I recently used Janelle for my surprise proposal in Maine and I couldn't be happier with the results. Janelle was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. She was easy to communicate with and made sure that everything was perfect for the big day. The photos came out excellent and captured all the special moments of the proposal. I highly recommend Janelle Lyford Photo for anyone looking for a talented and professional photographer.

I had a great experience with Janelle! She was responsive and was clear on the options and cost of services that she provides. She arrived early for our family shoot and was prepared to hit the ground running. We had two children, a baby and a toddler. Janelle was friendly and used different ways to distract them / get their attention. We did both outdoor and indoor shoots and we had no issues with transitioning between sets. We LOVE our photos as Janelle did a phenomenal job with edits. We have tried a different photographers for our annual trip to Maine and we think we have landed our photographer for years to come!

I couldn't have asked for a better photographer. From the beginning, the communication was amazing and clear. If I had any questions at all, they were answered respectfully and promptly. During our shoot, we felt comfortable and had a lot of fun. Janelle is artistic, personable, professional, and all around outstanding! The entire process was easy and stress-free and we are very thankful for her capturing our little moments.

Can we give 10 stars?! We are so happy we found Janelle, such a gem! We were looking for a more candid photographer for our wedding when we came across information. SHE IS THE BEST! Her talent is beyond belief but she is also patient, kind, and a hard worker. She really cares about us as a couple and our story being told. We had our engagement shoot recently with her and she let us be completely ourselves.It was a day we would never forget because the experience was so fun (ending our photos IN the ocean water 😍) She sent videos the same night and we had our entire gallery, edited and available, ten days later-so quick and IMPECCABLE! We cannot wait to work with her again for our wedding(& other moments in life!) THANK YOU SO MUCH JANELLE!

She was extremely professional and helpful when helping me find a place for my engagement! The pictures turned out absolutely perfect and we couldn’t be happier! 100000/10 would recommend her for any photos you need!

My husband and I got married in Bar Harbor, Maine in August 2022 and we are so happy that we decided on Janelle as our photographer. From the start she was highly responsive and so much of her work was on her website that we were sure we would like her style. Our package came with an engagement shoot which I would highly recommend to anyone as it helped us get comfortable in front of the camera. As the wedding approached Janelle shared a sample timeline with us, which we adjusted to fit our needs and Janelle was happy to go with our plan. On the wedding day itself Janelle was amazing. We wanted to party as much as possible with our guests so Janelle helped us get to all the photos we wanted quickly and then spent the rest of the time in the reception with us. I could tell that she worked her absolute hardest to get every shot perfect and we are so appreciative because it really showed in the final product. Our digital album came so quickly after the wedding and was so easy to use and download all incredible the photos! We highly recommend Janelle to anyone who is considering her!

Janelle was so thoughtful and flexible during our engagement photos! She was super accommodating of the spot we chose, and had great ideas. We so appreciated Janelle's willingness to go along with our silly idea (Crocs!) for a few of our photos. Highly recommend reaching out to Janelle for your photo shoot needs!

I hired Janelle for a surprise proposal shoot and everything went so well! She was so communicative and helpful leading up to the day, and she was very flexible with the possibility of changing plans at the last minute due to weather. She sent back our photos back so quickly, and everything looks amazing. Overall working with Janelle was a great experience!

Janelle is incredibly talented! My wife and I used her for our wedding and she did not disappoint. Extremely easy to work with, friendly, and had some really cool ideas for shots. Would happily use her again!

I had a family photo shoot with Janelle with my 2 year old toddler. Despite my son's wild tantrums, she was so kind, professional and somehow managed to get amazing photos amidst the chaos! At the end of the session, I thought for sure that we didn't get any good pictures of us all together- because my son was either crying or running off. But we were blown away by many, many incredible photos that Janelle took of us. Her price is very reasonable and she came to our chosen location. I would highly recommend Janelle for family photos or any photos in Maine! She is amazing with little ones and we will definitely be using Janelle again in the future!

Janelle photographed our family including three young kids and made it so easy! Even though the kids weren’t having it at times she got so many great photos I’ll cherish forever! We felt comfortable and the return on our photos was quick. Definitely recommend you schedule that session you’re contemplating :)

Janelle made the long trek to take our family photos and we couldn't love them more! She drove a long distance and knew all the hot spots in the Bar Harbor area to make our photos POP! We wanted these special photos with our toddler before our next baby arrives and she nailed it. Thank you for your patience and flexibility Janelle. You are so talented!

We are so happy we chose Janelle as our photographer for our small wedding/elopement in Maine. Janelle arrived early to take photos of us and our families getting ready, which are some of the best moments of the day. She traveled with us to multiple locations and didn’t miss anything. Janelle is so sweet, professional and made everything feel natural! Janelle had a lot of knowledge of the area, we originally planned to have the ceremony at Otter Cliff, but luckily Janelle knew that Otter Point was a better option. It was intimate, no crowds, and had a view of the water and sunset for our photos which wouldn’t have been possible without her. She captured everything we wanted that day and more. Now we have every special moment photographed for the future from the best day of our lives. Our photos came out beautiful and we couldn’t love them more! I would definitely recommend Janelle to anyone! Amazing!

Janelle was fantastic from start to finish - she was friendly and professional throughout. Janelle did a family session got me, my husband, and our 4 and 1.5 year old kids. She engaged the children well, captured us in both more formal poses and casual shots, and edited the images in such a way that it was difficult to choose the ones to download! Would highly recommend her to anyone in the central ME area looking for family photos.

Janelle was our wedding photographer and she couldn’t have been nicer, more professional or more skilled - the photos turned out beautifully and she was a dream to work with. I hate to be photographed usually and I cried when I saw them!
Also, she is super brave and came and took our pictures even in the worst snowstorm of the year in Maine! We loved her and if you’re in the Portland/Fryeburg/NH border area (or anywhere) don’t hesitate.

I hired Janelle for a surprise proposal to my partner at Acadia National Park.
I messaged her about a month before the day, and she gave me location suggestions, talked with me about Acadia-specific instructions (getting a pass, parking reservations etc.) and in general was extremely friendly and communicative.

The days leading up to the big day she was in communication with me about times and locations (I wanted her to stealthily follow us for candid photos) and she made sure we thought everything through well for lighting, timing - her professionalism was so palpable and this was BEFORE she took the photos.

When I finally revealed to my partner of Janelle's presence, she took GORGEOUS photos that captured our spirit perfectly. She put us at ease, helped us to be comfortable, let us do funny things and generally was so easy going and made us feel at ease with expressing our natural selves.

If I didn't live so far away I would hire her for everything ever!

10/10.

Spectacular photos and personable service!I hired Janelle for a 30 min session to secretively photograph me proposing to my fiancé at a park in Maine. As you can imagine, for me, there was a lot of stress and planning that was involved but Janelle helped to make is go as smooth and perfect as possible! After finding Janelle on thumbtack, we exchanged prompt messages back and forth where she explained her packages, provided me with location recommendations, and answered any questions. She called me a week before the proposal to coordinate and texted me day of to keep me posted. She gave me in-depth details about the location (I have never been there before) even sending a hand drawn map of where she would be sitting, what she was wearing, and when she was set up. The photos were absolutely stunning! Not only did she capture the moment perfectly, but she also photographed beautiful photos after, encompassing the ocean backdrop and sunset. Her edits were exactly what we were looking for; not dark or hazy, but clear and crisp, capturing the nautical vibe of the location. We liked them so much we that we decided we do not even need to have a post-proposal engagement photo shoot. Highly recommend!

My favorite photos have come from Janelle. She makes the atmosphere fun, calm and enjoyable while taking your pictures. Janelle takes pride in her work and will go to any length to get you the best photos. I have a toddler and Janelle is patient and understanding when it comes to taking my little girls photos! I’ve never had such positive, upbeat and fun time having my pictures taken. I highly recommend having Janelle take your photos - she won’t disappoint

Janelle is so talented! She did our maternity shoot and captured our love and excitement perfectly! We also got our photos back super quickly, within 1 day! The only photographer I’ll go to.

I hired Janelle to take photographs of my proposal and for the engagement photos afterwards, and Janelle was absolutely amazing through the entire process. Not only were the pictures stunning, but she helped me pick a location to propose and walked me through the steps to get to the specific location since I was unfamiliar with the area.
On top of this, the original plans for the proposal were postponed due to a snowstorm, and Janelle not only communicated with me throughout the process, but also quickly figured out a back-up plan that would work for the next day. Janelle truly went above and beyond, and I cannot recommend her enough. I would legitimately give her six stars if I could, she was beyond professional and excellent in every way.