San Francisco Wedding Photographer|Destination Wedding Photographer » Engagement Session

San Francisco Engagement Session Rosi and Eddie

genekosoy — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:05:51 +0000

Another successful engagement session! The shoot I did with Rosi and Eddie was great, and particularly meaningful to me since Eddie is a friend of mine. He is a bartender at a popular San Francisco nightclub where I have photographed frequently in the past, and so we’ve come to know each other well over the years. Being asked by Rosi and Eddie to photograph their engagement session and wedding was such a privilege. It’s always feels good when friends and family trust you with what will surely be one the most important days of their lives.

We held the session at the Fisherman’s Wharf to revisit the scene of Eddie’s proposal to Rosi. We moved into Musée Mécanique, the antique music and arcade machine museum, and captured some unique shots around the vintage machines. In keeping with the retro theme, the couple posed with a classic car from the 60′s. Another fun aspect to the shoot is that Rosi’s maid-of-honor, Irma, was the light-holder for the session!

Congratulations, Rosi & Eddie! Thank you for including me in your celebration!

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San Francisco Engagement Session: Caroline & Steve

genekosoy — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:12:16 +0000

Most of us who have taken public transportation in San Francisco would hardly consider BART to be the setting for a modern day fairy tale. But for Caroline & Steve, a fateful train ride a few years ago led them to each other and to true love! Caroline is an architect and Steve is in PR, so both have a lot of vision. Although it took them a while to warm up at the beginning of the shoot, it wasn’t long before their creative and fun personalities surfaced for me to capture on film.

In this San Francisco-inspired engagement shoot, we ventured throughout the city by foot and BART while I captured the couple in various familiar city settings. We started at the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero, and then moved to 101 California Street with the oversized Christmas baubles. We also took shots on the iconic San Francisco cable cars, and as a tribute to their love story, at the BART station. We ended in the Mission, using the electrifying murals at Sycamore Alley as a backdrop to create a little video you can watch below. I was inspired by the use of stop-motion animation technique and applied the soundtrack to the film Run, Lola, Run. The images from this shoot were created by using a combination of motion blur and off-camera flash techniques combined with a slow shutter.

Another exciting part to this story is that Caroline & Steve chose me as the photographer for their wedding in Chicago in September! They are also having a photo booth from SnapFiesta, a division of Gene Kosoy Photography. I’m really exciting to head to the Windy City and photograph this awesome couple in a new setting.

Congratulations, Caroline & Steve! Thank you for letting me be a part of capturing a piece of your beautiful love story!

Sidenote: We were joined on the shoot by my assistant, Terry, who took some behind-the-scenes photos of me for his class project. You can check out a few of his images of me for his class project…which I am happy to say he aced!

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Sand Art Engagement Session San Francisco

genekosoy — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:03:13 +0000

Something special happened on Ocean Beach the other day. I teamed up with a San Francisco artist, Andres Amador to capture his art on camera. He was commissioned by Rik and Lou Ann to create one of his signature art pieces on the beach, to commemorate their love. The photos will be used for the wedding invitations, and are meant to be pieces of art to share with the couple’s friends. Andres and Ember led a team of the couple and their friends, to create a unique piece on the beach. Each person chose a flower, and created their own on the beach. This was not an easy project to orchestrate, since a sufficiently low tide around sunset only happens a few times a month, and summer days are often foggy on Ocean Beach. This combined with everyone’s schedules, its a marvel that we were able to pull this off. There was a caterer on site, serving up delicious food and peach champagne jello shots. The jello shot toast is an instant classic in my book. Looking forward to the wedding. Would like this for your engagement or proposal? Check out Andres Amador on the web.

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New York proposal! Sahra and Demetrios

genekosoy — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:02:42 +0000

Last week I flew back to New York to photograph another couple. This was not an ordinary shoot, Demetrios was to propose to his sweetheart, Shara, in the middle of the shoot. He even arranged for a professional saxophonist, Michael Seropyan, to play a song during the proposal. I was excited about the addition of the musician in the scene, since it goes with my ongoing theme of couples pictured with musicians. Sahra had no idea what was going on, thinking this was just a cute couple shoot. I along with my cousin/assistant/interior designer, Jenia Kosoy, were in on the secret and helped Demetrios stay on schedule.

Needless to say, everything went according to plan. We met up at Battery Park in the South of Manhattan. We then took some shots around Sahra’s apartment building, and got busted by security for taking photos in the common areas. We took the train up to Central Park where Michael was waiting for us with his sax on the famous Bow Bridge. It all happened so fast. There were many people on the bridge, and suddenly it felt like Demetrios and Sahra were the only people that mattered. Everyone stopped in their tracks as Demetrios got on one knee, and Michal began to play. Sahra said “Yes!”, everyone clapped and we moved on to continue with the rest of our shoot. Its a beatifull time of year in New York, its somewhat cold, and there is snow on the ground, and the air is crisp. Spring feels like its around the corner. We finished off the shoot with another wardrobe change (total of 3), and headed to Time Square for our final few shots. It was an amazing day, stay tuned for the Sahra and Demetrios’ wedding photos yet to come.

The crew, wrapping up a long day.

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Yanette and Carlos’ Wedding, Medellin, Colombia July 31th, 2010

genekosoy — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:44:17 +0000

Yanette and Carlos are a fun couple residing in Valencia, Spain. They had a wonderful Colombian ceremony and reception for Yanette’s Colombian family. The ceremony took place in Inglesia San Clemente. This was a unique ceremony, complete with bubbles in the church and a bombardment of confetti and rice when they exited. The Reception took place in La Extramadura, a mountain side property overlooking Medellin. The reception featured live music, white glove servers and a breath taking decor. Traditionally the Colombian reception has two cakes. The first cake is cut by the bride and groom as they enter, followed by the champagne toast. The guests eat the cake and drink champagne before the dinner is served. After the dinner the room turned into a night club, with lighting, fog, and a famous Medellin radio DJ. This is a shot of the couple’s engagement shoot on top of El Pinol, a huge rock overlooking a lush valley of lakes and land.

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Carly and Seth Engagement Session 6.19.10

genekosoy — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:12:50 +0000

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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Michael and Laura Shoot at the Oakland Zoo 4.11.10

genekosoy — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:05:22 +0000

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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Marjorie and Dan’s Engagement Session 3.21.10

genekosoy — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:38:33 +0000

For this engagement session we decided to go up to one of Napa Valley’s finest restaurants. Brix is located a mile north of Yountville. This great location features private dining inside their wine room, outdoor dining and a few other private rooms as well as conventional seating. They were a very laid back couple, and having shot her sister’s wedding Marjorie and Dan felt comfortable with me and let me take charge of the shoot. In addition to setting up the shots to capture the beauty of the property and the surroundings, I also paid close attention to the couple’s interaction in order to capture feeling and emotion, in addition to getting beautiful photos. In addition to getting great shots through out the day, we got to enjoy everything Brix had to offer: great food, great views and great wine. The restaurant has a very nice patio with a great view of the mountain, a vineyard and the Napa Valley Train tracks. Another nice thing about Brix, is that in addition to wedding receptions they can do also facilitate wedding ceremonies as well. This is not so standard in Napa. Overall we had a great experience shooting, and the photos are a byproduct of our stay on the premises. In addition to recommending Brix to my wedding clients, I recommend it to my friends as well.

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