the journal

Let me begin by saying that I’m a wedding photographer myself so my standards are a little unusual and Kristen is AMAZING! My boyfriend (now fiance!) hired Kristen to capture his surprise proposal to me in Costa Rica and with her help, it was perfect.

Personality – Finding a photographer you feel comfortable with is SO important, no matter what the session is. Kristen is a 1000% for fun, friendly, and being a genuine human being – which in turn makes for an exceptional photographic experience in front of the camera. Seriously – this is super important and not easy to find!

Session – Kristen is more movement based which makes for natural, real emotions and reactions in the photos. She guided us through movements, constantly talking the whole time (so we were comfortable!) and caught the genuine moments and expressions rather than guiding us into stiff poses. Love!!!

Previews – Seeing your pictures is SO exciting and Kristen delivered ASAP – as in, sent over 3 gorgeous previews 2 hours later, and then edited the entire session in a record less than 24 hours!! Ummm man was my mom stoked!!

Images – Gorgeous, and speak for themselves!! Also, I love sun flare and she nailed it! On top of that, she provides the edited, digital files for download (high resolution and web size). Different photographers work in different ways, and I personally always recommend a photographer that provides the digital files and print rights to the images. It’s what I do as a photographer, and what I would look for!

Bonus! Not only did she do an amazing job as our photographer, but she helped my fiance lay out the plan. We aren’t from Costa Rica so her suggestions were immensely helpful to him – AND she assisted in making the restaurant reservation for him (since it would have been tough for him to do with me present!)

Summary: Kristen is a talented photographer with an A+ personality – she goes above and beyond for her clients and I would not hesitate to hire her again for any type of wedding or session! Loved everything about our experience and can’t recommend her enough!!

– Frances + Ryan

Not even sure where to begin, but Kristen was an absolute joy to work with! She is very reliable and communicated/coordinated with me for any question or request I had throughout the entire process. I was trying to plan my proposal in a country I had never even been to, so you can imagine how clueless I was, but that was no problem for Kristen! She guided me through everything and even provided me with multiple videos explaining/showing the exact location of my proposal set up. Thanks to her trusty sidekick dog, Gidget, I was easily able to spot Kristen as she was in position and ready to capture one of the most important moments in my life. During our session, she had a perfect variety of ideas for our pictures which helped our awkward selves. My favorite part of our session was how nice and personable Kristen is, there was an instant connection like she was just one of your friends taking pictures of you. The only difference was, Kristen’s photos are above and beyond! We were very pleasantly surprised with the photo quality and editing. Within an hour or so, Kristen already had gone home and gotten a few sneak peak photos ready for us to make our announcement. Getting to review such great pictures of a very special moment made for a memory in itself. I am incredibly blessed to have found such a great person/photographer for this memory of a lifetime! Thank you so much again, Kristen.

– Austin + Sarah

I’m not a review writer, but Kristen’s work compelled to me to make an exception. I’m accustomed to leaving photography sessions hoping to have a photo or two that I love. With Kristen, our challenge was to pick out which of the dozens of photos that we loved to print and frame.

She did a fantastic job of keeping our kids engaged, and of changing up the setting, look, and feel of the photos so that they felt fresh and unique. I highly recommend Kristen to anyone looking for fantastic photos in Tamarindo!

– Holmes Family

Trying to hire a photographer in a different country for your wedding day, is really the most stressful part, even when you’re eloping and making things as simple as possible. It is just so important to get exactly what you want.

Kristen was such a pleasure to work with before, during, and even after our photoshoot! She was easy to communicate with, even though we are in Canada and she is in Costa Rica. She always answered emails in a timely manner. Kristen really knows the area well, and knows where the best shots are going to be. She had many suggestions for us, which was helpful having never been there before.

The day of our wedding/photoshoot, Kristen was incredible. I felt very comfortable in front of her camera. She was VERY efficient and in our 90 minutes, I am confident she got every shot possible. There were no overly cheesy poses or anything insincere about it – everything was very organic and very “us.” Kristen was also just super fun to hang out with! Not to mention, her helper Gidget was adorable and full of personality. Just what us dog lovers wanted on our wedding day!

I am just in love with the pictures Kristen did for us. I have gotten SO many compliments on our photos. Seriously – every single person asks us who our photographer was, and where/how we found her. The vibe in the pictures is exactly what I imagined for my wedding day – chill, beachy, and full of real love. She captured every moment just perfectly.

I would highly, HIGHLY recommend Kristen for any sort of photoshoot if you are in Costa Rica.
Kristen, I wish I could give you more than 5 stars in this review. Thank you!!

– Jenelle + Brad

Kristen was WONDERFUL. We did a photo shoot on the beach to celebrate our 10th anniversary, and it was everything we could have wanted. She made us feel immediately comfortable, found beautiful and quiet spots to take the photos, and just made the whole experience fun. The experience was just as enjoyable as the photos we now get to keep forever! We are very picky about photography (not everyone with a camera has photography skills!) but Kristen is seriously talented. I could not recommend her more highly.

– Laura + Etan

I came across Kristen’s work searching for family photographers in Tamarindo on Instagram. Check out her insta, if you’re on the fence! Over a few months I fell in love with the candid look of her shots, and her ability to capture all the beautiful colours of the sun, sand and sky. When we finally met she was prompt, professional and friendly. With a tonne of patience, Kristen was able to direct my 3 year-old and 8 year-old (who wanted to do nothing but play!). The resulting photos were more amazing than I could have imagined. Kristen captured the sentiment and beauty of our family vacay. I highly recommend Samba to the Sea Photography.

– Prasad Family

 Kristen is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! She photographed our wedding at the Langosta Beach Club a few weeks ago and the pictures are more than a dream. Her communication was exceptional before, during and after our wedding. She was super helpful, answered all of our questions and made sure our photos were exactly what we wanted and more. She is fun and personable, our guests really enjoyed interacting with her. My husband and I really enjoyed our photo session after the wedding where she captured pictures with the most perfect lighting. She is very laid back and creative with her shots, AND we got our photos back the very next day! Our friends and family cannot day enough about our photos, some of the best they have ever seen! I could go on for hours but her pictures alone tell her story. I don’t have a favorite, I have about 20 favorites!  Kristen can make all your photo dreams come true, she did for us!

– Brittany + Tom