To clarify before I start this review Miki and I are not related even though we have the same last name. I found Miki by asking my friends on Facebook if they knew of a queer friendly photographer in the Bay Area. I got 15 responses, only one person got mentioned more then once (in fact 3 separate people) and that was Miki. We chose to hire Miki after an extremely informative hour where she answered all questions professionally and with the complete confidence of someone who knows exactly what she is doing. During our engagement session she was funny, fast, and really great to work with. Miki had a knack for understanding quickly what worked best for us as a couple and we quickly felt relaxed and comfortable. Our wedding was in the middle of what felt like a monsoon. Miki was running around in a black outfit like a tiny ninja, telling us where to go, what to do, and seemingly having a good time despite the fact that she had to have been soaking wet. She had to come up with a new setting for most of the pictures on the fly because of the rain and she managed to control 2 large families in order to get beautiful, beautiful pictures. Our wedding pictures are truly gorgeous and I'm so happy to have them for the rest of our lives. Miki Vargas is an amazing photographer. I would hire her again for our wedding in an instant. read more

Miki is an amazing photographer! She captured our wedding day beautifully and she's so easy to work with. Her excitement and passion for her work comes through in the final photographs. Her photographs are nicely composed, romantic, artistic, and elegant. Everyone and everything looks FANTASTIC! All of the guests at the wedding were completely impressed with her professionalism and extremely friendly personality. She definitely put people at ease! Miki puts a lot of work into her photographs and makes sure that her clients get what they want. She is professional, affordable, and accommodating. My partner and I highly recommend Miki - she is a gem and her work is stunning! read more

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My new wife and I have known of Miki's photography for years, and loved how she captured friends, the community, and especially weddings. When we booked her for our wedding, it was one of the easiest and best decisions. Miki took beautiful engagement shots right at our home, and worked with us so professionally and easily to get ready for our big day. And we were not disappointed! Miki captured every special moment from our wedding, from getting ready to rings, walking down the aisle, our first married kiss, and all the in-betweens. My favorite shots are the ones of our family, which turned out so, so beautifully I want to frame and hang them all! And Miki was attentive, thoughtful, direct, and always thinking of what we needed. She asked how to address friends and family (Mr, Mrs, boi/girl/boy). made sure everyone was comfortable with her and understood the process, and that, most importantly, she was there to document our long-awaited wedding day - and we could not be more happy with the results. We've referred Miki to friends, and everyone has been happy with her work. Looking forward to working with Miki again! read more

I had the pleasure of working with Miki on some portraits recently and was really happy with the whole experience. Miki has an uncanny ability to put people at ease when she works with them. It becomes really clear that she wants to capture the best of you in every shot. She was so awesome to work with and is truly an artist. We went to multiple locations so she could capture the right lights, and the right scene. I was really impressed by her dedication to her craft. I was amazed at how quickly I received the images from Miki ans was truly blown away at how amazing the pictures were. Miki really did a phenomenal job and I would hire her again in a second if I need more pictures. read more

I hired Miki to take action shots of my business in action as well as all of my staffs head shots. She's AWESOME! I really appreciate that she takes her time to really capture "the shot." She worked very patiently with all of my staff and kept on shooting until she was able to truly capture their personalities and give each trainer a little charm. What i loved best is how chill she was. Taking pictures and posing for pictures can be a little weird (unless your a model), she set a very relax and fun mood and that made a huge difference in everyones comfort level. Oh, her turn around time is crazy. I have never had to wait weeks for any of my shots. I normally have them within 48 hours all edited and ready to go! There's lots of photographers out there, this one is just REALLY REALLY good! read more

I am one of my biggest critics when it comes to having pictures taken. I RARELY like them and am often upset as the person snapping the pix has no concept that it's about more than just hitting the button for the shutter release to make a beautiful memory. Miki understands this! I explained what my concerns were about my body and she knew how to put me at ease and have fun with the whole process. The session was fun and the results were more than I could have anticipated. The response from family and friends about my photos have been spectacular and another friend who is also a professional gave Miki her props. Looking forward to working with her again. You won't be disappointed...she is a conscientious professional and just damned fun to be around. read more

Miki recently shot my wedding and did an AMAZING job. She had to take the role of primary photographer at the last minute, and accomodated me with no problems. She was able to get great shots, even though my wedding guests were constantly in her way. She is incredibly reasonably priced, very professional, and super creative with her angles and editing. She also has a really fast turnaround (compared to a lot of other photographers I spoke with) for getting your photos back to you. She does event photography as well as weddings and private parties. read more

We got lucky and won an engagement shoot with miki. Such a fantastic experience. She is extremely personable and made us feel very comfortable. There was a lot of variety in the kind of shots we achieved - from fun to dreamy to cinematique, she even accommodated last minute requests. Her assistant patty was awesome to work with too. A complete professional to the core - we weren't blessed with the best conditions that day - so when the photos came out, we were blown away with the quality! Miki really knows her stuff, the color palettes, contrasts, effects and everything have been so meticulously picked and have imprinted those memories perfectly! Thank you so much miki and patty! read more

Miki Vargas is the resident photographer for Oakland's premiere LGBTQ nightclub, Ships In The Night. As one of the organizers of Ships it greatly pleases me to work with someone like Miki. The quality of her work is beyond satisfactory, and I attribute our success as a party to her skills as a photographer. Month-to-month she delivers photographs that accurately portray the fun, unique energy of Ships. Aside from her qualifications as a photographer she couldn't be a more pleasant person with whom to work. She''s consistent, communicative and personable. I can't imagine Ships In The Night without Miki Vargas Photography! Macio Ships In The Night read more

We saw Miki shoot another wedding before ours. She was amazing! We met talked and found out we knew each other from previous events. She shot our engagement photos and they were amazing! It was a wonderful casual and relaxed event. Miki has a wicked sense of humor so she kept us laughing all the time. Then our wedding came....can I just say, I can't believe how amazing the photos were. She captured my partner at the first look and it was amazing. Every detail, she caught and made everyone in my family look good. I can't recommend her enough! I see many more photos being taken by her in the future. read more

We're so happy to have found Miki Vargas photography through a friend. We needed a professional shot to capture our lives as urban farmers. Miki got some great shots of us with our chickens. But more than that, she was exceptionally kind, accommodating, and professional. Neither of us like getting our pictures taken but Miki's affirming, low key personality put us at ease. We are incredibly grateful. Thank you, Miki. Keywords: Gay, lesbian, queer friendly. Body-positive. read more

Miki Vargas is an awesome photographer! Miki was our photographer at our grand opening event in Pinole. We had a power outage and were left in complete darkness. She did not panic. Instead, Miki used her natural talent to capture photos of this 3-hour event. Her pictures were as bright and clear as if she had taken them in the light. She also captured great shots of the event lit by candle light. We are grateful that we can always look at our pics to remember this night. read more

Miki is the best bc when she's working you don't even know she's there so the atmosphere is not changed. She gets the best candids and posed shots because of her demeanor. She has quick turnaround (like the quickest I've seen and I've been working w photos for over 10 years) and best of all her photos are stellar. She makes every event look like the must be at party of the year, even if it was raining and everyone had a cold. I will always choose Miki first if I can. There is no one better! read more

I found her randomly through looking at other photos on the web, after losing a booked photographer.... She photographed a 60th birthday party in July. not only did she capture all the elements of the party, the venue, the guests, the children - we also ended up with wonderful family portraits of everyone.. the colors, lighting were sharp and everyone looks wonderful in them. she was invisable when need be, and firm and helpful when wrangling set-ups. the advance communications were a breeze, she was early and ready, and we recieved the edited pictures before we were done opening the presents the next day! the guests were also delighted to be able to view the online highlights. She is a delight. you would be lucky to have her capture your world. read more

My fiancé and I had been stalking Miki's work for the last 6 months. We loved what we saw and decided that she would be the one to document our special day (which isn't for another 7 months). She listened to what we wanted in our engagement photo shoot and boy did she deliver. I'm ecstatic about the resulting photo gallery. I also feel guilty because I have so many beautiful photos to share, but only so much space on our save the dates. Miki truly cares about her clients; she takes your vision and translates it into your beautiful story! We are so looking forward to our wedding day and we look forward to seeing it all being captured by Miki's camera! R&A read more

Thank you Miki!!! You are a rare talent and I am honored to review your work, as you captured some truly priceless moments for me and dear friends. The photos came out SUPER! I will always recommend you highly. Cheers! read more

I can't express how thankful I am that my husband and I found Miki just a few weeks before our wedding day after a previous photographer had cancelled. When we met with her to discuss the plan for wedding photography she was full of insightful ideas and immediately put us at ease. The day of our wedding she worked to get as many good shots as possible, stayed for hours beyond the agreed-upon time limit, and displayed such professionalism that many of our guests later commented on how great she had been. Best of all, the pictures she took were unbelievably stunning. There is no dissonance between the way I felt on that joyful day and the way it is captured in the pictures; when I look at them, I'm there again. I could not have asked for a better experience, from start to finish. read more

From the moment we met Miki, we were thrilled to have found and work with her. She is an amazing photographer and a joyous person. She helped us relax (we both hate photographs), she captured beautiful images, she worked with our style and approach, and she was extremely professional. Her whole team was a delight. She was truly one of the best parts of our wedding experience. read more

Miki Vargas captures precious moments skillfully. She reads people in a way most people don't even see. She understands the use of light, settings/backdrops, moods, and helps her subjects feel comfortable. She even understands what kids need and can help them shine. As of this posting, we've had our photographs taken by her three times. Each experience has been fun, with each print-ready photograph as amazing as the next. She captures the truth about that moment. We highly recommend her! read more