References for Helen Diaz

Mark Gilbert

I had a shoot with Helen at an outdoors location near Tintern. This was my first shoot with Helen, aud it was very productive and enjoyable. We shot in several locations and Helen worked hard and produced good poses. We were lucky with the weather and light, which was bright but not sunny, and that helped produce some flattering images. Helen was very communicative, and a pleasure to work with. I would recommend her, and look forward to future shoots with her.

Craig 2112

Had my first shoot with Helen at the weekend, working at her home studio with her husband Roger providing me with additional tuition.

They are a wonderful couple, and I’d happily recommend taking up the option of having Roger there, advising on lighting, suggesting ideas and just generally educating, to anyone who is still feeling their way a bit around studio work. We ended up going through a whole variety of shoot styles from Hollywood-style portrait to art nude & bodyscapes while experimenting with gels, oil, and smoke.

As for Helen herself, as others have said, she is just great fun to be around. There was a lot of laughter during the day, with one or both of us cracking up at different points. But at the same time, Helen is the consummate professional and kept nailing the poses. She really throws herself into the shoot. I’ve barely scratched the surface on processing the many shots I came away with, but I already know I’ve got more than a few cracking images!

It was just a really enjoyable experience, a fantastic day, and I’m already looking to line up another shoot.

Dave Hammant

My second shoot with Helen at the Heavenly Bodies Studio she and her husband Roger run at Chippenham. The first shoot was in the ruins of a church so this was the first time I had worked with her in a controlled light situation.

Helen is an absolute pro with a lot of experience which comes through in her ideas and her posing, which result in a very smooth workflow, getting the results that you want - and more - quickly and efficiently.

Add to that her sense of humour and just general fun to be with character and the shoot flies by with a lot of really great images to sort through.

Anyone wanting to shoot the art nude genre should add Helen to their list - somewhere near the top - and get set for a great shoot.

Already thinking about the next one.....

Jay Pegg

Helen is among the very best models I have yet had the pleasure of working with!

Pre comms were outstanding and I don't think I could have asked for a better, more professional model. Helen is a wonderful person with a terrific sense of humour so the time flew by.

As a result of the shoot I've a very large number of shots to edit - there are just so many good ones to choose from!

Working with her isn't just a pleasure, it's a joy. I thoroughly recommend arranging a shoot with her :-)

JohnDuder

Words aren't entirely adequate to describe Helen.

Let's start with the easy bit: all her admin is solid, just right.

She's a smiling, kind and generous person, who has a strong tendency to tell the truth at all times.

She's dramatic, womanly, and quirky in front of the camera. Helen is old-school art nude, with an idiosyncratic twist. I suspect she'd make a superb burlesque performer, because she's both very proper, and thoroughly knowing.

And the pictures? I'd say they speak for themselves, but I rather think they shout from the rooftops.

Book her. Photograph her. Be nice to her.

And, as Arnie put it - I'll be back!

trebor images

I had the opportunity of an afternoon shoot with Helen at one of her outdoor locations . Pre comms were great ,and it was so nice to see Helen after such a long time and she hadn't changed a bit ! She is full of energy and fun to work with - and works hard to get the shots you are after, with of course her skills and knowledge of what works best. She takes time to ensure her MUAH is just right and was happy to get to some of the more tricky locations on the shoot. I'm looking forwards to processing the many images I got. Highly recommended and look forwards to working with Helen again :)

spw_portraits

Excellent half day the Helen on a location shoot. The whole event from initial contact to the end of shoot was

Brilliant. A real pleasure to work with and hope to do more shoots in the future

D M Wilmot

Mid-morning today had a 'photo glam' photo session, with the lovely Helen Diaz.

This was in place of one that was booked, did not happen when it should have.

The event involved some outdoor and indoor photo work, H was variously attired.

Outdoor, used ambient light, shade of the garden, various parts, colour, b & w.

Indoor was the same working with the shade, tone of the furniture, light levels.

Full, quarter figure, facial, specific: off-centre, lateral: corner to corner.

Have worked together before on a number of occasions, were soon into the flow.

Helen is a friendly social person, knows what she likes, works image, look etc.

The resulting images, posted on PP show this, what I can do with such a model.

michaelb_photos

Had my first shoot today with with the fantastic Helen. Helen is an amazing model with a brilliant sense of humor. I tried a style of shoot I have never done before and we got some real arty images. I would highly recommend Helen to anyone who has not yet had the joy of working with her. Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable shoot. Looking forward to working with you again soon.

Sam Barton

I just had a fabulous shoot with Helen. She reached out to me as I am local and we quickly struck up a fun conversation over email. We share a common interest in vintage fashion and that set the tone for what would be our first shoot together at my studio.

She arrived with a huge gust of energy and armed with a wonderful selection of inspiring outfits - we were spoilt for choice. I set about matching clothes to backgrounds and we rattled through so many different looks in the 4 hours we shot together.

Helen is a really genuine person with a soul that matches her vintage look and clothes. She is wonderful in front of the camera, finding her own rhythm but also taking direction if needed.

I am sat here late on the weekend enjoying an army of amazing photos to edit. I'm grateful that she reached out as otherwise we would not have met and these photos wouldn't exist.

I hope you enjoy shooting with Helen as I did!

will r-j

Had my first shoot with Helen yesterday, which was on location at a derelict church, pre shoot comms were excellent, and the location was great somewhere I knew about and never actually got around to going to before,

Helen is a friendly lovely person to shoot with she made me feel instantly at ease from the start.

Helen came with a huge rucksack full of dresses and wardrobe items for the shoot, which came up to the location, we had the place to ourselves all afternoon which was very lucky.

Helen really puts the effort in climbing on windowsills and braving the quite thick spiky overgrowth and not to mention all the bugs!!!

Which all resulted in some very nice shots. I had a good shoot lots of laughs and would not hesitate to shoot with Helen again, in fact I will look forward to another shoot soon.

you know you’ve had a good shoot when you lose all track of time, thank you for a really great shoot.

Togtastic77

This was my first shoot with Helen. I could tell from our pre shoot comms that this was going to be very special and I was not disappointed. Helen is a happy go lucky soul that bounces with energy, we had such great fun together. Her posing is on point, which makes it so much easier for the photographer.

Helen has a great collection of modern and vintage costumes. Prior to the shoot we agreed on certain ones and they were all waiting to be worn when I arrived, saving valuable time.

We shot in both her garden and home studio, swapping stories and having a good laugh. We started with a beautiful 1950's dress, a sexy figure hugging red dress, sheer outfits, a gorgeous revealing black dress for hollywood glamour / film noir, finishing with some art nude.

This was up there as one of the best shoots and experiences I have had. I highly recommend her and can't wait to shoot with her again soon.

Dave Hammant

Helen was kind enough to message me and suggest we shoot - an excellent idea which I would encourage anyone working in the genre of art nude to do. Originally scheduled for a local location we switched to a ruined building near Tintern which provided a great backdrop for the shoot as well as offering some interesting lighting combinations with the sun through gaps in the ruined walls.

Very professional and very skilled at her work Helen goes that extra bit (in the case of this shoot through the brambles!) to make the shot. With her background and the experience she has you are guaranteed some great poses and a sense of style that works really well.

Helen has a great understanding of the technical demands of shooting which she puts to good use to manage the lighting conditions and make the photographers job as simple as possible.

As well as her technical expertise Helen has a great personality which makes the getting to know you bit of a first shoot easy to manage and transition into the level of understanding that enables you to work fluently.

A great shoot - thanks Helen - definitely shoot again and would recommend anyone looking for a gifted and great personality to work with to go to her.

Dave

Steve Pearl

Had a fantastic shoot with Helen in Tintern today - third time lucky after two postponements for ill health and bad weather, but it was worth the wait :-)

I've shot with Helen several times before in her house and/or home studio, but this was my first time working on location with her. Everything was well planned, and she had a brilliant suggestion for a location - an old ruined church near Tintern. It was a beautiful day (sunny, but not yet the heatwave that is forecast to arrive in a couple of days) and the location was largely tourist-free, so we were able to do a good number of art nude shots, quickly switching to fashion or portrait whenever anyone else turned up!

Fortunately not many people did, and we actually spent a large part of the shoot inside with the door bolted shut for privacy! ;-p In fact, I was lucky we even got inside at all because the door was bolted from the *inside* when we arrived! Helen kept a cool head faced with this calamity, and launched into the perfect limbering-up exercise: Climbing in through a window opening (all the glass is long gone), and then bashing open the stiff rusty bolt with a rock! :-)

The shoot time flew by after that, always a sign that things are running smoothly ;-) Helen has shot there before so already knew the likely places for good shots and I am delighted with the images we captured today. Helen was a joy to work with throughout, as always, and even kindly provided some coffee for refreshment during the shoot, which was an unexpected bonus! I would definitely recommend Helen to anyone looking for a well organized location shoot in an unusual location!

Thanks for a lovely shoot, Helen. I look forward to further photographic adventures with you in the future :-)

Steve

photome2

Had been thinking about a particular styled shoot for some time and was so pleased to have Helen agree together with roping in hubby Roger!

As to be expected from a professional model all pre-comms were spot on with the shoot taking place at their excellent home studio 'The Den'.

Whilst Helen did her thing taking direction dress changing and posing, Roger was busy acting as male counterpart together with adjusting backrops and lighting.

Together they worked tirelessly to give me as much scope as possible within the time available.

My eternal thanks to Helen and Roger for their positive attitude and abilities.

Mick Wells

I'm not sure why I waited for so long before arranging a shoot with Helen - clearly an error on my part! We shot at her well-equipped home studio 'The Den' for six hours, and despite the flowing conversation and several outfit, hair and lighting/set changes we managed to shoot everything I'd planned. This is of course a testament to Helen's fantastic preparation, work ethic, professionalism and talent. She's also a lot of fun. A unique model you really should work with.

davidbailey

I had a wonderful shoot with Helen at her home in Wiltshire. We shot outdoors in the natural light in her garden.

I have known Helen for some time now, she is always a joy to work with.

With Helen I know we will always get some great pictures. Helen is a wonderful model.We always have great fun on our sessions, and Helen is a joy to work with.

We manage to have many varied conversations, and the time just flies by.

I would easily work with Helen again and hope to see her again soon.

A complete joy and a great friend.

Paul Timon

I'm not quite sure where to begin. It was my first time shooting with Helen but also involved shooting with 5 other photographers and 2 more models in Iceland! The project had to be stressful for both Helen and her husband Roger. The week long shoot had been postponed several times over the previous two years and to top it all, they missed their flight (through no fault of theirs) and had to stay overnight before traveling the next day.

Add to that, all the administration required, shopping for food, etc., etc., I'm surprised she came out of it with her sanity.

There were a few more trials and tribulations during the week but we still got to see a lot of northern Iceland and got great shots, sometimes with one model, other times with three. On top of that, Helen's quirky sense of humour showed itself quite often and kept us entertained.

Hats off to Roger, her husband, who was our resident chef supplier of wine!

I wonder if she comes to Ireland - it's not as far as Iceland.

ispeakwithimages

I recently attended a workshop with the Royal Photographic Society, hosted by "Chris Burfoot ABIPP ARPS". This was first time I was to photograph a professional model, that model being Helen Diaz.

What can I say. As a novice to this type of shoot Helen made my experience enjoyable and memorable. I left having learnt not just from the workshop content but Helen herself.

Her experience meant I was always going to get a good photo and was very amenable to any requests.

Charming, funny, professional and accommodating are only a few words I could use to describe Helen.

A must shoot model whatever your photography experience. I cannot recommend Helen enough and look forward collaborating with Helen in the future.

Lensmith said...

I was lucky enough to participate in Helen and Roger's recent photo trip to Northern Iceland. Helen is an amazing model, as can be seen from her superb portfolio and from her many positive references on PP. She and Roger teamed up with lovely local model Svala and Greek beauty Irida to provide a memorable week for our small photographic group. It was my first time in Iceland. The Weather Gods looked favourably on us as we had a week of glorious sunshine. We were brought to many waterfalls and geothermal locations where the models displayed their full array of poses, making it easy for an amateur tog like myself to bag stunning images. I hope to post a few here soon.

Helen and Roger couldn't do enough to make me feel welcome and my life experience has been enhanced by meeting these fine folk. I hope to be able to shoot with Helen again and wish to thank her for her patience and kindness. I will long remember this special trip, in the company of three beautiful, talented models. Thank you Helen, Svala, Irida and Roger.