Our Story

In the beginning, it was just the two of us, Alex and Salcedo, as lead photographers. We pushed our passion for photography and cameras to see where it would take us. With an open mind, we welcomed all the possibilities that came our way. As brothers, we wanted to build something positive to impact people’s lives. Something tangible that we can look back on and be proud of. In 2017, we landed our first couple of weddings through mutual friends. In those beginning phases, we were overwhelmed with joy because of the amount of trust given to us. Those experiences helped us form what we are today, and we still look back on how grateful we are.

   In our journey of creating Heartfelt, we met some incredible individuals. In their own right, they pushed the narrative of what Heartfelt is. Our lead cinematographers are Jerry Tran and Ben Borlagdan, and our assistant cinematographer is Valentina Tran. We share similar values and perspectives when it comes to our passion. As Heartfelt, we preserve what couples experience from their wedding day through the story telling of photography and film.

   Outside of this industry, we are a family. We understand each others deepest fears and our wildest dreams. Our love for music furthers our bond and connection. Any chance we get to attend a music festival amplifies our friendship. Birthday celebrations are very important to us. When one of us has a birthday we do our best to make it special. Don’t get me wrong, there have been tough times too, life can be heavy, but we have each other to lean on.

The Current

It’s now. Where we are in this current time. The moments are beautiful, the love is pure, and the passion continues to grow. In our journey we have met so many incredible people who share the same life views and interests. Couples from different backgrounds and cultures all coming together. Love is a strong energy that can move mountains.

What is Infinite.

All of the photographs and films will stand the test of time. Past down from generation to generation. Especially with the power of the internet. Memories won’t fade and people will feel what was Heartfelt.

Est. 2017

From Best-friends to Co-Founders

Alex Arias and Andrew Salcedo

Co-Founders of Heartfelt Media / Lead Photographers / Editors

Alex, who has been a photographer for over 8 years of experience, built Heartfelt Media from the ground-up to what it is today. He originally started working as a graphic designer to becoming a well known Bay Area photographer. From his slick skills of capturing the perfect moment to perfecting the color tones that makes his images come to life, he truly enjoys what he does and will continue to do so for many years to come. His calm, genuine-like demeanor brings peace to all of our clients by making them feel like they have known him for years when they had just met for the first time.

Andrew, who has gained inspiration getting into photography from his best friend Alex as early as 2015, has brought his child-like enthusiasm for couples throughout his photography career. He brings in strong direction when it comes to posing and making sure that everything looks perfect before taking the shot. With their creative efforts, they began to play with photography as a means of fun and creativity, which then turned into something bigger that we did not expect, Heartfelt Media.

Outside of work, Alex is a big time coffee lover, a dad of Sage (his first one and only precious beagle), enjoy’s spending time with his close ones, and loves to dance at electronic dance music festivals with his friends. Alex loves tacos, just as a fun fact.

In his personal time, Andrew is similar in ways to Alex in which he loves to drink coffee, enjoys making and cooking fun hearty dishes of all kinds, and also loves to spend time with friends at electronic dance music festivals.

There is so much more to who they are and we can go on for years about all the qualities they have, but at the end of the day, once you get to meet them both, you’ll get to see why people choose Heartfelt Media and how they match who they really are.

The Husband and Wife Dynamic Duo!

Jerry, who is a self-taught creative videographer, started his video career as early as 2011, using his cellphone as a way to record and document his adventures to then picking up his first HD camera in 2012, making music videos and taking on video-related jobs all while working retail customer service jobs to corporate jobs. He then began his wedding videography journey in 2017 and joined Heartfelt Media in 2019.

In his personal time, Jerry loves to spend time with friends, helping others when he can, working out at the gym, and dancing his butt off at electronic music festivals.

Valentina, who was formerly an olympic archer for the Colombian National Team, recently joined our team in 2021 first as an Assistant Shooter to assist Jerry in all video-related tasks, making our workflow much more seamless, which help bring in quicker turnaround times for our films and an efficient workflow for our wedding days. She has been soaking up and increasing her skills relatively fast from Jerry’s mentorship, of course being his wife, she’s able to learn and get up to speed quicker than most videographers who only get to learn on their own.

Outside of work, Valentina loves to do a lot of things. She enjoys painting, designing, decorating, tattooing, archery-ing (if thats a word), and raving a.k.a. dancing with her husband and friends at electronic music festivals.