Kate Sent on 05/26/2016

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Ken and Brady have been amazing to work with and the photos are more stunning than I could have ever imagined! They captured some of the most precious and raw moments at my wedding and I am forever grateful. Not to mention everyone looks beautiful in the photos! I am very particular and they worked with me on every angle. I saw their wedding album at the venue we chose and it instantly sparked our interest. After meeting them and viewing the their endless talent, it was an easy choice for both my new husband and I (and my husband is big into photography, so as picky I am, he can be even harder to please). I could go on and on, but simply put if you are debating between photographers or still searching, stop now and just choose Duende, you won't be disappointed! I should mention too they were there ALL DAY, 12 hours and were so sweet and nice. Most photographers keep you on a tight 8hr time frame which isn't enough to capture all the precious moments, you never know when they'll come up! Well Ken and Brady were there to capture it all.

Jennifer Sent on 01/24/2016

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We were very fortunate to find Brady and Anne for our Yosemite wedding photographers. We are from Kansas City and were married in Yosemite National Park. Brady and Anne were extremely knowledgeable about Yosemite and the many great locations they helped us choose for our wedding pictures. The sites they took us to doubled as an incredible scenic tour of Yosemite's many wonderful sites. It was a very wonderful experience that we will always remember and cherish.

Jimmy Sent on 11/23/2015

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Brady and Ken are very professional, responsive, and helpful. We developed good personal relationship and they provided many valuable suggestions to the whole wedding day other than their high quality photography job. I highly recommend them for your wedding if you are looking for San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographers.

Stephanie Sent on 10/25/2015

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My husband and I were married in Yosemite on July 8, 2015 ... at 11:30 (am).
I have to say, I'm not a bubbly person...nor am I a wedding person (I never fix my hair and hate makeup). So, with that being said, I was very nervous about working with two women taking pictures all day (I don't like having my picture taken either). My husband is the same way. HOWEVER...Brady and Ann were extremely professional and within minutes I was completely at ease with both of them. By the time the wedding and group pictures were over and we were about to caravan around the park, my husband told them to hop in the truck and just ride with us. So, needless to say, we were super excited that our personalities meshed so well! By the end of the day, we really didn't want to leave them! We had so much fun the entire day!
They took us all over the park and to places we hadn't been to yet. And even though it rained on us, she had an extra umbrella (good thing because I forgot mine) and she continued taking pictures.

If you're getting married in Yosemite, you should definitely use Ken and Brady! I requested one specific picture that I saw on their website (the black and white photo with the couple walking in a meadow in front of Half Dome), and Brady got it....perfectly! I can't express how pleased I am with their professionalism AND the quality of the photos. Brady knows and loves Yosemite, and she did a great job working with the natural lighting and clouds.

Oh! And, since I'm in Alabama, we communicated primarily through email...which was also a pleasant experience. I could tell through her emails that she was very professional because she didn't use an excessive amount of exclamation marks or "emojis".

I know I haven't hit every question you might have, so feel free to contact me and I'll try my best to answer your question(s)!

Ann Sent on 09/28/2015

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Ken and Brady of Yosemite Wedding Photographers are a husband and wife team that know photography and Yosemite inside and out. We did not have a wedding planner, and they were very helpful in discussions before the wedding with planning and setting up the day. They had great advice on how long things would take and what we could fit into the day without being overstretched. One big advantage is that you get both of them for the whole day, there were no time limits so much less stress. Their prices were very reasonable compared with other photographers we looked at. We ended up hiring them for a second day shoot so that we could spend more time with the guests at the reception. This ended up being a great idea because we were able to re-suit up and do a great photo shoot the next day in a relaxed, fun way. The photos were so great, our biggest problem was how to choose which ones to go in the album! We highly recommend Yosemite Wedding Photographers.

Patricia Sent on 09/16/2015

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Yosemite Wedding Photographers/Duende Photo were Phenomenal. Brady and Ken were our amazing photographers providing wonderful photographs and service throughout the entire experience. Especially on the day all went so well in spite of crazy weather. Our communications and planning were with Brady who was professional, enthusiastic and a joy to work with!
Details were all taken care of from our first contact initiated through their website, throughout the planning and preparation to the most memorable day for our family and friends. The silver lining to our cloudy day with a little rain was amazing color captured so artistically. When you go to their website you may think how could we get those amazing photographs of our day..... You can!!!! That is what I thought but Brady and Ken delivered! Professional and considerate in all their service, you will be pleased with the memories so remarkably captured.

Mother of the Groom,
Patricia Daly
Tracy-Daly Wedding
Ahwahnee Hotel
Yosemite National Park

Jennifer Sent on 10/02/2012

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I absolutely love the dynamic photo duo of Ken Mendoza and Brady Thomas. These two are such amazing wedding photographers and I can say this with confidence even though we haven't gotten our wedding photos yet.

We met with Ken & Brady about a year and a half ago when we started the process of planning our wedding. They were both so friendly and thoroughly answered all of our many questions. Our consultation was almost an hour and a half long! We were very impressed with their photography style, their albums, and with them in general and we knew they would be the perfect fit for our wedding.

In terms of value, their prices are very fair compared to other high-end wedding photographers. I know that Ken is an award-winning photographer, but their prices are still lower than other photographers and their work is much better in my opinion. We were able to customize our photography package to include a wedding album, prints, all-day photography, and an after-shoot. Our quote for all of this was quite reasonable.

Brady was great about responding to my many emails and provided some suggestions for our day-of wedding timeline. And I have to mention that we made it kind of hard for them because we had a very long photo shot list and a limited amount of time to take pictures. Ken & Brady were such professionals. My family and friends were very impressed with Ken's ability to get the perfect shot and Brady's expertise at posing. They had an iPad where we could see some of the photos and even though they were untouched, they were amazing. Ken & Brady stayed early for the getting ready shots until the late hours of the night when my now-husband and I made our grand exit. They were so amazing to work with and we can't wait to see all of the professional wedding pictures. We would highly recommend Duende Photo as a wedding photographer!

Monica Sent on 01/26/2013

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My sister found Duende through Yelp after conducting a thorough search for photographers that had rave reviews & whose website gallery showed an impressive collection of wedding photos.After meeting with K&B, our minds were at ease knowing that we were in good hands & our wedding photos were going to be amazing.They far exceeded our already very high expectations! It was important that we captured the traditional photos of the day but, especially wanted unique shots on our wedding day & during a Day After Photo Tour at our fav landmarks in San Fran(made at their suggestion instead of doing engagement photos).K&B were far and above our favorite vendors from our wedding! They are true masters of their craft! They are so easy to work with, reliable (called when they said they would, made appointments to meet & were very flexible with our busy schedules) highly skilled, fun, relaxed and good-hearted people to boot. Family and friends have commented non-stop on the stunning photos they captured both on our wedding day and during our Day after Photo Tour (seriously-we showed a slide show of our photos at a 2nd wedding reception we had in Canada and there were audible oo, ahs, wows & gasps). We wanted to take photos at some of our favorite landmarks around San Fran and we had such a blast getting back into our wedding day attire to do this. It made the wedding day less hectic (photos by the venue only that day) and the photos they captured are true pieces of art. I strongly recommend you do this! One thing I noticed, about every other photographer we looked at, was that they charged by the hour. K&B said their coverage was unlimited & relaxed. They certainly delivered on this and it made ALL the difference. They showed up early to capture pre-wedding preparations & they were the last two to leave the wedding reception making sure every possible shot was taken & captured to recreate our special day.Thank you K&B for making our wedding portfolio dreams come true :)

Erica Sent on 12/08/2010

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Wonderful. Ken and Brady have truly set the precedent for what it means to be a photographer in this industry. They captured my wedding day perfectly. They were patient, professional, and FUN. I didn't even notice they were there most of the day. They delivered the proofs, as promised and on time. My friends and family are still raving about the pictures that they took, and can't wait to order prints from them. In addition to being a bride, I'm also a wedding and event planner and am very particular about who I choose to work with. But the fact that I entrusted them to shoot my own wedding should say enough. I highly recommend them, you won't be sorry.

Kelly Sent on 03/13/2011

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I could not have asked for a more perfect wedding photographer to so purely and beautifully capture the essence of how happy we felt as we stood before our closest friends and family to exchange our vows. Duende's artful combination of photojournalism and traditional wedding photography was perfect and turned out to be exactly what I didn't even know I wanted :)

When I look at our photos I relive the joy of our wedding day and the really magical thing about it is that I get to see it not only through my eyes, but through the eyes of our friends and family. With all of the fancy digital technology in cameras these days any decent professional wedding photographer can take satisfactory pictures of all the traditionally important moments of a ceremony and reception. In my experience, what makes Ken and Brady at Duende so special is that they captured those expected moments perfectly and then delighted me by catching so many unexpected vignettes in between. All of those in between moments that I didn't even know I wanted, but Ken and Brady so intuitively captured anyway are the photos I find I love the most.

When albums by other wedding photographers are shared with me there is usually something that I think is very important missing: what was happening where you weren't and when you weren't looking? For example some of my favorite and most touching photos from our wedding are of our friends and family watching the ceremony. Most wedding photography I see doesn't capture this because the photographer is completely focused on the couple. With the point of view of 2 amazing photographers that we got in the team of Ken and Brady our wedding was captured from many perspectives that would otherwise have been lost. Having 2 photographers was also great for getting both wide and close angles and for moments like the bouquet toss...I don't know anyone else who has such great photos of both themselves tossing and the guests catching. These may seem like little things, but when I sit down to peek at or share our wedding photos I deeply appreciate them.
Friends and family who weren't able to make it to the wedding, but visited the online galleries that Ken and Brady made for us have repeatedly told me that our photos are so great and vivid that they felt like they got to share in the day from afar.

Can you tell that I LOVE how our wedding photos turned out? :)

I'll stop gushing after sharing one last, but I think very important thing: in addition to delivering technically stunning and beautiful photos that I love even more than I expected to, Ken and Brady were beyond fabulous and comfortable to work with. This is critical because, although it is obvious in hindsight, it didn't occur to me in the midst of planning craziness that your wedding photographer is always nearby and shares some of the most intimate parts of your wedding day with you. They aren't just another vendor who does their job and then is gone. You need to like them and you need to be confident that they can capture your day perfectly without imposing or distracting you from it. At this Ken and Brady are masters...practically ninja-like. I hardly knew they were there unless I needed them or Brady was doing double-duty as an eagle-eyed stylist to adjust something quickly to make a shot perfect.

I have been wholeheartedly recommending Duende and singing their praises to anyone I know who is planning a wedding in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland, and beyond so I'm thrilled to tell you about them too! They're simply amazing and I want every couple to be as happy with their wedding photography as I am.

Jacob Sent on 03/13/2011

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Ken and Brady shot our wedding and our entire experience with them from preparation & engagement shoot to the wedding day to receiving our album and prints was 100% fantastic.

There are a few things that set them above the competitors we considered:

1) Ken's style of photography includes more than just mastery of traditional, mainstream wedding work. While he's experienced and completely capable at classical portraiture, he is also trained and experienced in photojournalism and landscape work. He got a few special shots at out wedding that are different and better than anything I've seen in friends' albums. Candid unscripted shots of preparation and special moments with friends and family and also stunning wide shots that captured the beauty and feeling of our outdoor location.

2) Brady has a gift for planning and professional organization. I was impressed by her detail-oriented thoughtfulness; during a meeting before our wedding she asked to see photos of the friends and family members closest to us so she could know who to focus on besides us and when we were talking through the wedding play-by-play she was able to help with details down to which way we faced during the ceremony to catch the best light.

3) Working with two professional photographers who have extensive experience shooting together was a treat. They have an instinct and rhythm together, during important moments they knew where to be to catch the same shot from different angles and when things got busy they split up to catch all the action. I was especially impressed (and a few guests also commented) that they managed to always be with us, and sometimes be in two places at once, but never be imposing or in the way. This is something you might not get with a pro photographer and a less experienced assistant. Besides your partner, your photographer is probably the person you spend the most time with on your wedding day, and with Ken and Brady that experience was completely comfortable and enjoyable.

The quality of their work is artistic and gorgeous, the style of their work is extraordinary, and the experience of working with Ken and Brady for our wedding photography was professional and enjoyable.

Jeff Sent on 03/10/2011

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Ken & Brady are a unique husband and wife photography team specializing in outdoor weddings held in the San Francisco Bay Area as including Napa and Yosemite. They both have exceptional eyes and calm/friendly personalities. Ken & Brady do not use associate photographers so you will always work with one or both of them personally. Hire them and you will love the results.

PS: Ken is not only a wedding photographer but also shoots business and family portraiture. A friend of mine hired him to shoot a portrait for a dating site and the results were stunning: photographically and socially!

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