References for Valentina_TheBlackPearl

Are Knudsen Photography

I had a wonderful time in the studio with Valentina last Sunday.

We had great communication both before, during and after the shoot. She was very positive and took interest in my ideas, and helped me getting the images I had visualized – and many more. She is a true professional, very versatile, easy to work with and brings tons of experience and good vibes to the set.

I give Valentina my very best recommendations, she really is a pearl!

BurningImageIreland

Valentina is a pleasure to work with, very friendly, easy get along with and is like your personal tour guide in the west of Ireland.

Would recommend shooting with Valentina in the west of Ireland as she has great knowledge of the area and can bring you to plenty of stunning locations to shoot in, but also has a willingness to go exploring to find some new places too. She is very professional and can work with or without direction and is more than happy to discuss ideas or to make suggestions.

Was great finally getting to work together after being an admirer of your work for while now :)

Minh-Ly

WOW!

I was absolutely thrilled when Valentina proposed for me to come for several days to beautiful Cregg Castle for a duo event. Pre-comms were perfect, very quick, and clear and she put me at ease with how professional and reliable she was. She handled promotion and logistics super well even with challenges arising. Brilliant!

Super friendly, funny, and bright, she put everyone at ease including myself, is a great artist (I love watching her move her hands and feet), and has for sure a beautiful memorable look. It was also very comfortable posing with her as she is experienced and patient.

I only have good words for her and had such a positive experience! It was one of my smoothest events to participate in. I knew I was in capable hands.

Can't recommend enough Valentina and hope to renew this experience again!

Silverbeard

I had high expectations of my third shoot with Valentina, and I was not disappointed. Articulate, tactful, and good-humoured, she is a joy to work with.

Organised by Valentina, this shoot was a duo event with Minh-Ly. Both models are highly competent, delightfully creative, and work brilliantly as a team. Their patience and enthusiasm were invaluable in developing our ideas.

I highly recommend them both, and look forward to working with them again.

Dorans Photos

2nd time to Shoot with Val , first time was 4 years ago and she is still amazing to work with , on time , chilled out to work with , listens to instructions on the ideas ( which i explain terribly ) but she works them perfectly

She knows how to pose and understands light and when you click to change pose or to come back and redo a pose

RobertJDuffy

Brilliant afternoon shooting with Valentina in Cregg castle, county Galway. Amazing location, lots to explore, guaranteed to leave with completely different photos every time

4th shoot so far with Valentina, I always love working with her, easy to get on with, down to earth, fun to be around and always plenty of creativity.

She's serious about her work, when you agree a place and time, she'll be at that place and at that time. 100% reliable

Valentina knows how to pose well, understands light and has the patience and enthusiasm to keep trying a concept to make it work. She works well with all experience levels, I know because she was one of my first artnude models when I started back in 2013

If you want to create beautiful images in a friendly atmosphere with a model who is as passionate about photography as you then Valentina is the way to go! Highly recommended

Ger Mulh

This is the second time I have had the pleasure of working with Valentina . It will not be the last .

Such a fun ,creative, experienced, professional, patient , enthusiastic, incredible model .

100% positive experience on this shoot , the full day just flew by .

If Valentina is in your area or you in hers , do not miss the opportunity to work with her .

deadpan photos

First time working the fabulous Valentina this past week in the south of Glasgow.

We had spoken on and off over the last few months about working together and the time finally came during her UK tour. We discussed locations and finally decided on a shoot in Pollok Country Park as it was easily accessible for us both.

The shoot was a breeze, the pictures look fab and will look amazing when edited. Val was a pleasure to work with. Great to chat with about anything and everything. A genuinely decent, well rounded and well traveled person.

I look forward to the next time our paths cross again!

Thank you Val!

Fin

Oliver Godby

My third time working with Valentina was as wonderful as ever. I was lucky enough to have some free time that was compatible with her travel plans in Scotland and so I booked her to spend the day shooting in the Trossachs countryside.

We struggled with some annoying weather, but managed to get some great images nonetheless and the conversation and company between the dry, shooting spells was a delight. I love hanging out with Valentina and you will too, I reckon.

I can't wait to get out to Ireland to shoot with her again next year.

Abstract Productions

I am so glad I got to work with Valentina!

She replied to one of my casting calls and as it so happens, Valentina is good friends with a local model I had recently shot with.

So during her stay here in Yorkshire with said friend, she decided to swing by York. Pre-coms were great, and upon meeting her I knew we were in for a good shoot. Valentina is such a character, and I mean that in the best possible sense!

When we arrived at my home studio, we did some art nude followed by an improvised set with dungarees - something she just happened to have on her - turns out they were more than ideal for what I had in mind!

I've also never known a model to have such incredible hair, which definitely was of benefit for the portraits we were doing. She was such a good sport, and incredibly good at what she does, and her years of experience definitely shows. We found we had plenty to chat about, and during that time I think we pretty much put the world to rights - the perfect model in my opinion!

I couldn't recommend her enough, and certainly look forward to the opportunity to working with her again :)

JonC

My first time working with Valentina, and what a shoot it was.

I had the honour and pleasure of spending a full day with Valentina and Kelsey Wolfe, wandering around the hills, woodland, streams and ruins of West Yorkshire shooting a variety of brilliant images. Valentina's experience, style, fluid posing, humour and wonderful nature shine through in every image, and the day was relaxed, creative, fun and productive in equal measure.

The fact that we produced a bagful of wonderful images, despite my limited experience in the genre is a testament to Valentina and Kelsey, on a truly collaborative and creative shoot.

we have already discussed catching Valentina on her next UK tour, or me popping over to Ireland. I will definitely make every effort to work with her again, and if you get the opportunity you should too. Very highly recommended. Thank you Valentina for a wonderful shoot!

AndyH1

I have long been an admirer of Valentina's work from afar, so it was wonderful to finally get the chance to shoot with her, alongside the equally amazing Kelsey Wolfe during their duo day at Antwerp Mansion.

Valentina more than lived up to my expectations and was happy to contribute ideas aplenty, which together with her happy knack of taking the vaguest of briefs and bringing them to life, led to some amazing images!! My only regret, I left it so late and couldn't book for longer.

Obviously, highly recommended by me and I hope our paths cross again soon! :)

Daaave

Delighted to have been able to finally work with Valentina today alongside Kelsey Wolfe at Antwerp Mansions. I've followed Valentina's work for some time and have wanted to work with her for ages.

Valentina is such a skilled professional with great posing and expressive abilities and brings a true collaborative attitude to her work. It has been a real pleasure to work with both these lovely, creative people and an experience I will cherish.

I hope we get a chance to work together again, thank you both.

uwfa

Images of Valentina have repeatedly invaded my consciousness over recent years. She seems to represent some avatar of the the earth in many. I wanted to try to get the same feel in stereo (where space is more explicit) and I also wanted to get candid shots for my longterm project. Valentina is naturally easy to work with and happy to explore ideas, which made this a great day. All the preparatory communications were clear and she coped with my lengthy ramblings! I may just have to work out how to pack enough kit in bags to be able to take the work to Ireland to continue the ideas. It seems inevitable and promises some amazing prospects. I cannot make a strong enough recommendation of Valentina.

Richard Maxim

Lovely to catch up with Valentina again after far too many years since our last shoot - she sounds more Irish than ever despite hailing from Florence! Needless to say her modelling was consummate despite my asking her to move away from her normal style to fit my weird ideas! No direction really needed as she produced wonderful interpretations of my basic concepts. A brilliant and professional model who is also great company Thanks Valentina

Karolina Winters

This was my second time shooting with Valentina and as always it was a delight.

It was an ambitious and time consuming project. Due to technical difficulties, we had to extend the second shoot to the following morning - Valentina couldn't have been more understanding and patient throughout the entire process.

Communicating and planning prior to the shoot went super smoothly and we were able to envision the project without problems.

She's incredibly aware and in tune with her body positioning and conveying emotions. Needs very little direction to capture exactly what you're looking for. Her level of skill and professionalism is so admirable, I would highly recommend working with her. So easy to talk to and great sense of humour.

Highly recommend!

Kevin Connery

I had a wonderful remote session with Valentinarecently.

I'd sent her a description of what I was aiming for and some mood boards with examples of similar imagery, and she took that starting material and went above and beyond to create a set, wardrobe, and props to give the best possible results.

Combined with a solid foundation in posing and expression, we ended up with a wealth of shots I was truly delighted with. That, combined with her willingness to experiment, cheerful demeanor throughout the whole process made this a most enjoyable--as well as effective--session.

Highly recommended.

Solo Native

I've been looking to shoot with Valentina for years. This year I had the opportunity to collaborate twice. Prior to shooting in February of this year we did a brief shoot during the middle of the pandemic. This was a remote shoot. And after further communication about a second project I made my way to Ireland to work in person directly.

Valentina was extremely accommodating from the time I landed until my final moments in Ireland. This was also a first international trip for myself so I should say the timezone adjustment was very noticeable. I learned as a traveling model Valentina is very familiar with what I was experiencing. She looked out for me and I am extremely grateful for this. She is also very mellow and laid back. Also did not require direction for any poses. Valentina is a professional individual as well as cultured. Even during my many tangents due to sleep deprivation. Once more Valentina is a very welcoming and warm personality.

I'm not certain I said enough positive things. But yes please if you are consider a project I do highly recommend collaborating with Valentina. Also if you are looking to share stories and maybe break some bread with a hot toddy (still feel bad for being unable to finish it). Thank you so much for everything Valentina. I am looking forward to collaborating hopefully some time in the future as well.

The Factory

Was great meeting Valentina on her recent shoot at The Factory.Very friendly and relaxed young lady and judging by the images I've seen a great art photo subject.

wallis

Valentina and I organised a remote shoot, to be honest it was fairly last minute but that really did not hinder us getting some fabulous images.

Valentina's professionalism and attention is superb, truly a 'must shoot with' especially if want to shoot with an uniquely beautiful model. Valentina is a fantastic addition to anyone portfolio.

We seemed to hit it off from the start, she is very easy to talk with and a great sense of humour. The whole shoot was great fun.

I would seriously recommend Valentina to any photographer and I hope that some time we can shoot in person.