I was fortunate to have met Akiko at a dear friend's wedding. The photos from their wedding were absolutely beautiful! My friend has continued to use Akiko since then for photos of her children. So when it was time to pick out a photographer for our wedding, there wasn't any question that it should be Akiko.

Our wedding took place in Santa Barbara county, at our friend's home. She did such an amazing job capturing the outside beauty, and of course capturing our day. Her pictures showed emotions that are heartwarming to look at; the first time I looked at our proofs, it brought me to tears and it was absolutely wonderful to relive that day through her photos.

I know that in years to come, I and others will look at our photos and see how much fun that day was. Thank you so very much, Akiko!

I am please to recommend Akiko Photo to you.
Akiko photographed a party we held to celebrate our daughter’s wedding. Because our daughter was still living overseas, I had the responsibility of planning her celebration in California.
When I interviewed Akiko, I was impressed by her warmth and attention to all of my questions. She also offered to provide us with a video of the photos she would take at our party. I particularly liked this idea.
Our party was held at Hidden Villa last month. Akiko captured it beautifully. My daughter and her husband were so pleased. She photographed all the highlights—from start to finish and yet she had the time to take a series a beautiful shots of just the two of them. They are simply radiant in those pictures, so in love, and yet their unique personalities shine through.
Additionally, Akiko took the shots we requested of particular family groupings, in the most unobtrusive way. She also took shots of the little things—the flowers, food, and the farm animals grazing in the adjacent field.
Anyone seeing our photos can see what a joyful day it was for all of us. How terrific we all look! I know we will treasure them always.
Akiko is a real pro. I am certain you will be as pleased as we were with her services.
Sincerely,


Terese Tricamo

We were referred by Christine's brother and sister-in-law, who went to Akiko a year earlier for their pre-wedding photography. It so happens that Akiko was available during our visit to San Francisco last December. The initial discussion went pretty easy; we picked three places that we think would be suitable for our pre-wedding photo shoot and Akiko gave us an estimate on how long it would take to complete the photo shoot. I must say that Akiko is quite well-versed in those locations, so she helped us arrange the logistics, down to the minute detail of where to park in each location - definitely a plus point on the day!
Both Christine and I were quite nervous about posing in public and we were pretty tense and self-conscious at our first location. Akiko tried her best to make us feel more comfortable, but it took us a while to get used to pose in public. She has her own special way of making us feel comfortable in the end and we really enjoyed our photo session! She kept giving us encouragements and showing us a few poses to try. I think the most important thing was that she never forced us to position or pose in a certain way that is not natural to us. By the time we reached our second location, we were quite comfortable with posing in public and I guess Akiko also steered us away from the crowd so that we would be more comfortable. We really enjoyed our pre-wedding photography with Akiko and we never knew that this could be so much fun!
Another thing that impressed us the most was Akiko's dedication to taking the best pictures for us. We previously agreed to have a two-hour photography session, but due to the length of our photo sessions, she added extra time!!! Akiko was quite insistent that we took some extra pictures at the end of the day, even though it was way over the two-hour limit! It's just amazing that Akiko treats this not as just another job, but you can really tell how passionate is she in ensuring shooting the best pictures for her clients. And those 'extra shots' turn out to be one of our favorites photos!
If you're a prospective clients of Akiko and you're reading this, then we'll say "Don't worry, you're in good hands with Akiko and you'll have a lot of fun that day!" . Thank you Akiko!