Simone Anne Photography

We already knew Simone was a great photographer when we hired her to do our engagement photos, but WOW. We were totally blown away at how skilled and professional she is from the moment we asked her to do the photos, through the entire session, to the beautiful email with our photo gallery that she sent us way sooner than we were expecting. I’m not too comfortable in front of a camera but Simone made the session so easy and fun right off the bat, constantly making us laugh. We could not be happier with the photos she took, I have no idea how we’re going to choose just one for the save the date! Aside from the incredible photos, I really loved how Simone communicated with us– she is the perfect balance of friendly and professional. She responded immediately when we asked if she was free to do our photos, and sent us a really well laid out price packages pdf and even some outfit ideas. I LOVE the way she sends your finished photos, in a digital gallery that you can share with friends and family, save your favorites, and select photos for prints. Simone is artistic, personable, and worth every penny and more– we couldn’t recommend her more highly!

Simone was our photographer in October for our wedding in El Cerrito and was fantastic. When we first contacted Simone she was responsive, flexible and helpful with the process of selecting a photographer. We had a few changes we wanted made to the contract and she was understanding and accommodating. Simone continued to be this way after we hired her, and was there for us any time we had a question or needed input about various items. For example, I was worried about a few issues that I noticed in other photos at my venue. Simone offered to go to the venue with me for no additional charge to see it and to help me brainstorm how to rectify these issues to make the photos look great. I also contacted Simone for various vendor references and other wedding ideas and she was always friendly and helpful.
On the day of the wedding Simone was punctual and her assistant photographer was great. This review really isn’t about the photos– you will probably be able to find various great photographers in the Bay Area. What will especially differentiate Simone is her positive, welcoming and friendly disposition while working with you and your guests on a very stressful and crazy day. Many family members and guests mentioned their interactions with Simone after the wedding to tell me how sweet and nice my photographer was. We don’t really like being in photos and I was worried about the photo aspect of our wedding, but with Simone it felt as effortless as it could feel.
As for logistics, Simone listened to us and captured the photos that we told her in advance we wanted. We wanted specific photos at our venue and she made sure we got them. She knew sunset photos were important to us, but during the cocktail hour we weren’t paying attention and she was proactive about getting us outside for them. She delivered beautiful photos earlier than required by the contract and when we forgot about the canvas included in our package she actively reached out to inquire about it and remind us about it.
I highly recommend Simone not just for her photography skills, but to help put you, your family and your guests at ease with her positivity and exuberance on your special day. She is a professional and you will be happy with your selection.

I was referred to Simone through a co-​worker. My husband (then fiancé) and I really enjoyed having Simone as our photographer because:
1) She puts us at ease. Simone is very OUTGOING and FUN to hang out with. In addition, she is very PROFESSIONAL and gives great instructions for poses.
2) Her work is BEAUTIFUL. We received so many compliments from friends and family on both of our engagement and wedding photos.
3) She is FAST. She turned around our engagement photos in less than a week and wedding photos in two weeks.
4) Her pricing is REASONABLE and TRANSPARENT. You can find her pricing on her website. Very straight forward. You don’t even need to email and ask for a quote.
Simone exceeded our expectations on what we were looking for as a photographer. If you are looking for a professional, fun, and reasonably priced photographer, definitely give her a shot.

Simone was amazing. Not only was it a pleasure to work with her, we are blown away by how much we love our photos.
We hired Simone for our wedding, and also included an engagement shoot. My fiancé (now husband) didn’t necessarily see a point in having engagement pictures, but now he raves about the value of getting comfortable posing for a photographer. Do yourself a favor and include an engagement shoot! It made him so much more at ease during our wedding. I believe that is mostly in part by how natural and easy Simone is to work with. She’s very warm and personable and doesn’t make anything over formal or intimidating.
Simone did an amazing job of blending in with the festivities. I’ve been to weddings where it feels like the photographer is in your face constantly, and Simone was the complete opposite. She was able to capture moments without you knowing she was there. She also had a really pleasant demeanor managing family structures (like divorced parents) and not making anything awkward.
We couldn’t be happier. She was amazing, made our day amazing, and gave us really beautiful memories in our photos.

Simone photographed our wedding, and she was amazing, even more than we could have hoped for! First and most importantly, her photographs were amazing!!! She skillfully maneuvered us and posed us to get good angles without making us feel self conscious or bossed around, and she floated unobtrusively throughout the entire wedding ceremony and reception to get the perfect shots! She’s very responsive, a joy to work with, and takes some of the best photographs I’ve seen. We couldn’t be happier, and we would recommend her without hesitation or reservation!

Simone was our wedding photographer and she did an amazing job. She was on time and organized and put me at ease right away. I wouldn’t describe myself as naturally photogenic and she was great at providing lots of direction to my husband and me. She was also really patient at wrangling my giant family, and she even knew how to bustle my dress. She sent us sneak peeks of our photos before she was done processing all of them. She has been great to work with from start to finish. Oh, and the photos were great – the most important part.

It’s hard to begin when you have so many good things to say about someone! My husband and I couldn’t be happier with our choice to hire Simone to be our wedding photographer in February of 2015.
From our very first conversation with Simone, we found her to be personable, genuine and enthusiastic. What we came to learn after working with her is that she is also incredibly professional and thorough.
Her pre-​photo shoot questionnaire covers all the bases and proves her attention to detail and desire to do everything within her power to get to know you and thus know how to get all the shots you want. She makes sure to come up with a detailed shot list ahead of time so the day of runs smoothly and there aren’t any surprises or missed shots. And she’s really great at noticing little details when she’s shooting, like if your tie isn’t straight or how to hold your bouquet just so. The results are so much better because of her attention to details.
She is an extremely talented photographer who makes your guests feel at ease and is able to tell the story of your event through her images. We hired Simone because we wanted someone who would be able to capture the joy of our special day through the photos and we couldn’t be happier with the beautiful results!

We finally found our «forever photographer»
After interviewing almost a dozen wedding photographers, we stumbled upon Simone.
On wedding day, she arrived early and took amazing photos. She was great during the posed family shots and made that tedious part bearable!
We received our photos LIGHTENING FAST! The online gallery is super easy and convenient to view all the photos. She captured everything! Couldn’t even tell she was there during the ceremony or reception.
Simone takes a bit longer to respond to emails than most, but that’s a small sacrifice for how amazing her work is!
Don’t hesitate, just book her!

My husband and I were recommended Simone as our wedding photographer from my hair stylist. We immediately got into contact with Simone and even though she was halfway around the world traveling (with a time difference) at the time she still made time to Skype with my husband and I for our initial meet n greet to get questions answered. Accommodating and very sweet right? We knew from that first meeting that we wanted to go with Simone, we didn’t even consider checking other people out. Simone continued to keep in contact with us all the way until our wedding day which was a nice reminder that she didn’t forget about us.
The day of the Wedding Simone was actually early and showed up before the wedding parties were even there! My husband was original nervous about the wedding pictures since he has a hard time smiling or feeling comfortable being in pictures. However Simone’s presence was very sweet, kind and caring, we truly felt like she cared about us and never made us feel uncomfortable. Therefore our pictures came out great and natural (just what we wanted). She never rushed us and we never felt judged for not being professional models lol. Simone did not lag a minute getting our photos back to us and the pictures turned out better than we could have asked for and we will cherish these photos forever of our special day.
If you’re looking for a wedding photographer and are considering Simone, GO FOR IT! Do not hesitate to book her or at least reach out to get in contact. Once you talk to Simone you’ll know she’s the best photographer out there!
I would HIGHLY recommend Simone to any FAMILY OR FRIENDS and I know my husband and I will be using her photography again in the future.

After doing HOURS of research online for a photographer to take my graduation photos, I stumbled upon Simone’s blog and fell in love with her photography style. I knew I wanted my photos to look natural, not super photoshopped– and Simone’s gift of working with natural light made my photos (and me!) look phenomenal. I seriously could not have been more thrilled with the results and I’m a very critical person!
For graduation/​senior photos, the session runs about 45 minutes-​ish for photos in one outfit + cap&gown. However, what separates Simone from other photographers is how accommodating she is to your individual needs. We communicated over e-​mail about which locations on UC Berkeley campus I wanted to have my photos taken, and she generously worked past our 45-​minute session so that we could hit each spot. Additionally, she is extremely professional and had my photos ready for viewing/​sharing within two days of our session. She even offers a 50% off deal for prints if you order within 3 days!
Most importantly, Simone is extremely genuine and easy to talk to. She helped me feel comfortable in front of the camera, so I was actually laughing in my «laughing photos» because I was having so much fun! If you’re looking to have beautiful graduation photos, I would highly recommend Simone.
You can read her blog post about my session here:

Thank you very much Simone for the great work! We couldn’t be happier! We are so glad we chose you and didn’t mind to pay a little bit more than the other photographer option in there because you are actually more than worth it! Everybody are raving how beautiful the photos turned out to be!
If we will need to have another shoot in the future we won’t look for any other but you!
Keep it up!
Christian and Sherry

Simone is an incredibly talented photographer. We feel so lucky to have had her shoot our wedding in September, 2014. Her confidence and precision in the way she sets up the shots really shows in the results of the final photos. She’s nice, professional, easy to work with, and best of all, invisible. She’s unobtrusive during the event while capturing the essence of each moment. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty if it means capturing the right shot.
During our family photos, she was in her dress kneeling on pine needles, kicking away dog poo, arranging my wife’s dress for each pose. Once we finished the pictures, we were walking back to our cars, when she saw the sun hitting us just right, and she stopped us to take more photos (which turned out amazing). This woman would climb a tree if it meant capturing just the right shot.
Her style and quality of work is second to none. She may be younger, but she has enough experience to last a lifetime.
We highly recommend Simone if you want your photos to look even better than your memories.

Simone was wonderful to work with and I would definitely use her again /​highly recommend her to all my friends! We met for a couple hours in early March because I wanted to update my social media (FB/​LinkedIn/​Twitter) photos. While I had never done a photo shoot before, she made me feel incredibly comfortable, especially in public settings. She provided expert instructions on how to pose and what lighting would look great. We did an indoor and outdoor shoot with an outfit change for a price that I thought was a steal. She’s also responsive: coordinating a time/​place to meet and receiving the photos took no time. I had a certain idea of how I wanted my pictures to look to separate myself from the quite generic portrait photos seen on social media nowadays, and Simone exceeded my expectations in achieving that result. Overall, she’s an awesome person and I feel so lucky to have worked with her. I look forward to maybe doing another shoot in a couple years if not sooner :)

This lady’s on fire! Simone photographed our wedding in August 2014 at the Brazilian Room. Throughout the whole process (planning & actual day) she impressed us with her attention to detail, ability to put us at ease, and her ability to get the right shot quickly. And we were so so happy with the pictures themselves — she is incredibly talented. Don’t hesitate to choose Simone!

Simone is absolutely incredible! She is sweet and smart and her photos are perfect. My husband and I are SO happy with how our engagement session and wedding day photos turned out. She is also a joy to spend time with and will work with her clients to get what they want done and help them figure out what exactly they do want. She is also very flexible with scheduling. If you get a package with two photographers, the «assistant» is also a total professional as well. f you have no idea what do to, Simone will give great suggestions and your pictures will look incredible. I just cannot recommend her more highly enough.

I worked with Simone for my wedding photos and she is awesome! Leading up to our big day she communicated clearly and she was so friendly I felt like I already knew her! This was important for my wedding day because I wanted to be relaxed even though cameras were so close to me. She asked lots of questions to make sure the details were ironed out, so I had no need to worry! She and her second photographer were both prompt, professional and so sweet. She gave us a beautiful photo the day after our wedding that we proudly showed off to our friends, family, and even people we meet on our honeymoon! She also delivered all of our final photos quickly, and we loved them! She did a great job of capturing facial expressions in the photos which bring back the wonderful emotions of our big day. Thank you Simone!

We showed Simone’s photos of our wedding to our family and friends, and the general reaction was just, like, gasping. My wife’s sister looked at the photos and groaned like she was eating something decadent. Simone’s work is amazing. And she was a lovely presence on the day of – shepherding family members into formal poses and gracefully popping up throughout the night with a smile. If for some reason we ever get married again, she’s doing our photos again.

I know Simone a little bit from the fabulous Instameet she hosted in January 2014 and briefly during my one semester at the Daly Cal. As a student I remember being wowed by her creativity and dedication to the craft.
She definitely knows how to compose her shots beautifully, even in full manual mode. Most importantly, she captures the moment naturally and with every attention to detail to her environment.
She has a great sense of humor and is one of those kind salt of the earth kind of people. She sold me her golden lens cap and it’s been my lucky charm ever since!
Wonderful travel photographer, but overall fantastic portrait and event professional too.

As a 2013 bride I did one thing that countless people told me not to do: I hired my friend as my photographer. I can honestly say that if I could go back I wouldn’t do it any other way. Simone is an amazing person and you should book her on her personality alone. Simone is classic, creative, spunky and her work is precious, well thought out and gorgeous. As a photographer myself, I felt completely relaxed and confident on our wedding day knowing that Simone was running around despite the 100+ degree weather and doing her absolutely best to capture our day. This alleviated so much of my wedding day nerves.
I have shot countless weddings with Simone and she never ceases to impress me with the lengths she will go to for her brides. She’s just in love with the time she spends alone with a couple on their wedding day and you can tell in her work that she loves what she does and her clients love her.
Oh and she got my husband to enjoy his time in front of the camera. I rest my case.

Simone did my senior graduation photos, and years later I STILL show them off. High-​quality work and super accommodating (I’m somewhat tech challenged and she guided me through it).
Simone is also a dream to work with. I get shy and rigid when posing for photos, but she is incredibly warm and welcoming. Having a photographer who works with your personality instead of going against the grain is soooo important, and it really shows up in the final product.
If you’re in the Bay, I’d recommend her without hesitation.