Olivia Smartt is truly incredible--by far the best partner we could have asked for on our wedding day. Top-quality engagement and wedding photos were a big priority for us. After an extensive search and speaking with many photographers, Olivia's work stood out immediately. Her talent for capturing people--bride, groom, family, and friends--in the most genuine and beautiful way is unmatched. Each shot is full of life and emotion, and she never compromises the background or overall composition. Olivia has an amazing eye for the moment. Her ability to seize the most meaningful expressions, interactions, and details--while producing vivid, naturally lit images with standout whites and lush greens--is simply remarkable. From the start, she was professional, organized, and incredibly easy to work with. We had a thoughtful planning session before the big day to talk through our vision, and she took the time to truly understand what we wanted. She blended our ideas seamlessly with her artistic style. We also hired her assistant, which was a great decision--it allowed Olivia to stay focused on us, while still ensuring our friends and family were well captured. In the end, the results far exceeded our expectations. We're beyond happy and so grateful for Olivia's passion, professionalism, and artistry. Highly recommend her to anyone looking for timeless and breathtaking wedding photography! read more

Working with Olivia Smartt Photography for our October 2025 wedding was an absolute delight from start to finish. Olivia's communication was always timely and extremely helpful. She truly listened to our vision and priorities, and was able to capture exactly what we were hoping for. The quality of her work was outstanding, with a very detailed and organized approach that made us feel at ease throughout the process. As a queer couple who aren't usually fond of being photographed, Olivia made us feel incredibly comfortable, to the point where it barely even felt like we were being photographed. Olivia has a wonderful talent for making you forget the camera is even there, gently guiding us to talk and interact with each other in a natural way. The end result was a beautiful collection of candid, joyful moments that perfectly reflect our special day. We couldn't be happier and would recommend Olivia Smartt Photography to any couple looking for an exceptional and natural photography experience. read more

Olivia is highly recommended to work with. She's professional, talented and makes the day fun. The photos turned out extremely great. I'm so glad my husband and I got to work with her. More than 5 stars!!! read more

Olivia Smartt Photography - Event Photography Near Me

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Phenomenal photos! Olivia photographed our circus stiltwalkers at a corporate event. Loved the photos and she was super down to earth to work with. A real pleasure! We are Circus.Modern read more

Where do we even begin? From our first exchange of emails with Olivia we felt like we had found our photographer. After spending sometime chatting at her loft and meeting her infamous rabbit named "Bun", we were so happy to have Olivia locked in as our photographer for our big day. We booked about a year in advance, anytime we had questions she was extremely responsive. Its very clear to us Olivia is not only an excellent photographer, but all around a great communicator and human being. She helped make our day run as smoothly as possible and pictures didn't take too much time thanks to the trusty homework she had us do before the big day. During the "getting ready" portion of photos she did a phenomenal job creating an environment that made genuine intimate moments. Moments that I'm so happy to have captured. We really could not be happier with our decision to go with Olivia. She is worth everything you pay for and more. If we have any other major monumental days that need to be documented, we'll definifely be reaching out to Olivia. read more

Olivia is amazing to work with! She did our engagement photo shoot, and it was not only fun, but it brought me and my finace closer together :). Olivia has great suggestions for poses and locations, prepares you well in advance for your photo shoot, and is really, REALLY reasonably priced. She is also prompt and clear in her communication and obviously loves the work she does! The fun is contagious! I highly recommend Olivia for any photo shoot you may want. She's committed to ensuring your happiness, and responsive to feedback and even the craziest of ideas! You'll love her and her work! read more

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Olivia's photos won't disappoint you. I've worked with her a couple years on events that I organize, and every time I am in awe by her work. She's super responsive to her clients, super easy to work with AND super FUN to work with. She knows instinctively what scenes to capture at any moment. I don't even have to give her a shot list because I have 1000% trust in her creativity and ability to capture the best of the best moments. If you're looking for a wedding/family/event photography, she's the person to go. Book her now before it is too late. You won't regret it. read more

Olivia is the best photographer I've ever encountered. First, she made me feel comfortable very fast, taking into account my potential discomforts and looking out for me. Secondly, I love her humor and the fun she adds to the photoshoot. Last but not least, my photos are magnificent! I love her style of photography. It's very unique. I feel seen. read more

So amazing! I am an optimizer--I wanted to get the best photography, for the best price and exactly the package I wanted. I made phone calls to over a dozen Bay Area photographers and compared notes. It was obvious that Olivia Smartt's photographer Katie Johnson would be able to meet my needs. My husband and I had no experience in front of the camera and opted not to do an engagement shoot. This put a lot of pressure on The Big Day and Katie did not disappoint! Through the chaos and brideszilla moments, she framed up beautiful shots and captured special moments. The final package of photos was excellent and captured the whole event very nicely. read more

Olivia will make your day AND take incredible, professional photos for you! I commissioned her to take some professional yet natural headshots, and I not only walked away with exactly what I needed, I felt so natural and comfortable with her and had fun. I always feel a bit stiff and awkward in front of the camera, and she really knows all the tricks to help. From sending advance instructions on how to dress, prepare, etc. to helping me stand properly, try different expressions, etc, she made me feel like a pro. Recommend her to EVERYONE needing some photography; you really get everything you pay for and more. read more

My wife and I knew we had to have Olivia Smartt photograph our wedding within seconds of viewing her website. Finding our wedding photographer was one of the most important tasks for us because it encompasses a lot of trust. What drew us to her work was how she is able to capture the essence of every moment. When we look back at our pictures we are able to re-live our wedding. Olivia has the utmost respect for her clients. We live on the east coast so we did not meet Olivia in person until the wedding. We had two Facetime meetings with Olivia to meet and get to know each other and about our wedding. Olivia made herself available 24/7 for us and responded quickly to emails. She is very organized, prepared, and professional. We had a timeline for the order of pictures, who and what we wanted her to photograph, and still left room for spur of the moment ideas. We were able to relax and enjoy our wedding and not worry about whether she was capturing our day how we thought she would. Even after the wedding when we were waiting on the pictures we had no doubt that they would come back exactly how we thought they would. She simply loves what she does and that improves the quality of her work and sets her apart from other photographers. Olivia did not tell us what she envisioned for our wedding, instead she took the time to get to know us so she can best capture our vision and our personalities. She was extremely respectful to our families and friends too. Olivia feels like family now and our guests loved her and they are still raving to us about how wonderful she was. You will not regret hiring Olivia for your special day! read more

Olivia's gorgeous pictures of our City Hall elopement are the most beautiful pictures we own. Arranging our wedding from Australia and eloping was no easy feat. But with Olivia on the other end she made us feel totally at ease throughout planning and in the lead up to our big day. On the day she set us at ease and used the short time we had together to the absolute maximum! I'm so happy with the result and next time we visit we will surely be asking Olivia to work with us again. You can't go wrong if you are looking for someone talented, professional and all round just awesome to work with! read more

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It's shameful how many months it's taken me to finally write this, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Olivia's services but due solely to my own busyness/procrastination! After receiving our wedding photos from Olivia, I shared many on facebook. I'm not usually one to post a huge personal album of photos. But I did. That's how good her photos are. Looking at them over and over again, I still don't quite understand how she managed to be in every perfect spot for every part of the day, get every different kind of shot, as just one person with two cameras. It's pretty unbelievable. She captured such intimate fleeting joyous small moments amongst the guests at the wedding - there for an instant and then gone. Now we have them. Additionally, we (the wedding couple) are not the most photogenic/photo-loving people, but she eased our awkwardness and anxiety and got so many beautiful natural shots. She was extremely professional and organized throughout the entire process leading up to the big day, as well as relaxed/fun and knowledgable; she is a true pro. Do yourself a favor and have her shoot your wedding! read more

Olivia is the most professional vendor, heck, most professional person, we know! We had an amazing relationship with her all the way, and she was simply amazing all through the process, from early planning stages to helping us make sure everything is in place on the day-of. We had SO much fun during our engagement shoot at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, and we loved just getting to know her and her style, and getting lessons for how to pose, and what to do/not to do while modeling! The results of the shoot just looked SO great on our wedding website, and for memories - we received so many compliments on them :). We just love her style of putting people and faces up front and center - so in our memories, we can see the faces of our beloved family and friends. On the day-of, Olivia just completely dedicated herself to our event, our guests, and our moments. I'm writing this review even before receiving the final photos of the actual wedding, but I'm just fully confident that they'll be even more amazing than our engagement photos! Olivia is so friendly, polite, unassuming, and professional. We're so incredibly lucky to have had her capture these important memories for us, and we wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone planning their wedding! There's just no way you can get a photographer - and friend - more awesome than Olivia Smartt! read more

We cannot say enough good things about Olivia. I'd give her 6 stars if I could. She was extremely professional from first email to the day our wedding photos were delivered. Olivia is detailed, thoughtful, organized, and great at controlling crowds. My husband has a very large family and Olivia was able to get everyone together and focused to capture some great photos. What I love most about Olivia's photography is her ability to capture the moment. Our photo album will be filled with many genuine, smiling faces, that we can cherish for years to come. Thanks Olivia! read more

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Olivia was an absolute pro! The photo process was seamless and she captured everything we asked for and more. She went above and beyond, scouting out locations to shoot and then scouting out back up locations in the event the first location didn't work out. The final photos turned out better then I imagined. Olivia captured moments that my wife and I had completely missed or forgoten about, It was nice seeing those moments after the rush of the wedding. Overall, we couldn't image having another photographer capture our wedding. Thanks Olivia! -Pete read more

Do yourself a favor and hire Olivia to be your wedding photographer. You know that satisfying feeling you get when witnessing someone who is incredibly good at their job? Someone doing exactly what they are meant to do? That's what watching Olivia photograph our wedding felt like. Olivia is incredibly professional, developed positive and calm rapport with all family members and friends (of all ages), and produced amazing photos at a reasonable price. She was a great positive presence at our wedding, and we could not recommend Olivia more highly. Now we just have to figure out what future life events we can hire Olivia for. read more

Olivia Smartt was an absolute delight to work with! She is professional, kind and has a gift for putting her clients at ease. I wouldn't say I am camera shy, but it is never comfortable "posing" in front of the camera. She helped me feel relaxed. The photos were beautiful, artistic and she captured the light in such a stunning way. I would highly recommend her to anyone. She definitely went above and beyond. read more

Others have written this--if I could give more than 5 stars, I absolutely would. Working with Olivia was wonderful since we first got in touch with her about a year before our wedding. She was so thorough, so on top of everything; she was also super warm, super friendly, and super nice to correspond with. Before we had our preliminary interview in her *gorgeous* Oakland apartment, we already knew that we wanted to work with Olivia. She asked all the right questions, and was so attentive to detail. We felt like we were in great hands. We didn't have an ultra-traditional wedding, and Olivia was super on board with that. She even helped us figure out some of the logistics of our wedding, because she has so much more experience than we do! Olivia was amazing to work with on our wedding day. She was on top of her game, but also not invasive. So many of our guests commented on how professional she was, and what a pleasure it was to have her there. We couldn't agree more: Olivia is a pleasure to work with. She even managed to get all of our guests (about 60 people!) in one photo. Now, that takes some serious people skills! And Olivia has them in abundance. When we got our photos back--very promptly, I should add--we were just so happy with them. As we went through the pictures, we felt like we were reliving our day. It was so magical--your wedding goes by so fast! And Olivia caught the feel of that evening SO WELL. We are so delighted with our gallery, and so are our family and friends, with whom we have shared the photos. Olivia is an absolute pro, and such a great person to work with. If we could do it all over again, I would choose her in a heartbeat. read more

I must say that Olivia is the best wedding photographer I have seen. My friends told me that it is lucky if you like at most 10 photos out of all the wedding/engagement pictures. I loved all the pictures Olivia took at our engagement shoot. Everyone we showed the pictures to were super impressed. Olivia gets the best versions of you and it really shows. She ran around Hayward with us and took all the types of shots we asked for. In the end she gave hundreds of great pictures to choose from. She is not only a great photographer but a very sweet person who meets all the needs a couple could have in terms of getting the perfect pictures. She is so encouraging and fun that it makes you love the experience. I am so happy with the engagement pictures and plan on using them for our Christmas cards. We cannot wait for her to take our wedding pictures, I know they will gorgeous. read more

Olivia Smartt Photography - Event Photography Near Me

I'd never had a professional photography session before, let alone in public. I needed head shots and portraits for my website, and really wanted to have Lake Merritt in the background. Working with Olivia was an absolute pleasure. She understood and aligned with my creative vision, while also providing her aesthetic direction and artistic guidance. In a matter of minutes I felt completely comfortable following Olivia's lead, and all the nervousness of posing in public quickly vanished thanks to her easy-going and encouraging attitude. Suffice to say, the photos turned out amazing! It was exactly what I had imagined, and more. I would highly recommend Olivia for any photography needs. She is a true talent behind the camera. read more

I am a DJ and have worked with Olivia. She does an excellent job capturing candit shots most photographers fail to think of and/or are aware of. I highly recommend her. read more

When you think of wedding photography -- think of Olivia Smartt. We just had our wedding on Saturday at Deer Park Villa in Fairfax, and Olivia was professional, timely and captured our entire event with such grace. We just love her! Our guests were amazed at how she was able to "be everywhere" but not intrusive by any means. We cannot wait to see the images from our wedding, but in the mean time, we have our beautiful engagement photos to hold us over. read more

Olivia asked to use our venue The Lehman Barn for a style shoot, she was very creative and fun to work with. Her images are spectacular! She has a wonderful eye for light and capturing great photos. After the shoot she came back to the ranch to take our family portraits, we have 3 little rascal boys and they are a job to get great images of. Olivia was amazingly patient and so great with our boys. We received great photos of our family and little ones! Thank you so much Olivia there are no words to express how much these precious photos mean to our family, they will be cherished for years to come. Look forward to working with you in the years to come THANK YOU!!! read more

Olivia did a fantastic job shooting a panel discussion and reception in my office. Not only were the photos exactly what we were looking for (which she was able to achieve with minimal input from me), but she was also a joy to work with. She was prompt, clear, professional and fairly priced, and has a great eye. She was also able to get the edited images back to me very quickly, which was great, because it allowed us to use the images in a blog post about the event. I also really appreciated that when I asked her to shoot another event for us and she was unavailable, she very quickly got back to me with a list of other photographers to consider. I look forward to working with Olivia again in the future! read more

Olivia was so wonderful, we really enjoyed meeting with her at her house and discussing our upcoming wedding, and getting excited about it. My wife was the one who really wanted good photographs, as I really don't like having my picture taken, but Olivia really made me feel comfortable and that it was going to be worthwhile. Katie, the photographer who shot our wedding was really just the best; so fun and easy to be around. She got so many beautiful shots and when she wanted a particular angle or backdrop, the way she suggested we move really made me feel chill and not like I was some kook flouncing about. In doctor terms, her bedside manner was amazing. I'm so glad that she was the won to immortalize the most special day of our lives! read more

Working with Olivia may be the best decision we made for our wedding. We were looking first for a photography style that we liked (natural, clean, bright, unstuffy portraits and warm candids) and second for a personality fit. You'll end up spending almost all of your wedding day with your photographer, so it's important that you like and feel comfortable with them. When we saw Olivia's work and spoke with her on Skype, we immediately knew it was right. Olivia was a great fit for us because she is professional and reliable, her work is absolutely beautiful, and she is just a joy to be around. She is cool, calm, fun, trustworthy, kind, and she put us at ease every step of the way. Olivia was also the keystone of our wedding--she recommended lots of other vendors, including our superstar planner. We did an engagement shoot with her, which was a great primer on how to interact with each other in front of a camera. We then spoke with Olivia many times leading up to the wedding--she really got to know us, and I think that resulted in photos that feel personal and very "us." She scoped out great locations to take photos on the day-of (including charming our hotel into letting us do our first look photos in a special, closed off part of the hotel), worked on a detailed timeline and portrait list with us, and was very thoughtful about asking about family dynamics and priorities. She also offered to come shoot our welcome party, and we decided to go for it at the last minute. We are so glad we did! That night people were reuniting for the first time that weekend, and she caught some really beautiful moments. She also got to meet our families, who all loved her! My mom has always had trouble smiling for pictures--she can be really happy and in a great mood, but when you get the camera out, her face sort of freezes up. I don't know exactly how this happened, but my mom came up to me midway through the party and said "Olivia taught me how to smile!" Olivia had shown her a trick to relax her face and smile naturally, which has literally changed our family photo experience for life. We still tell people that Olivia fixed Mom. At the end of the day, Olivia delivered our photos before we expected them, and we were absolutely blown away. They were better than we could have imagined. Olivia has a knack for commanding attention during chaotic family portraits, while also managing to be completely unobtrusive. I still don't know how she got some of these photos that I don't remember her being there for, but she did, and I'm so glad! Thank you, thank you Olivia. Your photos are a huge part of the way we will think about, remember, and share our wedding with the people we love. It's hard to overstate how happy and grateful we are. read more

Olivia was so wonderful to work with from the first email. She went above and beyond to answer questions and tailor her services to us. Katie was our day-of photographer, and she was also amazing! She spent a full hour getting to know us and our vision even before we hired her, and we got more compliments on her supportive, relaxed guidance during the wedding than anything else. The photos are gorgeous, and we couldn't recommend Olivia Smartt Photography more! read more

Olivia is so much more than a photographer. She is an expert, a support system, an organizational mastermind, a friend. Olivia is all smiles and helped us organize our wedding timeline from the start. She took the time to get to know us and always made us laugh. She is responsive, considerate, and always exceeds expectations. Our wedding album is breathtaking (literally). Olivia didn't just capture photos, she captured memories, our emotions, our love. Working with Olivia was the BEST decision we made with the wedding (after deciding to marry each other). read more

Fantastic evening for "La Fete de la Gastronomie" at University of San Francisco. This one of a kind event will not have been the same without the professionalism of Olivia. The pictures were awesome and made the event extremely vibrant, fun and luxurious. She is so nice to deal with. She took a lot of stress from the organization and handled it with class and smiles. Can't wait to work with you again Olivia. A bientot! L'Apero team - lapero.org read more

We loved working with Olivia - but actually got to work directly with her right hand Katie and cannot say enough about how perfect she was for our wedding. They were extremely organized, professional, scouted our location ahead of time, met with us a couple of times virtually (we live full-time in Chicago) and were extremely responsive to all of our needs and questions. We can't wait to see the photos! read more

Although I did not use Olivia for a wedding, we did use her for a surprise proposal and engagement shot. She was AMAZING. Olivia helped me plan the proposal from a distance, helping scout locations, giving good advice, and taking any fear out of the setup. Because of weather issues in the form of torrential rain, we had to cancel my original plan the day before but Olivia was phenomenal. She helped me use our unique story to brainstorm new ideas and did the groundwork in finding a new location that would accommodate our needs. You would think changing plans less than 18 hours from the proposal would be scary, but Olivia made it simple and took away so much worry. Onsite, she did everything possible to capture beautiful shots and made every single frame of the act itself to the engagement photos after wonderful. Olivia had a very customer oriented personality and cared deeply about our experience. She went above in beyond in making our special moment that much more special. Also, she speedily delivered our photos the same day, giving us access to beautiful memories we could share right away! Not only is she a joy to work with, her work is also gorgeous! We could not be happier with our experience! read more

Olivia was a huge asset on the day of our wedding, a joy to work with, and most importantly produces great results. From the first meeting right through to delivery, she is responsive, super professional, and easy to work with. We dealt with other flaky vendors, and met some "diva" photographers, so we were grateful to have her on our team. Our schedule went sideways (other vendor issues) and Olivia and her assistant adapted quickly and helped us make the most of every minute. Our guests even commented on how they seemed to be everywhere at once, capturing great candids of our guests. Now we're ordering prints through her website (also super pro, easy to use) and are loving the results. read more

I am so happy that I found Olivia on The Knot. Working with her was an absolute dream and I found that her prices were much more affordable than other photographers that I contacted. She is kind, understanding, sweet, and extremely professional. read more

I cannot express enough how great Olivia was during our entire wedding process. She helped us from the very beginning by learning as much about my wife and I so she could shoot in a way that would be unique to us. She helped a great deal with the scheduling of events, far more than I would have expected from a photographer. She was on top of everything during the big day, and made sure we got great shots throughout the event. I don't think we could have come across someone as professional and skilled as Olivia, and I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone having a wedding or special event. Thank you, Olivia, for helping make our day so special and giving us the ability to relive this day! read more

My wife and I were married in August of 2016 and were absolutely in love with the final photos we received. But more importantly, Olivia's genuine approach to providing not just memorable photos, but also a memorable experience for us. She truly caters to her clients and takes the time to explain the process as well as get to know her clients. She made the entire process seamless and stress free and was a very excellent choice and worth the value. read more

Olivia was great with planning how photography fits in our special day and suggested the best times to break off for our portraits. She adapted very well to our schedule adjustments and it all worked out better than imagined. Her no-nonsense and playful demeanor helps everyone relax and have the most fun with it. Several family members told us how great she was to work with. I'm really glad we hired Olivia because she brought out and captured awesome authentic expressions and has a great eye for creating artistic compositions. We had a special request to rush a couple photos to print thank-you cards and she had a selection to us within a week. I would definitely recommend that you hire Olivia for capturing your event in a beautiful and fun way. read more

My husband had worked with Olivia in her previous career, and had been following her photography work on Facebook. We reached out to her, and she did a fantastic job shepherding us through the wild world of wedding photography, even helping us to find a 2nd photographer to document our ceremony (a weekend she was already booked). Olivia shot our reception party (3 weeks following the ceremony), and she did everything we could've asked for, and then some. She was incredibly professional throughout the night, capturing the look, feel, and emotions of the night beautifully. The party was in a relatively low light space (The Office on Church in SF), but each of the photos looks warm and wonderful, and captures everyone looking their best. She floated around through the party, asking nicely to take posed photos of people here and there. She also took wonderful candid shots to capture the atmosphere of the party, including the speeches and awesome crowd/reaction shots. She was phenomenal at closely documenting our event while being an unobtrusive presence. We can't thank Olivia enough for helping give us lasting memories of both of our special days!!! read more

We are so happy that we found Olivia and chose her to photograph our wedding! She exceeded our expectations throughout the entire process, from first contact to final photo delivery. While many of the photographers we initially reached out to only communicated via email or brief introductory phone calls, Olivia invited us into her home to review her work and see if our chemistry was a fit. Her ability to connect with her clients on a personal level allows you to relax and feel comfortable in front of the camera. Not only does Olivia stand out for her kind personality and calm demeanor, but also for her professionalism. She's knowledgeable, responsive and extremely organized. She asked us all the right questions and made it easy to provide information through the use of Google docs, emails and phone calls. On the day of our wedding, her presence was unobtrusive; she managed to capture all the important details of the day without taking anyone out of the moment with the presence of a camera. When it came time to take family portraits, she did an excellent job of directing everyone to get the photos we needed in the shortest amount of time possible. Many of our guests commented on how great she was. Most importantly, our photos from both our engagement shoot and our wedding turned out beautifully. Olivia is truly talented and we love her photography style so much. We will treasure these images for the rest of our lives. Thank you Olivia for capturing the love and beauty of our big day! read more

I worked with Olivia on a creative styled shoot earlier this year, and can tell you that she is not only a talented photographer, but a lovely and dedicated professional! She took beautiful shots, and went above and beyond before, during, and after the shoot. I'll definitely be recommending Olivia to my clients, and would not hesitate to suggest her to any bride and groom looking for a wedding photographer. read more