

Welcome, my name is Derek. I'm a fine art wedding photographer and cinematographer based in San Luis Obispo. My style is very poised and candid. I love to observe my subjects to capture them in a natural, honest and uncontrived way. I'm all about natural light and finding angles that create exquisite compositions. While my photography style is polished, minimalistic and soft, you'll find me to be fairly bold, & spontaneous.
While I strive to create art as well as heirlooms, I also rely heavily on the natural emotion, actions and reactions present on the wedding day as a key factor in telling your wedding day story. While I provide gentle posing guidance where necessary, my approach is to capture the wedding as unobtrusively, as naturally and as romantically as possible. If that sounds good to you, let's chat about your beautiful wedding!

Explore My Portfolio
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These sessions allow you to be your most true self. Put everything on pause, enjoy and love each other.
From big lavish parties to cozy, candlelit wedding ceremonies.. I've got your back on this.
Relive your beautiful wedding day through a gorgeous cinematic film, that you can cherish forever.
Kind Words



"The memories from our wedding day are moments my husband and I talk about all the time— to reminisce about our favorite day! And something magical happened when we received our film from Derek, all of those memories came to life. He perfectly captured the moments we talked about, and for that, we are so grateful. It was such a joy to have Derek film our wedding day, his artistry and genuineness made for such a comfortable & memorable experience. Not to mention, his professionalism and flexibility when we had to postpone our wedding to a later date. To anyone who is considering Derek Preciado Photography, book him already!! (and add on the LOVE sign option while you're at it... it's so cute and our guests loved it). Thank you, Derek! You are the best!"
"Derek and his crew were so fun to hang out with and they truly captured the most beautiful moments on our big day! Being camera shy, we didn't have a lot of ideas for the pictures and the video, but Derek walked us through each pose. Our package included a complimentary photoshoot as well, which we used for our engagement pictures (what a deal!). We absolutely love all our photos and can’t stop watching our wedding video, which tells the story of our day perfectly. Thank you so much for capturing our day in such a thoughtful & meaningful way."
"There are not enough words to describe how much we love Derek’s work! We hired him for wedding photography and videography, and rehearsal dinner photography. We are so happy with that decision. He was such a professional, and his skill for organizing large groups of people for photos is unmatched. How he got everyone to look good at the same time is pure magic.
All of our family and guests raved about him — he was everywhere, capturing everything we would want to remember. With his teammate Scott (the videographer), we had full coverage of our wedding day. They got there early for getting ready shots and created a quick bond with our wedding party.
I feel like he really captured us well as a couple.
He also did our engagement photos, which were amazing (of course!). We did two great locations with him and it was a great chance to get to know him before the big day.
As a side note: his wife Jade Preciado was our wedding planner for the day, and those two make an amazing pair. It made it even more of an easy decision to have him photograph our rehearsal dinner, and he felt like more than just our photographer because of their bond. If the two of them are both free on your wedding day, scoop them up!!"
- Gizem & Andrew
Terra mia
- Hannah & Sam
Spainish oaks estates
- Lindsey & Andy
Grace maralyn estates