Toan was absolutely wonderful to work with! He was punctual, super professional, and flexible with…read morelast minute changes. He was really fun and relaxed, making it comfortable to take photos with him. We are not models, and he was fantastic about giving direction and posing tips. After the ceremony, our families loved taking photos with him too! We loved our photos, which he turned around very quickly. It was an amazing experience, and we can't recommend him enough!

Looking for a photographer to capture your big moments, who makes you feel comfortable and beyond…read moreeasy to work with ? You have to work with Toanven Photography because you will not regret it at all and get everything you want and more!! Toan and team are the absolute very best - worked directly with Toan, Martin, Trieu, and Michael and all very professional and super easy to get along with! We used Toanven photography for our engagement photoshoot / pre wedding , church wedding ceremony at St.Jarlath Catholic Church and civil wedding at Nella terra cellars. Also used their videography services which was also really great. When looking for a photographer , we wanted to make sure that our photographer is easy going, can help guide us and has experience with our venue. I discovered Toanven photography because my best friend used their services for her wedding and after finding out Toan had lots of experience at Nella Terra we knew we had to meet him. On our first zoom call Toan was beyond welcoming and excited which made us excited. He made us laugh, made us comfortable and answered all of our questions and broke down the whole process. Before the wedding Toan helped us better plan our timeline for photos and took his time to understand what were the "must have photos". He gave us alternatives on how we can still get pictures with others and saving time. His advice on a family shot list was super helpful as well. On wedding day Toan was just the person I needed around me with all the craziness of wedding day. His personality bring calmness and he is quick to think if a photo location doesn't work well for the lighting - he found better positioning and areas for the photos the look flawless. Beyond helpful when it came to posing, how to stand , where to look and capture all the right angles. Lastly, Depending on the package you go for, you will get a set number of edits photos and our photos were so amazing it was hard to reach the number of edits we can use. That says a lot about how the quality of the photos are and how they already shine! So reach out to Toanven photography, I promise you will love every moment!

Diego is fantastic! We had a family wedding at our home and after a search I chose Diego for his…read morecreative photography. Leading up to the wedding Diego was easy to communicate with and made sure he understood how we wanted the photos for the special day. The wedding day was very rainy, Diego worked expertly to manage the light for great photos indoors and out. He then asked if he could come back on a sunny day to get more outdoor shots and WOW they are great photos. He is a pleasure to work with. I recommend him highly and without reservation. Thank you, Diego!

Diego was going to do the photography for our engagement and wedding. Unfortunately our wedding was…read morecanceled, but Diego was a pleasure. He was very warm, friendly, passionate and professional. His body of work is spectacular and we were so looking forward to him photographing our wedding. He took his time chatting with us. He wanted to learn about us as a couple, our story, our style, and our interests. He was very responsive, flexible and accommodating. I hope we get to work with him in the future.

Willow is amazing! My husband and I really appreciated how patient, kind, and accommodating she was…read morethroughout our planning process and wedding day. She helped us feel at ease and cared for. And we were blown away by our photos!!! They are incredible! We highly recommend her to anyone looking for a wedding photographer.

Willow was the photographer for my nephew's wedding. She did a beautiful job. She also did my…read moreson's . . . Such beautiful photos!

(Formerly known as Michelle Zuniga Photography)…read more My wife and I used Michelle as our wedding photographer in late December of 2007. She was great to work with, had competitive rates, and showed genuine interest and care for saving the events memories digitally. She even included 3 wallet sized photo albums free; one for each of our mothers and one for us.

Can I tell you I love Michelle? Well I do. I love her. I…read morestarted planning our wedding in 2008, and had gone through every photographer I could find on The Knot and Brides. I did google searches. Everything. I hate standard wedding photography. Crap that looks overly posed and nasty. And then I cam across Michelle on the last day I could look for a photographer - my husband, then fiance, said I had until the end of February or we were going with his first choice. I looked through her website, and oh bolly bolly oh my golly! SHE is what I had been searching for. Gorgeous shots of people, nothing overly posed, every shot looking like a dear friend took the picture. They captured the essence of each individual and I felt like I was there, like I understood how the people in the pictures felt. That was all I needed, I sent out an email. Two seconds later, Michelle had responded. Here was a vendor who was used to using technology, she told me I could contact her on gchat and since our schedules were packed we could conference call our first meeting. I nearly cried. The day of the teleconference came. The only question I really had was, do you make any provisions for military, what if my husband got deployed unexpectedly. She reassured me, we would not lose our money, she would hold onto it and reschedule. She also reassured me that she would shoot until every last major event in the wedding was captured. She wouldn't just take off. That was it, we hired her on the spot. We also hired her (for an insanely reasonsable fee - think Crazy Eddy sells electronics) for our engagement shoot. We wanted her to get to know us and vice versa. She was amazing and incredibly fun to work with. We were all geared up for our wedding in 2008 when the worst news came through, my husband was being called up for service early. We had to postpone everything. I was running around contacting vendors, family, bridal party. Trying not to melt down, and when I called Michelle she was so sweet and understanding. When we rescheduled our wedding for late in 2009, I called Michelle. She was so excited to work with us again. And so was I. She is so incredibly professional - Annie and Bill were out of town on the day of my wedding so she asked her friend David Esquire to fill in. I never even knew that there was a problem. She just handled it, like a dream vendor. Again, on the day of the wedding, Michelle was professional as can be. She was there on time, and even tolerated the fact that I didn't get her her shots list until that morning. She was funny and energetic (a difficult feat when it is raining and so cold you can see your breath and it is an outdoor wedding). She was like a ninja, I don't ever remember seeing her, but when she gave me the pictage link to our wedding photos, there were all these amazing shots she had taken. She took these amazing shots of us too, posed me perfectly, hid flaws played up assets. Honestly, I don't think of Michelle as my vendor. I think of her as a friend. Every major photo op I have in life will be shot by her or her studio. Heck I even added her on facebook. If you pass her by for another studio (maybe with the exception of Esquire Photography because David was pretty cool himself) you are a total fool. Studio Z will capture your wedding day exactly as you saw it, exactly as you experienced. And really, isn't that what a photographer is supposed to do?

I worked with Chris for my surprise proposal at Carmel/Soberanes Trail, and I truly can't say…read moreenough good things about him. From the very beginning, he was an absolute pleasure to work with. He provided clear, detailed instructions on how to reach the location and shared helpful tips--like sending him our live location and a selfie in our proposal outfits so he could easily identify us. That level of preparation made the entire experience feel seamless and stress-free. What really stood out was how thoughtfully he planned everything. He made sure the spot was free of crowds and blended in perfectly as a "nature photographer," which kept the surprise completely intact. On the day of the proposal, Chris was punctual, professional, and incredibly patient. He spent about an hour with us, capturing such beautiful, genuine moments--all with a warm and friendly attitude that made us feel comfortable throughout. He also delivered the photos promptly, and the quality exceeded our expectations. One thing I especially appreciated was his integrity. Even though his pricing had increased between the time I booked and the actual shoot, he honored the original rate without hesitation. That says a lot about his character. Overall, I would highly recommend Chris to anyone looking to capture a special moment. He played a big role in making our day unforgettable.

Chris was extremely professional and easy to work with. He help me plan an engagement photo shoot,…read moreand gave suggestions on what usually works well. He was upfront about all pricing and logistics. On the day of the shoot he was well prepared, and the shoot went off without any issue. He sent a few photos the next day, and the full set after 5 days. I am very pleased with how the photos turned out. I will cherish these photos for the rest of my life.

Cannot say enough great things about Julie! She took our wedding photos at Folktale Winery in Nov…read more23. She helped us work through weather challenges, with pouring rain complicating our plans. She did a great job of identifying alternative options to capture photos with our guests, and then finding an opportune moment later on during the event when my husband and I could slip outside and take some photos when it was dry. I also appreciated her incorporation of candid photos along with the staged photos. We got great pictures with all of our guests, as well as pictures of all the décor and the location. She was also lovely to work with, and kept checking in to ensure we were capturing everything we wanted. Highly recommend!

If I could give more stars to Julie I would! My husband and I felt so incredibly lucky to have…read moreJulie photograph us for our wedding in Carmel in October. Our wedding planner gave Julie's information to us along with a couple of other photographers when we were trying to secure a vendor. I loved Julie's style, so we set up a phone consultation to see if it would be a good match for us. We knew right away that Julie would be perfect for us as we clicked right away in our phone conversation. We set up an engagement session with Julie prior to our wedding and that solidified our decision in knowing we had picked the perfect photographer. Julie is funny, down to earth, and extremely talented. She was easy to be around and nothing ever felt too poised. The photos that we got in our final gallery are absolutely beautiful and we have a hard time picking our favorites because we love them all! Julie also went above and beyond normal photographer duties at one point helping to steam my dress and also offered us a free session at a later date when both of my parents could not attend our wedding last minute due to testing positive with COVID. I'm sure there was also much more behind the scenes that I didn't even see. I was really hoping to have a special connection with our wedding photographer and have it be someone that we would want to use again and again over the years after we hopefully grow our family. We are so happy to have found Julie and I would recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer for any type of occasion.

We used Rebecca Stark for our micro ceremony and wedding reception (two seperate days). We loved…read moreour photos from both days and loved how easy it was to get along with Rebecca. She did a great job dealing with the harsh sun of our micro ceremony and helping us feel comfortable taking photos. Our sunset photos from our reception are beautiful. She was a great choice!

Rebecca photographed our recent wedding on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. she took stunning…read morephotographs, before, during, and after the ceremony. She made sure to get many different poses, candid and staged, and included the ocean view and cliffs that we had requested. We ended up with around 150 high quality photos, and she provided them in a gallery we could share with people, and also downloadable in hi-res for printing and sharing online. Highly recommended!

I'm personally pretty awkward in front of the camera but had the best time with Lush Dreamories…read more Shobhita was the best at posing and arranging my extended family's (6 adults, 3 teens, a newborn and a dog) photoshoot that it never felt unnatural or awkward. The photos are gorgeous and I can't wait to hang the prints up in our house and my in law's house.

Shobhita is such an amazing person and photographer. She took photos for us in August and her…read moreturnaround time super fast, the photos also turned out stunning! She not only captured my 4yo in so many sweet moments but also actually took time to capture some couple photos for my husband and I as well which was so thoughtful. She is warm, talented, easy going and super prompt and responsive. Getting our photos with her was so much fun and we truly enjoyed the session as well as the results. I am very picky and she met all of my expectations!

We worked with Camille. She was so sweet and patient with our big family shoot. Veronica was…read moreamazing with coordination and check ins. Super fast communication and just a wonderful experience all the way around

Veronica did an amazing job with my maternity photoshoot!! I scheduled my shoot with Veronica kind…read moreof last minute and closer to my due date than I had planned. Veronica was super flexible and accommodating. She let me change the date for my shoot so we could get the perfect sunny day in Santa Cruz. The photos came out amazing and captured the sunset golden hour and beachy vibes I hoped for. Super pleased with how everything came out. Thanks so much, Veronica!!

This review is 4 years overdue but Ben was there to help capture my wife and I's engagement. Not…read moreonly was he super professional but he was extremely helpful in picking the perfect spot. If you're looking for incredible photography work, Ben is the best option. You won't be disappointed!

Ben was super friendly and easy to work with! We both are introverted but this photo session came…read morenaturally and was so fun :) Our engagement photos came out so well and we are excited to work with him again for our wedding in a couple of weeks :D