Hellena is incredible and is essential for any wedding (or event)!

We intentionally searched for a wedding photographer with experience working with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ couples. From our initial introductory call over Zoom, we felt an immediate connection with Hellena - and were confident she'd be able to capture the moments most meaningful to us.

In the months and weeks leading up to the wedding, Hellena provided recommendations and suggestions for how we could best structure our day, and was a critical voice in helping us finalize our day-of wedding schedule.

The day of the event, she seamlessly became an organic part of our broader wedding party. She helped to ensure we stuck to our schedule, gave firm yet kind direction when coordinating all of the necessary photos, and immediately put us at ease.

She created a sweet video reel for us and all of the photos she took were amazing. Her eye for timing, for serendipitous moments, and for special must-have shots was impeccable. We were very emotional when we looked through our wedding photos for the first time.

I genuinely cannot share enough praise for Hellena.

Hellena, GRACIAS POR TODO! Not only are her skills behind the camera incredible, she's also one of the nicest people we've met! We literally cried when we were going though our wedding photos. She captured the energy and you can see the love and care she took to get every important moment. She captured all the wedding decor/details, candid pictures of our friends and family, and the most angelic pictures of us. We couldn't have asked for a better person to trust on our big day. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.

Hellena is absolutely amazing— she is so talented!! She is also just so enjoyable to be around and I was amazed at how well she understood our vibe/what we wanted. She photographed my husband and my 30 person wedding and every time I look at the photos I feel all of the joy and coziness of that day. We had such a fun time taking couples shots at Mt Tam, and Hellena made us feel so comfortable; at the same time she took lovely candid shots of our ceremony and celebration. Our family and friends cannot stop talking about how well she captured our day. Highly highly highly recommend working with her!!

We combed through WeddingWire, TheKnot, Reddit, Instagram, and asked married friends for recommendations when we started looking for a photographer; we knew that photography quality was high on our list of wedding priorities so we looked at a LOT of portfolios, websites, Instagram accounts, bios, and so on to find photographers that matched styles we both liked and had values and a personality that aligned with us.

I made a shortlist of about 5 photographers I really loved that were roughly around the budget we set, sent the list to my partner and he ranked them in his preferred order. We sent emails out to 3 photographer who all got back to me and were super lovely; since Hellena was both of our top choice based on what we had researched, we scheduled a Zoom call with her. She was quick to respond and the initial virtual meet was easy and nice!

We absolutely LOVED her right away after the Zoom call (30 minutes, asked a ton of questions we had listed out beforehand) and went straight to booking after that call. We really loved her style and her vibe and she seemed really easy going and open/transparent about everything during our call.

We just had our engagement shoot done and as someone who doesn't really like having photos taken or doesn't believe myself to be photogenic, it was such a fun experience, even though I totally tripped during the session and completely fell forward. Hellena has been super flexible and a really awesome person all around. We've openly communicated and stayed in touch over the months since we booked her to make sure we were all comfortable and healthy and open to the locations we wanted to shoot at. We rescheduled our engagement shoot date and location and also worked with my hair and makeup artist to schedule my trial the same day, so everything worked out.

I am beyond excited to work with Hellena again for our wedding and our anniversary shoot, and hope to be able to book her again in the future for more life happenings and milestones after marriage!

We worked with Hellena (and second shooter, Jamie) for our wedding in the Bay Area and it was an amazing experience! This was a bit of a destination wedding for us, but we were able to meet with her and walk around the venue together well before the wedding to plan. Leading up to the wedding, we checked in 1-2 times to review the timeline and photo list (and she gave us some excellent suggestions on both). On the wedding day, Hellena was punctual and an extremely calming and comforting presence. She made sure our needs as a couple were met (including making sure we were hydrated and well-fed) throughout the day. We received sneak peeks about a week after the wedding, and expect to get the rest in the next couple of weeks. Hellena is courteous, warm and very talented. She made our wedding extra special!

We loved working with Hellena. We live pretty far from her (1:30), and she was extremely accommodating, straightforward, and prompt. she's a great communicator and delightfully kind and funny while also being extremely professional. For our engagement photos, we wanted to go to a waterfall deep in a nearby creek, and she climbed all the way down there with us and was an absolute trooper. She knew just how to pose us and when to let us do our thing. On our wedding day, I was SO GRATEFUL to her because she drove us everywhere, got us away from the crowd when I really needed a break, and when it was time for family photos... she was ON IT. She got everyone where they needed to be so quickly. It was a breeze when it could have taken an hour. And of course if all that wasn't enough, her photos are gorgeous. Dramatic. Sensitive. Personal. She's a delight to work with, and her work quality and ethics are fantastic. Hellena is not someone trying to rip you off cause you're getting married. She genuinely loves her craft, and it shows.

Hellena is not only a wonderful photographer but also an amazing person. She captured so many wonderful moments for us to be able to enjoy for the rest of our lives. I absolutely loved working with Hellena and I am so incredibly happy I found her! She was very responsive to my texts and understanding of my situation - my father is terminally ill and we had to make special accommodations, in order to have him share the day with us, which Hellena was more than willing to help me with. I was able to get some photos with my father at his bedside which was very important to me. She also helped us set up a tripod so we could have our virtual guests watch the ceremony via zoom. Hopefully one day soon we’ll be able to hire her for a maturity shoot - fingers crossed! 🥰

Hellena was one of our favorite wedding vendors to work with. Our photos are beautiful! She was super responsive, thoughtful and helpful through out the entire process. One of my favorite things about Hellena is that she was very present and quick to respond to my messages and calls. This makes a big difference when planning an event. She's also calm, warm and naturally easy to relate with. Both our families are predominately Spanish speakers so they were very happy that Hellena is bilingual. They really loved her personability. I would definitely hire Hellena again :)

My husband and I first met Hellena to do our engagement photos 3 years ago. She is so kind, warm, and personable she helped us feel comfortable right away. We spent the entire session laughing. Walking back to the car and without even seeing the finished product we knew we wanted her do our wedding, thats how good she is. Since the she quickly become our family photographer, doing our wedding, pregnancy announcements, maternity, and soon our first family photos.

Couldn't recommend her more highly.

Hellena is the absolute best! She went above and beyond to photograph our last minute elopement. We are so grateful to have found her and will cherish her beautiful photos for a lifetime. She is extremely professional, responsive, creative, and we just cannot thank her enough!