Donna led a project to improve the quality of winners’ photos, a long standing issue for the Ontario Lottery Corporation. She set up an effective portrait studio, re-engineered the process flow and trained our Customer Service Reps to be ‘professional photographers’ as effective as herself. Most importantly she discovered and captured the “winning moment” and our portraits now reflect the unique emotions of each of our winners. Our subjects’ approvals to publish have increased three fold. I witnessed in Donna, a unique combination of professional skill, human insight and a warm heart creating magical results on a very challenging assignment. She understands the role of commercial art – photography designed to deliver a branded story. She is a delight to work with and I recommend her highly.
GEOFF HADRILL INTERACTIVE AND NEW MEDIA MANAGER,
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Donna Santos and her team personify creativity, excellence and a high regard for relationships.
Donna guided us through our first video production and we continue to be deeply grateful for the insight and wisdom she offered through poignant questions which helped formulate our story and the story told by others. She is relentless at not stopping until she has exactly what she feels the storyline needs. A quality we were grateful for when we viewed the raw footage. In the end, it is Donna’s unique ability to know and understand the story of an organization and how it needs to be told to be received by a wide and diverse audience that truly sets her apart from others.
ALANA WALKER CEO,
Intriciti
Running a business requires quick decisions, impeccable execution and an amazing team. When launching my business I knew that I needed a professional approach to my product photography that would build our brand and convey our story.
I turned to Donna Santos to help execute the vision. With her team of professionals, Donna met our aggressive timetable and delivered top quality results. Our collaboration was not only productive but fun!
SONJA M. SALMON CEO,
Ebby Rane
I became aware of Donna’s services through a list of preferred vendors maintained by the University of Toronto Strategic Communications Department, where her work had been praised by another U of T colleague. Our department needed professional images for our upcoming annual report so I reached out to Donna based on the strong recommendation given. The quality of Donna’s portfolio, her prompt and friendly communications, and competitive rates gave her the leading edge among the handful of photographers I had contacted.
Donna exceeded my expectations in every way. Her ability to take even the most bland environment and create a visually interesting setting while capturing the essence of each individual photographed, perfectly supplementing the narratives accompanying the images, is remarkable. Her professionalism, positive attitude and friendly demeanour made the many hours we spent together on shoots a pleasure. She has a true strength in working with a variety of individuals, at ease and at the top of her game in all settings. I highly recommend Donna and will, unquestionably, use her services for future projects.”
ALICIA BARKER COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER,
Department of Radiology & Oncology University of Toronto
I have had the pleasure to work with Donna a number of times. The videos produced by Donna Santos have always exceeded our expectations at Corporate Class Inc. Donna has a clear process to help us prepare, and her guidance for scripting has been invaluable. I am also grateful to have met Donna as I know I can rely on her to deliver quality work to all of my clients in needs of videos and photos. In our business, of course, presenting the right image is critical and with today’s increasing social media presence, your message needs to be clear and concise. Your image must also be congruent with your message. Donna knows how to make sure it is!
DIANE CRAIG PRESIDENT & FOUNDER,
Corporate Class Inc.
I hired Donna Santos to produce and shoot a 3 min video for a client, a group of accountants. She was helpful from the moment I made contact with her and found us a perfect shoot location on a shoestring budget. The client found her and her team a pleasure to work with. The final video is fantastic and totally met my high expectations. I highly recommend Donna for video production work!.
JONATHAN BURNS PRESIDENT,
Strategy Cube Inc.
Donna Santos is a terrific photographer. In fact, Donna has all the qualities you could want in a professional photographer — the technical skills, the artistry and vision, a warm and encouraging personality, and high professional standards. During our photography session, she made sure that I was comfortable at every step, and that I would have a wide range of poses from which to select. Her follow-up was timely and courteous, and the result is that I now have excellent photographs for my website and other business uses.
LOREN CHUDY CONSULTANT, EDITORIAL & CREATIVE SERVICES,
Working Words
I have used Donna’s photography services twice – both for corporate photography work including our public company annual report. Donna does very good work, and does it in a way which is both cost effective and very concious of your time. I would highly recommend Donna.
COLIN OSBORNE PRESIDENT & CEO
Vicwest Inc.
Donna was an absolute joy to work with. She is an artist but also a brilliant marketing strategist. She knew exactly how to translate my brand into photography. Beautiful photography…Photography that people compliment all day long… As a marketing strategist myself, if you have photography needs for your business, I cannot recommend more strongly that you shoot original work (don’t fall prey to the temptation of cheap stock) and that you hire Donna Santos Photography. It’s a small investment that will yield big results and, more than that, you will LOVE her.
CARRIE KLASSEN WRITER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR,
Pink Elephant Creative & Instructor, Pink Elephant Academy for Entrepreneurs
I very highly recommend Donna Santos and her photographic magic. Prior to my photo session, she prepared with me in a preparation phone call and determined the best options for me not only to look my best but also to complement colour tones related to our existing marketing. On the day of the photo session she was a consummate professional, working patiently with me to ensure that that magical photo was created. After the photo session, she quickly provided me the proofs online to review along with her well-founded personal recommendations. Upon confirming my decision, she provided me the completed touched up photos very promptly.
I look forward to using Donna’s services in the future, either for personal or stock photography. As a marketer, to have such a high quality, professional and personable photographer in my address book gives me one less thing to worry about should the need arise.
GEOFF DAHL DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT,
interKnowledge Technologies
With 28,000 realtors belonging to the Toronto Real Estate Board, differentiation is key. Less than a year ago, I did a photo shoot with another photographer which resulted in cookie-cutter photos with minimal creativity. Needless to say, I searched long and hard for a photographer that would be able to fulfill my expectations. Donna Santos did just that! The first time I spoke to Donna, she took the time to understand what I wanted and offered helpful suggestions. She made me feel extremely comfortable during our session, has an incredible eye for detail and complimentary angles and displayed vast technical knowledge of photography. These traits translated into beautiful, creative pictures which will be used for head shots, print and websites. Donna Santos not only fulfilled my expectations, she exceeded them! She is very professional, displays excellent customer service skills and delivers on what she promises. I would not hesitate recommending Donna Santos to anyone requiring photography services.
KRISTY BHAGAT SALES REPRESENTATIVE
Royal LePage Signature Realty
