Spicer Photography

I just picked up my daughters senior photos and I am amazed! She was visiting from out of town and I suggested she look into getting her senior photos done while she was here (we live in Dayton). She did her research on line and came across Spicer Photography and loved their pictures on line. She and my wife booked a sitting and boy were they impressed! My daughter have a fantastic time and my wife enjoyed how Jeff and Martha catered to our youngest. The big surprise for me was my daughters Dirty Harry pose (on their website!). No other father could be more proud!

We will return for our family portrait very soon! A little expensive, so budget for it but well worth it.

Absolutely horrible experience. I spoke to Martha last Wednesday to see if they were available to shoot a family reunion photo shoot in Lake Tahoe the following Saturday. It was my father's 80th birthday. Got a call from Martha saying that Nick could do our shoot. Spoke to Nick Wednesday evening and he confirmed his availability and said he would email me all the information I would need. NOTHING received. I called and left a message on Thursday, Friday and tried on Saturday morning to see what was happening. Spicer Photography had my cell number and email. I never heard anything from them. We had 19 family members waiting on Saturday to see if Nick would show up. NO SHOW.

Late Saturday afternoon after hearing nothing we contacted another photographer in Kings Beach. She came and was professional and made the whole experience wonderful. I will definitely write a glowing review for her, NOT Spicer Photography.

I wish I were as beautiful as my photographer makes me appear to be! You will be overwhelmed by how great Jeff's photography skills are. The studio is 100% professional, yet you will feel like a friend by the time your session is complete. They will fix imperfections you don't even see & if you don't like something about how a tooth or fingernail looks, they will fix it! As Jeff says: "It has to be perfect!" It is worth every single penny if you have a once-in-a-lifetime event: Wedding, graduation, birth, engagement, anniversary...you name it!

The Spicers do it again... First it was my four week old baby with her 8 year old sister. The results were SO stunning I had a large canvas done and surprised my husband with it for Valentine's Day. We moved away the following year, but STILL people ask us which studio shot those pictures. We live in Los Angeles now, but this summer we had a family reunion in Lake Tahoe. My husband suggested we hire a professional photographer to capture the three generations together, and Spicers were the obvious choice. They came to do photos at the lake, charging us a very resonable travel fee.

You know how "every family has one"? Yeah. We do too. The Spicers were gracious, accomodating, and maintained their trademark sense of humor IN SPITE of one very crabby and impossible to please ADULT family member. Martha is equally fabulous with restless, squirmy little ones.

The results of our session were once again STUNNING. Much of the magic is in the 'artwork' after the shoot. Subtle retouching of flyaway hairs, blemishes, etc. They even swapped out a head in one photo- everyone looked perfect except the 3-year old (naturally), so they took a good image of her from another and dropped it into the one we all liked.

Three words: WORTH-EVERY-PENNY.

We will treasure these family herilooms forever. Thank you Spicers.

This review is coming from a very detailed & organized perfectionist who yelps only on both ends of the spectrum - the Best of the Best or the Worst of the Worst (I don't waste my time on the average Joe!). That said, I highly recommend Spicer Photography!!!
Our entire family of 17 including 9 adults / 8 children (2 - 10yo), all from the SF Bay Area, were in Lake Tahoe last week /end to celebrate our parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. In addition to the gift of getting us ALL together , we also decided to do a family portrait to commemorate the occasion with the intent to replace the original family photo of 6 above my parent's mantel in their family room with a large revised family photo of 17.
Back in March 2012 when we committed to the date and booked our lodging, I immediately started my research online, checked out the reviews, contacted their offices and spoke with Martha Spicer, trusted my gut instinct, and made my decision to go with Spicer Photography. In talking with Martha by phone, I immediately felt a human connection and without hesitation, put our deposit down with a committed portrait sitting date of August 17, 8am on the Lake. Martha was extremely easy to talk to, very understanding /sensitive to all my concerns as we have a special needs child that would require extra attention and patience. She calmed my nerves allowing me to look forward to the event. I had spoken to both Martha and Nick Higman on numerous occasions over the past 5 months touching basis in order to ensure a smooth outcome with the photos and the relationship we had developed over the phone made a huge difference come portrait day. Nick was also extremely instrumental in ensuring the photos turned out successful. I felt very comfortable with both over the phone as they answered any questions I had and helped ease any concerns. These people are as down to earth as they come and made the entire experience that more wonderful.
Portrait Day arrived -8 o'clock AM - Saturday, August 18, 2012. We all stayed at the Embassy Suites in town and had planned on using their private Lakeside Beach as the setting for the family portrait. Thank goodness we listened to Martha on the 8am starting time because they were right, folks started entering the beach /lake at 10am if not sooner and so we were able to get in ALL our photo combinations (we had ALOT!!!) without any background disturbances. We were blessed with perfect weather (overcast, no wind, and no sun until 10:30am!) and so we luckily had 3.5 hours of shooting time to take all our photos! It couldn't have been anymore perfectly planned! Martha was so great with the kids especially the one with special needs who really didn't want to be taken, but would've rather been in the water. Even though he was not a happy camper, Martha was able to get enough decent shots of him which was a feat in itself. All 3 worked so very hard for the photo shoot not to mention they arrived at the beach by 7am in order to ensure the perfect location and were ready to go come 8am. And they stayed until we had completed our TODO list of shots and were extremely happy and satisfied.
As the coordinator/sole decision maker of the photographer for the family portrait, it was not an easy feat having to make the decision from afar and having to trust my own instinct based solely on reviews from strangers online and a single phone conversation with Martha. I have to admit I was somewhat nervous until the day of the photo shoot considering everyone was relying on my decision. You just never know until it's all said and done and so when we arrived to their home office in Reno the day after (we drove over - worth the drive!) to review the photos and place our orders, I can't tell you how extremely pleased and relieved I was that everything had turned out so perfectly wonderful. The photos were beautiful!!! We easily spent well over $4,000+ (not including 2 more family orders yet to come) in timeless precious photos. Keep in mind that they had taken over 800 photos and Martha/Nick spent the rest of the day (after the shoot) narrowing down the photos to a reasonable number for our review. Never once, did we feel uncomfortable asking them to take so many photos, obligated to place an order, or feel rushed or pressured to do either. It was as natural a process as can be.
All in all, we were so very pleased with the overall experience and outcome. Jeff, Martha, & Nick were SO easy to work with on/off location - so easy to talk to, very pleasant, welcoming, extremely patient, understanding /compassionate, just the nicest people! The entire family had a wonderful time with them and my parents couldn't have been anymore happier!
Thank you Jeff, Martha, & Nick for ALL THE MEMORIES!!!! You are definitely the BEST in what you do and we will forever be grateful!!!

Had a terrific experience with Jeff and Martha. Of course we waited until the last minute to get Senior pictures. They were fast, professional and the pictures were great. It helps that they are also some of the nicest people I have met! Thanks Spicers-love the pictures!

We started our relationship with Spicer Photography when my son was 6 months old and we are now framing his high school graduation picture. We are one of their second generation families for the grandkids' pictures are beginning to adorn our walls as well. Our walls are the true testament of Jeff's award winning and unprecedented story-telling work. For the past 18 years, Jeff has been capturing monumental, split-second moments in his photography that more than once has brought me to tears. His work gives the picture a voice that is packed full of emotion. Martha is a riot to work with and her jokes keep even the youngest child engaged and laughing. I wouldn't know how to muddle through the proofs without Martha by my side for she has an uncanny way of helping me select the best shots. Nick is awesome to work with too! He is always pleasant and in keeping with the Spicer philosophy, strives to make certain that I am a very happy customer and a very happy customer I am.