to sit still and brings out the best in them for the photo.
Carina
Crystal goes above and beyond to set-up the perfect shot
daisy
She took great candid photos of my family interacting, while offering guidance whenever we needed it
amy
She was a great choice my parents and family loved the pictures.
Beatriz
She was so easy to communicate with and was super professional and accommodating
Ashish
She's easy to work with, is professional and genuine.
anita
My expectations were beyond met with Crystal's expertise and abilities
Megan
She brought lots of good props and knew the perfect locations to get beautiful shots
Liza
FAQ's
* How long have you been a photographer?
I have been photographing families since 2016. 300+ families and counting:)
* Are the digital files included?
I specialize in creating heirloom art pieces that get cherished every day and for decades to come. Digital files get lost in cyber space or your hard drive. However, I understand how important it is to share photos your excited about online. Every piece of artwork that you purchase will include social media sharable digital files.
* How long are the sessions?
Our senior sessions tend to be longer as there are usually multiple outfits. There are 3 types of senior sessions to choose from. Our family and portrait sessions are about getting the images we've chatted about during our consultation. Sometimes that means 30 minute, sometimes it takes an hour.
* Is travel included in the investment?
Travel is included within a 35 mile radius of Martinez. I love traveling to different locations for family sessions. Some include Lake Tahoe, Oregon and even Germany. Travel is a customized quote.
* What happens if you are injured or ill?
In the case of sickness or injury I will reach out to reschedule.
* What is your refund policy?
The session fee is non-refundable, but can be applied towards a later session or given as a gift to someone else:)
* Change of date or postponement policy?
I include one complimentary change of date due to an emergency, national or world crisis. Please let me know asap.
My daughter had already fallen in love with Summer Bear's style and on the phone, photographer came across as experienced, professional and with a personality to put us at ease. Crystal goes above and beyond to set-up the perfect shot. She is very aware of how posture, angle of face, of how feet, legs, knees, arms, etc are situated and checks over and over again to get the lines right for the best shot.
Daisy
Reviews
Crystal is seriously the best! I was so thankful to have such an amazing photographer during my graduation where she took singles of myself as well as additional photos at my graduation party. She was extremely helpful in creating the scene that imagined for my single photos. She is creative, thoughtful, and dedicated to capturing photos that help build lasting memories you can cherish time and time again.
My expectations were beyond met with Crystal's expertise and abilities. She works with individuals, couples, large groups of families and friends.... Not to mention her compassion and patience when working with children and pets! She is capable of commanding presence without being overbearing which is exactly what you want in a photographer trying to rally people for pictures. Crystal is so nice and genuinely cares about the satisfaction of her clients.
Megan
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We hired Crystal to take newborn photos of our daughter and I cannot recommend her enough. She came on time with a whole studio's worth of equipment necessary to take the perfect photos of our baby girl. She was so personable and wonderful with our children and dogs. She took her time to get the perfect shots and had all sorts of cute tutus and scarfs to dress her up. The photos came out incredible and she is super affordable to boot! We will definitely be calling her again for future photo sessions. Thank you, Crystal!
Kelly
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Crystal was amazing. I was nervous about picking a photographer, because I'm a photographer myself, so I wanted to find someone I could really trust and know that my photos would be amazing. I was so happy to have found Crystal she was just the best. We had her for both our engagement and wedding. She was great about directions and guiding us every step of the way. I love her creative ideas to make our engagement session fun and we enjoyed every minute of it. Our wedding was a whirlwind, but she was there every step of the way, collaborating with her team. I am so happy to have found a wonderful photographer to capture such a wonderful day I will never forget!
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Sherita & rich
You have found the right one! We were privileged enough to have Crystal photograph our engagement session and I could not be more impressed or happier with the results. My rambunctious two year old and very camera shy fiancé could not have possibly made for more difficult subjects but Crystal somehow made the process seamless, natural, comfortable, fun, and the photos came out beautiful. She took simple people in a simple place and turned the photos into an absolute dream. I couldn't be more thankful for her professionalism, talent, dedication, timeliness (two day turnaround for edits!) and everything else. Our overall experience was a 12/10 and I would recommend her to anyone looking for a great photographer! Thank you again Crystal. We are so grateful.
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Lacey
Crystal is a super-star with kids! She got along so well with our 2.5 year old. Our daughter set through the shot, looked unto camera and was so comfortable that we got all sorts of her fun expressions caught on camera. She is very easy going and knows all the right angles and tricks to make your photos look amazing! Love the experience and would highly recommend Crystal for any occasion you what to memorize.
Natasha
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The service is EXCELLENT! Our photographer was so pleasant, knowledgeable, encouraging, and brilliant!
The absolute best part was the pricing is more than fair with an exceptional product!
We had our engagement pictures done, and she knew the EXACT moment to get the best pictures. This includes, but is not limited too, lighting, environmental conditions, exquisite candid moments, etc.
If you want AMAZING customer service, INCREDIBLE detail work, a very personalized experience at a cost that won't break the bank look no further!
You WONT regret purchasing all packages.
Kayla & Austin
Reviews
I couldn't be happier with the experience I had with Crystal! My fiancee and I received our photos today and they were perfect beyond even what we were hoping for.
I reached out to Crystal the day before I was going to propose. Stupid on my part but Crystal was, luckily, in the area for another event and made it work. She worked quickly with myself and the vineyard to put a plan in place for the big day and it all worked out flawlessly. While I hate taking photos normally she made us both feel comfortable which really came through in the photos.
Her prices are also incredibly reasonable for the quality of photography and professionalism you are getting.
Once again, I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out and wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to everyone!
Susan &Janos
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Crystal is An amazing photographer and yet amazing human being. She accommodated our last minute request for a pre wedding shoot and was phenomenal in making us comfortable during the shoot. She has amazing ideas and is pro at what she is doing. We had absolute fun shooting with Crystal. The photos came out to be so perfect. Our friends and family loved it.
Thank you Crystal !!
Nekhita
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Crystal Bear definitely is a one of a kind photographer and I was so lucky and blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her. Crystal not only captures amazing photos of in a beautiful area, but she captures effortlessly natural moments and makes you feel so comfortable. My inner emotions, expressions and visions are not always easily expressed in words, but Crystal knew how to bring out the real me in this photo shoot. Thank again Crystal and I will definitely keep you as my go to photographer for business and personal.
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jennifer
Crystal is an incredible photographer! Our original photographer backed out last minute and a family friend suggested that we check Crystal out. I was a bit nervous because it was such short notice, but she was totally able to make it work! Her prices were even better than what we were hoping for and we could not have been happier with the final product! She even made us a beautiful wedding photo book that we will treasure forever and are so grateful for! She suggested that we pay for an extra shooter that she had worked with before, and it we're so glad that we went along with her suggestion, we have so many great shots! She makes the whole process fun and made everyone feel very comfortable in front of the camera. We will definitely be recommending her to any family members and friends who need a photographer in the future, she was awesome!
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KAYLA & JOSH
I would highly recommend Crystal.
My husband and I really connected with Crystal since the very start. She is easy to work with and has a great eye.
Bonus she is super funny and made me laugh to get the best pictures. Our wedding album is spectacular. I will always remover the memories of my wedding with the stunning pictures crystal took of us.
Thank you Crystal!!!
debbie & Adam
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Crystal shot our wedding on 5/5/18 and did a wonderful job!!! She was so easy to work with and made sure we were all standing and posing in the right way to make the photos come out great! We only hired her for 5 hours and she worked quickly so we could get all of the shots we wanted in our short time frame! Even working quickly, her quality was excellent!! I would definitely recommend!!
Erick & Taylor
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My sister and I decided to surprise our mom with a family photo shoot for her birthday. Since I live on the other side of the country I turned to yelp for help, and found Crystal. She was so easy to communicate with and was super professional and accommodating. It was a multi generational photo shoot and she handled it beautifully. The photos came out great, everyone had a good time and we have some great memories. Highly recommend Crystal for your photography needs she has a great eye, and is a true professional.
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Polina
My husband and I could not have been more thrilled working with Crystal and Summer Bear Photography!
Stunning, natural appearing photos that highlighted the happiness of our special day. The portraits were gorgeous. She is attentive to detail, knowledgeable, and has a knack for capturing beautiful candids. She was also fun and easy to work with. She kept us laughing and relaxed during the portraits!
She has fast email response times and responsive to our questions. Our wedding and Summer Bear was in California, while my husband (then fiance) and I are based out of the East Coast... the distance created a challenge, but this speaks to the capabilities and overall professionalism that Crystal exhibits. She worked with us closely before to make sure we were on the same page in regards to our expectations and timelines, she also added her suggestions and thoughts. During the wedding, she worked seamlessly with the rest of our team and accommodated additional on-the-fly requests. Afterwards, the edited photos arrived on time (looked amazing) and she made sure that we were satisfied!
The only regret that we had was booking her for 6 hours instead of 8!
cat & scott
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Crystal did our holiday family portraits for us. She was amazing. She was very flexible with scheduling a date. She was super professional and her contract tool was excellent. She made a great recommendation for where to take the portraits, and had some great ideas for our photos. We have a four year old and she does not like to take photos, but with Crystal she was all smiles and poses. Crystal definitely knows how to get kids to sit still and brings out the best in them for the photo. The pictures came out amazing and Crystal was so quick to get us the pics back. I am definitely saving Crystal's info for our next family portrait session.
carina
Reviews
Crystal did an awesome job with my two young girls, ages 6 and 8. She brought lots of good props and knew the perfect locations to get beautiful shots. She really did well making my girls smile, laugh and just have fun. The pricing for her package was very reasonable and the quality of the pictures were amazing. I highly recommend her!
Liza
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Omg!!!! What an all around great experience!!!!! We were lucky enough to have her photograph our big day! But before that she was nice enough to offer us a free one hour photog shoot for us to get comfortable in front of the camera. The products of both were absolutely amazing. The pictures of our big day were able to be blown up into a metal print of 3 feet with great quality. She has an amazing eye and we look forward to including her into the next great steps in our life.
veronica & Eric
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This is the photographer you want for your wedding. She is incredibly fun to work with. She is also very talented and dedicated to her work.
I chose Crystal Summer Bear from many photographers on Yelp because she was the most responsive and I liked her portfolio on her website. She was also seemed invested from the start, and she had a competitive price with flexible options that worked for us.
I couldn't have been more pleased with our experience working with her. She is very professional and efficient. Even under time pressure she able to get a lot of photos because she could so quickly and effortlessly direct us on how to pose to get great pictures. She's also just a lot of fun. We were practically giggling the whole time because she worked with such enthusiasm and knows how to make the process fun.
She does great touch up work and even got us a great sample of photos very quickly that we used as a display for our larger wedding reception a week later per the picture below.
I really can't recommend Summer Bear Photography enough. You will not go wrong if you get her as our photographer.
Issac & Queenie
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Crystal was the most INCREDIBLE photographer a bride could hope for. I am someone who freezes when you put a camera on me - I'll make an ugly face and do an awkward pose. I have never been comfortable infront of a camera so my wedding day was something I was nervous for. That was until I met Crystal. She helped shape and frame every photo so there were no real bad ones to worry about. She helped fix my hair, adjust the weird things I do with my arms and always had me laughing so the smile never felt forced. I love every single one of my photos from my wedding and that is something I never thought I'd say. Crystal helped make my day perfect and ensured that my memories are perfect for years to come. Thank you!
angela & jordan
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We had never done professional photos before and were a little nervous. How would we stand? Would we have any direction? Would we look too posed? But Crystal was very helpful. She directed us to stand and look in certain ways that felt natural and looked great in the photos. She timed the photos well to avoid having too many people in the background (we shot at lake Merritt on a sunny evening, so some people in the background were unavoidable)
She got us our sneak peek the next day! and our full album in 2 weeks. She even mailed us prints of some of our favorite photos to frame.
Audrina & Mike
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Crystal was awesome during our wedding! She made me feel like the most beautiful bride in the world. Unfortunately someone stepped on my wedding dress during the ceremony which caused the train to become black. I was upset, and just told her it was whatever. She reassured me that she was going to make sure the photos do not show the black train confidently. She positioned me and my dress perfectly to where there was zno black in any of our photos! I am super grateful that she did her best to make me feel happy and gorgeous. She was in charge during the wedding photos after the ceremony. She put the groomsmen in check, which I was appreciative for because I did not want to be a bridezilla. Crystal really helped me out; I am so thankful for Crystal’s hard work. I will always cherish our wedding photos because of Crystal! I will most definitely hire Crystal again for any other photography needs!
Ashley & Andrew
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My fiancé and I had never had professional photos taken before and were a little anxious. Crystal knew exactly what to do, which poses would look amazing, and gave clear direction the whole way through our engagement session.
She braved the mosquitos, expertly played around with lighting, and made a run down walking trail look incredible.
Well, what are you waiting for?! Book Crystal with Summer Bear Photography. You will not be disappointed!!
Her work is fabulous and her prices are absolutely affordable. Many photographers who I seeked quotes from were much pricier!
Alex & Mercedes
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I had such an amazing experience. I had never had a professional photo session done and Crystal exceeded all of my expectations with the shoot. From the first time I reached out to the moment she delivered my pictures I didn't have not one problem with her service! She made me feel beautiful, she had my husband and I laughing so much, and I can honestly say that my pictures came out so perfect! If you are looking for someone to capture all your beautiful moments please call her! I will definitely be calling her again for all of my future photo needs. Thank you so much for everything Crystal!!!!
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Nancy
We had an amazing in home photo shoot. She brought the studio setup and props to us which was amazing given we have a newborn. She was fabulous with our older daughter and really got her to open up and get amazing photos of her and our son. We are so happy with all the photos she took and would absolutely recommend her!!!
Elizabeth
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Crystal was amazing & brought out the best and most natural shots from us!! We even discovered sides to our photographing selves that we did not existed! We planned out what we had wanted together. Her goal was to ensure customer satisfaction and the outcomes we had wanted no matter what it took! & she did exactly that. Really glad we were able to go with her after a lot of searching. Can't wait to invite her back soon in the coming weeks and months for more!
Varsha
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