15 May 2009, Posted by Carmen in Blog, Church Wedding, Marin Wedding, Weddings, 1 Comments

Trisha & Jeremy | Old St. Hillary's Church Wedding | Water's Edge Hotel | Servino's Restaurant Reception | Tiburon, CA Wedding

Trisha & Jeremy were SUCH a joy to work with!  I liked them straight away from our first meeting, when they told me one of the funniest engagement stories I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot!  I’m not going to retell it all here, but suffice it to say it involved oysters, volcanoes, and toilet paper – and I’m not kidding!!  But it’s how heartfully in love they are that really got to me.  They are so beautifully connected, it was a privilege to be with them on this day.   I was so happy to be shooting such a gorgeous couple, in such a stunning location on such a glorious spring day… I know that’s a lot of positive adjectives, but this wedding deserved them!  I love Old St. Hillary’s Church – you’d never guess we were still in Marin.  The bride was fashionably late to the Water’s Edge Hotel (don’t worry Trisha, you’re not the only it’s happened to! ), so I had a little extra time with her carefully-chosen flowers and accessories both at the hotel and at Servino’s Restaurant on the water just a few doors down… Trisha is an artist who works at a gallery, and was clear from the beginning that she wanted classic Dutch still lives as the theme for the flower colors – so super rich!

Here’s Jeremy, the handsome groom:

And Trisha getting ready… a little wolf whistle for this first one, please!  ;-)

This one makes me want to get back to hand-making old-style platinum/palladium prints:

A quick drive up the hill to Old St. Hillary’s, and here is Jeremy, preparing himself just moments before the ceremony started:

This next one was all done in camera (not Photoshop) with portable strobes adding to the drama of the late-afternoon sun…

And just a couple quick shots from the lovely reception at Servino’s, where we had such a clear view of San Francisco across the bay.  Thanks to Julie Durkee from Torino Baking for such a beautiful cake with a very unique color & design (you can see it in b&w in the left corner of the last shot), and to Katy Baker of Adagio Weddings & Events for keeping everything flowing smoothly…

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23 Feb 2009, Posted by Carmen in Blog, Church Wedding, East Bay Wedding, Weddings, 1 Comments

Siobhan & Felix | Corpus Christi Church Wedding | Oakland, CA | Berkeley Marina | Wedding

Siobhan & Felix were married right after New Year’s Day this year… way to bring in a new year, you guys!  We were fully expecting rain, but lucked out and got an unusually sunny and blue-skied day, though it still took them being so in love and me so inspired by that to not notice the freezing air too much during our outdoor portrait time!  Felix being a lieutenant, he had to return to his service in Iraq a couple weeks after the ceremony… I wish you a speedy return, Felix, and I hope these photos help both of you bask in the beauty of that day and each other until then…

the bride being clasically late, I had a little bit of time with Felix before the ceremony…

It’s always amazing to see a woman looking her best on her wedding day, but I had more of a jaw-dropping experience with Siobhan than usual, because I wasn’t around for her getting ready.  So I went from seeing a young, spunky, and very casual Siobhan in jeans sitting on my couch, to watching this breath-taking glamour queen step out of her limo – lucky I didn’t drop my camera!  I also love how her cousin Rob looks like the perfect CIA body guard, outfitted with his earpiece and everything…

It was wonderful for me to see Mairin, the flower girl, and Shane, her brother in a tux on the left in the photo following hers, ’cause although I don’t think they remembered, I’d photographed them when she was half this age!

Then we drove off to the Berkeley Marina for some more photos, and I really have to thank my second shooter that day, Sapasorn Rikiherd, for his dedication that day – he drove my car so I could ride with Siobhan & Felix and take some quick shots of them in the limo, AND took some awesome grab shots from behind us on the road!  I know I probably shouldn’t praise possibly dangerous multi-tasking like that, but I LOVE this inside car-outside car simultaneity!

I so love all the perfect little bits of light twinking in that photo above… and a little note about the photo below… I’m going to be reserving a little chunk of time during during the portrait time of weddings coming up for mixing lighting in portraits, so that I can take the best that natural light has to offer for a background, and get *just* the light I want on the people too.  I love the slightly surreal feel it gives, even in very natural-looking settings.  This one was done with a molded reflector instead of a strobe or flash, but same concept…

(I sure hope you all forgive that “Officer and a Gentleman” moment, but I just had to!! )

And then there are those times when I couldn’t possibly ask any lights or Photoshop actions or anything to improve on the gorgeous lighting and colors that Mother Nature can hand us on a beautiful winter’s day muted sunset…

Back at the reception, Felix showed us all how one REALLY should cut a cake!

How cute is this little decorational soldier as an unsuspecting ring holder??

A second thanks goes out that day to cousin Rob, who besides driving the couple around all day, drove all the way back to Hayward to get his Harley, just so we could take some shots of Siobhan on it!

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