Zoe Smythe Photography — Local services in Seattle

Sitting for a portrait with Zoe was an engaging and uplifting experience.

I've always been reticent about having my photo taken because I feel awkward and anxious with attention focused on me and also because I feel I don't photograph well. Zoe put me at ease by playing into my background in dance and design. She expertly draped swathes of fabric around my waist. With her fashion design degree and several years’ experience as a designer, she’s skilled at creating a look. She led me through several set poses, asking me to make subtle adjustments to my head, position of my arms, or where my eyes were focused. Then asked me to move gently. By now, I was totally comfortable.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was with the results! In my 67 years, I have never had such beautiful photos that I felt captured me and made me look like someone I’d like to meet. These great photos I attribute to Zoe’s process, which is individual to each sitter, and to her superb technical skills.

Her goal is to create portraits that capture the essence of the sitter in beautiful light, an arresting point of view, color you want to linger over. Her work has a painterly quality that makes her images so much more than just photos. They are compelling in a way that make the viewer want to stop, then look more deeply to discern the narrative.

Zoe gets my unqualified recommendation as a portrait photographer. She’s unique and her work is...

If you want to see yourself captured in an elegent, MAGICAL way that has you jaw-dropped staring at your screen thinking, "It's like she peered into our very SOULS and gave us everything we wanted!" book Zoe for a shoot. My wife and I told her we wanted a Princess Bride-themed wedding/engagement shoot and not only did she deliver, the results look like frame stills from a faithful HD remake, fog and sparkles and romance and all. She normally does portrait photography so we were so happy she covered our ceremony afterward.

And it's not like you can't tell until you see the results - Working with Zoe, you'll see her zipping around, improvising, framing shots, all while filming a behind-the-scenes of the whole thing, and it's a wonder to behold. It was a great journey from start to finish and we loved working with her and I've no doubt we will do so again next time we need a boost of magic...

Asking Zoe to photograph our wedding was one of the best wedding decisions we made! Zoe is an artist. We’ll treasure our photos for the rest of our lives.

Zoe is definitely the person you want to spend your wedding day with (after your spouse, duh)! She has such a calm and cool demeanor and everyone loved working with her. Zoe will also do whatever it takes to get THE perfect shot. We chose a challenging venue, the Seattle Aquarium, with very specific lighting requirements to protect the sea life. Zoe went out of her way to scope out spots and test equipment before the big day. Zoe is so creative when it comes to lighting and all of our wedding guests have been gushing about how cool...