Recognize this couple? This is part 2 of a great engagement session with Mike and Amanda, this time from around San Francisco. Last time we shot at the Fair in San Luis Obispo county but this time we shot near their home.
For those of you that are super observant, you might actually see one of my previous grooms in the background of 2 of the images!
I really do love living in San Luis Obispo county! Snapped this shot with my camera phone on the way out of my office in Paso Robles the other night, what a beautiful place to live!
I just returned from 4 days of bike riding and goofing off out in Sedona Arizona with fellow San Luis Obispo wedding photographer Jonathan from Bluephoto.biz and Arizona photographer Riley of AplusRphoto. We had a great time and you can expect to see a bunch of fun photos sometime next week. I only brought my old Canon Rangefinder film camera so you all have to wait for the film to be processed and scanned…weird right!?
I’d love to be a Sedona wedding photographer so if you plan on getting married out there please give me a call as I’d love to spend more time in such a beautiful place!
Tamara and Joe’s wedding at Fort Mason was such a blast! It was the day before the Fleet Week airshow happened so not only did I get to shoot to amazing people but got to watch the airshow practice session at the same time! Right when we ran out of the Argonaut Hotel to shoot, the Blue Angels made their first pass directly over our heads at about 100 feet! It was absolutely incredible and also incredibly LOUD! The entire session we all had to read lips as we could pretty much not hear at all! They were great and we got some awesome images where you would never know all that was going on!
We then headed over to 1 Fort Mason for the wedding ceremony and reception. The decor was great and the weather was perfect! Gotta love October weddings in San Francisco!
The ceremony was beautiful and very personal to Tamara and Joe. I started seeing the crowd get a bit anxious at one point and looked to see a skunk trying to crash the ceremony! The staff had warned us and had mentioned the skunk is quite friendly. Hmm, friendly or not, I was not going to risk it spraying so I left it alone. Thankfully a guest took charge and gently used a chair to block it’s path from getting any closer (it got about 10 feet from the guests!). Joe was so funny; he just says something like “Just a skunk, no worries” and goes right back to his vows… now that’s cool under pressure!
A huge thanks to Tamara and Joe for having me and I can’t wait to hang out with you soon!
Joe pulls all the stops and gets the Blue Angels out for the wedding!
I heard someone say “at least he’s wearing a tux.” Hmm….
Did I mention Joe is about 1 foot taller than Tamara?
Last summer I took Caiden (my son, then 3 years old) to the fair to see the animals (and some livestock too! lol) and I was thinking what a great spot it would be for an engagement session. So this year I was headed home from a Carmel wedding and saw the fair was getting setup and immediately knew that I had to get Mike and Amanda to do this! They are a super fun couple who live in San Francisco but are having their wedding at the Santa Margarita Ranch next summer. With their style I knew they would be perfect for all the fun and colors of the fair.
This is part one of two as we also shot last weekend around San Franciso in the rain! Having had this much fun at the engagement sessions, I can’t wait to see what a blast we have at their wedding!
What a year it’s been so far! Awesome weddings with beautiful people, what more could I ask for! Nettie and Leon were married at the beautiful Saint Patricks Cathedral with their reception at The Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco. Nettie and Leon have been together for a long time and really wanted the day to reflect their personalities. If you remember from their engagement session, they are huge fans of the theatre so there was lot’s of little details from shows they have seen and even some super dramatic music from Phantom of the Opera!
The day started at the Mark Hopkins (you know, the hotel with “The Top of the Mark” up on Nob Hill). Everyone was having a great time and I knew it would be a great day when I saw that Taylor Pham and her team were doing hair and makeup. Great makeup not only makes everyone look their best but also makes my job easier!
Everything went totally smoothly and though the fog completely stopped us from getting a good shot of the Golden Gate bridge, we still managed to get some great shots downtown and at the Palace of Fine Arts. Wedding Photographers abound at The Palace of Fine Arts but that didn’t worry me as I always know that the couple’s love and my vision are what makes for memorable shots; the shot below with the red tree against the wall is one of my personal favorites! Not to mention that hot series of Nettie and Leon making out!
Nettie and Leon were awesome hosts and totally devoted to getting great images, thanks and congratulations!
I also want to put out a huge thanks to my friend John Griffin for helping out, thanks John!
My friends Kandi and Ronnie asked me to shoot their wedding in San Francisco at St. Dominics Cathedral and Bimbo’s 365 Club. Kandi is my sister in law’s best friend (Courtney is second from the left in the above image) and the entire Garcia family has been friends with my wife’s family for a couple of decades. Funny enough, Stephanie and I lived just a few doors down from the Garcia’s when we used to live in Petaluma! Because of this, pretty much Stephanie’s entire side of the family was at the wedding so I knew it was going to be a pretty wild night!
We started the day at a hotel next door to Bimbos 365 Club and that was something! Hair and makeup went pretty late so we were in a huge rush to get everything ready in time. The really funny thing was that Courtney told Stephanie and Caitlin (my other SIL) they could get ready in her room, but that turned out to be the room Kandi and the rest of the bridal party were getting ready in so it was a bit of a surprise for them! It all worked out so we then headed over to St. Dominics for the first look with Ronnie. St. Dominics is probably my favorite cathedral in San Francisco as it is just a stunning building and the staff there is always nice to work with.
We got a few minutes to run down to the Embarcadero and get some shots of Kandi and Ronnie but we all knew the real action was at Bimbos so we got back there pretty quick! The night was a blast and everyone had a great time! Kandi really wanted a nightclub-party feel to the reception and I really don’t think it could have gone any better. I’ve included plenty of fun party pictures and will have to put up the even funnier ones on Facebook (don’t worry other clients, I only do this with friend’s weddings! lol).
Big thanks to Riley of A+R Photo in Phoenix for helping with the wedding! Check out his great shot from the garter toss, nice!
