Kay and her team did an incredible job capturing our wedding day! She was recommended to us by our wedding coordinator, and we're so grateful we had the chance to work with her. From start to finish, Kay was professional, responsive, and truly a pleasure to work with. Both my (now) husband and I can be a bit camera shy, but Kay made us feel completely at ease. Her calm, friendly presence and gentle direction helped us relax and enjoy the moment. She captured everything so naturally and beautifully, without ever feeling intrusive. After the wedding, Kay clearly communicated the timeline for when we'd receive our online gallery, and she delivered exactly as promised. We really appreciated her reliability and organization throughout the entire process. We're beyond happy with our photos and couldn't recommend Kay more highly to anyone looking for a talented wedding photographer! read more

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Lovely working with Kay! She photographed our mini wedding in Oahu, HI. She guided us through different poses and made us feel so comfortable during the day. Despite the short event, we were able to squeeze in so many great shots. She used two cameras for our group pictures which I really appreciated. One for more close-ups and one more zoomed out. I loved that she also got a drone shot of our wedding group, and it's one of my favorites! I'm so happy she was able to capture that with our beautiful venue as well. She also came up with some ideas that we didn't even think of (rose petal exit) and those were some of my favorites as well. We had preview edited shots the very next day which was so nice to see. Highly recommend, would definitely work with her again. She is very experienced and personable. She was easy to coordinate with and responsive as well. read more

Kay took some headshots for me. She was wonderful- the photos turned out better than I could have imagined! I'm an awkward picture taker, and really appreciated her kind and calm guidance! She was super fast with the image turnaround and very communicative. I'd highly recommend her for any of your photography needs! She is very skilled and helpful! read more

Kay is an amazing photographer! We had a family/maternity session with her in Oahu and she did a great job capturing sweet moments of our family. I love how the pictures were candid and included the beautiful scenery. We felt comfortable working with her and didn't feel like we were forced into poses. She was great at capturing our toddler's playful personality as well. I would definitely work with her again for our future family photos. Thanks for the sweet memories :) read more

Kay was our photographer for both our engagement photo shoot and wedding and we cannot recommend her enough! We had actually chosen a different photographer for our 2020 wedding, which of course got postponed due to the pandemic, and then our initial photographer was unavailable for our subsequent postponed wedding date... and I'm so glad that that ended up happening because Kay was just the perfect fit for us and what she wanted. We told her we wanted candid, dynamic, and natural photos, and that is exactly what she gave us in our engagement photos. She listened to us up-front and then totally delivered. She even did some amazingly beautiful drone shots! Wedding photos aren't nearly as fun or dynamic, especially since we ended up taking a ton of group photo shots, but she still managed to capture a number of beautiful shots of our big day, and we've had multiple people compliment us on our photos and photographer. Highly recommend Kay for any photography needs!! read more

Kay Salera Photography - Event Photography Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Kay shot our engagement shoot in Tokyo, Japan and we had such a great experience working with her. We were in Japan on vacation and she happened to be traveling there with a few overlapping days. From the start, she was very accommodating and even shifted our shoot day out to better align with the cherry blossom bloom schedule. This was our first photoshoot and we aren't comfortable in front of cameras, but she really took the time to get to know us and guided us in a way that made us feel comfortable! She helped choose 2 beautiful shoot locations and got a great variety of shots for us to choose from. After the shoot, she was very communicative and turned around our edited photos quickly. We are so happy with the results and will treasure these memories she captured for us. read more

Kay shot our surprise proposal and engagement shoot and we highly recommend!! We never shot with a professional photographer and we were a bit nervous, but Kay made everything very comfortable and fun! She's very approachable and such a natural. Love her photography style and editing.She also takes epic drone shots! Highly recommend read more

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Kay and Kela were amazing! Kay's communication was solid before + after our wedding. They both captured a variety of stunning moments that are such special keep-sakes for us. Kay + Kela's energy perfectly matched our relaxed elopement, making the experience stress-free and exactly the vibe we hoped for. Kay worked within our budget and delivered beyond expectations. So glad we found her--we would highly recommend! read more

Kay was an absolute delight to work with during me and my fiancée's engagement photoshoot in Oahu and the whole process was an absolutely amazing, wonderful experience! She was very communicative and thorough throughout the process, from letting me know when to get ready to knowing what I'll be wearing on the day of the proposal and how to prepare for everything. We had spent over an hour taking photos and every single photo she took was stunning. I have shown pictures to coworkers and friends and they all have said how incredible the photos were! What really stood out to us was how she wanted to get to know us better as a couple and it really made us feel that we made another friend during our trip. She also went above and beyond for us in preparing the edited photos on the same night as our photoshoot which shows how much effort she puts into her clients. I would highly recommend her to anyone that's interested in obtaining needs! Thank you so much Kay for making the proposal a very special, memorable day and also for being an amazing, fun person to be around!! read more

If I could give a platinum award or anything similar to any company I've reviewed on this site since the beginning, I would give it to Kay, hands down, without a second though. The day we spent with Kay was not just a day for photographs; It was an all out adventure that she provided. An incredibly memorable one at that. The pictures and memories we received from this day are nothing short of amazing. Just a bit of backstory - my wife and I got married back in 2019. She decided to hire one of her close friends at the time to take care of the photographs. Instead of doing his job he decided to drink the entire time leaving us with maaaaybe 4 or 5 useable photos? I say usable because they were far from good. Come November of 2022 - My wife found Kay online while we were planning a vacation on Oahu. Her prices seemed ridiculously reasonable and she also made the whole idea sound... fun! My wife handled the logistics from there but everything was incredibly efficient after meeting up. We got to visit 3 amazing locations for our day. We met up at botanical gardens, headed over to some amazing cliffs right up against a beautiful oceanfront and finished off the afternoon with some amazing golden hour shots and a beautiful white-sand beach. We reviewed all of the pictures and chose a handful that we fell in love with. We got them back after some editing and, let me tell you, they came out as amazing as they possibly could and more so than we could have ever imagined! Thank you so much, Kay, for giving us back our memories in one way or another! We had a great day with you and cherish the memories we created along the way. Your professionalism and talent are pinnacle. Again, thank you for everything! read more

You MUST book with Kay Salera! We reached out to Kay a few weeks in advance of our planned trip to Hawaii and determined we wanted her to take our engagement photos after reading reviews and viewing her portfolio. She was very responsive and coordinated directly with my fiancé on what her vision was and gave recommendations of local places to get her hair & makeup done. At our shoot, she made it an experience we won't forget with so much laughter that we still think about to this day. She is a very kind and extremely talented photographer! Our photos turned even better than we had expected! If you want the best photos, with the kindest individual to capture your special moment, Kay Salera will not let you down! read more

Finding an excellent wedding photographer is super important for our wedding day. My fiancé and I literally took months researching a lot of people through the internet that are based in Oahu. We stumbled upon Kay on instagram and after inquiring with her, we instantly fell in love with her work and style. After meeting her in person, we instantly clicked and felt comfortable with her immediately and we knew right then and there that she's THE ONE! As her wedding photography package comes with a free engagement session, we decided to do an adventure session with her. Kay was super flexible and understanding with our unpredictable schedule. She really made us feel comfortable in front of the camera and gave great suggestions for poses and angles. Kay also had such an amazing uplifting energy throughout our photoshoot and we had SO much fun! And talking about dedication, she literally woke up super early for our sunrise photoshoot, hiked a mountain for us, stood on edge of the cliff, climbed rocks, bushes, and trees, all while carrying her heavy photography gear. Not only that, she also took the time to get to know us as a couple. She truly cared about us and didn't make us feel like we're just another client. She's also very easy to talk to and we really felt like we just made a new friend. :) She also let my fiancé message her in Japanese so that he can practice his Japanese. :P Isn't she just the sweetest? After we got our photos back, we were SO AMAZED by how amazing the photos turned out. The photos turned out so magical and dreamy. All of our friends and family couldn't stop complimenting our photos. She really captured our love story in the most beautiful and authentic way, and all of our photos are way beyond our expectations. Thank you so much Kay for being such an awesome person and photographer! I'm SO excited to work with her again on our wedding day in 2022! read more

Kay Salera Photography - Event Photography Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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We reached out to Kay for our family photos while in Hawaii. She was prompt to respond, great to work with, and did an excellent job with our pictures! read more

Excellent photographer! We hired her for our Oahu destination wedding/elopement photoshoots and she did not disappoint. Very talented, personable, and kind. Definitely recommend read more

WE'RE SPEECHLESS!! Being wedding videographers ourselves we had a lot of options for photographers but Kay was our first choice and she did not disappoint. From the beginning, she was so warm and such a calming presence to be around. I never felt rushed during the photos and she let us enjoy the day while effortlessly getting all the shots that she needs. Seriously, what a pro. I didn't even notice her during the ceremony but just take a look at the photos. It speaks for itself. I had family visiting from Japan so it was also a plus that she could easily communicate with my family to keep everything running smoothly. After receiving the highlight photos, I sent them to my friends and family right away and they couldn't believe how beautiful all the photos looked!! KAY YOU'RE THE BEST! Thank you for documenting our special day. We're going to cherish these photos forever and ever and ever! read more

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Being able to have our engagement photos done by Kay (and our in our wedding soon) was an absolute pleasure an a complete blast! Kay is amazingly adventurous, willing to go above and beyond to get some amazing shots- we took an early morning hike and she trekked all the way up to our locations with a full backpack of gear! We were nothing but impressed. Our photos turned out STUNNING, we could not have hoped for better. If you aren't already convinced by all of the other great reviews, book her! You won't regret it. read more

Kay was very accommodating and easy going. She's specific and okay with reshooting to get the right shot to look beautiful yet natural when she's shooting you in the beautiful scenic background. For me it was in Oahu Hawaii beaches and public parks. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to one of my friends for an couple's engagement photo shoot. She communicated very well and were able to review our wardrobe changes and confirm that it'd turn out well in photos. I hope to book her for the wedding day as well! :) OH BTW, she does multiple lenses as well as flies a drone for aerial shots. read more

Kay did an absolutely AMAZING job with our engagement photos, and I cannot recommend her enough! My fiance and I were worried we would feel and look awkward in our photos, but she made us feel so comfortable and natural - we forgot we were taking photos and had so much fun. The photos turned out better than we could have dreamed of - every shot was incredible, especially those drone photos! I was so impressed with her quick responses throughout the entire process, and even though she was traveling, she quickly finished our edited photos. We feel so lucky we got to work with Kay and get to have these photos forever. read more

Where do we start?!?!.....Kay is such an amazing person to work with, so easy going and definitely makes the photo session fun. My husband and I, have had the pleasure of working with her twice; once in Japan for our engagement shoot and then just recently for our maternity shoot. She's always trying to find the best spots, angles, and locations for that perfect picture you're looking for. We highly recommend Kay for photography needs! read more

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Kay was phenomenal and she was the best photographer we have ever hired . Kay was really experienced and professional in her field and top of that, she made sure our wedding day was perfect! Her creativity on capturing the special moment of our day throughout the best, amazing day ever. Her photography experience was fun, easy and so memorable especially laid-back and stress-free. We couldn't ask for more. All the photos came out REALLY BEAUTIFUL! We definitely absolutely recommended Kay to anybody who looking for an amazing photographer! read more

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Kay got back to us, y'all!!! I really can't knock down this rating even if I wanted to. It was a mess but mistakes happen, especially after back to back to back weddings and nonstop work post pandemic with all the weddings being rescheduled, making it such a busy season. She eventually got back to us and the missing images were eventually found, nothing lost! Big win! Despite such a hiccup, the photos turned out amazing and we are in awe of each and every one of them. We stand by my previous post in that she is very personable and accommodating especially having such a large entourage. Mistake me not, this woman is worth her work! read more

If you're looking for someone laid back and easy going during your photo shoot experience, LOOK NO FURTHER Kay Salera is your gal! If you're like my husband and I and don't like being in front of a camera lens she'll make your entire experience feel like you're just walking on a beach. Kay also is very experienced in her photography expertise and is open to any ideas you may have. You can tell she takes her time in choosing her photos and editing them to make you look the best! Highly recommended Oahu photographer and willing to travel. She has been to many different countries and very seasoned. read more

Kay Salera Photography - Event Photography Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Kay made our experience incredibly memorable with the way she guided us through our shoot. My fiancé and I absolutely loved the way our pictures came out. Her attention to detail and sweet personality made us feel extremely comfortable in front of the camera. I definitely recommend her for her services! read more

We had already planned a vacation in Hawaii (Oahu to be exact) since we were vaccinated and things were finally opening up in May. Just a couple of days prior to leaving, my now husband surprised me, and made made arrangements to get married while we were there. I could not believe that everything was arranged as to the license, beach location and officiant. The only stumbling block was finding a photographer. My husband talked to our Officiant about the difficulties we were having finding someone (used Weddings of Hawaii) that was not exorbitant to the point of gouging. Our Officiant recommended Kay Salera. After talking to her and looking at her website, we knew we scored. Luckily, it just so happened she was available on the day of our evening wedding on Secret Beach in Ko' Olina. She spent more than the allotted time to capture the lighting. As a result all we can say about her service and pictures is WOW. We had a hard time picking the final pictures because there were so many great ones. But we took our time to get the number of pictures finally down to 80 under her elopement package. There just aren't enough words to possibly describe how amazing each and every photo that Kay snapped. She has a magical way of finding the perfect angle, lighting and of course expressions. Kay creates magic. She captured the most special moments of this special occasion and having limited family in attendance. I would never hesitate to recommend her to anyone who wants a true professional to create a customized photography experience. We wish we had used her at our second wedding ceremony in July in Saint Helena, CA for family many members who could not attend the Hawaiian Ceremony for various reasons. We were really disappointed with our photographer for 2nd ceremony, as he was not able to capture the same magic. In hindsight we should have had Kay come to California for the 2nd ceremony ... should have been worth the cost since we are using her photos as our official wedding pictures even though my wedding dress in California was much better than the one I used in Hawaii. read more

DO NOT hire Kay unless you are willing to wait a long time and work extremely hard to get your photos - I had a wonderful wedding in August 2021 in Hawaii and then a local reception in California in September 2021. I liked Kay's photos so much that I hired her for both events. Over this time, it felt like we built a friendship more than a client/vendor relationship. But here we are, approaching 9 MONTHS since my wedding and I have not received all of my wedding photos for either one of my events and no date on when I can expect my photos. I'm posting this review as a last resort to get my photos since she has not responded to my emails, calls, texts, communications from my wedding planner, or Instagram messages since my wedding. My wedding planner told me that I'm not the only client of hers that has had to wait 9+ months for their photos. This is a warning to anyone that is looking to hire Kay as their photographer. It's like a second job trying to get your photos. I had to postpone my wedding twice due to the pandemic so I worked with Kay for over 2 years and she has been extremely difficult to communicate with throughout this time and it's been even worse after my wedding. When I have been able to get a response about a date she will supposedly send the photos, she fails to meet it every time and doesn't follow up with a reason. Just silence. Her contract says she generally delivers photos within 6 months and even though we are well past that, I still can't get her to respond. I explained to her how my grandma's health has not great lately and she has been asking to see the wedding photos but I don't have them to show her. I can't tell you how extremely devastating it will be if I'm not able to show my grandma these photos. Kay - I may be willing to adjust my review once I receive my photos but as I said in my email, I'm extremely disappointed with how this situation is being handled and this is what has to happen. Please respond and please send me photos. read more

She made our family photo session so comfortable! She spent time getting to know each and every one of us and the dynamics of our family.... The photos were unbelievable and much more than we could have hoped for! Amazing moments captured by Kay Salera Photography read more

Kay is such an amazing photographer! She has such an eye for photos. We loved having our engagement shoot with her. She also does great drone shots. She is so busy but still find the time to talk to us before our shoot about outfits and advices. Since we are visitors, she gave us so much recommendation on locations and we loved both locations we shot at. She gave me a great recommendation on a make up artist in Hawaii who I also loved. She has so much knowledge and patience with us. She is also so busy but was able to edit our picture in a timely manner. I love working with Kay so much . Thank you for a great first photoshoot experience. read more

Kay was absolutely a dream to work with. She's so sweet and captured our love so perfectly. I'm so thrilled with the way my pictures turned out. You'll be glad you picked her! read more

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Kay is not only professional but she makes you feel so comfortable during the photo shoot. There were other people at the beach, and not being a model, everything felt so awkward. However, Kay made me feel so comfortable. She made me laugh and captured by natural smile. She made me feel and look beautiful. I highly recommend Kay Salera Photography for any events. Thank you Kay for the amazing outcome of my photos! read more

Thank you Kay Salera Photography for a wonderful photo shoot for the Nomiyama/Endo families! Kay quickly responds and had our pics ready to see soon after the shoot. She is warm and friendly! We will definitely use her again in the future! read more

Kay Salera Photography - Event Photography Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This is everything I can ask for and beyond from a photographer. She was there on time patiently waiting for me while I was lost. Showing us all the posts that my husband was able to follow with a smile. Prior to our meeting, take the time out of her busy schedule researching where there will be a good spot to capture the most beautiful sunset for that day. We are very pleased with the natural results. We will definitely have Kay do our next photos session when we have a family with children. read more

Kay was an excellent photographer! Sweet, patient, accommodating and her photos are to die for. We loved our experience with her.

I am SO happy we worked with Kay for our engagement photos. She was super personable and made us feel really comfortable feeling lovey dovey in front of the camera. We did an adventure shoot--one location that required a short hike and then one near the ocean. All of the pictures came out to be really nice and moody, which is what we wanted. She also took some drone footage which turned out to make some beautiful, artsy photos as well. We are super excited to work with her for our upcoming wedding! Highly recommended. read more

Kay is the best! She knows how to capture your story and bring it to life!!! Thanks for spending some time with us for some photos that will last a lifetime! read more

Kay was my first and only choice for photography! My coordinator recommended her and once I saw her pictures, I wanted her to do my wedding photos. Kay is the main photographer so she will be very hands on during the entire time. She even went out of her way to come early for the Chinese Tea Ceremony when it wasn't included with my package. Kay and Adam were great with both sides of the wedding party. I will highly recommend her to anyone for either engagement photos or wedding!! I can't thank her and her team enough for capturing my wedding night so perfectly! read more

From the moment we reached out to Kay we knew she was who we wanted to photograph our big day. We had gone through her portfolio and absolutely loved the way she captured memories. She was extremely responsive in the months leading up to our Wedding. We are from Washington and were getting married on a catamaran in Maui and had very little idea of what to expect since we couldn't meet up in person before the wedding day. As soon as she got to the house I let her take over with just a small list of idea shots we had put together. She was so accommodating and I leaned on her to go with the flow of what she saw for the day. My friends and family all fell in love with Kay and her upbeat attitude and professionalism for her career. She had such beautiful insight on what would and wouldn't work well and came up with some great ideas. Due to the matter of getting married on a boat she mentioned doing a "reveal" for my husband and I prior to the wedding and I loved the idea I would have never thought of this idea on my own and it helped the wedding day jitters so much being able to see my husband before the wedding. When we got to the Catamaran I was just blown away, her eye for the right shot was just spot on. She knew exactly where and what everyone needed to be doing to ensure she got everything perfect without even knowing she was there. The staff of the Boat loved her and were so impressed with her. As soon as I posted some of the photos people came out of the woodwork contacting us about how our photos deserved to be in a magazine and how amazing our photographer was. In fact, Kevin and I have joked that we we would TOTALLY be willing to go back to Maui to do it all over again just to work with Kay again! Her flexibility of destinations and her input and insight is absolutely top notch. We will definitely find a way to work with Kay again in the future! read more

We found Kay looking at endless amounts of different photographer blogs. Kay's photos just stood out compared to all of the rest. We decided to try to contact her to see if we can book her for our wedding ceremony/reception and we are so glad we did. The day of went smooth due to her professionalism and organization. We got to get all the photos that we wanted in a short span of time that we had. Her prices were very reasonable and we her responses are quick and on point. She's such a great and warm person you won't regret hiring her for any occasion. And of course the pictures that we got so far is just amazing. Like something out of a magazine. We are still planning to work with her for our beach/city photos this month. read more