Hi, i’m Onawa
Born with eyes wide open in the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York, I made my way to NYC to study photography at Parsons School of Design. I quickly became restless and found myself desiring a move to the mountains of Southwest Colorado, where I took up mountain bike racing and backcountry skiing. Fast forward 15 years and birthing my first and only child Henry, I have returned to my artistry of storytelling through images. A natural light and on location photographer, I am available for hire in the Bay Area and abroad. I am thrilled at the prospect of working with you.
Kind words
WOW! We finally had a chance to sit down together and look through our wedding gallery. We are so blown away by these photos! Thank you so much for capturing the day so wonderfully. We are beyond grateful for your artistry and talent, and that we get to look at these photos over the next 70 years and remember this day so vividly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
-M & R, clients
“Onawa was a fabulous photographer to work with. She was energetic, engaging, and a lot of fun. She has an artistic eye, and will make your experience memorable. We adore our photos and can’t wait to work with her again.”
— D.M., client
“I highly recommend working with Onawa! She has a fun and lighthearted approach- that makes someone uncomfortable (like myself) more at ease!”
— S.K. , client
“I own a local real estate company and we have had the pleasure of working with Onawa Charbonneau Photography on several shoots. I actually paused when I began to write this review. Not due to the lack of great things to say but pondering how to just focus on Onawa’s beautiful photography when she’s also a great mom, mountain biker, surfer and asset to our local community. She has bandwidth as I like to say…Onawa’s ability to pull out the story while making her clients feel wonderful is a great talent. I’m smiling as I think about how good a time we had during our shoots. Thank you for making us all feel great & look great. You are awesome!
— Dale friday, client
Onawa had the ability to interpret our vision in a way that was non intrusive and absolutely natural. After seeing the photographs she delivered, each one took me back to the moment- they’re incredible. Thank you so much for capturing the strong natural emotions of the day. Onawa has such a gift and we are so thankful she shared it with us.”
— Suna keller, client.