Yosemite Wedding Photographers

Wedding Day Wonderful. As parents of the Groom we had the great opportunity of working with Yosemite Wedding Photographers. Brady and Ken were the amazing photographers providing wonderful photographs and service throughout the entire experience. Our communications and planning were with Brady who was professional and enthusiastic. Details were all taken care of from our first contact on their website, throughout the planning and preparation to the most memorable day for our family and friends.
It was immediately evident that Brady and Ken know Yosemite Valley intimately and when the light will be the Best for the beautiful locations chosen. The silver lining to our cloudy day with some rain was the amazing color captured so artistically. Just go to their website! These memories can be yours.
Patti and Nick Daly, parents of the Groom

Where do I begin? Ken and Brady are as amazing as it gets! Newly engaged and eager to start planning, my (then) fiancé and I had our hearts set on Yosemite, but didn’t know much beyond that. We narrowed our photographer choice to Yosemite Wedding Photographers and one other person. Once I spoke to Brady, my mind was made up. And once we got to meet Ken and Brady together, we were in love! Like most brides-​to-​be I had a ton of questions and Brady always responded quickly and answered them all. Leading up to the wedding, Brady even provided me with a list of «helpful hints» for her Yosemite brides. I won’t go into what’s on it – I’ll leave that nugget of info for YWP to share, but it was very helpful!
Fast forward to the Big Day — Ken and Brady arrive on time and are ready to go. We take prep photos (separately), at their recommendation have our First Look at a large tree — very «Yosemite» and highly recommended, and then off to the ceremony site. We chose a location and time of day that had pretty bright (harsh) lighting and being the true professionals that they are, Ken and Brady took their time to get everything right. And it was perfect!
OK, the formalities are over and it’s time to have some fun. We set off on a photo tour of Yosemite Valley and go to the most picturesque places imaginable. The photo tour was the highlight of our day!
Shortly after the wedding, we got a small «sneak peak» of a few of our photos. A few weeks later we get a larger «peak» and then before we knew it, we had all of the photos! The only «con» that I have is that ALL of the pictures are gorgeous; we can’t pick our favorites.

Ken and Brady are wonderful. Not just for weddings, but any kind of family portraiture. Our daughter gave us a photoshoot — just of us – in Yosemite Valley! We have some beautiful pictures we treasure: of us and Yosemite – our «second home» And the entire day was fun: a wonderful experience – almost as great as the photos!

Pros: Extremely talented and professional team.
Cons: None.
Verdict: They are it — period, end of story.
Overview:
We recently visited Yosemite National Park for a family vacation and wanted some really unique and professional photographs to cherish.
We were not interested in your typical run of the mill photos that anyone with an expensive digital camera masquerades as «professional photography». We were looking for a service that could deliver breathtakingly unique pictures and knew the art and science of photography.
After reviewing and conducting much research, we settled on Yosemite Wedding Photographers (Duende Photo), for our family photo shoot and are so glad we did.
Experience:
Brady and Ken are both incredibly talented professionals able to make the best out of any situation. They were reliable, communicated in near real-​time before and after our photo shoot, and took every possible step to ensure the opportunity for those once-​in-​a-​lifetime pictures happened, and they did.
We are so glad we invested in their services, as you just can’t always recreate the exact circumstance or the opportunity to capture an experience. They were a pleasure to work with, and operated as an experienced team who knew the lay of the park, and delivered photos that we will relive through for the rest of our lives.
Cost:
Their prices are very competitive, particularly in light of the level of talent and experience you have behind the lens. In reality, the outcome for us was priceless.
Worth every penny.
Verdict:
If you are in need of capturing once in a lifetime family moments at Yosemite Park, they are it. The best photographers in the area… you won’t be disappointed.

Ken was absolutely fabulous!!!
We got married during the government shutdown October 9, 2013. When we were flying out to California Ken already had several plan B’s in place for us in case we could not get into Yosemite National Park.
My husband and I decided to get married in Yosemite after all. Ken shot our wedding and took us on tour around the Yosemite national Park for over four hours. Our pictures are breathtaking!!! We have some of the best photos I’ve ever seen.
Ken has been absolutely wonderful to work with and we would highly recommend him!!! Wearing boots is exactly the way we wanted to get married. We had a blast running through leaves, puddles and brush for a great photo! We had the best time ever!
Joe and Sharon

There is no better duo of photographers than Ken and Brady. These two are as beautiful and amazing as the National Park where my gorgeous wife and I wed. Ken and Brady knew Yosemite inside and out, from the best locations to photograph us to capturing the best lighting for each area. Our photos were perfect and the time we spent with them was unforgettable and fun! They are the perfect photography team, often complimenting each other. They were running, climbing, and popping out bushes, lugging their cameras and massive equipment around just to capture the best moments of my breathtaking wife and I. We can’t thank them enough for their hard work. They are truly worth every penny! From the first day we contacted them, Ken and Brady have been extremely informative and responsive. These two are very professional as well as skilled. There is no need to look beyond this review because the Yosemite Wedding Photographers are the team for your special day, in your special location, and with your special someone.

Having a wedding in Yosemite National Park is a truly wonderful and memorable experience. But it also presents a plethora of challenges, one of which is finding a photographer who not only has a wealth of experience, creative eye, palatable personality and superior technical skills, but of equal importance knows Yosemite intimately. We feel very fortunate that we were able to find someone who met all of those criteria… the husband and wife team of Ken Mendoza and Brady Thomas of DuendePhoto (aka Yosemite Wedding Photographers).
Ken and Brady have been an absolute pleasure to work with, from our first meeting with them through the post-​wedding photo review/​ordering stage which is where we’re currently at. They produced a gorgeous collection of color and black and white images of our wedding which we absolutely love and which our family and friends cannot stop raving about. And the great thing about having two photographers is that every precious moment was captured and often from different angles, a feat the solo photographer simply can’t accomplish.
On the service side of things, Ken and Brady are very responsive to emails and phone messages and they always go the extra mile to make you happy (I’ll always have the mental image stuck in my head of Brady lying on her side in her nice clothes on that dusty, squirrel poop covered Ahwahnee Hotel patio on that brutally hot and humid June day taking a unique photo of our decorations). We were also very grateful to Brady for providing us with her excellent «Prep List For Brides», a document she created from her own lessons learned when she was married in Yosemite and which included such useful tips as «for summer brides, apply insect repellant liberally before you get dressed».
Ken and Brady’s pricing is on the higher end compared to the other photographers on the Yosemite wedding vendor list, but one thing we learned after viewing the online portfolios of several wedding photographers is that you definitely get what you pay for. If you insist on allocating a meager portion of your wedding budget on a photographer you’re going to get crappy photos and you’ll regret your decision for the rest of your life.
We’d give ‘em six stars if we could.

My husband and I can’t say enough about how delighted we are that we decided to hire Yosemite Wedding Photographers for our wedding. From the very beginning, Ken was absolutely fantastic. He is very helpful and a terrific communicator. He always made me feel like I was a priority and even though I didn’t meet him until the day of our destination wedding, I felt like he went out of his way to get to know me and my husband as individuals.
On the actual wedding day, Ken showed up right on time and was able to immediately begin capturing the magic of the entire day. After I was done getting ready, he drove us all around Yosemite so that we could get photos in some of the most beautiful and iconic scenes of the park. Yosemite is near and dear in the hearts of me and my husband and it was so refreshing to work with someone that shares the passion for the park that we have. Ken knows all the greatest places for beautiful photos, but he is also very knowledgeable about the park and its history. There was never a dull moment while we were driving in between photo destinations. Ken kept us laughing and entertained all day long.
It has only been a month since the wedding, so I have yet to receive all of my wedding photos. However, Ken was able to provide me with a «sneak peak» of some photos that he edited the very next day and I was absolutely blown away by all of them. I can’t wait to get the rest of my photos and I have every confidence that they will be as breathtaking as the sneak peaks. I would highly recommend Yosemite Wedding Photographers for anyone’s special day! You will not regret it!

The worst thing about working with Ken was that by the end of the day I wished that I was marrying him: D
OK — only joking. But in all seriousness, he’s the best! He took SO many amazing photos! We simply can’t thank him enough for helping to make our day so special and memorable.
We loved taking a photo tour on out wedding day. We spent most of the day taking photos with him. He advised us on so many aspects of our day. He helped us plan our tour around the valley so that we got to the best spots, when they had the best lighting, while avoiding areas when they were too busy. He did all this while being a very fun person to be around. He even advised us on which bathrooms where bride-​worthy, which was greatly appreciated by my bride and other female guests.
One thing I really admired about Ken was his passion and enthusiasm for his work. You could hear the excitement in his voice when he found the lighting for the perfect shot. Speaking as someone who generally dislikes being photo’d I found this very comforting. It turned the experience from one that I’d been dreading into something utterly wonderful.
It’s simply impossible to replicate the overall experience without getting photographers with Ken’s level of experience in the Yosemite Valley! His knowledge of the lighting within the valley meant he was able to capture some simply amazing images.
Beyond all this we got our ‘sneak peak’ of ~80 photos within 3 days!!!
One point I’d really like to highlight is that it really is worth spending as much time as possible with him travelling around the valley. You’ll end up with a set of photos that you’ll truly treasure for the rest of your life.

First off, my husband and I are wedding photographers in San Diego (
). When we decided to get married in Yosemite this past December, we had very definite ideas about what we wanted. We looked at a lot of portfolios from area photographers, and were really excited when we saw how Ken and Brady capture the beauty of Yosemite, pulling the couple into the photo but still showing the grandeur of the valley — exactly what we envisioned! We contacted them and felt like we had made friends before we even met. It’s so important to connect with and like your wedding photographer (s) — they share such an important day in your life. Ken and Brady got everything — the perfect combination of formals and informals and big and little details. Everything I had worked on (I DIY’d a lot of the decorations, etc) was beautifully captured for me to remember. Then, when fog enveloped the valley after the ceremony, they went above and beyond to meet with us the next day to get those special shots we had so wanted — this was a level of caring for us as a couple that showed us that great customer service is absolutely top priority with them. Oh, and the photos are absolutely top notch — great composition and use of lighting, and superior processing. Simply the best!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our wedding pictures. If you are getting married in Yosemite you will not be disappointed with Ken and Brady’s work. We interviewed 14 different photographers and we were impressed with this couple from the very start. As we looked through their portfolio, Ken asked us to reflect and comment on the photos we liked and why. They were interested in the compositions that WE liked and they used that as a guide in how they shot our wedding. It’s clear in their photos that Ken and Brady are able to capture the beauty of the area while focusing on the spirit of the moment of your wedding day.
Ken and Brady stayed in close contact with us about details leading up to the big day. Brady provided a checklist of very useful items for the day, helped me get organized for family photos, and she had great vendor recommendations in the Yosemite Area.
In addition to shooting AMAZING wedding pictures, Ken and Brady are delightful to work with. Our April wedding was fraught with peril. To begin with, there was a very serious threat of the government closing down National Parks the weekend of our wedding. On top of that, there was a huge snow storm that weekend (yes, in April) which was wreaking havoc on guests getting to the park and several vendors were having issues getting supplies in for the wedding. As you can imagine, I was pretty stressed out, and about to lose it. Friday evening, before the Saturday wedding, Ken phoned to tell me that he had been watching the closure situation, and it looked like we’d be safe. He also said that he was TOTALLY STOKED about the weather because it was going to make for some incredible pictures (which it did!). His enthusiasm about the situation put me completely at ease and allowed me to enjoy the rest of the preparations.
Ken and Brady know Yosemite inside and out. They are passionate about their photography, about their clients, and they have that incredible gift of being able balance the brilliance of Yosemite with the intimacy of your wedding day in their photos. I would give them six stars if Unilocal allowed it!

Ken Mendoza receives my strongest recommendation as a wedding photographer. Ken works with his wife, Brady to provide their customers with with an incredible wedding photography experience. Brady doubles as a wedding coordinator and stylist and assists Ken with all aspects of the married couple’s special day. She also acts a second shooter, adding her own unique and creative vision from a woman’s point of view.
Ken’s strength is the ability to use natural light in his wedding photography coverage. Ken covers the entire Northern California area, but his specialty is outdoor weddings in Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and winery weddings. If you are getting married in Yosemite there is nobody else more qualified to shoot your wedding than this exceptional husband and wife team. They have photographed a large number of weddings in this region and the quality of their work is unsurpassed. Ken basically grew up in the Yosemite, and with that knowledge is able to find the most spectacular spots for photographs.