san francisco wedding photographer | bay area photography
Okay, so here’s a little video clip from the wedding we did over at Flying Cloud Farm. This is a first dance video clip, shot with two hd wedding videography and using the Steadi-cam JR. To all my videography clients, remember that our use of the Steadi-Cam is by request only and is not available for all weddings! So please book us now and specifically request that you Want some steadi-cam footage and we will try and comply the best we can!
Here are some wedding photos [wedding photography] that I took way back in 2007 over at Flying Cloud Farm in Petaluma, CA. This was a great little wedding that I shot there. The venue was quite nice. They loved me and afterwards I was on their preferred vendor list and featured on their website. But since then I haven’t gone back so I guess they took me off of there. Anyway, here are some of the nice photos that I have on file.
I have some more pictures from the wedding we shot at the Terrace Room at Lake Merritt Hotel.
Here’s a cool shot I do with the toasting glasses after the cake cutting.
This is a detail shot that the bride and groom really liked.
These two shots go together. I took both of them. These two are many in a sequence of shots. This first shot shows a friend of the bride and groom being serenaded.
This second shot is an alternate angle taken to show the emotion the bride and groom were feeling at the time.
These last two shots were taken by my associate photographer and basically show the Terrace Room a little more. The Terrace Room is a great place to have y our wedding. It has lots of natural light in the day and has plenty of room for lots of people.
Click here if you want to see more pictures from this same wedding.
Just did a great wedding over at the Claremont Hotel Club and Spa. This is a great place to have your wedding especially in the winter as the inside of the hotel interior makes for great pictures.
Here, the bride gets ready in her hotel room upstairs.
It was raining this day but I managed to sneak the bridesmaids out on the deck for some pictures before the ceremony.
In addition to the standard poses like the one above, I also take some fun shots like the one below. Please note how natural the lighting is. I’m using mostly ambient light and only the tinyest bit of FLASH FILL to get the EYE LIGHT that I enjoy.
The ceremony takes place in one of the smaller banquet rooms.
The bride was really happy on her wedding day as you can see below.
The wedding reception took place in the Meritage Restaurant at the Claremont Hotel, Club and Resort.
The bride danced the night away with her mom, bridesmaids and friends.
Before I left, I took my requisite night shots complete with backlighting and the works. As you can see, my work is VERY creative. And while I do get many basic shots to fill the time, I am always doing something creative!
Below, a shot of me with the mother of the bride and the Bride!
Here’s a great little video I produced from a recent wedding on Empress Events in Sausalito aboard one of their amazing Yachts cruising on the San Francisco Bay!
Florist = Mill Valley Flowers = Annabella
Videography = Axiom Videography
Here’s a link to some of the wedding photos that were taken that day!
http://yourweddingalways.com/category/empress-yachts-sausalito-ca/
We found this great article on tips for choosing and how to hire a wedding photographer over on the wedding website http://www.yourbridalplanner.com. click on how to hire a wedding photographer. We also have cut and paste that below for your convenience here.
AT THE TOP OF THE LIST!!!
Wedding Photography will undoubtedly be at the top of your budget when it comes to it’s importance and the role it will play in your overall wedding. And of course, the actual wedding day photography needs are top priority, but don’t forget about the other photography related issues such as E-pics (engagement pictures), which are often used for save the date announcements and just married announcements in your local newspaper. E-pics are also great to have because you can frame large or small photos and display them at the entrance of your wedding reception!
PHOTO BOOTHS AND ON-SITE PRINTING
Another great use for photography (whether it is done by your hired photographer, or a different vendor) are the use of photo booths and on-site printing. Photo booths can be rented from various outlets. The vendor would deliver it to your wedding reception so your guests can take photos of themselves as keepsakes for the couple.
Another great way to get your guests in the game is to have a photographer set up a photo-station with on-site printing. Each of your guests would have a pictures taken with him or her significant other, and the picture would be printed on the spot and slipped into some sort of cardboard or plastic folio. Prices ranges vary, so please check with your local vendors for quotes.
WOULD THE REAL PHOTOGRAPHER PLEASE STAND UP!
Ok, now on to the real deal of finding a professional photographer for your wedding. To keep in-line with what we have discussed in our budget recommendations, do not shop on price just yet! Rather, see many samples online and in person either by visiting the studio or going to a bridal show. Once you determine what quality will satisfy you, then you go onto the difficult task of finding a photographer that delivers what you want, within the budget that is comfortable with you. There are TONS! of photographers out there! And just because they are advertising doesn’t mean they are all professional. You have to be careful of weekenders and amateurs. Many photographers who start out have a decent portfolio because they have shot it over the shoulder of who trained them, or shot it in conjunction under the tutelage of their trainer, so be careful of that! Make sure to get a photographer who is tried and proven! Someone who can deliver each time and every time!
STYLE, JOURNALISTIC AND/OR FORMAL
Most professional photographers shoot a combination of journalistic and formal, with the latter being the traditional posed shots that were once the common thing to do. Back in the day, it was the studio photographer who would come out to shoot a wedding, and not the photographer who was shooting rock bands or working for the press. As videography became more prevalent 15 years ago, photographers saw a need for journalistic coverage of the real time action of the wedding. Today, it is common for photographers to be versed in both styles. Some studios have two shooters with one doing journalistic and the other doing posed.
WEDDING ALBUMS
Todays high end studios offer something called a magazine style wedding album. This is basically a graphic design in the determined print size of multiple images on that page. So, if your album was a print size of 10×10, then you could have from 3 to 5 images on that page that tell the story of the wedding day. You would think that this would be a cost cutting issue, because now you don’t have to make as many prints to show as many images. However, there is the cost of the design itself that now plays a part of the overall price. Whereas before, if you had 50 images to print that would mean 50 prints. Today, you can fit 50 images into a 24 page design. These magazine style designed pages also look great in the ‘flush mount’ page album and have been instrumental in making the flush mount album a huge success. With a flush mount album, a print is mounted on a backing board, and then cut flush so that there is no matting. Despite the rise in popularity, the traditional matted album is still very popular among today’s brides!
HOW WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY IMPACTS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
If you plan on having a wedding videographer, make sure that the videographer understands your photographers workflow. A meeting or teleconference between the photographer and videographer may be necessary to ensure that both services work in concert with one another. Many photographers offer videography as well. Check to ensure that the videography is the real deal, and not just something they do on the side. The way to find this out is to see demos, talk to the actual videographer that will be doing the filming and so on.
QUESTIONS TO ASK POTENTIAL VENDORS.
The following questions are actually trick questions, because the answers will give you some insight into the persons abilities and overall attitude with respect to how they approach the wedding. And because none of the questions are specific to pricing, film or digital or albums, you can ask them regardless.
1. How long have you been in business?
2. Do you carry back up equipment and any necessary insurance.
3. What happens if you get sick or injured and can’t shoot my wedding?
4. Do you shoot film, digital or both?
5. What is your attire when you film a wedding?
6. Do your fees include a sight visit prior to the wedding day?
7. Do you need to attend the rehearsal and if so, does that affect the price?
As a non-touring professional musician, many of my clients do not know that I am also in the music business. Well, not full time anymore, but I still write, record and play locally here the San Francisco Bay area whenever I get the chance. My last project, “Born To Rock, aka BTR” is still plugging away. BTR is an 80’s rock cover band and we do parties and receptions.
At any rate, I wanted to post a song off my 2005 CD Acoustic Journey. This song is called ‘ON OUR WEDDING DAY’ and it pays homage to the 80’s power ballads of old. I always wanted to write and record a song like this, so this song is a dream come true for me. A few of my clients even played it at their wedding and included it on their wedding video!
I have the clip archived over at the Acoustic Journey CD website. So please click here if you want to listen to it and/or download
it.
click this image to download it from Apple iTunes
I just wanted to let everyone know that if they need a great haircut, bridal hair, updo for wedding or any woman’s haircut, or men’s haircut, then ALCHEME HAIR SALON in San Francisco is the the place to go!
Please click here to go to their website.
Alcheme Salon has a profile on YOURBRIDALPLANNER.COM
I wrote an article a few years ago about my experiences with mixed race weddings, multi-racial, multi-ethnic weddings, interfaith weddings and the like. The example I used was from a wedding where an Indian gentleman married a Chinese Princess.
Most traditional chinese weddings are at least a 15 hr shoot for me. This wedding was no different. In fact, it ran more like 16 hours. The wedding consisted of 4 to 5 ceremonies [depending on whether or not you call a BARAT a ceremony] and the bride changed 4 times.
The article also featured wedding photos I took that day.
I just made this video for my friend and colleague that parished HUAN TRAN.
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