Carol Oliva Photography

Carol Oliva Photography is a modern wedding and portraits photographer offering creative and unique photography services to all Monterey, California and is available for Pacific Grove, Carmel, Carmel Valley and Santa Cruz.

There is a sparkle that certain people have in their eye when they are fearlessly living their dreams. They have a peace about their face that so many don’t have. They have a genuine glow about them because nothing is more joyous than being free. If you ever see surf photographer Carol Oliva enter a room, you know within a nanosecond that she is one of these blessed people.


Carol Oliva
“It’s hard to say when photography really started for me because as far as I remember, I was doing it,” Carol recalls. “My dad was a photography lover and always gave me little cameras for kids on my really early days. I fell in love early on with photos. I just didn’t know that it would be my career in the future.”

When Carol was almost 16 she enrolled in classes to really learn about photography. Her prime subjects at the time were her older brother’s passions, skating and surfing. She went with him to the beach to shoot, soon realizing her second passion in life would be surfing. That was about 12 years ago. Carol hasn’t stopped surfing and shooting photos since. “As a surfer who is a surf photographer you have more knowledge of timing,” Carol explains. “You know what to expect from the surfer, you understand the waves, the sea, everything that involves it.”

Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Carol has lived in Hawai‘i for the past seven years and resides with her husband, Justin Riddleberger, on the North Shore of O‘ahu. She is one of the few women to successfully pursue surf photography. Her work has been published all over the world, from Brazil to Japan and, of course, Hawai‘i. Her pictures are on display throughout Hale‘iwa at Banzai Sushi, Tropical Rush and Jameson’s By the Sea, as well as Bali Aga in Honolulu. Her recent project, “Windows to the Sea” is showing at Wyland Gallery in the North Shore Marketplace. Carol recycles old windows as picture frames, giving the feeling of looking out a window to the sea.

Carol’s philosophy is to simply live her dreams. Her message is equally pure—to show people how she sees the world, to love life, to enjoy