MEET YOUR EXPERT TAHOE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

I’m the friend you ALWAYS WANTED to take the photos you’ve always dreamed of.

I’m Chris

MOUNTAIN LOVER, JOY SEEKER AND CHOCOLATE ENTHUSIAST (IT’S ALL THE FRESH AIR)

Nothing makes me more happy than when I’m behind the lens capturing a love story between two people in my favorite outdoor playground, Lake Tahoe.

The thing is, there has never been another love like yours, and there never will be again. And I am here to capture your unique story.

I want you to look back at your photographs in years to come and remember how you felt. I want you to re-live those precious laughs, smiles, tears and epic dance moves a thousand times over. I want you to look at those images in secret snowy spots and on pine-scented slopes and remember the feeling of being alive, of being in the moment, surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty.

Over the hundreds of weddings, engagement shoots and elopements I have photographed in Tahoe, people tell me I am a calming and reassuring presence – this is your chance to relax and be yourselves, while I observe and capture the unscripted moments. I’ll be finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. These are the moments that matter most.

I take my role as a photographer seriously. But most of the time, I’m not that serious of a person. My four-year-old daughter agrees. 

I’ll be the friend behind the camera making sure your photo album is everything you could have wished for, and more.

Professional headshot photograph of Chris Werner.

Being in nature can feel like coming home to something inside yourself.”

Featured in

01.

Chris Werner as a young boy, riding a camel in front of a pyramid in Egypt.

Visiting the Egyptian Pyramids, 1988. I called shotgun and got the front seat- YES!

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

THE INSPIRATION

10-year-old me would be found lying on the floor flicking through the pages of my favorite glossy yellow National Geographic magazines. Absorbing their distinctive smell and getting lost in a world I barely knew, I rarely read the words. It was the photos that captivated me and told me the stories I wanted to hear. I learned about the beauty of our planet, the environmental degradation that threatens all of us, global poverty and inequality, and the amazing ability of the human spirit to survive in the harshest environments.

My young brain fired up, I imagined that being a National Geographic photographer would be the ultimate way to experience our world and share stories.

02.

THE TRIP THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

LIVING THE MOMENTS

As a teenager, I took film photography classes in high school. But I didn’t want to photograph moments; I wanted to live them.

Seeking moments that felt rare and unique led to a thirst for adventure. I spent a year in Nepal carrying a small camera and documenting bustling streets and colorful temples. I fell in love with big mountains, and the people that call those stunning mountains home.

Years later, I became a mountain guide in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Being in the mountains triggers something deep inside of me, and I developed a passion for sharing mountain peaks with friends. Also, I learned that you can climb high and cover a lot of ground when you have lots of chocolate (I have the photos to prove it).

Prayer Flags on the summit of Gokyo Ri. Nepal Himalaya, 1999

03.

With a camera in-hand, Chris Werner photographs a wedding.

Living the dream, 2016.

FAST FORWARD TO THE PRESENT DAY

DREAM BECOMES REALITY

In 2008 I assisted a photographer at a wedding. Then another wedding. Then more.

It was in 2011 that I moved to Lake Tahoe and started my own business. It was the joyful moment where I brought together my love of photography, the mountains and witnessing the incredible bonds between people.

Since then, I have worked with hundreds of awesome couples, photographing weddings and portraits in California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Mexico and the Caribbean.

As a kid, I wanted to travel the world and photograph people in far-off places. In the end, things turned out even better.


LGBTQ winter elopement in Lake Tahoe.

“Chris so perfectly captured who we are – our love, our silliness, our personalities. We couldn’t have asked for a more amazing human to be part of our day. Gorgeous!”

Angie + Kourtney

Meet your local LAKE TAHOE wedding expert

With my experience of weddings, my knowledge and love of the Lake Tahoe mountains and my ridiculous attention to detail, I promise you’re in safe hands when it comes to celebrating your special day.

Enter your details below to hear more about my unique approach to wedding photography, and find out how to make your Lake Tahoe wedding the very best it can be.

Ready to talk Tahoe?

SO AM I! I CAN’T WAIT TO MEET YOU AND MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN

I am an experienced and friendly photographer specializing in Tahoe engagements and weddings, and I’m ready to document the Lake Tahoe wedding you’ve been dreaming of. My photographs capture the little moments (that are often the big moments) and the unexpected smiles, tears and laughter that every great love story brings.

Outdoor headshot of Chris Werner smiling in a forest.