We were looking to hire a photographer for a family photoshoot in the Santa Cruz / Carmel /…read moreMonterey area and reached out to Maria along with a couple of other professionals. Maria was the first to respond. She gave us clear pricing (which varied depending on location) and was patient and understanding when I told her I needed a few days to decide. We ultimately chose her because she was available on our preferred date and her pricing fit our budget...so glad we did! Even before meeting in person, Maria impressed us with her communication. She is incredibly client‑oriented, super responsive, and provided detailed recommendations (like what to wear). When I had questions and adjustment requests about the contract, she was flexible and honored my feedback without hesitation. At the shoot itself, Maria gave us great direction while also respecting our preferences when we didn't want to pose a certain way. She did great working with our toddler, keeping her engaged and capturing candid moments. The photos are beautiful, and her editing turnaround was impressively fast, and she proactively sent us updates on when she'd get us things. I didn't rely much on reviews when choosing Maria, but now that I'm writing this one and seeing the glowing feedback that others have shared, it's clear how consistent and exceptional Maria is!

My husband and I got married back in October and Maria at Pink Light did such a beautiful job…read morecapturing so many amazing memories. Prior to our wedding day she was so sweet and helpful and on the day of she was very prepared, with locations and poses in mind so we didn't have to think of a single thing. It was AMAZING! You can tell Maria absolutely loves what she does, she has great energy and very talented! We are going to treasure these photos forever!!

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!!

I am so glad I hired Adam for my surprise proposal to my girlfriend. Living in SoCal and having…read morenever been to Monterey/Big Sur, I planned my whole proposal based on google searches, reddit threads, and word of mouth. Being a Big Sur/Monterey local, Adam provided extremely helpful insight and feedback for my proposal. He definitely helped relieve a lot of the stress during the planning phase of my proposal. On the day of the actual shoot, the day-of jitters was overwhelming at times, but Adam's energy and demeanor was very centering. He was patient and gave my new fiancee and I space to calm ourselves, and also knew when to take charge and guide us with our poses. He also had amazing and creative ideas for how to pose and brought us to local, reclusive spots to take intimate photos. Best of all, Adam always had a smile on his face and he made us really think like we were supermodels walking the runway haha. If you're going to do any photoshoot, especially a proposal or engagement shoot, in the Big Sur/Monterey area, I would highly recommend getting Adam!!

Adam took photos at my daughter's ceremony and did an incredible job! He is professional,…read moredetail-oriented, and truly talented. I highly recommend him!

Chris was our photographer for our surprise proposal in Big Sur and there aren't enough good things…read moreto say about him and Good Eye Photography. From the location, to the nearby restaurant recommendations, and of course the perfect photos, Chris made everything so clear and easy. We are definitely not naturals in front of the camera, but he guided us through it all and made it so fun and memorable. You can tell how much he cares about his clients and his genuine love for the work he does. My new fiancé and I are so proud to show off these photos to our loved ones and will cherish them forever. If you need a trusted person to handle your photography needs, Chris is definitely your guy.

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.

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!

Nieshka was fabulous. This review is long overdue…read more I took my newborn to her after another photographer stopped responding to me. Nieshka responded immediately and was able to squeeze me in for an appointment for newborn photos. Her in-home studio is fabulous, and she followed COVID-19 protocols. She has every color prop you can imagine. You will be so pleased! Unfortunately, my son was very fussy and cried a lot. Nieshka was still able to capture some gorgeous shots of him. She worked so well with him. I am hoping to have her take his six-month photos because she was awesome!

My wife went there this Saturday for some infant portraits and she had an amazing experience. The…read morephotographer was very professional and patient with our baby girl. Every pose and outfit she recommended were very cute and it reminded us of the Anne Geddes calendars. She had a large selection of outfits and props to chose from. We have to say she has a special touch with children and she herself is a mother. Thanks again for the amazing photos, and we recommend her to anyone who is looking for some baby portraits!! Thanks again, Alicia

Please hire Soil and Sea! They are amazing! Great communication, wonderful photography. They did…read moreour engagement shoot and our wedding and we couldn't be happier. They are unobtrusive and professional while creating dynamite shots (especially with all our bright colored flowers, etc.). We can be nervous and awkward and they got us out of our shells! We thank you so much Carolyn and Brian!

Carolyn was our wedding photographer, and we could not be happier with her! She was on time,…read moreprofessional, and helped keep us so calm. She was super open to our inspiration while also providing her amazing suggestions and advice for how to achieve the shots we wanted. Our pre-wedding call was very organized, and Carolyn was super responsive over text whenever I thought of things I'd forgotten to bring up. Only 12 hours after she left our wedding, we had a sneak peek gallery of 16 gorgeous photos already! I can't wait to see the full gallery, Carolyn's work is incredible. We would book her again in a heartbeat!

How do I even begin to tell you how wonderful Carlie and her husband, Gabe, are?! In a nutshell, if…read moreyou don't use them, you will be so sorry you didn't. They were top notch. So professional, kind, warm and talented. As the mother of the bride, all I wanted was for her to be happy with the photographer. Carlie and Gabe made her very happy!

We went from engagement to wedding in 90 days. Yeah, that fast. Which means that we had to find…read moreeverything and everyone we needed really quickly. And we wanted to make sure every vendor was experienced and understood our vision for the event because we couldn't afford any missteps from amateurs. Even though it was the most important one, because we had three other photographers flake out on us, the last vendor we hired was the photographer. From the moment she called me back, through our first meeting at our house and subsequent emails and conversations prior to hiring her, I knew Carlie was going to be great. Go to her website and you can see for yourself how comfortable she makes people feel. She's warm, real and professional. And unlike some other wedding photographers who are either cookie-cutter hacks or fashion themselves are high-brow (and over-priced) artistic geniuses, Carlie's talented eye is on what matters most -- people, connections and the feelings she captures in the moment. My husband and I are both photography lovers and hobbyists which means three things, we know and appreciate good photography, we have high expectations and we're more comfortable behind the camera than we are in front of it. Carlie exceeded our expectations and made us feel very comfortable in front of the camera. No small feat! We got married on a yacht two weeks ago and had an engagement session done about six weeks ago. I can honestly say that no one has ever shot a better photograph of me than Carlie -- and that was before they were even processed. In fact, from our engagement session there are dozens of photographs that were so good we simply could not decide which we liked best. My very unsentimental 18 year old daughter saw one of them and started crying because she said "it just looks like love". At and after the wedding, several people (guests, the wedding planner, crew and service staff) remarked about how wonderful Carlie was to work with. She and her assistant/husband were everywhere shooting everything, but were never once in the way or obtrusive. She knows her stuff and is a genuinely nice person who was a great addition to our special once-in-a-lifetime day. I would highly recommend her to anyone who wants great photographs for a wedding, special event or portrait session. Be sure to notice and click on the 5 "filtered" reviews for this business. For some reason, Yelp's new auto review filter is hiding legit reviews because they think they're not "real" for some reason. These other glowing reviews (the hidden ones) were there when we checked Carlie out and are very much worth looking at if you're deciding whether or not to hire her.

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

I'm so happy I found Justin!!! We hired him to capture our intimate elopement ceremony and we were…read moreover the moon with him. He was responsive, easy/straightforward to work with, made us feel comfortable during the shoot and was very personable. I really appreciate his easy going personality and he made us feel comfortable during photos and gave us really good poses/pointers. I loved that he would show us little snippets during the shoot to show us how the photos were turning out as well. He was so kind, friendly, professional and all the great things you want in a photographer capturing your special moments. I believe he finalized edits and sends within 3-4 weeks and I can't wait to see. Bonus was that he sent over more than 10 sneak-peaks within 24 hours!!! This was so awesome and we were able to use right away to announce our marriage. All in all, so impressed with Justin. He's a gem and I'm looking forward to continue using him for our future shoots!!

Justin was our photographer for our engagement and wedding. He did a fantastic job for both…read moreevents. For the engagement, Justin met with my husband to scope out potential locations. My husband greatly appreciated Justin's recommendations for photo ideas. For our wedding, Justin and his second photographer were nothing short of amazing. Justin was able to use the venues spaces very creatively and effectively--I was very impressed with Justin's ability to stage us and our family and wedding party without having seen the venues before. The photos made me appreciate the venues in ways I had not thought of. Justin was able to turn around two photographers' and 10 hours worth of photos in 2 weeks. We were very impressed! Justin has a way of making people feel comfortable. That was true of my husband and me, as well as our wedding parties and families. The end result was amazing photos that we love, and our friends and family have told us look great. We are so happy we got to work with Justin and his team!