Being a wedding photographer can be a tough job at times. Whenever friends get married sometimes I have a tough choice of being just a guest, or personally ensuring the quality of the couple’s photography. Making the decision for Juliya and Kirill’s wedding was easy, and in the end everything worked out.  This wonderful couple got married on October 1st at the San Francisco City Hall.  There were a lot of couples there, but we managed to get intimate portraits at various nooks and crannies of the building. After the ceremony and the city hall weddings, we headed out to the Legion of Honor for more photos. One of my favorite photos below should be titled “The two grooms”  Our friend Gene Ekster suggested that Kirill and him start dancing the traditional Russian dance, “Kalinka”. It’s one of my new favorites.   Our wonderful photo tour ended with the Cliff House, which hosted a wonderful lunch with the couple’s family and friends.

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Gregory and Gail’s wedding was anything but ordinary. The most remarkable thing about this wedding was the beautiful fusion of two cultures. Gregory and his side of the family is Nigerian with some members of the family including his mother, flying down from Nigeria. Gail’s side of the family is Italian, mostly from the Midwest of the United States. The colorful traditions that both sides added to the wedding made this one of the most colorful weddings I have photographed. The venue itself has a very laid back atmosphere and felt more like someone’s house than a typical wedding venue.  After the ceremony Gail dressed in traditional Nigerian dress and headpiece. The traditional African band and DJ kept the party going late into the night.

Venue: Venture Retreat Center, Pescadero
Catering: Mchef4U

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After Denver I flew out to New York to do photograph my clients for a December wedding in the Dominican Republic. They are a really great couple, and I am very excited to photograph their destination wedding. I am glad I was able to come out for their engagement session, since it always takes a bit of time to get a relationship going between a couple and a photographer.  We ended up photographing around Central Park, a fantastic New York location.

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As always, I shoot rain or shine. For this shoot we had the full use of the Oakland Zoo. Even though it rained, we were able to keep dry for the most part getting the shots we needed. I love the railroad tracks at the Oakland Zoo, and as with my last shoot the train came just as we were taking the photos. I added a little motion blur to the train, but there was some natural blur as the train was moving. Special thanks to Toni from the Oakland Zoo for being such a wonderful guide and flash holder.

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This is the portrait session I did for Angeline and Sebastian’s wedding.  Their dog, Mariposa, is a huge part of their life and they insisted on getting her for the shoot.  I loved the idea of using their pet in the photos, but wanted to do something unusual and fun.  These are the results of inserting this dressed up wedding couple and their dog in one of the busiest parts of the city. I absolutely love taking photos in North Beach.  I loved every minute of this shoot. They are truly a great couple, and I am really glad I was part of their special day.

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