More than likely, a photograph is already one of your most prized posessions.

The photographs from your wedding will become so much more than simple pieces of paper. Can you imagine how much you will treasure your wedding photographs ten years from now? How important will your wedding photographs be to your children when you've gone?

Finding and choosing a photographer with experience is key. But with cameras so accessible, where can you find a photographer who's work takes your breath away? How do you choose a wedding photographer to create images as powerful as your feelings? Where can you find a photographer that has the required experience? A quick search online for "Houston Wedding Photography" will render over two million results.

To help you in your research, this site contains every piece of information we can think of regarding professional wedding photography, however it may just be best if you read what our past clients have to say about our services first. You can even contact our past clients directly via email!

Once you have read our customer reviews, then perhaps you might want to look through our online wedding portfolio, and from there you can browse through the links to the right to discover everything you ever wanted to know about our wedding photography services. We hope that the information you find creates total transparency into the workings of our company.

I'm Aric Hoek, the Master of Shadows, and Houston's 2007 Photographer of the Year. My team and I here at Solaris are eager to serve your photographic needs. If you're planning the wedding of a lifetime and are searching for a photographer with passion and style, then you've come to the right place.

Thank you so much for visiting and your time. We'd love the opportunity to serve you.

At Solaris we know that the planning of your wedding can seem like a daunting task, so we have added some good information to help you in your decision making process.

For obvious reasons, one of the most important vendors that you will need to decide on will be your photographer. And becasue a photographer can only be in one place at one time, their services are on a first come first served basis. You may find that if you procrastinate in your search, that the photographer you really connect with may already be booked for your date. So start your seach early.

1. 2007 Photographer of The Year.

Just because an individual calls themselves a professional doesn’t mean that they produce professional results, it just means that they want to get paid for what they do. Truly, how hard is it for someone to purchase a camera and business card and call themselves a Professional Photographer?

When researching a photographer for your wedding, try and locate the best professional origination of photographers in your area, and then find out who's on top of that mountain.

2. You may purchase a DVD
with unlimited reproduction
rights .

Three high resolution DVDs that you may print from freely are delivered when you invest in a High Resolution DVD of your wedding.  One for the newlyweds, one for the Bride’s parents and one for the Groom’s parents.

Everyone’s happy!

3. Engagement and Bridal Sessions.

We make our clients shine! Have us create a beatuiful Bridal or Engagement Portrait for you. Display it at the entrance to your reception to greet your guests with when they arrive.

A Bridal Portrait will also allow you a "trial run" with your dress. You can get an idea of how it will photograph with your bouquet.

5. Top Secret!

Every Monday is research day here at Solaris.  Beth and Aric scour the internet studying what others are creating for their clients, and then we go the opposite direction. 

Our goal is to show you products that you are not going to find anywhere else in Houston.  We want to see your eyes open wide, and hear you say “Wow!” when you are presented with the extraordinary wedding albums that we have to offer you.

Because we take such pride in our products, and because we work so hard to ensure the uniqueness of our products, we do not take them to the local bridal shows, we do not use them in photographic competitions, and we will not post pictures of them online.  

6. Some not so obvious questions to ask.

It’s inevitable.  Once you start researching photographers for your wedding, someone is going to give you a list of common questions
to ask potential photographers. 
Well, we would like to provide you a list of not so common questions.

Do you belong to any professional photographic organizations?   Are you active in that organization?

 Do you carry liability insurance? 

Can you get our wedding day images online so fast that we can see them on our honeymoon?  

Have you ever won any awards for your photography?

Can you tell me about the investments you made in continuing education this past year and what you plan to do next year? 

Do you have a mentor, or do you admire another photographer’s work so much that you attempt to emulate them?

7. Fast Response.

If you’re interested in having us at your wedding, then we would love to hear from you today.  But please don’t send us a boring email that only says “Pricing please.”  We want to work with people that are just as passionate about wedding photography as we are!  We want to work with people that are planning the event of their lifetime!

We reply to every inquiry email we receive, and as a policy if we do not hear back from our reply, we will continue to try and reach out to you four more times.  After that, we focus our energy elsewhere.

How do you get your email answered before all others?

If Beth presents me with two emails asking about the same wedding date, and one says “pricing please” while the other is a passionate description on how important the photography is at their wedding, who do you think I will write back to first?

We get even more excited when we hear that you have looked at all of the other photographers out there and you like our work the best!

Will I write back to both?  You bet.  I’m running a business after all.  But let’s take this even one step further.  Keep in mind that my business is first come first served, as I can only be in one place at a time.  If both respond to my email, and both want a consultation at the studio to see examples of our work, who do you think is going to get the first appointment?

Aric is an incredible photographer who truly captures those special moments you can look back on and remember for a life time. Jeff and I wanted so much more than just a bunch of photos of our wedding day and Aric delivered just that.

Aric ceased those precious moments and created a beautiful wedding album he worked with us to design from beginning to end that vividly tells our wedding day story.

I highly recommend Aric as a photographer and feel honored to have worked with him.

Lori Tillery

Aric brings all the creative vision and passion that a customer would want in a photographer. The process is a fun journey that culminates in a beautiful final product that is extremely high quality and unique.

I would recommend the services of Solaris studios to anyone seeking uniquely creative, fun, and professional photography service.

John Brandt

Aric was our daughter's wedding photographer. The thing that caught my attention at our first meeting was Aric's zeal for his profession. He was not content to do the ordinary. He wanted to find something unique for our daughter.

Not only were we pleased with his photography, but we felt that this job was important to him, not just another job.

When we reviewed the wedding album, I was amazed that out of all the photos Aric chose, we only changed two of them. It was perfect.

Solaris studios has since done graduation photos for our younger daughter and family pictures for Christmas.

I highly recommend Aric!

Pastor Cindy Hallam

I have worked with Aric on several occasions. I interviewed several photographers for our wedding and it was an easy choice after I met with Aric. He was so friendly, easy to work with, and talented beyond belief. It was so nice to work with someone who didn't make you feel like you were hiring them for 'just another wedding.'

You can tell that Aric truly loves what he does and his passion for his work and pleasing his customers is evident in everything he does. He takes the time to find out exactly what it is your looking for, what style, special requests, etc. you are looking for.

My wedding album could not have turned out more incredible. Everyone that looks through it says the same thing, that it is truly a work of art.

I worked with Aric again recently on having my portrait made. I had a specific image in mind and had some samples that I sent to Aric before the shoot. Aric had taken the time to study the pictures and had them up in the studio while he was taking my pictures. He made every effort to make sure that the pictures were taken exactly the way that I wanted them to look while studying the samples that I had given him. The pictures turned out more incredible than I ever could have imagined.

Living in Houston, we are so very fortunate to have Aric and Solaris Studios here in our backyard. It's truly refreshing to work with someone who is passionate and dedicated to his work, while also values customer satisfaction at the same time.

Caroline Walberg