References for Gyokko

Gestalta

It's taken me too long to leave this reference!!

I worked with Raphael a couple of months ago, and he's also attended one of my shibari workshops :)

Raphael is an incredibly nice person to work with :) He's really relaxed with lots of good ideas, and very kind!

I'm looking forward to working with him again soon and I'd be more than happy to recommend him to anyone else! :D

Johannie

Sorry I am so late in writing about how amazing of a human being you are... I've been so busy with my travels.

You were beyond pleasant to be around.. a humble person aside (of course) from being extremely creative both lighting and composition wise. I felt like we were often on the same page in regards to what we were looking to achieve and I value and appreciate that very much.

Wish I had more time to spend in London to both shoot and hang out but honestly, our day together was still great.

Till next time my friend. Keep rockin' it ♥ ♥

xoxo

Johannie

Catrina Rose said...

Had a lovely half day shoot at Raphaels place. Pre-comms were excellent and I loved shooting with him. He had brilliant ideas and the whole day went by perfectly. Very easy to get along with and I couldn't have felt more welcomed. The images we produced were amazing :) can't wait to work with him again!

Joy Draiki

Raphael is one of the nicest people I've ever met. He offered me a place to stay while I was working in London. He made sure I ate lots of nice food. Had lots of fun. Evenings full of quality conversations and he helped me find my way through the city.

We also did two shoots in the week I was staying at his place. One included sword fighting and he taught me how to properly wield a mighty viking sword! During the shoot he's very relaxed. Fun. Nice. Makes you feel pretty and good about yourself. it's a breeze standing in front of his camera.

But still this really fades next to how nice of a person he is in general. Every model who is lucky enough to meet Raphael should feel truly blessed :)

Thanks for everything Raphiee!

Ifa Brand

So I am here to make things right after my last reference!

He did not fall asleep during a movie this time.

Not once!!

Which is good because I will never ever forget him falling asleep during The Empire Strikes Back but promised him I would not bring that up again. lol ;)

But I can only, and even more, vouch for my first reference as I have been lucky enough to shoot/stay with Raphael for the second time.

And yes, he really is the perfect host and yes he really is one of the friendliest persons I have met in this industry and and above all, he has become a great friend now.

Thank you for everything!

:)

johanna_s

Raphael is one of the kindest, most respectful photographers I've ever had the opportunity to work with. I shot with him in his apartment in London, he prepared everything wonderfully and had artistic and interesting concepts and visual ideas. Our communication prior to shooting was clear and friendly. He is an amazingly kind, relaxed and welcoming person. I'm really happy that we had the opportunity to meet and shoot, it was such a positive experience. I look forward to seeing and working with him again next time I'm in town!

Anete

I had my second shoot with Raphael at his place in London. He is ever so welcoming, friendly and engaging it instantly makes me feel at home, and relaxed. Because we had shot before we got on instantly. I enjoy working with Raphael because he's very laid back and doesn't have high and unrealistic expectations of the model and genuinely takes care of the person he's shooting.

During our pre-communications Raphael sent me moodboard for his ideas so I get a clearer vision of what we're doing and let me review our work as we went on, which was helpful for me as a model. Raphael is very funny, intelligent and with a warm heart, no wonder all the models always want to work with him! :) Looking forward to our next session!

Demari Vi Syth said...

I had a fantastic shoot with Raphael. He was very friendly, funny and easy to work with. His pre-shoot prep was perfect, I had a clear idea of the concepts he was looking to achieve and we discussed the levels we would shoot to. The shoot flowed really well as we were on the same page creatively, I love the shots we got, even straight off of the camera. I thoroughly enjoyed our shoot and look forward to hopefully working together again in the near future. Great photographer and all round great guy. Highly recommended.

B. Ju

I have recently had a shoot with Raphael in London at his place! :) Wow, I do not even know where to start, it is a lot to say!

First of all, a communication before the actual shoot was great! Raphael is very informative and creative. I have received a mood-board as well which was cool to look at - that gave me an idea that this photographer has a good understanding of model/beautiful shots!

Secondly, when I came to his place, he was very welcoming and smiley! That instantly gives a great impression and makes you feel comfortable. We had a bit of time to run through the ideas and agree what we want to achieve in our 4 hour shoot!! :) I also had a pleasure of meeting his lovely girlfriend!

As a photographer Raphael is very professional, really understands the corners and framing - it is very important when aiming for a great shot! I have seen few pics already and they are simply stunning - I truly can't wait to see the final result.

As a person Raphael is simply amazing! :) very very friendly and warm, always has something to say, trust me, you not gonna experience any 'awkward silence' when working with him!! I love his personality and attitude - a lot of positivity and warm energy flowing from him - that is rare with photographers!! :) He has amazing ideas and a lot of enthusiasm to implement them, I am sure his photography will turn into something so much more anytime soon!

I highly recommend Raphael as a person and photographer as well - you will not be disappointed whether you are a beginner or an experienced model. Amazing experience of shooting with him guaranteed!!

Kisses,

B. Ju xx

Ifa Brand

When discussing our shoot up front I noticed immediately how kind & helpful Raphael was.

So kind it made me wonder if it would also be the case in real life... It isn't.

He is even friendlier in person. And more helpful than any person I have met in my entire modelling career!

We had a great shoot together but for me, even more important, he provided me with a home away from home offering me a safe harbor, friendship, companionship and great talks. I can definitely recommend him as a photographer But even MORE as a person. He is one of those rare instant klick-personalities I can get along with from second Nr.1. with a lot of things in common. It is hard to find anyone as friendly as he is in the modern day shark world.

The only bad points he scored, and I am sorry Raphael but I have to point this out, he did fall asleep during The Empire Strikes Back. Oh yes, he did.

But I will gladly forgive him (ever so slightly) for that little error.

;)

Thank you for Everything and until soon I hope!

:)

X

Ifa

Anete

Raphael responded to my London tour casting and we quickly built a good rapport through pre-communication where we not only discussed the plan for the shoot but also how we see photography and what our visions are. I thoroughly enjoyed the communication and was looking forward to working with Raphael, we shot at his home studio which was well equipped, with a beautiful light coming in from the windows. He's a talented photographer who had plenty of ideas tailored to me, which is something not many photographers do when they try to 'fit' the model within a theme or mood that does not fit them at all. Raphaeal as a person is very warm, welcoming, friendly, generous and intelligent. Even though our shoot ran over, we worked ever so hard to get everything we're looking for. At the end, Raphael was kind enough to send me home in a taxi to save me travelling through the city on my own at night! I'm very much looking forward to working with Raphael again and continue the themes that we touched through the first session, and I'd certainly recommend him as a photographer! :)

Sparkley

I had my first shoot with him during my trip in May. Perfect communication before and during the shoot. He is very nice, I'm very happy about the shoot and I can't wait to see the pics that I'm sure ll be great. We did different style, used different location and light, everything was perfect : D

mlouisa

I had the pleasure of working with Raphael one-on-one after meeting a few times at group shoots. He did not disappoint. He comes full of creative ideas and he knows exactly what he wants. We shot, he fed me and even paid for a cab home. He is incredibly considerate, loving and talented! It was such a pleasure to work with him, we've already arranged another shoot. I look forward to it and recommend him wholeheartedly!

Elle Beth

I had a really fun shoot with Raphael yesterday !

Raphael is really kind, professional, chatty, loves good food, creative and much more

We worked along side a videographer which made the shoot really interesting and amusing at times.

Im really looking forward to seeing the results from the shoot as i know they're going to be fab!

Couldnt recommend highly enough & looking forward to our next shoot!

Elle Beth

I shot with Raphael last month, We had been in communications for a shoot for some time but it was defiantly worth the wait! The shoot was really chilled and Raphael is great company as well as a great photographer, we also had a videographer at the shoot doing behind the scenes and a few short videos which was really fun !

Raphael made sure we finished in good time for me to get to my next shoot and i hope to work with him again soon!

Elle x

Voltaic Vixen

Raphael is bloody awesome!

We had been speaking on Facebook for a while and when I stuck up a casting call for London last minute, Raph was the first person to reply.

I am so glad he did as well! He introduced me to my future wife, shared lots of awesome ideas he had for the shoot and got me to shoot an epic, erotic and very tasteful girl/girl shoot... So no complaints from me.

Raph takes his time when setting up his lighting and what not, but it's totally worth it... Plus comedy is provided in between sets anyway.

We had a right laugh and hit it off straight away.

His direction was spot on and from the back of the camera the images looked amazing and just what we were looking for.

Some of our shots were even better than the image we were going from so happy days!

I'd definitely shoot with Raph again and would highly recommend other models do so too!!

Thank you for an awesome day and my many bananas!

Robyn xox

A.B

Raphael is an excellent photographer and a very caring person. i got to shoot with him twice so far and throughout both of our shoots he would make sure I was completely comfortable. He created a very relaxed atmosphere that i didn't even notice how quick the time went. He also made sure that i wasn't hungry and got home ok! i'm sure that we are going to do a lot more shoots together! :)

Ruta said...

Really loved the shoot with Raphael on Friday. We've been planning it for so long and accidentally both got cancellations at the same time and got a chance to shoot together. He's such a lovely person, very caring and helpful. Very enthusiastic and creative photographer. Working with him was a pleasure, our long conversations as well! Already planned a next shoot, I'm sure it will go as well as the last one.

Thank you for everything Raphael. :)

Zara Rosario said...

Raphael is such a lovely person! I arrived at the shoot slightly tired (after a previous shoot that had been extended to 6 hours) but Raphael's great conversation skills and warm personality quickly made me feel really comfortable and happy. He was so caring, always offering me tea and drinks, and even booked me a taxi back.

The shoot was probably the most fun shoot I've had so far, and the quality of the pictures taken made me feel like I ought to be paying him for his work. I would most definitely recommend him! I'm happy to work with him TF again whenever he wants :)

MiaS-Miastune

Working with Raphael is perfect and super easy..We worked together with my Friend Elen and it was fun, Raphael is professional and really nice. I'm sure the pictures are going to be awesome!!!!!!!!!

Thank you very much for our shooting and hopefully see you soon again..

Mia