de la Barra | photography

We found Jorge through our wedding planner and absolutely loved working with him and his team. He has a passion for his work and his art that is very difficult to find in the wedding photographer business. Many of the others that we looked at seemed cliché and were also significantly more expensive. For the engagement shoot he traveled down to Los Angeles to work with us and we spent the entire day with him going to several different locations. He had a great eye, incorporating the environment, surrounding people, and natural effects at each of the spots. We had an absolute blast with the experience, and the pictures turned out gorgeous. On the big day, we only wish we had had more time with him at the venue (which was out of his and our control), but we loved all the shots he did capture, especially our first look moment in the bell tower. The whole day seems like a bit of a blur, but it seems like we have every moment perfectly captured to go back and remember everything. He also puts together a really high-quality Italian-made album, along with digital copies of all the images. Overall he is really fun to work with, incredibly creative and talented, and we were very happy with how everything turned out. Would definitely recommend De La Barra photography, and thank you Jorge! More...

Reviewed on Yelp

We found Jorge almost by happenstance.  We were 5 seconds away from booking another photographer but my husband-to-be thought we should take one last look.  We immediately spotted Jorge's opening photo on his website--the overhead shot of the bride and groom in the water. The composition, the tones, the lighting...it was the photo editorial we didn't know we were looking for until we saw it.When we met him, the first thing we said was, "we love fashion editorials...typical bridal photos not so much..."  Boy did he deliver!  As soon as he saw the venue he could not stop his creative juices from flowing (This was the day of, mind you.  He had never shot the venue before!).  Our venue was one of the oldest farm houses in Sonoma on a huge vineyard.  He shot us in the library, the keeping room, the ballroom, a rundown barn, and of course, the vineyard.  And that was probably just half of it.  It seemed like he always knew what he wanted to do next.  Between himself and his second shooter, Mariah, they knew how to balance telling us what to do to get their shot, and listening to our feedback about what shots we wanted.  And all the while making sure we felt comfortable and were having fun.  I should mention that my husband and I are not generally excited about being in front of the camera.  With Jorge we felt like stars--un-self conscious and at times, simply fabulous!When we received the photos we quickly became overwhelmed trying to pick our favorites to frame.  Photo after photo not only brought us back to our amazing day, but it  allowed us to see some of the special details in ways that brought the event a whole new life.  It was if we were looking at someone else's wedding in a magazine...surreal and full of cinematic drama!Jorge was one of the highlights of our wedding.  His amazing energy, his ability to make us feel beautiful, and most definitely his amazing photos.  We have recommended him to everyone we've talked to and to anyone who is reading these reviews.  He will not disappoint! More...

Reviewed on Yelp

Amazing! Jorge was a breath of fresh air!! I loved how calm he was the day of the wedding and how he just went with the flow. He did a great job at putting everyone at ease. He truly is gifted and can see the beauty in everything. He takes just the right shot to makes things really stand out. He was all over the place and often people where unaware that he was even there (capturing some great candid moments).For us the photos were very important, at the end of the day when the wedding is over the photos are what you have left. I have never liked the "lets all stand in a line" type of photos. Initially, that is why I was so drawn to Jorge's work. All his photos are well thought out and very clever. The pictures are more than what I could ever imagine! I really don't like to get my photo taken and Jorge made it fun. He made me comfortable and enjoy the whole experience.All of the photos are so creative and he was able to see things that we could not which made looking at the photos even more exciting!I have directed all my friends and family to his blog and they all commented on how truly wonderful the photos are and how much love you can see from everyone at the party.I would highly recommend him to anyone who wants not only amazing photos but a fun and creative person to work with. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

Very very very very happy with Jorge and his talent.  On the wedding day, he arrived to our hotel early.  He has a very laid back, confident personality, and its obvious he loves what he does. He has an eye for capturing fun moments, in an artistic way.  I would describe him as a stealthy Energizer Bunny because I hardly realized he was around during the wedding, but all my guests told me that he was a busy bee.  Even when I was getting ready at the hotel with my bridesmaids, I could hear the clicking of the camera shutter but it wasn't until after I received the photos that I realized how creative this man is with photos.  Sure, he showed me some of the shots he took, but still stealthy.  He is creative with using all the resources around him.  TV, glass on a photo frame, getting hotel staff to open up a whole new hotel room so he can hang my dress out the window to take a shot of my dress hanging from the prettiest part of the hotel exterior... all without getting my dress dirty.  Umm... wow.He is the MacGyver of photography.  He wanted a cool shot for our rings, so he used a glass and water to make a cool effect.  He likes to use shade and light to create dimension and depth in his photos, show movement and life, and enjoys being around people- doesn't that sound like a great definition for a wedding photographer?  Everyone who has seen the photos of our wedding that is located on his blog, have commented on how much they love the life and captured moments that his photos demonstrate.  He had an assistant who was also wonderful at capturing very cool moments, so I wanted to give him credit, as well.  His assistant caught some very cool moments of us on the Vespa.  So... in summary: He arrives early or on time (both to our first meeting as well as wedding day), he is very talented and confident, but at the same time laid back and excited about what he does, has a good eye for capturing emotional moments in an artistic way, and is a busy bee and will be clicking away, attentively, during your wedding.  Thank you, Jorge!!  It was fun working with you and we appreciate your talent!! More...

Reviewed on Yelp

We were married over the weekend, rain or shine, my partner and I wanted to be married outdoors in our favorite hills above Saratoga. We are immensely grateful to Jorge who was a trooper, despite a bit of a hike and what might have been not ideal weather for an outdoor wedding (even on the tiny scale it was, only 12 people including Jorge himself), nobody let it ruin the day or interfere with taking some amazing photographs. We knew we picked the right guy for the job. He was tireless, documenting the day with a mixture of candid and posed portraits. My partner and I tend to get nervous in front of the camera especially when asked to "smile" on demand, but Jorge is very experienced and very kind in his directions. He has a very good eye for details and also is thorough in giving quick explanations and advice to ensure the photographs will be not only flattering, but beautiful. We appreciated his encouraging words and his huge efforts to maximize the hours we had with him to the fullest. Whenever he spotted an opportunity, he seized it telling us, "I have an idea" and then proceeded to make it happen. The experience was fun. Being around Jorge is disarming in the most positive way: he made us feel like models on some kind of hysterically exotic location complete with weather works and startled cyclists who were probably not expecting a small wedding party complete with umbrellas, boots and me, trying to maneuver and navigate the uneven ground in a sweeping red dress. He is so kind, so well humored, that the situation no matter how unconventional seemed perfectly natural - we were so relieved he embraced the situation as wholly as we did, rain or shine, red dress not white dress and  We were more than happy to hand over the reins to his creative genius, and my entire family was just overwhelmingly impressed with Jorge. We are so excited to see the final results and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone with an upcoming event of any kind. More...

Reviewed on Yelp