Last week I headed out to UC Berkeley for Cecilia & Derek’s engagement session. I had never photographed there, so I was pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the campus is! The architecture is amazing, and the grounds are also very woodsy, with lots of trees, shade, a creek and of course tons of great spots to work with from a photography perspective.

While working with them, I was struck by how each of them have these deep, amazing eyes. The camera loves them!

Congratulations Cecilia & Derek!

Ulka and Chris had a lovely summer afternoon wedding at a winery in St Helena. I started the day at this amazing vacation rental home in St Helena that Ulka had rented for the family. This place was amazing, with many bedrooms, beautiful decor, and even its very own vineyard.What a great way to make a weekend out of the wedding celebration and be able to relax with your family in the days leading up to the big event.

After Ulka was ready, she greeted Chris at Charles Krug Winery and they took all their family photos prior to the ceremony, so they could relax and enjoy some downtime after the ceremony. Smart move!

Ulka was a gorgeous bride! She wore red and gold for the ceremony, then later both she and Chris changed into ivory and gold for the reception. Stunning!

Chris made a grand entrance on a white horse while friends and family cheered him on. I love the energy and excitement of an Indian wedding!

Charles Krug Winery is a gorgeous venue to hold your wedding celebration. There is a carriage house, which has a very rustic feel to the downstairs (think “barn”) and upstairs is a lovely wood paneled room with high ceilings for the reception. I LOVE the red and orange lanterns hanging from the trees. Such a visual treat!

Immediately after the ceremony, guests were treated to raspberry champagne cocktails.

Lighting is key, as my readers know! All the decor and and coordination was taken care of by Floramor and they did an amazing job. The tall centerpices featured lots of reds and oranges, and the vases contained another display of roses and lilies on the inside.

The reception room upstairs has peaked ceilings and big rustic chandeliers. The best part is that each side of the room has a veranda that opens up, allowing a fresh breeze and a gorgeous view of the property.

I had to post both of these cake photos, as I cannot decide which one I love more. The image on the left has great ambiance, with the chandalier above and hints of the lighting, but really shows off the cake itself. The right on the right represents the essence of the day-it was a gorgeous day, friends and family gathered together in a beautiful outdoor setting to celebrate Ulka & Chris.

Each layer of the cake was separated by these little golden elephants for good luck. I love the elephants!

Congratulations Ulka & Chris!

We are looking for a new Studio Manager here at Geoff White Photographers. The ideal person for this position will be a real go-getter, someone with great people skills, and a solid admin background. The position is a mix of sales, and office manager. Daily responsibilities include meeting with clients, preparation for sessions, client follow up, and of course that amazing customer service we are know for! If this sounds like something you might be interested in, please leave a comment or email me and I will send you the full job description. Thanks!

Kerry & Matt celebrated their engagement at one of our most popular engagement locations: Baker Beach. This romantic pair spent the session giggling and grinning at each other, completely uninhibited by the camera, giving Kelvin ample space to capture their relationship.

We love Kerry’s sundress paired with casual beach shoes. This is a girl that really knows how to accessorize! Great jewelry created a dressy edge to her look, and Matt’s blue shirt picks up the blue tones in Kerry’s labradorite and silver necklace.

Kerry & Matt wanted to include their dog in their engagement session, and the expressions this little cutie can muster are simply adorable.

Bringing a pet is a fun addition to a portrait session, and it provides more photographic opportunities. You’ll find you can relax much faster in front of the camera too, giving us more time to capture you interacting. It can create a few challenges – getting two people smiling at the camera is tricky enough at times, but Kelvin managed it beautifully.

The San Francisco coast is unpredictable when it comes to the weather, but Kerry & Matt struck the most perfect sunset we’ve seen in some time. The golden afternoon lighting made the couple glow, and the setting sun was spectacular. Kelvin’s low-light photography mastery created some end-of-session portraits that are utterly intimate and so rich in color. We can’t wait for their wedding at The Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay for more beach-side portraits!

Congratulations Kerry & Matt!

Congratulations to Shalini & Martin, whose  gorgeous Indian wedding  was selected as a feature for Today’s Bride. This wedding was photographed by Kelvin (he’s getting a LOT of editorial coverage these days…)

This incredible Indian wedding celebration took place at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. This was definitely an international celebration, as Shalini had relatives from India while Martin’s family came from Germany. And the couple is living in London right now. This gorgeous celebration was put together by Nikki Khan of Exquisite Events and the florals were put together by the amazing team at Asiel Design. Everyone did a fabulous job in creating the most spectacular event.

Congrats to Kelvin for capturing  magazine-worthy images yet again, and to Shalini & Martin for being trend setters in your wedding style!

This is the beginning of an educational  series on getting the most from your wedding photography. Each week there will be a new “lesson” in the series, and this information is for all couples, regardless of who their wedding photographer is. It is meant to help you get the very best experience from your wedding photographer and images. This was originally part of a presentation that I gave with Kevin Chin at the Wedding University, and it’s great info for anyone getting married. The first part talks about engagement sessions.

While Summer and Fall are typically our “wedding season”, Spring is usually when we are busy with engagement sessions. Engagement Sessions are great for a couple of reasons – they are a fantastic way for couples to get comfortable both in front of the lens and with your wedding photographer. Plus it is really nice to have some casual images as a couple, just being real with each other.  Weddings are all about glamorous, once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, whereas Engagement Sessions celebrate your every-day relationship.

When it comes to the engagement session, it’s a good idea to put some thought & planning into it. After all, this is an investment of your time and money, so why not make the most of it? Here are some great tips on how to get the most from your engagement session:

Location – You could select a location that has a special meaning to you, or that reflects your personalities in some way. You could plan a mini-date in order to capture the two of you enjoying life – something like mini-golf, getting ice cream, having a drink, etc. You should also consider the background setting you prefer,  such as a park, urban, beach, architecture, and so on. It is completely up to you. However, if you are having trouble deciding on a location your photographer most likely can help you brainstorm, and they probably have locations that have worked well for them in the past.

This couple chose a forest setting for their engagement photo session, as the groom is an arborist, and so trees and nature are very important to the couple.

Clothing & Makeup – Once you have the location set you will want to start thinking about clothing, hair and makeup. You want to show off your relationship and also your personality, and one of the best ways to do that is through your clothing and accessories. Don’t be afraid of a little flair! Scarves, belts, hats, shoes and jewelry all add to your look and will help create some amazing images for you. From a creative standpoint, your wedding photographer is going to be much more inspired if you bring some personal style to the session! If you have the ability to schedule your wedding hair and makeup trial on the same day as the engagement session, you ensure you’ll look your very best in the engagement photos. We also recommend coordinating your two outfits together – when choosing clothing for the two of you, think of the different pieces as one outfit, so that everything works well together and has a pulled together look. Also, think about clothing that will suit the location.

Notice how much fun the various accessories add to the image? This couple put a lot of thought into their clothing and accessories, and it really paid off!

This couple brought a couple of different accessories to add a touch of playfulness to their session.

Notice the colors the couple on the left is wearing-the fuchsia color of the woman’s blouse is picked up in her fiance’s shirt. The couple on the right chose dressy, casual clothing that looked great in the setting they choose for their session.

Look Your Best – Whatever you like to do to look your best, try to plan these activities prior to your session. Things like eyebrow waxing, highlights, haircuts, teeth whitening, manicure, etc. We aren’t saying go all out here, but if you do those things regularly, then plan to them prior to the session.

Play it Up in front of the Camera! – Another big way to really make the most of your session is to play up your relationship for the camera. At first you might feel a little nervous and shy, which is very typical. In fact, we usually don’t get many great photos during the first 20 minutes or so, as the couple gets warmed up to the camera. So don’t worry if you feel nervous at first, but do try to have fun and relax. The idea is to capture the real relationship between the two of you, and the best way to do that is to act naturally with each other, but in a way that reflects your relationship. If you are typically goofy with each other, then show that to the camera. If the two of you tend to be more intimate, then go ahead and snuggle up, hold hands, embrace, look into each other’s eyes. If you are very romantic and tend to be more on the sensual side, then don’t be afraid to show it!

This couple turned up the heat to show off their passionate side.

Head shots – Since you are going to be dressed up for professional pictures, why not ask your photographer to take a couple of head shots for each of you. You never know when you are going to need a nice head shot for work, Facebook or whatever. It only takes a minute, so take advantage of the opportunity!

This is an example of a casual head shot and a more standard head shot – both of these would work in different business situations, and will come in handy down the road.

Sunset –Ask your photographer if it is possible to schedule your engagement session about an hour before sunset. This is the very best time of day for lighting (besides dawn) and the difference this will make in the quality of your images is HUGE. We always try to schedule our engagement sessions at this time, because you are making an investment in these images, and we want the very best for our clients. In fact, the time of day is much more important than the location. It’s all about the lighting!

Be on Time – Most photographers will allocate a certain amount of time for your session, and if you are late, that eats into your time, plus you’ll probably be stressed (and so will your photographer!).

Loosen Up – You want to be relaxed and comfortable prior to your session, so if a glass of wine before your session starts will help you relax and have fun, go for it.

This couple is super easy going and fun. Their relationship really comes through on camera, because they were willing to just let go and be themselves.

Don’t Be Nervous – A lot of people are very nervous about the engagement session, as they don’t really know what to expect. It’s really fun! There’s lots of kissing and cuddling! So just think of it as a mini date, you’ll be in some romantic location, looking into each other’s eyes, walking hand in hand, giggling, and that’s about all there is to it. The goal is to capture your real relationship on camera, so just be yourselves and have a great time!

Ok, well that’s it for part 1. Look for additional posts in the coming weeks. I’d love to hear your comments and feedback!

In January  I presented at the Wedding University with fellow speaker and photographer Kevin Chin of Kevin Chin Photography. We presented a very educational program for brides and grooms, pretty much everything you need to know about photography for your wedding. The information we presented is really fantastic, and I wanted to share it with my very loyal blog readers who were unable to attend. Of the course of the next few weeks, I will blog about different styles of photography, portraits vs. photojournalism, why photography is so expensive, how to get the most from your budget, and how to get the most from your photography. Regardless of who you have hired as your wedding photographer, this information will be very helpful for you. Tomorrow will be the first in the series. Please let me know what you think!

Can you believe San Francisco Brides Magazine featured 3 of our couples in the recent issue!?! Wow, they must really love our work! Saloni & Arneek (right side, middle row) were married at Dunsmuir Estate. Lindsy & Ryan (top row, 2nd to left) were married at the Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton. Kristi & Fred (bottom row, left) had their reception at Treasure Island. All 3 couples are featured in the “Hitched in San Francisco” section. It’s always lovely to see our work published in magazines. Thanks San Francisco Brides!

Kathleen & Dave had a gorgeous new year’s eve wedding and Geoff & I had the honor of photographing every moment. We started off in Kathleen’s suite at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco. It was a perfectly elegant setting for a bride to get  ready, and I love the rich red wallpaper in the background. Her floral designer& event planner, Isabella of Florabella did a stunning white bouquet for Kathleen, it was so fragrant and I loved the textures. I’m not usually a fan of white bouquets, but this one was really spectacular!

Kathleen & Dave had a “first look” meeting in the bridal suite, and then we headed out to do portraits. With the wedding ceremony at 6pm, portraits beforehand was a great choice.

We went to Presideo Park, which is a great location for portraits. Kathleen went for classic tastes with pearl bridal set and white bouquet. She looks gorgeous!

Since it was a bit chilly on the last day of December, Kathleen’s mom made this FABULOUS wrap to go with Kathleen’s dress. It was ivory on the outside, and then a very soft beige on the inside, with a clever loophole to keep it from slipping off the shoulders.

The ceremony was held at Old Saint Mary’s in San Francisco. I love this church, it’s a great space to photograph in, and they are pretty lenient with photographers. We were able to photograph from the balcony as well, which gives a wonderful overall shot below.

And they are married!

After the ceremony, we headed to the Julia Morgan Ballroom, where Kathleen and Dave were able to enjoy a nice cocktail hour with their guests since we’d gotten all the portraits done beforehand. Julia Morgan ballroom can be very difficult to capture – it’s dark and the intricate ceiling and flooring can overpower the details. Kathleen and David chose good lighting, and the heavy cloths and the texture-heavy flowers and place settings really help counteract that. Instead of being lost in the room, the whole setting looks rich.

Cake is from Jen’s Cakes, and was perfectly suited to the theme of the evening.

The lighting, which is essential for a location like this, was done Everything Audio Visual and they did a fantastic job.

Kathleen and Dave had a surprise birthday cake brought out for this little guy, celebrating his new year’s eve birthday at the wedding.

At the stroke of midnight, the happy couple found each other for a New Year’s Eve midnight kiss. I got one from Geoff too. Sometimes I just get carried away by all the romance surrounding me! Congratulations to Kathleen & Dave!

That’s right, 3 nights at a swanky Four Seasons in a warm, tropical locale. This, and many other cool prizes are being given away at the Wedding University on January 31st. The Wedding University is an all day event, a classroom styled day of education for brides, grooms and those heavily involved in the process. I’ll be speaking with Kevin Chin, a fellow photographer, and we’ll be sharing the inside secrets to getting the most out of your photography, understanding portraits, and answering all your questions. There’s also a session on bridal style, lighting and decor, music and first dances, choosing a menu, and much more. The decor displays are amazing, showcasing not only the hot trends of 2010, but also showcasing styles in different budget ranges. It’s going to be a fantastic all day event, so if you are interested, grab your tickets, they WILL sell out. Besides 3 nights in a sunny destination, I’m giving away an engagement session with a hair and makeup session with Armando of Get Your Do Up! just prior so you’ll look your best. There’s another session with the always fabulous & soon to be excellent golfer Kevin Chin (my husband Geoff and Kelvin are serious golfers in training together) gown preservation from Gabrielle’s Bridal as well as a veil , tea at Crown and Crumpet, and an ipod full of wedding tunes from Ron Grandia of A Different Kind of DJ a Save the Date Video from Studio MSV and assorted other prizes. It’s going to be an amazing, fun educational day. If you want to learn more details and get your tickets you can follow this link to Weddings 360 to learn more.