Hands down best photographer for all your special moments!! We have used Maya for a maternity shoot, pregnancy announcement shoot with a toddler and a newborn shoot with a toddler and she is as good as it gets. Not only is she incredibly talented and has the most dreamy results, but she is also well priced, prompt with the photo returns and provides a handful of favorites super quickly. She also has always been very flexible with us when we have had to reschedule and is just overall a very kind & patient soul. She takes her time during shoots to ensure we never feel rushed and gives great direction to capture the most beautiful moments. I've loved every shoot she's done for us! She even made my toddler's tantrum-filled shoot look good which is quite the challenge. Maya is an absolute gem and I cannot recommend her highly enough! read more

If you are looking for a wedding photographer, look no further than Maya. We hired Maya to capture our wedding and I am so thankful we found her. During the inquiry and set up process, communication was effortless and professional. She was responsive to questions and had a clear guide on how the planning process works. We loved that her pricing included travel from San Diego to Santa Barbara, as well as a complimentary engagement shoot. Maya had good insight into where our engagement shoot should (or shouldn't be) and was easy going when we suggested a place she hadn't shot before. The day of the engagement shoot felt like hanging out with a close friend. She made the experience fun and memorable. Nick and I aren't super comfortable in front of a camera, but she worked with us and gave us natural poses. The turn around time on the engagement shoot was super fast! Not the mention the previews we received within 24 hours. These photos are something out of a fairy tale. She captured the emotions and visuals beyond any of my expectations. I seriously need to invest in a digital frame because I cannot pick just one or two of these photos to hang in my home. Fast forward to our wedding day. Maya showed up to the first location early. She was a calming presence in an otherwise chaotic morning. She needed very little direction on what needed to be shot, besides the location of the detail items. I let her work her magic and trusted everything would come out amazing. After the ceremony, I was tired, physically and emotionally but Maya managed this so well. She helped us navigate the competition for photoshoot locations in the busy SB courthouse. She then helped me bustle my complicated dress and took the stroll with us to the reception site. Her and her second shooter, Nia, did an amazing job of navigating traffic while we took pictures in the middle of state street. And Nia helped us wrangle family members needed to specific shots. Nia and Maya brought such a balanced energy to the event. I am writing this review early, as my wedding was only a week ago, but the previews I received brought me and my family to tears. The moments she managed to capture will be treasured forever. There's one photo in particular of me hugging my Uncle right after the ceremony, who I'm very close with, but don't have many photos with. This will forever be framed in my heart. The pictures of me and Nick cutting the cake look like they belong in Vogue! Anyways, you need Maya as your wedding photographer. Besides marrying Nick, hiring Maya was the best decision I could have made for our wedding. read more

Maya is truly the best wedding photographer you can possibly book - I met her when she shot my sister's wedding a few years ago, and she made such a great impression with her friendly, kind, calm demeanor and beautiful photos. I was so lucky to win an engagement shoot with her a few months after getting engaged myself, and as soon as we got our sneak peeks (I think.. 5 hours later?! Incredibly fast!) we knew we needed her as our wedding photographer too. My now-husband and I are super awkward behind the camera, but Maya made us feel so comfortable and gave us plenty of suggestions on how to pose that felt natural. We wound up having to reschedule our wedding to a few months later, and Maya was the first person we contacted - I refused to book a day she wouldn't be available for - and she was so easy and accommodating in switching us to the new date. Fast forward to our wedding last month in Indio, and I can not sing Maya's praises enough. She showed up early, brought a second shooter, and was the perfect friendly face to spend all day with. She got through family portraits quickly, worked with all our various ideas, and captured every magical moment of the day perfectly. Our timeline ran so late and behind schedule, and Maya was so easygoing and stayed until she felt like she got all the pictures. We got our sneak peeks less than 24 hours later, and our full gallery a month after the wedding - which is incredibly impressive considering how much footage I'm sure she had to work with. My husband and I were in tears reliving the best day of our lives through her lens and I can't begin to put into words how much her pictures have meant to us. She captured all the smiles and tears and got footage of so many of our close friends and family that we will cherish forever. Don't hesitate for a second to book Maya! I can't wait to book her for maternity and family shoots in the future, or use really any excuse to work with her! read more

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Maya is hands down the best! Not only does she take stunning photos, she is so nice, down to earth, flexible and easy to work with! She has taken our wedding pictures and family pictures with our baby. My husband and I are not the most comfortable being photographed and she has made us feel very at ease guiding us through poses that felt natural. We refer her to all our friends and family! We love Maya! read more

Maya was the MOST perfect photographer we could have hired for our wedding day. She is sweet, kind, and extremely professional, not to mention fantastic at what she does! Maya showed up early, was communicative before and after our wedding, and braved the 100 degree heat of Palm Springs like a champ when taking our photos!! We loved our engagement photos with here, and we love the preview we received THE DAY AFTER our wedding even more!! Maya captured the best day of our lives in such a beautiful way, we could not be more excited or thrilled to see the entire day. We highly recommend Maya for your wedding day photography. You will not regret it! read more

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Maya was kind enough to adapt to our changing plans with the pandemic this year! She drove out to Pioneer, CA to photograph our very small wedding. She was more than helpful throughout the day in addition to her photographer duties! Absolutely wonderful to work with, and I hope we will be seeing her again for future family photos. Thank you, Maya! read more

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My husband and I are completely floored by the talent Maya has! She has such an eye for detail and can make you look good in ANY lighting, rain or shine (it rained at our wedding!). My husband used to do wedding photography himself and even HE can't believe how good Maya is at what she does! Not only is Maya talented, but she is sweet, humble, and personable -- working with her felt like hanging out with a friend (which is great because she makes you feel so comfortable in front of the camera)! We LOVED meeting her in person during our engagement shoot and truly felt as though she was a close friend by the day of our wedding! Maya is an amazing person through and through. She WANTS the best for her clients, going ABOVE and BEYOND to make sure they are happy with her work! When we first sat down to plan our wedding, we KNEW wedding photos were the ONE thing we would not compromise on. Thank goodness we found Maya! She was HANDS DOWN the best decision we made for our wedding -- our wedding pictures are beyond perfection and we will cherish them for so many years to come. My husband and I plan on recommending her to all our friends because we KNOW good photogs are hard to come by! Thank you, thank you, thank you Maya! read more

To put it simply, Maya is the best photographer you could ever book for your engagement or wedding! When hoping for a Yosemite engagement shoot, I stumbled across Maya on instagram and THANK GOD I did! Not only did our engagement photos come out better than I could have asked, Maya was so incredibly kind and easy to work with, even for camera shy people like us. When we got our engagement pictures back, I knew that I had no choice but to cancel our current wedding photographer, and book Maya. Echoing what I have already mentioned, the previews that Maya sent from our wedding are stunning and we are so excited to see our full album. If you are on the fence about booking Maya, DO IT!!! Best decision we could have made :) read more

We worked with Maya in November for our elopement/small courthouse wedding and she was absolutely amazing. From the time I first contacted her she was so responsive and helpful with all of my questions. Maya helped make our day special and captured so many sweet moments. We also added on a next day photo shoot that was so much fun! I highly recommend her. Can't wait for future shoots! read more

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Maya does such stunning work! She did a great job in capturing our Yosemite elopment. She is definitely someone who feels like a friend and helps make even the camera shy couples comfortable. Very flexible and cooperative throughout read more

Maya Lora Photography - Session Photography Near Me

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Seriously The BEST! I am so glad Maya took our family photos. I am obsessed with how they came out. She is reliable and super easy to talk to. My husband and I are awkward picture takers and she was able to guide us and get some fantastic photos. Can't wait to use her again! p.s. I work in the wedding industry where I meet photographers all the time and her work is the best yet! read more

Maya did our engagement pictures and they came out better than I could have imagined! It was raining that day and I was definitely worried that would effect the photos, but that was no problem for Maya! I literally wouldn't change a thing about the photos, location or the weather! I would highly recommend Maya, she was a pleasure to work with and I will definitely use her again in the future!!! read more

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Maya was wonderful to work with. We hired her to photograph our wedding, and we are very happy with our decision. Before the wedding Maya was great with keeping in contact about what our day was going to look like, what we wanted to be photographed and everything in between. Since we live out of state everything had to be done over the phone, or email. When I finally met her in person on my wedding day, it was like I already knew her. She showed up on time, dressed professionally, and jumped right into everything. She was friendly with my family, and didn't feel like she was just there to photograph our wedding. I can be a very awkward person, and she handled that like a champ. She gave just enough direction to help, but not so much I felt like this was a photoshoot instead of my wedding. She finds the balance very very well! For the group photos she does ask for a shot list of family members. She had it printed off and ready to go the day of. I included their title (aka bride) and their actual name. She had her second shooter help read them off so that it went way quicker than I expected. We also had out dog and some small nephews at the wedding. She was great working with "difficult" subjects. (The dogs and toddlers) The day after the wedding we got a lovely preview with the perfect mix of photos. You can tell she was paying attention to family dynamics because of the photos she chose to send the next day. Overall Maya was great, friendly, and I would hire her again! read more

Where do I even begin with Maya- she is just absolutely exceptional. My husband and I were fortunate enough to hire her for our wedding after choosing her simply from loving how beautiful her photos were on Instagram. After doing an engagement session with Maya and her photographing our wedding, she practically feels like a member of the family now! She is professional, creative and honestly just the biggest joy to work with. We always laugh the whole time- and Maya never fails to capture the best moments of it. And she's so artistic- the tones she uses on her photos make me feel like I walked off the page of a magazine. Maya will forever be our only option for capturing our most important memories. read more

Maya is seriously one of the most talented photographers I've ever worked with! We are from Kentucky and we scheduled with Maya to have our engagement photos taken in San Diego while we were there on vacation! I had tons of questions about locations and outfits and Maya was super helpful. The session itself was fun and we had more than enough time to get all the poses we wanted. Best of all Maya sent us the final images within 2 weeks and they were ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! I am so so happy and couldn't have asked for more beautiful photos. Thank you SO MUCH Maya!!! read more

Maya is the ABSOLUTE best photographer I have ever met. After an engagement shoot with another photographer who I was very unhappy with, I found Maya! Maya puts so much time and effort into getting to know the couple and finding out exactly how they want their day and pictures to look. Maya did both our engagement photos and our wedding photos and I am in awe of them everyday. There is no one more talented, calm, and professional as Maya is. We find a friend in her and we would never go to anyone other than her. We can't wait to share more memories with her exceptional talent. Thank you Maya. We love you! read more