Hi, I'm Vitalina

I photograph weddings and elopements around Santa Barbara — on the beaches, up in the backcountry, and on the courthouse lawn that has probably seen more happy tears than anywhere else in the county.

Most people tell me the same thing before we start: we're awkward in front of a camera. Nobody is, really. What people are is self-conscious about being watched, which is a completely different problem — and one that goes away when you have something to do other than stand still and smile.

So we walk. We talk. I stay out of the way and photograph what actually happens between you. You get to spend your wedding day at your wedding, instead of at a two-hour portrait session.

Every wedding includes an engagement session, because by the second time we shoot together you have already forgotten I'm there. That is the whole trick.