Bia Sampaio Photographs

Words cannot express how grateful we are to Bia for making our day so special. Her amazing talent speaks for itself, and her way with our family and guests was just as impressive. We felt extra lucky because her super talented husband Jason who is also a photographer worked with her on our day. It has been less than a month since our wedding and we already received our proofs which are incredible. Any bride and groom would be lucky to have Bia capture their day.

Working with Bia was a true pleasure from the very begining. She was helpful through every step of the process and was extremely gracious and prompt in responding to any questions or concerns I had. Bia's work is truly spectactular and her ability to capture such special moments in such a unique way will allow us to hold the memories of our wedding day for years to come. I could not have imagined a better person to have been with me for all of the details throughout the day, Bia's wonderful and kind personality allow her to fit perfectly in any situation. I was pleasently surprised that Bia was able to capture every moment, yet never be intrusive to us or any of the guests. I recommed Bia's work with the highest of praise!

Bia is an extraordinary photographer on numerous levels. I would not only recommend her to everyone whose wedding is going to contain an ounce of emotion and spontaneity but I would also add: you only have one shot at your wedding photos - the decision is really important. You will not regret picking Bia, and here is why: Her photographs manage to capture not just how people look, but also their emotions, their reactions and expressions (e.g. while listening to toasts), those small and unscripted intimate moments that would go forgotten if not immortalized on film, and hilarious moments like the bride's sister imitating her kissing the groom over his other shoulder. As a result of this, I (the bride) can go back and relive the entire wedding - both things I saw, e.g. my own reaction seeing my mother's gorgeous dress while getting ready, my brother somehow high-fiving me at the end of the ceremony - and things I didn't see, like my mom's ear-to-ear grin walking with my brother down the aisle, or my parents watching the best man talk about my new husband - by looking through Bia's pictures. In other words, Bia seemed to be everywhere and yet I had no idea. Further, I gave her very little instruction about who to look for and focus on, and clearly she didn't need it. Second, Bia did a brilliant job of conveying the overall atmosphere and mood of the event, which to me means blending the formal and expected with the less formal and unplanned. She took the expected family photographs in several places and with in all sorts of light, and then once she found something she loved, would experiment with it - using different cameras, b/w, different poses etc. But somehow she also did the same thing with the more spur-of-the-moment images, capturing fleeting expressions or grins with the same skill you see in the posed photographs. Thus, at the end, I have a spectacular combination of posed and more candid. Further, while everyone's taste is different, no one wants hokey stupid posed photographs and there was not a one in my 1300 pictures. Rather, Bia made posing, which few love doing, fun.Third, as for the photographs themselves, they are simply gorgeous. I have so many beautiful ones to choose from picking the album is proving impossible. I think my husband is handsome as hell but I will not begin to pretend I usually look awesome in all photographs, but somehow, too many of them are beautiful. And some of the photos are really artistic, e.g. looking at the ceremony from the back of the church through a wrought-iron gate, or me and my father standing (very small) under the church's enormous organ, in black and white before we walked down the aisle - just fantastic shots. And in addition to all of the above - the skill, the understanding of atmosphere and the ability to translate it onto film in both posed and spontaneous shots, the knowledge of how to get people to relax and look their best even though they're doing posed photographs - Bia was pure pleasure to work with. For one thing, someone who isn't warmhearted and fun could not take the quality of pictures she does; you can tell by the photos that she loves people. But she was also unassuming, ever-present without being obtrusive, dead honest that I should put more eyeliner on when I was getting ready or that my hair would look better in a series if I did something with a piece of it (etc), creative without being odd, and funny.Lastly, in terms of logistics, she was extremely responsive and completely reliable. She also provided all sorts of advice about how long a certain number of family shots would take, whether we should do x,y and z before or after the ceremony, and even, as I mentioned above, how much eyeliner I should have on in order to look human but also look fabulous in the pictures. I picked her because she had photographed a good friend's wedding years ago and I loved the fun yet formal quality of the photos. We considered the best photographers from Philadelphia, and I went with Bia because I had seen her work and I remembered how much fun my friend had had working with her - and how happy she had been with the pics. I had a sense that I would relate to her and this would make the pictures that much better. My friend got pictures that were very her, and I got pics that were very me, and EXACTLY what I wanted. In short, Bia nailed it. I would recommend her to everyone.

Not only are Bia's photos fabulous, she's fabulous to have around. She really felt like a close friend at our wedding, getting all the shots we could have imagined without ever seeming in the way. She got our formal shots done quickly and painlessly, captured the best of the spontaneity at our reception, and even carried our champagne during our portrait session—now that's service! ;) Our engagement shoot was such fun, too. All of our pictures just feel like they show the best stuff of us. We couldn't recommend Bia more highly, and if we're lucky enough to have kids, we'll be back for some of those fun family photos.

Bia was recommended to us by another photographer, so we knew that we would be in great hands. However, she completely exceeded our expectations! She is wonderful to work with, very sweet, flexible, and she stayed at our wedding until close to the end (most photographers do not do that and leave sometimes before cake cutting-boo!). Not Bia! I highly recommend Bia Sampaio Photographs...put it this way, I can't wait to one day have my first child so I can work with her again...for newborn photos :) !

Bia is OUTSTANDING, not only as a photographer, but as a human being! She was soooo attentive to my needs and her photographs turned out so beautifully! I was so happy to have found her! She is truly an artist with a camera. Not only did she shoot digital, but used film as well, 35mm, larger format on a Haaselblad (I think that's how you spell it), and on her Holgas. We got all the traditional family photos but also got a lot of artistic shots which are really more the style we like! Bia's personality is so calming and lovely, you would be lucky to have her around you at your wedding! A real gem!

Unbelievably awesome photographer. Great personality. Easy to work with. Helpful in planning photo schedule. Very prompt. Pictures arrived in less than a week. Photo quality was exquisite. Was a perfect fit for our budget. Would HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

Bia is an incredibly talented photographer! We were lucky to have her photograph our wedding at the NY Botanical Garden as well as our engagement shoot in Central Park. She has such a wonderful warm happy energy. I am pretty shy and generally not comfortable having my picture taken but she put me at ease. The total package matters to me, and Bia is just that -- not only are her pictures beautiful, she has a great balance of being both professional and fun, adds lovely little touches (like a mini photo booklet), and seems to genuinely love what she does which just adds assurance that she puts 100% into her work. I highly recommend Bia!

Bia was our wedding photographer and her photos were phenomenal, as were her level of customer service and attention to detail. Wholeheartedly recommend her for any and all photography shoots you may require.

Bia photographed our wedding in May of this year and did an incredible job. She was fun, thorough, inconspicuous, professional...I can't recommend her highly enough. We received DVDs with all if our images on them- there were tons of pictures with a variety of cameras, lenses, color/b&w. Our friends also used Bia for their wedding (she came highly recommended from them) and their pictures look amazing as well-

We were so lucky to work with Bia! She is a truly gifted artist and photographer. Not only is the final product beautiful, but she is a true delight to work with. We could not have been happier with her and would recommend her to anyone and everyone!

I'm a wedding photographer myself, and so when it came around to having my own wedding, the photos were super important to me. Bia and her husband Jason were the absolute first people I thought of when considering who I wanted to document the day. It's not just about their photos which truly are classically beautiful works of art, but it's also about the way they put everyone they're photographing in such happy moods. Bia has an infectious happiness about her, and that's what I wanted around me on my wedding day. And of course, I loved every single one of the photos!

Bia Sampaio is a talented, energetic and wonderful photographer. I'm not comfortable in front of the camera but Bia is such a pleasure to have around and made me feel at ease immediately. My family and friends fell in love with her instantly as well. When we got our pictures back (not long after our wedding) I was speechless! They're absolutely stunning and I am forever thankful to Bia for doing such a magnificent job capturing my wedding day.

Bia is an amazing photographer and a joy to work with. We loved having her at the wedding and our pictures are so fabulous. I highly highly recommend Bia to anyone!

Bia is absolutely terrific. We of course wanted a great photographer to take photos of our wedding, but it was also very important to us to have a warm, caring and thoughtful person that would participate and share our special day. As the bride, I'm someone who doesn't enjoy getting her photo taken, so after interviewing many photographers I was really happy that we found and selected Bia. She was a delight to work with on the day of the wedding and the photos are wonderful. She is adept at getting great candid shots as well as group family photos that have an air of spontaneity.

Bia went out of her way to photograph our wedding which was more than two hours away. From the moment we met her I knew I would like her to be at my wedding. When she was photographing, she was never ever intrusive - we barely knew she was there and somehow she captured every amazing moment. The final product was beyond our expectations. Bia even sent us some additional items that we didn't order - as a gift! The tiny flip book and framed photos she sent us are probably my favorite mementos of the day. Her style and taste is impeccable and I trusted her professional opinion because I knew whatever she chose would come out beautifully.Every friend and family member who saw the photos were blown away. Every photo was like something out of a magazine. In fact, Bia helped our wedding to get chosen for a feature on The Knot.com and in The Knot NJ Magazine.

Bia was worth the investment to capture or special day. We could not have asked for more. She was willing to take part in whatever it was we wanted to achieve. She traveled across the country, scouted several locations for us, and showed up on time and prepared for everything. She had several forms of media she used through out the day and all of them provided us with esquisite imagery. She had great advice and made me and my husband feel at ease in front of the lense. She sent us our contact sheets in a timely fashion and beautifully edited our video set to music with out any needed direction from us. She has been so patient with the our delayed orders for prints. She has quickly processed all of our orders and is always quick with correspondence. We could not have picked a better photographer. We hope that others will be as fortunate to work with such an artist.

Bia is the perfect wedding photographer! Her work is gorgeous, her prices are more than reasonable, she is great to be around, and in the midst of chaos she manages to snap the most beautiful pictures. I would highly recommend her in a heartbeat!

I found Bia because she did another friend's wedding. Of course many friends have pretty wedding books in 30 final pictures or so, but I'd seen all 500 or so of this friend's proofs and thought the entire collection was amazing. That sold me Bia was the person I wanted to do our day. I loved my own pictures even more, her style was perfect for us. She offered complete flexibility, we're NYC but she shot in the Hamptons all weekend for us. I'm so glad she was the one capturing that great couple of days for us!