Darina Derzkaya Photographer

Hi, I'm Darina. I'm a photographer based in Valencia, and I've been doing this for 18 years now, starting back in Ukraine before life brought me here to Spain.

I photograph people, mostly. Families, women wanting a portrait session that actually feels like them, couples getting engaged or married, expecting mums who want something more than the usual maternity poses, new babies in their first days of life. I've shot over 750 weddings at this point, so the big, chaotic, emotional days don't rattle me anymore. But honestly the quieter sessions, a woman doing a solo portrait shoot or a family just wanting to remember this year, mean just as much to me.

My style leans editorial. I'm not big on stiff poses or "say cheese", I'd rather guide you through something that feels natural and catch you in between the posed moments, when the real expression shows up. A lot of my women's portrait and boudoir clients tell me they came in nervous and left feeling like a different person just saw themselves differently for an hour. That reaction is honestly why I still love this job.

I work across Valencia and out along the Costa Blanca, Altea, Calpe, Moraira, Javea, wherever a session takes me. I also travel further when someone books me for it, and I occasionally go back to shoot for a few days in another country when the timing works out.

Language wise I speak Ukrainian, Russian and English fluently, and I'm working on my Spanish. I switch to whatever feels most comfortable for the clie