Santa Cruz, CA
Veronica O'Brien Photography formerly known as Mom Knows Best Photography has been offering portraits for families, maternity, newborns, birthday parties, baptisms, business headshots and recently expanded to offering wedding services. We love working with people, making them feel confident, comfortable, and happy.
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25 customer reviews
Geetha Saarunya
We did a family photo shoot with Veronica when our parents came visiting from out of state. Veronica was wonderful . She went above and beyond making our daughter comfortable to ensure we got great pictures. She was kind, patient and absolutely professional. We had an amazing experience and hope to have more pictures taken in the future :) Thank you again Veronica and all the very best in all your endeavors. More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Jonathan Stoian
Planned a large family portrait session with little notice, and Veronica was fantastic to work with. She was responsive, friendly and helpful with planning, and took the most beautiful pictures of us.
Reviewed on Facebook
AR Leos
Thanks for the great experience with our newborn session Veronica, you were very patient and calming with my little one.
Reviewed on Facebook
Michal Sue Weinman
Veronica took beautiful photos of my daughter for her UCSC graduation. She immediately put my daughter at ease and captured many facets of her personality in the pictures. I highly recommend Veronica!
Reviewed on Facebook
Ashley Wingfield
Veronica is so great at putting you at ease and making it a comfortable experience! We had so much fun and recommend her services 100% for any picture taking needs!
Reviewed on Facebook
Ariana Garcia
My maternity shoot was such a great experience all thanks to Veronica! She’s super sweet, easy going, patient, & most of all she made me feel happy, & confident when posing! I loved that she was suggesting poses throughout the shoot, this made it a lot easier for me as far as not having to overthink how to pose. I was so impressed at how soon we received our photos! She did a beautiful job at capturing moments I will forever treasure. I would highly recommend her to anyone wanting a fun & relaxed photo shoot experience:) More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Lourdes L.
Veronica is Absolutely an amazing photographer she offers SO MUCH MORE than any other photographer! Not the standard pictures and shooting with her is a blast! By far the most amazing pictures you will ever have! I love the way our maternity shoot came out then newborn shoot and just a few days ago my daughters 4 year old pictures priceless!! More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Roxie B.
Let me start by saying, I am also a photographer. I hired Veronica because I wanted to do a family photoshoot for my family, but I wouldn't have been able to be in the photos, so I needed someone to "be me" - That's the process I went through to hire her, and she was absolutely perfect! Her energy, jovial spirit, and encouragement were spot on, and the photos turned out beautifully. As a fellow photographer, I recommend Miss O'Brien wholeheartedly :) More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Jasmine Bowen
Such amazing pictures beautiful work! Your talent and patience really shows in every moment u capture!
Reviewed on Facebook
Eva Aguado
Veronica was very professional and made us feel very comfortable. Pictures came out beautifully definetly will be calling her for our next family photo.
Reviewed on Facebook
Raquel Rafaela Pedraza
Veronica took my portraits and I loved them! She captured the beautiful sky and me even on a foggy day.
Reviewed on Facebook
Maria Guadalupe Montoya
Loved everything! Veronica was super patient and friendly, I didn't feel pressured or rushed at all and the pictures turned out fantastic! I would highly recommend her.
Reviewed on Facebook
Layla Hollingsworth
Veronica Obrien is amazing on time trust worthy and a wonderful person I highly recommend her
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Jillian Castro
Veronica captured everything I wanted in my maternity shoot! I am so happy with the outcome! Thank you so much!!
Reviewed on Facebook
EH Jenn
Veronica is an amazing photographer! On time,patient and kind. She's filled with ideas and gives her best at everything. Definitely recommend her.
Reviewed on Facebook
Raquel Ramos
Amazing! Veronica did my maternity photos and my daughters newborn pictures. She's super patient and makes her ideas known as they come to her. Super passionate about her work & it shows. She won't show the finished product until it's perfect. Highly recommended. More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Tammie De Lowe Macdonald
Veronica did a great job taking our family photos. We got great shots of our family and of our squirmy kiddos. We absolutely recommend her.
Reviewed on Facebook
Neivy Solano
I just wanna say thank you so much for everything, for having so much patience with my lil girl when she was cranky! You are the best! The pictures came out so beautiful. I loved them all! I will definitely call you in the future!! Keep it up!! ☺️ More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Naomi Weizman
One of the best experiences I have had with having my picture taken. Veronica was fun and wonderful to talk to! Great photos came out of it and I could not be more grateful to her talent for giving me photos to share with friends and family!
Reviewed on Facebook
Felicia Vigil
I really enjoyed the photo shoot, she did an amazing job I'm so glad I decided to get them done with her and look for to doing more! She works very well with kids and is very kind. I would highly recommend getting pictures done by her! More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Xiomara Delgado
I truly enjoyed doing my photoshoot with Veronica! She is patient, kind, sweet, and just plain happy which makes the photoshoot environment even better. The photos came out marvelous and without a doubt I recommend her to anyone looking into a photoshoot with someone that will make it memorable :) More...
Reviewed on Facebook
M D.
Veronica is truly a patient and understanding goddess. She was willing to come to our house to do our newborn photos, and if you're a parent, you know how much work it is to get out of the house especially in the first few days. My son decided that he was not tired, and Veronica spent hours with him trying to soothe him and get him to sleep for newborn photos. She even agreed to come back the following week so we could take some of the family photos together. Her prices are very reasonable. I have not been to her studio yet so I cannot attest to that, but I will be doing our 3 month baby photos with her soon. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Carla Padilla
I truly enjoyed doing my photoshoot with Veronica! she is patient, kind, works well with kids and sweet. Such an amazing job im so glad i decided to get them done with her. Thank you!!
Reviewed on Facebook
Karthik S.
We did our 2nd baby's maternity photoshoot with Veronica last month. It was a wonderful experience to shoot at the natural bridges beach. She was very accommodating with the location and time of the shoot. She was very kind with our toddler and got some really good shots of her too. All the pictures have come out perfect and as we had imagined. We are glad we chose MKB for the session and looking forward to do more. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Naomi W.
Veronica is a great photographer! She did my graduation pictures and they came out perfectly! She was easy to talk to throughout the whole process and was great at communicating with me for setting up times and making the pictures look absolutely perfect. She was quick to get them back to me, and just all around fantastic to work with. Cannot thank her enough! More...
Reviewed on Yelp
What’s the secret to taking a great photograph?
The secret to taking a great photograph is not to rush the photo but instead wait for it. Taking a great photograph varies on the person(s) in the photograph and the photographer needs to be able to adapt and understand that different personalities photograph differently.
What questions might you ask a client when starting a new project?
We always start by asking clients if they had a specific vision in mind, a preference in outdoor setting, if they prefer morning or afternoon tones in lighting, we ask about children and when "happy times" are for those children, along with outfit prepping, and more!
What do you love most about your job?
What I love most about what I do is that I get to work hands on with people, I love when I can get someone to open up and break lose of the bubbles they put up, I love when I can make children smile and look at the camera because I am being so goofy, I love that no matter where my clients are in their lives that they will always have memories to look back on that I helped create.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I was inspired to start my own business after going to my first ever photoshoot for my three month old daughter. That day my outlook on photos changed forever. It took six hours, ten diaper changes, lots of groans from dad, and a bunch of sweat just to finish the session and after all that we were left with only five useable photos. It was in that moment after the shoot that I realized just how important photos were and I wanted every single family on earth to be able to have them too.
Why should our clients choose you?
Clients should choose me because I will go above and beyond. I have never been late or cancelled a photoshoot to this day. I will not time cap a photoshoot if I feel we have not got all we needed or if children are needing breaks. I am good with people and have a warm and happy personality which adds to the experience not just the end results. Lastly, I truly care- I want you to love these photos and I want you to have a great time.