References for Helen Diaz

RAWB

I had another lovely shoot with Helen and Fine and Dandee. Helen is a very accomplished model and creates the most beautiful poses and anticipates what is required.

She was very patient while I tried to work out why my lighting wasn't doing what I wanted - think I was having a bad hair day!

As always, she is great fun to work with. Communications pre shoot were excellent.

I'm sure I'll be booking another shoot with Helen.

Highly recommended.

Fine and DanDee Studio's

Had another fantastic sell out weekend with Helen at the studio, professional as always, a total pleasure to have around and still mad as a hatter :-) Always welcome here!

Chris Cooze

I had my first shoot with Helen at Fine and Dandee studio. She was great fun to work with and we managed to capture many looks in the time we had. Helen is full of energy and ideas. I would thoroughly recommend working with her. Look forward to working with her again in the future

Sensual Art

Yet another super-fun and highly productive shoot with the ball of madness known as Helen. We ran through some concepts that I'd had in mind for a while, Helen brought her full creative experience to my ideas and was supremely patient while I paused to consider technical details.

Totally recommended!

Photofrenetic

I first met the awesome Helen Diaz on the Icelandic Dreams trip she organised last month. We seemed to click straight away and had this weird way of communicating with our eyes, which sounds bizarre, and was probably quite amusing to see! :) The trip was fabulous and we got on very well.

I was only back two weeks when I happened to notice Helen's casting for a photographer near North London. As this was quite close to me I immediately applied and was lucky enough for her to accept. It was so nice to see Helen again and also get the opportunity to talk to her on a 1 to 1 basis a bit more than in Iceland. We had a fabulous shoot for about 2 hours and covered a lot of ground, from sexy red dresses to art nude with seasonal leaves and smoke. She is such a brilliant professional model and literally sparkles in front of the camera. It's so difficult to take a bad picture of Helen and I have a huge task of deciding which images to edit, they all look so good! We also had a total blast and laughed our socks off for most of the shoot!

The communication was great too and Helen kept me informed of her progress to the shoot at my home studio, arriving pretty much as anticipated despite the evening rush hour traffic. In fact her organisational skills are legendary as you might expect looking at the number of references she has already with no complaints! Awesome!

As well as being a top notch model Helen is also such a lovely caring person with a wicked sense of humour and kind personality. Can't wait to work with her again! I've already put my name down for the April Iceland trip, so hopefully will get to shoot with her again in the wonderful landscapes of this beautiful country.

Thank you so much Helen for a great shoot, looking forward to seeing you again soon! Highly recommended.

Mike xxx

DKW

Had my first shoot with Helen at her home studio. She made me very welcome and was very bubbly and great fun. We worked through various styles and she is engaging, hard working and full of energy. Highly recommend working with her and I am already looking forward to our next shoot.

Mug-Shots Photography

Another great shoot with Helen, this time in her home studio.

Helen is a joy to shoot with, she has an inimitable style and sense of humour and I always come away with super images.

The studio is well equipped and all my lighting needs were catered for.

What's not to like about Helen.

Geoff Hawkins

Another wonderful shoot with Helen and once again she was perfect, chipping in with ideas, laughing, competing with me with story telling ....a truly great day....oh yes and making me look good as well. Time just flew by, always, the mark of a good shoot.

Thank you Helen for all your hard work and for putting up with my sometimes mad ideas. it is such a pleasure to work with you. An exceptional model who I recommend very highly.

Mark21

Another case of Serendipity where I was able to do another shoot within a budget. Fortunately, such a casting for an event was up and importantly within my budget, so this was one out of several I was able to do.

In any event I had been considering changing my levels for a while. It is always vitally important to me that a Photographer gets the right Model to shoot and in the Models case vice versa. Having photographed Helen before and known her well before that, an easy decision.

Comms before, during and after the shoot were prompt and detailed. As always, she pays minute attention to details, remembers everything and misses nothing. Rarely, as ever, have I found someone so easy to talk to.

I had trouble travelling courtesy of the Railways but very understanding and eventually having arrived at my station later than planned at 5:02pm. Insisted on sending Roger The Gentleman Photographer around to pick me up, big of her, didn’t have to do that but most kind.

On time and introductions to everyone else as there was 4 photographers on the shoot. The rest were very pleasant. I love to know where the Mince Pies came from!

The studio was rather good and while I am, as always, nervous before any shoot. It was a surprise one would be shooting Manual and I know my camera can natively remotely fire flashguns but Olympus flashguns. Fortunately, that was sorted out.

Starting with a light grey streaked backdrop and nudes to start with. To some surprise but not unexpected given my previous shoot, nerves evaporated. The lights were basically two firing through soft boxes arranged either side of Helen on the backdrop at an angle and fired remotely using triggers on hot shoe (fortunately they worked on mine). ISO 100 and 1/100s Shutter (although my first photos were 1/125s) and recommended f11 (my camera can only go down to f8, but results were fine). The lighting setup was superb.

It felt longer than 3 hours from 6pm to 9pm with all the shooting. Throughout Helen was effortless and unfazed, moving elegantly into poses for each of us with 5 mins shooting slots after everything was setup. I am glad to note the organisation was excellent as we all got our own results from the shoot, nothing felt like a copy.

Small changes by Helen in pose and expression resulted in completely different shots. Throughout with breaks in between sets, the longer it went on, the better Helen got, and I felt I was really getting into a flow of shots, loosening up. Even better results later on which I am of course dead chuffed about.

Second set was a smoke backdrop and use of a sheer dress and Third and final set was also using a rectangular soft box firing horizontally onto baskets with pitch black cloth and backdrop with use of a smoke machine.

Helen was remarkably talkative to start with and makes a distinctive lovely sound when she laughs, which is catching. Putting up with all that flashing from the lights for that period of time too in varied and can’t always be comfortable poses. Her articulation in poses was remarkable and of course her varied expressions. Often as seems to me her trademark, slight changes such as expression, pose, hairstyle or something more subtle such as eye contact, or even holding still, make for a completely different photograph and help make it.

A deeply elegant poise and movement, grace personified. Always keen to learn, no sense she knows everything. Gives her word she keeps it, very much puts people at ease. Again, working with her is very much a two-way shoot of equals.

All the laughter, giggles and even when things don’t go according to plan, so complaints, no fuss, zero diva genes.

I am rather like the late Sir Alfred Hitchcock in that if the model wasn’t doing what I wanted then I would have to direct them. Helen needs little if any direction and I find it best to just let her go and shoot. Twiggy’s cousin indeed, she is that good, peerless. The deep concern for everyone else, such kind hospitality again from everyone at Greensleeves.

It takes nerve to do nudes or similar, let alone a group shoot where a bunch of photographers are in the studio taking turns for 3 hours in varied setups and then most of the time is setup and adjustments to suit, the model included. Helen made it look simple but it wasn’t, remarkable.

I find it invaluable when you simply understand one another. No need to elaborate, or explain, say anything, do anything you just know, understand, completely.

This is the difference.

I can’t shoot from home myself; funds are tight I can’t shoot as much as I like or hire a Studio. I don’t have my own Studio. I have limited experience with lights and Studio, usually outdoors and Available Light. I can’t do any post-processing, Photoshop, Lightroom and so on, forget it.

All of this seems often I am fighting a losing battle compared to other Photographers. I can only do in my camera with my camera, it’s picture, scene modes and Art Filters.

Yet for 3 hours at Greensleeves, this for a 2nd time did not matter!

Again, I note particularly Damien Lovegrove who has photographed her, I have no chance.

I have not photographed in a Studio Environment using Lighting as extensively as this, neither photographed a shoot entirely using Flash, neither used a remote trigger or my built-in capability with Olympus flashguns and absolutely never shot (apart from a couple of test shots when I first used my Stylus 1) in Manual!

I am still overwhelmed now at the Gems I have come away with from this shoot.

I cannot take all the credit as it is very much Helen’s and Roger The Gentleman Photographer’s equal contribution to the results. Helen’s modelling and Roger’s superb Lighting setup.

Among other firsts, this is the first time I have photographed the same model more than once!

She does remind me of Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman!

Completely Bonkers! I love being Bonkers! I find it helps coping with and enjoying life.

This is what it was at Greensleeves after finding my way to Neverland for a 2nd time.

For 3 hours a most wonderful, enjoyable and memorable time of life.

The effect on one is priceless.

I deeply look forward to the day when I can photograph again this Beautiful, Kind, Soul and make it a hat-trick!

Everyone should learn the secret of how to love life again.

It only takes of course a little Trust and Pixie Dust!

Andy_M

Did a workshop with Helen at her home, Helen is as nutty as a fruit cake in a really good way, great fun was had by all and I will definately be arranging a shoot with her soon!

Helen is great fun, knowlegeable and creative, you can't fail but to come away happy and with some great images. I would thoroughly recommend Helen to anybody and everybody.

Cant wait to work with you again Helen, xx

FracturedShadow

I worked with Helen at her home studio on one of her workshops. What can I say other than it was an absolute pleasure!

Helen is an absolute natural, was very charismatic in front of the camera and an excellent host of her workshop. It wasn't just a photoshoot, but an amazing time had by all. She's a natural entertainer and did anything she could to make everyone feel comfortable. Her drive and passion for what she does really shines through and if you can stop laughing for long enough - a testament to how much fun this was - you're sure to walk away with some awesome images!

I've got some excellent shots that I'm really happy with and I can't wait to work with Helen again - Can't recommend her enough.

Thank you Helen, for hosting such an awesome shoot!

SM Images & Photography

You have not lived in the photographic modelling world unless you have "Diazed the walk of life" and shot with the lovely and hilarious Helen on a shoot...

Oh this lady is crazy in the best and nicest ways you can ever imagine. Seriously in all of the years I've been doing this I've never worked with someone quite like her..I did a quick and amazing hour of 1-2-1 shooting just before an evening group event workshop run by her partner roger and attended by three other togs as well as myself.The hospitality of drinks and cakes was awesome throughout as well as the laughs.I had attended a family funeral earlier in the day and then travelled down for 3 hours in the afternoon and Helen was just the tonic i needed in front of my camera from the minute the door opened.

For a first time shoot I was more than impressed by her level of skill and if Helen was only 20 percent of the model she is ability and personality wise the rest of the best ive shot with would still be struggling to keep up.

Helen is a very lively character, a natural giggler, full of wit and banter and all importantly a joy to work with.Fully knows the drill of what modelling is about. The speed of which this fantastic model was getting through poses was incredible and she needed little to no direction at all.

Helen is very confident in what she does and does not need my reference to confirm this as lots say it also.

More over Helen really is a photographers model as she understands all of the creative process.Be it poses, lighting and a natural ability to improvise on the spot and knows fully well how to relax and be at ease and get great results.During the 1-2-1 we covered fashion and artistic nude.Then in the group we covered sheer and artistic nude as well as oily water bodyscapes with the use of a smoke machine the latter being in low key light with great results.

Would I work with helen again? Oh Yes as that churchill dog says in the advert lol - if not for the photography it would be for her hilarity Smile and big expressive eyes that engage so well with the lens(just ask for the Mr bean pose) lol.

All in all a great shoot where i met such great people and at at least i had finally ticked off a massive wtww that had hovered in my mind for nye on almost three years plus since i came across this ladies port.I will certainly be back for another shoot hopefully in early 2020 as being "diazed" for a shoot is one experience i want to enjoy again. Thankyou Helen you are just one of life's greats of the industry and i wish more around the industry were like you.Keep being unique and dont change for anyone.Take care till next time Stu x

Tina Spratt-

I had the pleasure of working with Helen for the second time a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful venue to work in, and the shoot was great fun and very creative. Helen is a joy to work with and I look forward to developing the images we took together!

Steve 1

I worked with Helen at Thurston Lodge this was the first time for us working together, I found Helen friendly talkative and really funny, Poses well and i'm sure she would take direction when needed ( I'm lazy and leave this to the model ) I was happy with all the poses Helen did, and even came up with ideas what a star.

I recommend Helen 100% to all photographers.

I feel as I've gained a daughter. ;-)

Thanks Helen.

Meow from Daddy. lol

Benjamin Woodier

I had the pleasure of working with Helen at Thurson Lodge back in November with Machaonic. Helen is a outstanding model and it was an absolute pleasure to work alongside her. I highly and happily recommend her, not just for impressive photographic results, but also for a marvellous time on the shoot.

As a professional, she was gloriously composed and very well prepared. Her impressive wardrobe contributed greatly towards the shoot. She demonstrated a wide range of styles, including (but definitely not limited to) Old Hollywood Fashion, Glamour, and Art Nude, in a series of Solo and Duo sets.

She has a great attitude which is strongly reflected in her work. The creativity and positive energy she brought to the shoot really added to the experience, making it one of the most fun and funniest to date. Her humour is fantastic.

Professional and respectful with remarkable composure, style, and grace. What more could you ask for? She’s definitely worth working with.

Machaonic

Helen is the most remarkable, vivacious, adaptable and downright outrageous (in the best sense of the word) model that anyone could want to work with. Her portfolio and CV speak for themselves. Don't think Ben and I have laughed so much on a shoot before - or done such totally different styles of work in a couple of hours. All hosted by the marvellous Thurston Lodge of course. Endless recommendations for the sheer joy and panache of working with Helen, an absolutely genuine 'one off' in this industry!

PatrickTaylor

Attended an event with Helen at Thurston Lodge. Helen's pre-shoot comms were excellent, and she was limbering up when I arrived; she called it "resting", but she has far more energy than I do! We explored the varied rooms available, finding some nice period features. Helen was very good at posing, using her own ideas and readily adjusting to my "amateur" suggestions. She is very confident and a pleasure to work with, I got some great images. Recommended.

Alex Lyons

Had the great pleasure of meeting and working with the very charismatic and naturally photogenic Helen at Thurston Lodge over the weekend. I couldn’t have been happier with the experience. We had a good laugh and got some really stunning shots in a great location.

Helen is a natural in front of the camera and well able to pull off a wide of range of looks, but her personality really comes through in the images as well. I look forward to working together again and would unreservedly recommend working with Helen to anyone who is considering it!

Stephen Roissy

I cannot believe that it was three and a half years since I worked with Helen. I have just had an awesome shoot with Helen at Thurston Lodge. We had a great time using various parts of this great location. Helen was very happy to pose in numerous situations including some she suggested. She poses with ease and little need for direction. She is so much fun to work with and we had a great shoot with our time together passing very quickly. It cannot be so long before we shoot again.

Highly recommended to photographers of all levels of experience.

Helen - you're a star!!

Techquila Photography

I was lucky enough to be able to work with Helen and Pippa Doll on her recent Iceland trip. It was such an incredible place to work - with jaw-dropping backgrounds and two phenomenal models as well as a "surprise" guest model on one of the days. Thanks Helen, Pippa and also Roger (who did all of the driving and cooking for the entire trip) for a memorable trip and some amazing photos!