Was given a photography class with Alejandro as a gift, and what a great gift it was! I had…read moreinvested in a nicer digital camera, but hadn't had a chance yet to understand all of its manual adjustments. We went over all the important steps to take before actually taking a photograph, and then we went out to a few locations and practiced different photography situations to bring it all home. It was exactly what I needed as a next step in my photography journey, this has allowed me to move from shooting primarily with my phone, to having the confidence to know I can get a good picture with a dedicated camera.

Alejandro is an attentive and patient teacher and I got a ton out of his introductory lesson. I…read morelook forward to another session with him once I get the hang of my first camera, that he taught me how to use.

We had the pleasure of working with Eric for our wedding photos at SF City Hall, and we couldn't be…read morehappier with the entire experience. From the very beginning, Eric was incredibly responsive and helpful. Even before our shoot, he shared great tips and answered all our questions, which made us feel confident and excited going into the day. On the day of our wedding, Eric showed up early and was extremely professional. His talent and vision were clear right away. My husband and I aren't the most experienced when it comes to posing, but Eric guided us through everything so naturally. One of the best parts? The turnaround time. He sent us a sneak peek of the photos just a few hours after the shoot -- and they already looked amazing! By the next day, he sent over all the unedited photos so we could choose our favorites. The final edits came back in just a week, and you could tell he put a lot of time and effort into each image. If you're looking for a talented, professional, and genuinely kind photographer, I highly recommend Eric. He captured our special day beautifully and made the whole process easy and enjoyable!

Had a wonderful time with my bestie & Eric the photographer & his videographer Gio. Love the…read moreexperience & would do it again. They both were amazing, helpful w poses, easy going, didn't feel rushed.... Palace of fine art was beautiful

My daughter took a teen photography camp with Christina and Photosprouts this summer, and we can't…read morerecommend Christina, the teen camp, and the general program highly enough. Christina introduced the teen campers to key photography skills that allowed my daughter to take her love of taking photos to the next level. Learning aperture size, shutter speed, and how lighting really matters; shooting in lots of different locations; doing documentary photography -- this is short list of highlights my daughter rattled off when I asked her highlights from the class. Christina also managed to pull off a successful class within the context of these unusual COVID times. The class size was small (3 students), and they took safety precautions that made me feel confident about the class from start to finish (wearing masks, washing hands, staying six feet apart). Christina was also an excellent communicator with parents, keeping us updated with new protocols before the camp started, sending us daily notes during the camp week itself, and wrapping it all up afterwards in follow-up communications. She also amazingly shared photos after the camp that she had taken of our daughter, lovely portraits that capture the essence of who my daughter is, in beautiful San Francisco settings. Wow! This was in addition to the hundreds of photos that my daughter had the opportunity to take during the camp, a number of which she edited as a part of a class project, that are finished products she feels proud of. As a final note: Christina has continued to reach out to my daughter with opportunities for ways to keep her love of photography going. She recently invited her to a photo contest with another student in the city that my daughter is excited to experience. Photosprouts has been a silver lining in our lives during shelter-in-place, a wonderful resource that we will always be grateful for. Thank you, Christina, for your creativity and teaching skills that have added so much to my daughter's life these last several months!

I recently finished the Beginner and Intermediate 1-2 workshops at PhotoSprouts. Jordi is an…read moreamazing and incredibly knowledgeable instructor who knows how to break down technical settings so they actually make sense. Photosprouts provides their own mirrorless cameras and lenses for these workshops but you can bring your own as well. I brought my own and Jordi helped a ton with helping set it up and answered tons of my questions about when to use various features. The class structure is a mix of lectures and immediate hands-on exercises. The photowalks during the intermediate sessions were especially useful for applying manual settings to real-world scenes and learning how to compose shots on the fly. Getting that direct practice with my own gear was the biggest takeaway and I walked away with a much better handle on my camera. Highly recommend PhotoSprouts and I plan to take some of the more advanced workshops in the future!

**N.B. This review is based on my experience after having purchased a portrait session on Living…read moreSocial and having just received my photography package today.** Oh boy, my first 5 star review. This never happens. Background: I'm a super infrequent user of online daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social. I've bought under 10 of these types of things in the past few years, for reference, and this purchase was my most expensive. As a full-time working professional, I'm just starting to get back into acting on a hobby basis (unless anyone wants to give me my big break, of course). I'm taking private lessons from an acting coach, but it's really all just for fun at this point. The first thing I was told I'd need if I wanted to be considered for roles at auditions was a nice set of headshots. I understand I could've had a friend take some, but I did want a nice quality set -- I just didn't want to pay upwards of a thousand dollars on something that amounts to a hobby. Enter Living Social and the Ideami Studios deal: for $99 (reg. $500), I'd get a 30 minute outdoor portrait session with 3 photos digitally retouched, a neat magazine cover with quotes of my choosing, and a video of my photo session. Ever cautious, I emailed the merchant before purchasing, with the understanding that I wouldn't purchase the deal if I didn't get a response. I've dealt with Groupon/LS merchants before who treated me a little bit less than respectfully (I'm guessing because they view the discounted deal as me being completely cheap). But no! Within an hour, I had a response back, addressing my questions about the feasibility of using the session for headshots. Owner and photographer Javier Ideami even offered me a better deal after a minor misunderstanding (that was no one's fault) so I got a slightly longer session. My girlfriend purchased a 30 minute session too, and we were scheduled for a shoot within a week of purchasing the deal. Throughout the week leading up to the shoot, Javier was responsive to any questions the two of us had via email (and we had a lot), always responding promptly and politely. A few days before the shoot, he sent us some information with tips on colors to wear, what to do with make-up, etc. The day of the shoot we met on time at a cafe and walked to a nearby courtyard. It was a nice, quiet setting. Javier was friendly and seemed genuinely interested in my girlfriend's and my pursuits and reasoning behind getting our headshots taken. My girlfriend went first and seemed to have a blast, doing a lot of different poses and being her typically outgoing self. Then came my turn. I'm much more reserved, but Javier made me feel really at ease, encouraging me to try different poses, expressions, etc, and talking to me throughout. After my hour, we parted ways with both my girlfriend and me in good spirits. Javier had let us swap out clothing and given his opinion on certain looks without being pushy in the least throughout the session. Two days later (this morning), we had our pictures. Since I was paranoid, I checked out my girlfriend's first (we were emailed the links together as that's how we'd been conversing) and WOW. Javier seemed to pick up on the features that made her unique and beautiful and just amplified them with his digital retouching. The background was also tastefully done and didn't draw attention away from the person in the picture. And her video was adorable. He managed to capture her personality perfectly in a 30 second short. My turn: I'm super nitpicky about my appearance, so I went in expecting to be mildly let down, but wrong again on my part. Apart from one picture I wasn't horribly fond of (blame goes to my dopey expression entirely as the retouching was just as good as the rest of them), I was stunned by how much I really loved the shots he chose to retouch for me. He picked a great variety of angles and colors. And there was my shy personality, right before me, except it looked appropriate in the pictures. Professional. Appealing. I was really pleased. Then to top it off (because Javier is the friendliest professional photographer on earth, it seems), Javier included a couples picture of my girlfriend and me as a gift at no cost as a thanks for the fun session. Incredible. Here's this professional photographer who's treating our $99 Living Social deals like we'd paid him his normal $500. There was no sense that he looked down on the fact that we were paying so much less. This photo session was an absolutely positive experience. I told my girlfriend earlier today it'd be a dream to have Javier be our wedding photographer sometime down the road. I liked him that much. Without question, I'll be recommending him to anyone I know who's looking for a photographer, as well as returning whenever I'm in need of new photos. His easy-going, friendly, and professional nature really made the experience memorable for the two of us.

I purchased a 30 minute outdoor photo shoot with Ideami Studios, as I am currently a producer of…read moreelectronic dance music and owner of LANYX Sound Factory (an independent record label in SF bay area). I was looking for a local professional photographer that I can partner with to take pro portraits to use for new artist profiles, releases, websites, and promotion. Javier is an efficient, professional photographer that delivers exceptional high quality photos. I am extremely pleased with his work and have used the photos on my website. If you want to see his work then check them out at www.lanyxsf.com/artists.html Definitely will be using Javier and Ideami Studios for LANYX Sound Factory! Rich

I was positively dreading having my headshots taken, but that feeling quickly faded as soon as I…read moremet Jeff. He has a calming demeanor that is both professional and friendly. I felt comfortable and relaxed during the shoot. What a surprise! The photos turned out great and appealed to me on an artistic level. This isn't your typical headshot, it is much better. Jeff captured the vibe I was hoping to portray. I feel confident now that potential clients will understand me and my business better now that the headshot matches the person. Thank you, Jeff!!

Recently got professional headshots with Jeff. He was super communicative leading up to the day and…read moreinstructions were clear of how to pick photo options. It was my first time getting them done professionally and he helped me feel comfortable and is a true pro. I would highly recommend for everyone, loved a lot of the shots he took. Thank you Jeff!

When my now husband and I were looking for a photographer, we made a tier list. After lots of…read moreweeding out of mediocre photographers, we narrowed our selections down to two. We resolved to contact the last two to see which one we wanted to go with. From the minute I first met Avery on zoom, I knew that I wanted to work with him. Not only are his photos phenomenal and extremely cinematic, they are somehow able to tell a story in the photo. I felt moved looking at some of his albums and I wondered how he was able to do that. When we actually got to working with him on our wedding day, I understood his process: He actually knows how to pose a model and gives clear instructions on where to put your hand, when to tilt head down, where to look, etc. This is what I was specifically looking for, as I've had some photographers who were just 'okay' that snapped away but gave no direction as to what to do. I think this is the mark of an excellent photographer and one who has clearly done many weddings. My butt looks great in all the photos. :) Also, I feel like I would qualify as a quirky bride, and he totally embraced that and took photos of my multiple plushies. That's a +100 in my book.

Quick to take our money but failed to fulfill our contract…read more We hired Avery to shoot our engagement and wedding. The package we selected includes engagement pics and video, wedding pics and video, and album. My wife and I got married on Sept 3rd 2022, and we still haven't received the album or wedding videos. Unable to contact him because he pretty much ghosted us. His IG is active, but he doesn't respond to our inquires or even respond to our contact attempts. Think twice before hiring him

We hired Mark and his team for our wedding in November 2019 and he was absolutely amazing…read more We had honestly been hesitant looking for one because all these wedding videos end up looking the same and we were after a unique style that captured not our true personality and our casual theme for the wedding as well. We had looked at the previous videos he and his team had done and we knew instantly this was the team we wanted capturing our day. Along the way, he was always very helpful and communicative when we needed him. We were even able to sit down with him and plan out what we were after early on to help give him all the information he needed. But really, he knew more than we did so we trusted his vision and plan. When the day finally arrived, he came in and did his thing! He was on time, he kenw exactly what he needed and where he needed to be. It was great not needing to stress about the logistics for that. My husband and I definitely are not used to being in front of the camera at all but he guided and helped us so we didn't look as awkward. He also worked extremely well with our photographer and the end results were beyond what we expected. It's true what they say, you can do all the planning and prepping but when the day comes, it's just going to fly by - no one will notice the hiccups, you'll barely get to eat, and before you know it the day will be over. That's exactly what happened but we had so much fun that the glimpses of memories we had were enough - or so we thought. When he gave us our highlight film, we were thrilled because he captured every moment we hoped for and then some! It definitely gave us "the feels" and he could not have done a better job. We can't wait to see the full video! We'd definitely hire him again if we have another big life event to film :) Thank you Mark and team for capturing our day just as we remember it!

If you are looking for a talented and outgoing videographer for your next event, then Mark is your…read moreguy! It's quite stressful looking for the perfect person that you can trust for your event. You need someone that understands what you want, someone that is passionate and caring. Mark has the ability to envision exactly what you want and bring that vision into reality. I have yet to meet someone as creative and talented as Mark. He's very easy going and easy to work with. I highly recommend choosing Mark for your next event, I know I will!

Josh is literally so amazing and knows exactly how to make you feel confident and to love the skin…read moreyou're in! Thanks so much Josh for making this experience so fun and easy! Appreciate you so much!!! Can't wait to see the photos!

- Edelson Photography took photos for our entire lab of 100+ people and despite the sheer number of…read morepeople, he managed to make the entire process of viewing, choosing, and requesting edits seamless! - The end result was pretty epic. In fact, I was so happy with it, it's my profile picture for Yelp! (click on my profile, it's that one) - Josh was also very friendly and approachable, made the actual photo session pretty fun! I would recommend Josh in a heartbeat. Once I get a haircut, I'm going to go back and get another photo...