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

If you haven’t been to the Ralston Hall in Belmont, CA for a wedding or any other type of special event, you are missing out on some amazing land and property. The MANSION that is the Ralston Hall is so elegantly appointed, it harkens back to the early 1900’s in it’s style and decor.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to work at the Ralson Hall doing wedding photography and wedding videography. I have photographed many weddings there and have shot many wedding videos at the Ralston Hall.

The property is laid out as follows: You drive up a long driveway and see a huge lawn and massive fountain in the front. The wedding ceremony typically takes place out in the front lawn, however in some cases like in the winter, the Ralston Hall has the ceremonies inside the main Grand Ballroom.

The orientation of the ceremony will be dictated by how many guests are to be seated. For instance, a smaller wedding will go straight from the Mansion down the stairs and have your wedding ceremony in front of the huge Water Fountain. For larger weddings such as Sophia & Paul [see picture above] you go down the stairs, make a left walk down, turn right and then back up the aisle so that you are in front of the water fountain but long ways on the lawn.

This wedding at the Ralston Hall was absolutely beautiful. We got many great wedding pictures on this day.

However, my main goal is the show the layout of your wedding reception at the Ralston Hall. So the following pictures are typical DETAIL SHOTS that a second or associate wedding photographer might be shooting whilst the primary wedding photographer does all the family and formal wedding portraits.

Here are some great shots of the main banquet room inside the Ralston Hall. I believe they call it the Grand Ballrooom.

They put the cake in the room that’s just outside of the Grand Ballroom.

Dancing commences in the Grand Ballroom. There is enough room for a band or large DJ set up. The ambient lighting looks very natural and makes for some great backgrounds.

This last shot below is one of my Marquee Shots. I love this shot. This wedding picture taken at the Ralston Hall in Belmont, CA kind of sums up our wedding photography style. Super fine, photo journalistic expee-alidocious LOL

Kari and Shawn are the most wonderful couple who got married at the Wente Vineyards in Livermore, CA. I had the pleasure of recieving their inquiry. At that time, I was still advertising on TheKnot.com so the found me through that wedding web site. I made the numbers work for them which resulted in us commencing to do business with one another. Here are some of the fantastic wedding photos I took at Kari and Shawn’s wedding.

Please note that I like as much natural light as possible. I take a more ‘ORGANIC’ approach with my wedding photography.

These are some of the latest wedding pictures I have taken at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Burlingame, CA. I have worked at this hotel for 20 years now and was lucky enough to get on their preferred vendor list very early on in my career. At that point in my career I didn’t even think of pursuing getting on any lists, I just got lucky because one of the banquet manager’s there liked me and put me on the list.

At any rate, I work there alot. Here are some of my latest wedding photos from Kay & Voltaire’s wedding in February 2010.

They had their ceremony at a different location. Later, I will be posting the wedding video and more of the photos from this fabulous wedding!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THIS WEDDING

I am on the preferred vendor list for the Stanford Park Hotel, in Menlo Park, CA. Here are some magazine style album pages for a client that I recently shot a wedding at this wonderful wedding venue. The finished album layout pages will be sent to Graphi Studios to be produced. I use Graphi as my exclusive wedding album bookbinder now. I have carried them for years, but have now made the decision to go exclusive with Graphi.

CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE GALLERY OF WEDDING IMAGES

Please follow this link to open a FLASH gallery of wedding photos that I took at a recent wedding [January 2010] at the Dublin Ranch Golf Course in Dublin, CA.

click here to open the gallery of wedding images taken at the Dublin Ranch Golf Course

Just curious if anyone out there cares for pictures like this. I don’t do tons of stuff from the ground but when I do, I want it to be BIG TIME!!!!! Let me know what you think!

There’s a place called the OUTDOOR ART CLUB in a little town called MILL VALLEY, CA. I recently had the pleasure of photographing a wedding there. They had the ceremony in the back, below the huge redwood trees. Cocktails were served on the patio while the luncheon was served in the main room. After lunch they danced on the front patio. For someone looking for a really nice place to have their wedding, the Mill Valley Outdoor Art Club is a top recommendation.

 

One of the advantages of having my own video crew is that I can often get some great shots of me in action! Through out the year I have accumulated footage that I have personally edited to create version 2 of my promotional video.

Version 1 of this video was first produced at the end of 2007 so the footage was quite old and I was 30 lbs heavier then as well. You can tell the new footage because I wear a BLACK GLOVE on my grip hand. I call it my POWER GLOVE and it does nothing else but give me a better grip on the camera and the padding on the glove reduces hand fatigue so I can shoot longer and more controlled. I still have some old clips in the video that I will one day replace. You can tell the old clips because I am heavier and I am not wearing a glove. I also do not have the big white dome thingy on my flash in the old clips.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy this new version. Please leave comments and let me know what you think!

 

I was in a meeting with a potential client when a good question was asked of me. The topic had to do with what I refer to as the ‘general and forensic’ moments of getting basic posed formals on the altar after the ceremony. You see, myself as well as other photographers typically do not promote these images in albums or online portfolios. Photographers [and I'm one of them] are often guilty of trying to impress viewers with their more artistic and creative images. However, I do feel that these photo sessions are critical in the sense that these ‘forensic’ shots are absolutely necessary for the family as it captures this moment in that family’s history. In fact, it’s rare to photograph a wedding that does not require any posed/formal shots.

So the bottom line was how do I capture these moments, what’s my approach, etc. My approach is the same as the rest of the day which is relaxed and in control. I use my extensive lighting experience to deliver HIGH END images of these required moments. I often use the backlight to enhance the images and I always use soft artificial light [flash] to liven up the subject matter[s] face. I feel the lighting on the face while not as creative as using ambient or existing light, is necessary to show the person. I feel that since the picture is more forensic in nature, I do not have to be so creative with the main light.

So check out these posed formals on the altar and let me know what you think. I feel that my technique, quality and style are a cut above and that if you hire me you won’t be disappointed with any aspect of my work including the standard poses.