More about Helios Images

(617) 285 - 4350     /     info@heliosimages.com     /     www.heliosimages.com

Helios Images is… Douglas Despres' wedding and family photography arm. I create documentary inspired photographs full of warmth and love - always working hard to proudly represent the rank within the top 30 talents in the world, bestowed by the Wedding Photojournalist Association.

The San Francisco Bay area (East Bay love) is homebase. From here, there's easy access to both coasts, Hawaii, and the rest of the globe. I often photograph throughout the bay, Big Sur, wine country and the Central Coast, and find all to be completely breathtaking. I have covered near eight hundred weddings and countless portraits over the last eighteen years. I'm honored as a WPJA member, representing less than 5% of wedding photographers worldwide. Also a member of the Family Photojournalist Association. Our photographs are published on HuffPost, Brides, Style Me Pretty, NPR, Snippet & Ink, Rock n' Roll Bride and Le Magnifique, among others.

Helios couples are all fun positive people living in humor and love. They are trail blazers and hungry for travel and adventure. Some aim for intimate and offbeat, others for lavish to the nines celebrations. For couples and their guests in the public eye, we are familiar in respecting your sensitive image, as we have worked with those in top tiers of art, technology, politics and entertainment over the years. Doug often finds that these clients invite them to document other parts of their work and family life, due to his sensitivity, discretion and easy nature.

About You

You're smart, strong and kind. You and your partner in life love traveling, carving your own path, and showing time and time again to your friends and family that you live in a way that inspires. If it's a wedding you're planning, you understand the value of great imagery and trust, and are willing to invest in the thing that remains long after the last dance of the night... photographs. Every piece of the wedding has a meaning for you and your guests, and the feeling that it's your event, radiates from your plan and excites you two for the big celebration.

If it's a portrait session as a couple or solo, you know exactly who you are, what you want, and where you're going - and aim to show your confident energy and warm presence to all future social and career connections. You're after the best image of you that's ever been made, and are excited to find a long term visual talent to help you succeed and flourish through the years.

More About Us

Douglas Despres

Doug is the chief photographer of Helios Images. He is listed as one of the top 30 event photographers in the world by the Wedding Photojournalist Association. He has served as a photojournalist for four newspapers and taught at the Maine Media Workshops and UC Berkeley. He is a current professional member of the National Press Photographers Association, Wedding Photojournalist Association, Family Photojournalist Association and has volunteered his photography for the American Red Cross. Doug has been entrusted to photograph celebrities and high level politicians both in public, and in their personal lives, often on the basis on extreme discretion. His images appear in various places from music albums to museums and exist in private and public collections throughout the United States. Doug also on occasion leads destination photo workshops and online mentorships to motivated image-makers. Outside of Helios, he pursues self directed still documentary projects. In 2017 his work on the daily camp life at Standing Rock was honored as a 25 page feature by Nowhere Magazine's 2017 Annual. His recent work explores multi-generation family tobacco farms in Cuba's famed Pinar del Rio province. This work has been published by Nowhere Magazine and Leica Fotografie International.

See his portrait and documentary photography work at www.douglasdespresphoto.com.

Katherine Park Deakin

Katherine is a full time artist / actress / musician, and is an integral part of the Helios Images creation. Trained by Doug for years behind the camera, she photographs on the larger and international destination weddings while otherwise providing invaluable input behind the scenes. Outside of Helios, Katherine is recently releasied her first 4-song EP “Sonatine Dream,” acting on TV and in lead roles in award-winning short and feature films, on stage in musical theater, and teaching voice and piano to the bay area’s rising stars from our studio. She is also the lead singer of a new San Francisco Bay based band called Panther Beach, as well as an Asian American group called the Pandan Leaf Collective. Katherine has also taken up ballet since 2015, fulfilling a childhood dream by studying under Julie Lowe, a former principal ballerina with the Oakland Ballet Company. Her most recent feature acting role was as Bertha, an 80's indie-punk-inspired supporting character in "Sorry We're Dead," which is touring the festival circuit now. Her latest theatre role was as "Eleanor of Aquitane," written by Stuart Bousel and directed Nick Trengrove, performed in The EXIT Theatre located in the Theatre District of San Francisco.

See her personal work & website at katherinepark.com.

Even More about Helios Images

We're honored on preferred vendor lists for the most beautiful places on the California coast, including Post Ranch Inn, Auberge du Soleil, Glen Oaks, Cavallo Point, Wild Iris, Big Sur Stone House, Big Sur River Inn and the Wind & Sea Estate. We're also humbled to be on various short lists of talented wedding planners throughout Northern and Central California. Our passports are warm, and we have photographed wedding events as far as Hawaii and Thailand. Inside the mainland U.S. we have photographed wedding events in California, New York, Texas, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and Florida. Recently, we were honored to receive the Couples Choice Award from WeddingWire for the sixth consecutive year. Our wedding photographs have appeared in Brides, HuffPost, NPR, Style Me Pretty, Le Magnifique, The Lovely Bride, Snippet & Ink, Rock n' Roll Bride, among others.

Our studio is located at 1242 Park Street Suite B in Alameda. It features off-street parking and an easy walk to all the shops and wonders that downtown offers. Here we create portraits, offer private art and music lessons, and delight in regular creative gatherings with all manners of artists in the bay area, especially those found within the visual and performing arts circles. 

We enjoy giving back to the community by supporting benefits, charities, non profits, and NGO's. Together we donate our expertise for causes such as childhood cancer, diabetes research, bone marrow donation, security blankets to hospitalized children, prom dresses for high school youth, and childhood music education. Here are a few we wholeheartedly urge you research, help and share. ::: American Cancer Society / Amnesty International / Be The Match / Compassion and Choices / NAACP / Doctors Without Borders / Heifer International / Kids and Art Foundation / Linus Foundation / Relay for Life / Susan G. Koman Cancer Foundation / The Princess Project / ULUV Music / Back to The Roots and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

(617) 285 - 4350     /     info@heliosimages.com     /     www.heliosimages.com

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