Robert Valdes Wedding Photographer San Francisco Bay Area

LOL this one goes way back. I’m really reaching back in the archives now. I have worked at the Grand Island Mansion 8 times in my 20 year career. I’m surprised how I got booked for a wedding that far out off the beaten path. And trust me, it is a drive along a long dirt road that parallels the delta. It is a nice trip during the day, a little scary at night when the fog blankets the entire area. Anyway, I was working quite a bit there for a while. One time, I was there back to back weddings Saturday, then again the next Saturday.

This wedding took place back in the very early days of digital photography. The black and white you see here is actually TRUE black and white film. What I was doing back then was shooting with digital [in color naturally] and then augmenting the digital coverage with true black and white film. Moreover, this film was 645 medium format.

You can also get an idea of what my magazine style album designs looked like back then in 2003. Not bad, but I have come along way in the areas of wedding album design and creation of the layouts. I know often think of left and right as a single canvas with which to tell your wedding story.

The below images were shot in color with digital, then the color removed from various areas of the picture to give you what you see here. I only mention it because I said I was using true black and white film and for all except the below is black and white film.

I just remembered that they are still using one of my images on their website that I shot at this wedding. I was still known as Axiom Photography back then. I’m going to have to email them asking them to change it. Click here to see the pic that they are still using under CLASSIC WEDDINGS

Tweaking images is great! But sometimes the images doesn’t need to be tweaked, and us photographers do the tweaking just so we can WOW or impress you with our skill and knowledge using photoshop and other photo image manipulation tools. I tweaked the photo below into what’s often referred to as TOUCH COLOR. I’m not sure if there is an official name for this. Upon further reflection, I think the original color image actually shows more emotion. I’d love to have your opinion on this! Please leave comments below.

TWEAKED IMAGE = Cropped, Touch Color, Noise Reduction, Sharpening & Level Adjustment

Tweaked image = aLL OF THE above except no TOUCH COLOR

btw- this stunning image was taken at the Terrace Room at Lake Merritt Hotel in Oakland, CA.

The process of refining the final image is an integral part of my workflow. As an expert image designer, I have been exposed to PHOTOSHOP since version 1. My ability with the tool is maximum…the results of which you see in this RAW AND TWEAKED category which is the MOST VIEWED on the Blog.

This amazing wedding shot of a bride standing at a window was taken at the Wente Vineyards in Livermore. I love this shot alot. I use it on my business card.