References for Helen Diaz

J H H Photographic

This was my first casting with Helen, When she tells you to mind the step take it from me, Mind The Step. All joking apart Helen is great to work with, she is very easy going and made me feel very comfortable in her company. She is very professional and is happy to let you experiment, with lighting and the posses. The communication was first class throughout the hole process, Helen is really experienced and will give you as much or as little guidance as you ask for, she is obviously a very beautiful woman, but quite humble with it. I would recommend Helen to any photographer at any level. Thank you Helen, loverly to meet you and photograph you.

Highly Recommended.

Mick Knibbs

Frist time at Heavenly Bodies working with Helen Diaz. On arrival I given a warm welcome and coffee. The 3 hours booking was over in a blink of eye we manage to do everything on my wish list. Plus, some sheer work. Helen knows her trade needed very little in the way of direction mainly keeping her in frame. She is very chatty, entertaining and supportive I will look to work with her again next year

Viv2

My second shoot with Helen, this time at a ruined church in Tintern. Pre-comms were excellent and Helen arrived when she said she would. Her knowledge of the site was great and we had a lot of fun trying out ideas from both of us. She is very chatty and was happy to try what I asked, and has a magnificent array of facial expressions. The time flew by and I ended up with a very large number of superb images. I am hoping that I can work with her again next year as she is a lot of fun to be with. I cannot recommend her too highly.

Ian Pattenden

Helen first introduced herself with a friendly message... She said it would be lovely to work with me, and well, how could you resist an offer like that? Pre-communications and planning were super-efficient and professional. Helen has a very big presence and personality, she's also full of friendliness and kindness - and she's extremely interesting to talk with.

We shot at a location that she obviously loves; an amazing hidden, beautiful, mystical place in Monmouthshire... It was well worth driving a 300 mile round trip from the East Midlands. As soon as you exit the M5, the journey is just stunningly beautiful. Helen is the perfect, consummate professional art-nude model. She genuinely looks stunning, and she poses with the easy professionalism you'd hope for, from a model with her experience. And she wasn't remotely bothered by a couple of tourists turning up at "our" location! Helen's personality and the wonderful location made this a unique shoot. Thanks very much for the experience Helen.

Jon Taylor

Sometimes you are lucky enough to work with somebody who is both a consummate professional and has such a vibrant personality that the shoot is an absolute joy.

Today, my first shoot with Helen, was one such shoot.

Oft-delayed by weather and my Ill-health, we finally got to work the location shoot in the Wye Valley today, and to say the shoot was worth the wait would be the understatement of the year.

Pre-shoot comms were excellent throughout, and Helen arrived superbly prepared.

Helen’s energy levels sustained throughout the shoot were amazing. Her ability to ease into poses and looks, ranging through elegant, graceful and dramatic, and work every aspect of the location was a thing of wonder and awe.

And her personality…well, conversation flowed, ideas were exchanged, and even the shoot-delaying appearance of a tourist did not throw the talented Ms Diaz off her stride.

Helen is a remarkable human being and an incredibly beautiful and highly-skilled model.

Recommended without question, 100%. A genuine privilege to work with Helen.

Viv2

What a very enjoyable experience on my first shoot with Helen. The pre-comms were excellent and she was very welcoming when I arrived at her studio. We got on very well and had lots of laughs and I have very many excellent images. Helen is very good at posing, and also accepting direction as well. The time flew by and I hope that it will not be too long before I can have another shoot with her. Very many thanks Helen, highly recommended.

Bob Jack the Smudger

Time seeps into the past suddenly while conversation drifts into memory, building on exchanges of informed ideas, interests, recollections and possibilities, then finding yourself wishing you'd spoken to this person before. That's how my first meeting with Helen unfolded. It's not necessary to know someone to photograph them, however, there is more that just a pleasure in relating reasoning with in depth personality backgrounds, for someone who has a penchant for talking, like me, it's a pleasure and a privilege.

I could almost state the photography was irrelevant, the interest was that beholding and it almost was as a setting on my camera completely eluded me, and no amount of manual reading could find the problem. Helen went into sympathetic nursing mode, with cup of tea and internet inquiries. Patience is a virtue that can only be received with intense gratefulness as frustration overtakes with in- depth disappointment and Helen applied so much with sympathetic character, I can only pass on my admiration for her.

Having another camera with me, I changed tack. Helen soon burst into professional model mode, lifting my spirits with complete distraction, witty banter, anecdotal commentary and classic posing reactions, she brought about a complete turn around, achieved with smiles, care and a soft approach.

A short while later I met her partner, who sorted out the problem with my camera, for which I am very grateful, this was a problem waiting to happen, but, one that will never be repeated.

The cooperation shown to me at Heavenly Bodies Studio by Helen and Rodger was beyond one would expect, however, everything one could hope for, professional, caring and helpful, just when thinking one is prepared, that personal attention lifts one back into the light.

Helen is made to model, a genuine personality, an actress in stills, with warmth, reassuring nature, a total treasure to be in the company of, a delight to photograph and have an enjoyable photographic experience with whatever happens.

Helen and Roger thank you for your time and expertise, I'm always ready to learn and if my recommendation is worth anything it certainly comes with all my heart felt gratitude.

Thank you Helen, see you soon.

Wings of Weston Photography

Had my second shoot with Helen, and as a hobbyist who only has the time and money for one or two model shoots a year that in itself is a recommendation. We shot on location and Helen braved the elements well. She has great enthusiasm and a great sense of humour, and her wealth of experience shows in her attitude and her poses. The shoot was very enjoyable and the initial edits look fantastic. Highly recommended!

bathbluenose photography

Had another fantastic shoot with Helen at a ruined church and graveyard not far from Tintern Abbey. It was challenging at times, as our privacy was pretty limited, as it seemed everybody wanted to visit this churchyard. We still managed to get the things done though, thanks to Helen for taking the odd risk when we had too.

As always Helen is very easy to work with and is just as whacky as ever. She's a great laugh and her personality shines through. I would highly recommend Helen to anyone.

Thanks Helen, hope to see you soon.

John

AntPics

Had my second location shoot with Helen at 'The Ruins'. A superb location and model. An absolute creative bundle of fun to work with. She even brought coffee!

Far too long since our previous shoot! Must do this again soon.

Adrian Guest

Just over a week ago, I finally got to have my 2nd photo session with Helen, 6 years since our last session, time sure passes quickly, this happened to be a location shoot in a wonderful old ruin in the beautiful area of Tintern.

The weather threatened to put a dampener on the afternoon & photo session, fortunately the rain held off, although the cloud cover did result in a darker natural light situation, no problem with today's cameras.

Helen is a wonderful model, fun, chatty, full of laughter, serious conversation & also super company, all this while still being professional, this allows the model & photographer to be at ease and concentrate on photo ideas, poses & photography, this worked perfectly for us both within the ruins.

I highly recommend any photographers of all stages, to have a photo session with Helen, if you have the opportunity, you will be at ease & have a fun time / photography.

I enjoyed working with Helen & highly recommend her.

Thank you Helen.. for the perfect afternoon location shoot, I hope to work again with you in the near future, within a year.. not 6 years like our last time.

Best Regards

Adrian

Ian49

I had a great first shoot with Helen. We had a number of message exchanges before we met to establish what I wanted to shoot. I sent over my ideas and some links to pictures, which Helen enthusiastically responded to. I very much wanted to shoot outdoors weather permitting and Helen was all for doing so.

I arrived at the agreed time just as the rain stopped. Helen welcomed me warmly and showed me some of the outfits she thought matched my aims. She had made some great choices, so we had a cup of tea and discussed where to take the pictures. As I said, it had been raining, but Helen didn’t care about the damp conditions and obviously absolutely loves shooting outdoors, even laying down on the wet grass for some nude shots. Nothing was too much trouble and Helen moved effortlessly from one pose to another

We spent most of the time shooting outdoors (the time passed so quickly, probably because we were having such a laugh!), before moving into the studio, where we set up the background and lighting (and Helen plied me with more tea). We used a number of props, including a rope that I spotted, which we clipped on the ceiling hook and Helen posed with it.

Helen was amazing, nothing was too much trouble! She is a lovely, friendly lady with a great garden to shoot in.

I shall definitely have to go back for another session. I cannot recommend her highly enough. Thank you Helen for a great fun time.

Sam Barton

Sunday was my second shoot with Helen, twice in almost a month!

We both share a passion for fashion, and Helen particularly is fond of (addicted to?) vintage clothes so arrived armed to the teeth with some spectacular outfits. She is a one woman V&A exhibition that is happy to try on a variety of looks and styles off the cuff to curate the perfect shoot. We worked our way through a decent percentage of her amazing gowns, many of them with celebrity designer labels.

I love the collaborative side of photography. Getting to know someone and then working with then to build a picture of who they are and then work together to create that perfect image. I like to think I can see an image that I want to take and Helen is always spot on at matching the look, pose or style I have in mind. It was uncanny how many times she finished my sentence for me as we were shooting and I suddenly came up with an idea. That level or openness and genuine desire to hunt down and nail the perfect image is one of the many reasons why I love working with Helen.

I now have my work cut out for me to narrow down the pictures we took on the day over 11 different outfits and styles. One of the nice problems to have after a fantastic shoot with an awesome person.

Enjoy working with Helen as I have. You won't regret it!

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