About this vendor
Hello friends!
I am so happy you are here! I can't wait to meet you!
My name is Kiaya, and I am a wedding photographer and videographer living in Santa Cruz.
If affordability, promptness, attention to detail, adventure, and human connection are all important to you, then you are in just the right place.
Planning a wedding can already be SO stressful at times (or most of the time). I want to create an easy going experience for you, so you can confidently check off this part of the list and know, you will be taken care of. I am genuinely invested in you as a couple and all that you want your wedding day to be, so hopefully you can feel a little more at ease throughout the planning process with me by your side.
I am in the business of capturing Love in its most sincere forms. Real, authentic moments are what creates the most genuine magic inside a photograph. That means when you hire me, you are getting more than a photographer, you are getting a friend too! I don't want you to feel like a stranger is following you around for a whole day, I genuinely want to get to know you, your story, and your values so that I can deliver photos that tell your story and are representative of you guys! My approach helps to capture those real, authentic, candid moments while also making sure that all of your expectations are met. Working with me is a blend between a guided photography experience, where I will coach you with fun prompts and direction to help you feel at ease in front of the camera, and a photojournalistic/documentary approach, where I take a step back while you guys are in the moment and present with one another. I will blend and shift between my two approaches as necessary during your wedding day in order to deliver gorgeous candid photographs that really capture the feeling of the day with a cinematic style.
I aspire to create a warm, empathetic, and comfortable environment that allows you to thrive and be in the moment. I never want you to feel like you have to put on some crazy performance for me to make the photos work. Both magic and art are created when you can simply be yourself, and in order for you to be able to do that I aim to foster the most nurturing environment possible.I am motivated to make sure you feel the presence, warmth, and joy of your day when you get your final gallery!
I want to support you as much as I can through this process! I will work with both you and the wedding planner to help establish a timeline for the day. The most important thing to me is that you are fully able to be present and just enjoy your wedding day- I want to keep things as low stress as possible! The more we talk and iron out the details, the easier it is for me to be in just the right place at just the right time to deliver a stunning finished product.
I cant want to connect and get this party going! Let’s make sure you have a wedding day that you will never forget!
Much love my friends,
Kiaya
Details
Business Attributes
- Pacific Islander-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Bridal Portraits
- Day After Session
- Engagement
- Trash The Dress
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Drone
- Photo
- Printed Enlargements
- Same-Day Edits
- Second Shooter Available
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Documentary
- Dramatic
- Lifestyle
- Modern
- Vintage
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Wedding
- After Party
Awards and Affiliations
2022 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
3.2
out of 5.011 reviews
Very unhappy with the quality of her work. Very nice young girl, though. I expected professional work (my fault for not believing the bad reviews) She's green and still learning......
.
Inexperienced and overpriced for the quality of work received! Pictures were bad (dark)! She was overthinking and confused when taking pics which I found odd for a professional ph...
otographer! I gave this young gal a chance and she fell short! Folks: Go with someone else with more experience and responsive when asking for photo proofs.
Paid her in full for a wedding package a couple thousand dollars She showed up to the wedding as friendly as ever. Great communication..until it stopped, She delivered a small snea...
k peek of wedding photos very quickly. So we were thinking she was amazing… It’s been over a year now since the wedding and we haven’t been able to contact her. She hasn’t returned any calls, texts, voicemails or emails. She never delivered our wedding photo gallery. We don’t have any of the photos from the ceremony or with our family and bridal party. Save yourself from getting scammed. Don’t book with her. Very disappointed we might never get our wedding photos from her.
DO NOT BOOK. We are 17 days away from our wedding. We have not heard from Kiaya since February.
She never gave us our full engagement gallery (photos were taken in February - ...
she said we would have them in 4 to 6 weeks.
It has now been 7 months). We have heard from other couples that she has not given them their full wedding galleries - and they have been waiting over a year. She has ignored every email, phone call, voicemail, and text message.
We already paid her in full and if her silence is any indication, she is not going to refund us. Being this close to the wedding with this level of nonexistent communication indicates she either had no intention of showing up, or was planning to show up completely unprepared. She would not even respond to emails regarding what time she would show up on the wedding day - basic questions needed for timelines for other vendors.
We have had no choice but to start searching for a new photographer less than a month out from our wedding - even if Kiaya showed up, I am doubtful we would ever receive all of our photos.
Kiaya - you clearly need a step back from this. Please do the right thing and stop taking bookings. All you ever had to do was give us a heads up that you weren't going to be able to do this - but instead you chose to say nothing, take our money, and continue to do so to other couples. You have caused us an indescribable amount of stress and put us in an absolutely horrible position financially.
Brides &/or Grooms - Save yourself unnecessary countless restless nights. Book with someone else.
Kiaya was awesome!! Her photos looked like they were something out of a magazine. She was so nice and easy and fun to work with. If you need a wedding photographer, you need to c...
all Kiaya!!
Where do I start? Hiring Kiaya to capture our wedding was the best decision we made during the wedding planning process. She was so kind but also radiated with confidence and was n...
ever afraid to take the reins when we had no clue what we wanted. She was the perfect balance that we needed during the craziness of wedding planning. Every moment that went unnoticed that day was captured perfectly and truly helped us relive our wedding day. Investing in Kiaya was the best decision and now we have life long memories we get to cherish and show generations to come. If you’re considering Kiaya all I can say is Yes! She won’t disappoint and is incredibly delightful to work with. I am constantly looking for reasons to hire her again! If you’re looking for pictures that capture every feeling of your special moment, Kiaya is the one for that job!
Words cant express how much I enjoyed working with Kiaya. From the start she was kind, interested, and laid back yet professional. Kiaya came out to meet us at our venue months pri...
or to our wedding where she walked the site with us and helped us envision our wedding day timeline. From the start, I knew we were in good hands. Prior to our wedding Kiaya sent a professional wedding questionnaire which allowed me to highlight important details that I wanted in my photographs. She asked questions about my preference of aesthetics, essential shots, and important people I wanted photographed. She was so organized throughout this entire process. She showed up at my wedding with this questionnaire on a clipboard. She doesn't miss a beat. Kiaya came to our rehearsal more prepared than I was! She showed up on time and was ready to go! Throughout my wedding I barely knew Kiaya and her crew where there, except when she casually gathered us for family portraits and sunset photos when the lighting was right. Kiaya provided the perfect mix of I am here and I got you, and I know this is your wedding and I will go with your schedule, without allowing you to miss the sunset. When it was time for portraits with my partner and our families Kiaya made it easy and fun. The final products from her and her team continually brings me to tears. The video is beyond what I could've imagined. It beautifully captures our whole day. Kiaya took what I asked for and utilized her creative skills to make a beautiful video that I cherish. She was there without being noticed, but also felt like a bridesmaid-- right there to help me and keep me in line. The way my photos are now organized on her site is super helpful. I have been able to download them to my Google Photos and my personal hard drive. It has been easy for me to use and has allowed me time to organize our photos into my own system. Thank you Kaiya! You captured the best day of my life and became an instant friend. I can't thank you enough! I will be so excited to see you again! Maternity shots?!
MESSAGE TO OTHERS WHO HAVE ALSO HAD SERVICES PAID IN FULL AND THEN NOT RECEIVED WHAT WAS AGREED UPON—— please contact me. Planning on suing. Please email at: katelynpri1@gmail.com
...
Kiaya is a great photographer and was great the day of. I had given her a 5 star review after the wedding and I really hate going back in to change it but I just don’t want more people booking with her that never get their photos.
I gave her payment in full after the wedding and loved my sneak peaks. However, it’s been almost a year and haven’t gotten all my photos yet. But more concerning is I have not gotten a response from her through email, text/ call since a month after the wedding. I would get it if she was behind and needed more time… but I’m worried I’ll never get them. I was able to find her on Facebook and saw someone post asking her if she was okay, and when I messaged them I found out they had also had difficulty communicating with her and had not gotten her photos back after an extensive amount of time. Then I found another couple who had booked with her and she never showed the day of the event despite multiple calls/texts to her. She really is so gifted at what she does… but not sure what’s going on right now. Seems like something in her personal life is impacting work. But I would hate for more people to have to go through this… as it is your wedding& wedding photos. Just be careful. Feel free to text me because I have actually saved some of the conversations I had with other couples that I could share with you. And I know if you search Kiaya on another wedding site (wedding wire) there is another girl there who also posted a similar experience working with Kiaya.
Kiaya was an amazing photographer to work with from the first time I reached out to her online through receiving my wedding photos and video. I think one of the best parts of worki...
ng with Kiaya was how genuine she is as a person first and a photographer. I felt she was really invested in giving me and my husband exactly what we wanted on our wedding day and felt she genuinely cared about our big day as much as we did! Kiaya was very professional, but still very personable. I chose to work with Kiaya because after viewing some of her previous work and seeing the quality of it and the look I was going for in photos. You can also tell she is passionate about what she does, and who wants a burned out wedding photographer who just sees you as another couple!? Kiaya was thorough in everything she did, including identifying the specific shots we wanted on the wedding day, with who and made everything feel very customized to us. I would highly recommend Kiaya to anyone considering her as a photographer for their wedding, engagement shoot, pregnancy shoot and beyond, you will not regret it!!
**LOOK NO FURTHER !!! **
Kiaya went above and beyond from the beginning of our planning to the actual wedding day! She was flexible, accommodating, organized and has such a beauti...
ful spirit. A true breath of fresh air. She captured our love and the love/support from our family and friends beautifully… it shines through each and every one of our pictures.
Not only is she an amazing photographer!! Her presentation represents her work so well! From her website, communication style and let me not ever forget the “app” she creates for each couple she works with. To be able to access my wedding pictures whenever I want from my home screen has got to be the greatest gift. I wish I could give you 10 stars!
Kiaya,
Thank you so much for your support, your craft, and for helping make our day the best one yet. You are truly Heaven sent and I would book you all over again with no hesitation.
If you’re considering Kiaya for your wedding photographer just do it. I cannot express just how amazing she is. She did both our engagement photos and wedding photos and they turne...
d out way better than I could ever imagine. She made the whole process easy and enjoyable. My husband and I are both very shy/awkward people and Kiaya made us feel so comfortable and the photos truly show it. She went above and beyond to make our day extra special. Like I said, if you are considering her, do it!
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