We met up with Candice and Jayson last week for their engagement session at Ghiradelli Square. Geoff & I love doing engagement sessions at that location, as there are so many great little nooks and crannies to use as backdrops, and there are so many areas to explore within walking distance. Candice wore a sweet little grey shimmery dress and the cutest shoes that mirrored the circle detail in her dress. Normally with engagement sessions, it takes the couple a whole to warm up and get comfortable in front of the camera, and we totally expect that, saving our “good locations” for 1/2 way into the session. Not this couple! They warmed up right away, and made the session a lot of fun. We were definitely creatively inspired, to say the least.They have “the hotness” & they brought it with them! Here’s a few favorites:
See how the pattern in the dress is repeated in the shoes-love that!
Ling and Nick contacted us to help them celebrate and commemorate their 10 year anniversary. When they got married 10 years ago, it was a quick and simple ceremony, without a photographer or much else more than the ceremony itself. When Ling first called us, I was really excited about the concept. I know a lot of people get married without a big celebration, due to limited budgets or other circumstances beyond their control. For many of those couples, they hold onto the idea that perhaps they can have a proper celebration at 5 years or 10 years. This is exactly what Ling & Nick decided to do. And why not celebrate 10 years, that is quite an accomplishment to be proud of! Ling made arrangements to have hair & makeup done, and ordered a special dress for herself as well. We started out with a celebratory glass of champagne, then moved on to a few family portraits with their baby girl, followed by an extended portrait session of just the two of them. The entire session took place in their gorgeous backyard, just a few blocks away from us. Congratulations Ling & Nick!
Christy and Charles had a destination wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, one of my all time favorite locations. The couple really wanted to relax and enjoy their wedding day with friends and family, yet wanted some beautiful bridal portraits of Cristy. Of course we were delighted, Geoff & I LOVE bridal portrait sessions. We started out in their suite, and then later moved outdoors when the lighting was perfect. Isn’t Cristy just “saucy” in the image to the right?
The dress is Oscar De La Renta, and Cristy looked amazing in it:
Bridal portrait sessions are really wonderful because you get away from the craziness of the wedding day and can really relax and take your time to create some wonderful, gorgeous images. Then on the wedding day, you know that’s covered so you can relax and enjoy yourself!
The sunset was amazing, we went outdoors during the “magic hour” the hour just before sunset, which our preferred time for shooting outdoors. We literally watched the sun slip right into the ocean, it was just breathtaking:
The one below on the right is my absolute favorite. It just doesn’t get any better than this:
If you are interested in doing a bridal portrait session, just give me a call & we’ll set it up. I promise you won’t regret it!
What a great couple! We got a chance to do their engagement session a few months back, and it was wonderful to see how beautifully their wedding turned out. The couple met back at Stanford and have a tight knit group of close friends. Their wedding was relaxed, elegant and had that “effortlessly beautiful” quality to it. I am in love with the color combination Bree selected, the shades of blue and purples together looked so fresh and gorgeous! The wedding took place at Flood Mansion in San Francisco. All the flowers, delicious food & coordinating was done by McCall’s Catering Here’s a sneak peak:
Brienne was absolutely glowing:
For their favors they had made sea salt seasoned with Rosemary, very unique (and useful!):
Lauren & Alex are getting married in a few weeks, but in the meantime, here are a few highlights from their engagement session with Kelvin a few weeks ago. This is my favorite one (might not be grandma’s choice, but that’s ok):
Lauren & Alex are just the cutest, sweetest couple (as you can see):
I really love this one on the right too, it’s got such a quirky quality to it:
Monica and Ram were married recently and we had the pleasure of photographing their wedding celebration for them. The day started with the arrival of the groom & his family at the temple, and then the bride’s arrival. This was our first time working with our friend David from A Video Reflection & we had a great time together. I cannot stress how important it is that your videographer and photographer work well together. In fact, I believe that the entire wedding day should be built around a team approach by all the wedding vendors. Monica and Ram only met last fall, and knew right away they were right for each other. They were so happy together!
Traditional greeting:
The bride’s entrance:
At some point during the ceremony, this little cutie wandered up for a closer look:
This is a cultural tradition that the bride’s family gives her a bittersweet send off, and the bride throws rice over her shoulders as a way of saying goodbye:
On the way to the park we were heading to, Monica spotted this gorgeous mustard field along the side of the road, so of course we had to stop for a moment:
Here’s Monica:
The decor was done by our friend Calee of Calee’s Lilies in San Jose:
This group was serious about partying:
Over the years we have gotten so many requests from past brides to do a portrait session for their babies, maternity sessions and so forth, and we have always referred them to someone else. However, we are ready to start doing more portraits, and over the summer we’ll be setting up a proper space for studio sessions. I’m looking forward to working with pregnant bellies, babies, families and high school seniors. Brittainie modeled for me a few weeks ago so I could get some ideas for senior portrait locations & styles. She’s a great model! She’s gotten her driver’s permit recently, and has been learning to drive over the summer. She’ll be a junior at Woodside next year. They grow up so fast!! Here’s a few of my favorites:
We brought along this hat which she had gotten in Mexico, what a cute prop it made:
I think this is my absolute favorite:
Christine and Andy were married recently at Nestldown. They were brought together by Harry Potter, and decided to incorporate that into their wedding day as the theme, which was very cool. Christine & Andy are such a great match for each other, what a joy to witness their marriage! So, back to Harry Potter-apparently Christine (a huge Harry Potter fan) had been looking online for any news about the latest edition, and found an online post from Andy (a fellow fan), and they exchanged emails and decided to meet for coffee. The rest is magic…
Christine had a wonderful way of remembering her father on her wedding day: she added a locket type mini photo charm with a photo of herself and her dad to the bouquet:
These two must have kissed about 5–6 times during the ceremony BEFORE the official kiss! They truly seemed unable to help themselves! Of course, this went on all throughout the reception as well. Let me tell you, these two were kissing so much, none of the guests ever felt the need to take a fork to the glass throughout the evening!
No posing tips needed for these two:
This was the “sorting hat” where guests would find their names attached to magic wands:
Nestldown has a train for the bride and groom to take to their cocktail hour after the family portraits are finished. The train was renamed for the day:
Their florist, Rick James of Santa Cruz, did some gorgeous centerpieces for them:
The yummy cake was done by Bewitching Elegance:
Geoff & I had the pleasure of photographing Jen & Travis recently for their engagement session. They were super hot & had a lot of style!
Geoff & I had a great time with them, and they brought so much to the shoot, we were very creatively inspired, as you can see…
The image on the right is an infrared image taken with Geoff’s digital camera that’s been converted to use for infrared. We’ll use that on occasion for outdoor images to give the image a dreamily glow, like the palm tree.
LOVED the red shoes Jen was wearing!
Jen & Travis are getting married later this summer at Ralston Hall, and they are having a “green” wedding, using locally grown flowers & food, recycled products whenever possible. When they were looking for a photographer, digital was important to them. I’m sure when they saw my Prius in the driveway, it was all over!
We can’t wait till their wedding, it’s going to be so cool!
