I met up with Melissa and Ryan this morning for their engagement session at Nisene Marks in Aptos – an absolute gorgeous redwood forest popular with runners and bikers alike. Aptos was its typical foggy self, so I postponed our 10am shoot by an hour just to get things a little brighter. The sun never came out, but the atmosphere for natural light was really gorgeous. But if you follow my work, you know I usually include off-camera light as well – the trick is to keep it looking natural and not, well, flash-y. 8 of the 26 photos below are using un-natural light, can you tell which ones?
Being UCSC grads, Pat and Carol decided to have their engagement photo session on the Santa Cruz wharf. I've never shot an engagement here, so it was quite fun to explore the creative opportunities here. I'll be honest – it's not the cleanest or best-smelling location, but it's got character, and these two are a lot of fun to hang out with. Enjoy a few photos below!
Stephanie and Darren lucked out with beautiful weather for their early August wedding on a private estate in the hills of Sebastopol, California. I was so happy for them, as I know how hot and miserable it could have been for an all-outdoor wedding like this. The setting was simply perfect, lots of room for the many kids to roam around on and a really intimate reception setting next to the apple orchard. Darren's got friends in an amazing band, who kept everyone entertained and dancing their hearts away into the evening. Such a lovely couple, I was honored to play such an important role in capturing their wedding day. Here's a few of my favorite photos I feel capture the feel of the event:
I have to say this was a first for me – Alex just happened to have a bunch of rope in his truck, so we acted out a little fantasy – rescuing the tied up damsel in distress from the railroad tracks. Before you collectively freak out, dear internet, this is an unused track – not a dangerous situation. Anyways, we could't decide if Alex would play villain or savior, it's really a matter of what order I show the photos (tying her up first... or reverse to show un-tying). For the sake of this blog post and because he is her fiance, we'll stick with the savior story. Even though we ended the shoot with the role-playing, I wanted to show you those photos first.
I shot Sher and Grant's Monterey elopement last year, and when it came time for them to celebrate with friends and family, they called me up to help out. It was great to see them again and get some great shots of everyone they care about. We met at Grant's home in Modesto around 11am, and I'm pretty sure it was pushing past 90 degrees at that point. We wanted to get all the formal portraits done before the party, so I walked everyone out to the almond orchard behind the house to find a little solace in the shade. Afterwards, we all headed to The Century in downtown Modesto for the reception – an amazingly cool new wedding venue with a helpful, friendly staff and a killer eye for detail. It was a photographer's dream venue for capturing great photos of people – and that's exactly what I did. Enjoy some of my faves below!
