Braganza Wedding 2X

I was greeted by the family dog when I arrived to take the prep shots... look at those eyes...
You know I am a big animal lover, I couldn't resist taking this photo.

The Groom was so excited he sent a text message to the Bride - several times ...

This wedding was particularly special for me

because the Groom is the brother of Pierre, the Groom I photographed in Hawaii last year.

Our Bride Melody was a Bridesmaid in Ati and Pierre's Hawaii wedding also.

Ati looked beautiful as she helped Melody get ready for her big day.

I have been a big fan of her style since I saw the fabulous job she did planning her destination wedding in Hawaii.

Rumor has it that these two will be offering their services to Brides on a professional

basis pretty soon. I have been encouraging them to do so an I cannot wait until

they get started.

I was really looking forward to spending some time with these two families.

There is so much love and genuine affection between them all it is really wonderful to be a part of it all.
I had the great honor of having Clifford Bluitt of Signature Weddings photograph with me that day. Cliff and I have known each other for a very long time and he is the consumate professional and an extrodinary photographer. He has a pretty tight schedule so I am always thrilled when he is available. He is the only photographer I know who could possibly love photographing weddings as much as I do. And that's saying a lot...
The toast given by the couples brothers and sisters were beautiful and extremely touching.

But Mel still looks incredible. Her make up was flawlessly done as was her hair.

The kissing contest winners were Melody's parents.

The glass on my lens was scorched !
The reception was one moment of excitement after another.

Paolo and Melody's performance was HOT !!



The original ticket from the Sade concert where they met.
I love details like this.
A slide show from this fabulous day will be coming soon...

Undine's Russian Orthodox Wedding

I was introduced to Undine by a previous Bride I photographed last year named Charlene.

When Undine tolde me that she and Terrell were going to be married in her small Russian Orthodox Church I was so excited.

I have had the honor of photographing Jewish,Hindu,Catholic,

Non Denominational,Civil,Tea Ceremonies

and more in my career as a wedding photographer.

But I had only seen a few images from what appeared to be such a beautiful ceremony.

St. Nicholas Church has such a wonderful sense of family and their wonderful choir
that sang during various parts of the ceremony.

The Priest shared the several stages of the marriage rites, which was a little different from what some of the guests may have been used to.

The rite of Marriage contains two parts:
the Betrothal, and the Crowning. At one
time, it was common practice to perform
these two rites separately, the betrothal being
the "engagement" service, and the
Crowning being the actual wedding.
Today,these two rites are celebrated together as
one whole rite of matrimony.

Look for more images from this wedding on my web site soon.

Sleepless in Seattle...

I just flew in to SF from an engagement session in Seattle and my arms aren't tired (I couldn't resist that cheesy joke) but they are FROZEN.

The next time the thermometer drops below 65 here in the Bay Area, I won't complain.

Seattle is beautiful. Of course I suffered from sensory OVERLOAD from all of the great places to take photos and I could still be there photographing Toland and Nicole because they are such a great couple. Meeting couples like these two who blend so well together is one of the best parts of my work.

This kinda goes back to my "Six Degrees" posting a while back. Toland is the brother of Conan, a Groom I photographed here in the Bay Area last year.

He and his beautiful Bride Margaret are in the "featured weddings" area of my web site.

When Toland asked me would I travel to Seattle for his wedding I was honored and excited. We had a ball and I was so happy that there wasn't any rain to interrupt our 2 days of shooting.

They took me to Pikes Place Market and I fell in love with all of the great food and wonderful handcrafted items. Think of a cross between Fishermans Wharf,The Ashby Flea Market in Berkeley and your local Farmer's Market. I plan to visit Pike's Place again when I go back for the wedding in July.

I was also able to take a look at the wedding site and I already have my shots planned.
I can't wait until July !

Random Good News !!!

I'll be the first to admit that there are some things from my childhood that I refuse to let go.
The fabulous Mother's Animal Cookies are one of them. I couldn't believe it when I found out that this company that was established in 1914 had closed it's doors.
Whoa !
This caused an immediate cleaning out of all of the grocery store shelves and people even started to sell them on e-bay ! I found a few bags and decided put them in the freezer for a "special ocassion"
There are countless blogs and posts from other adults who were feeling the pain of the loss
of this iconic cookie.
Kellogs to the rescue ! I just found out that Kellogs has purchaced the company and these old favorites should be back on the shelves mid year.
Victory Screech !!!!!!

Ted and Amy Part #2

WOW ! I just received this FABULOUS card from a Bride (Amy) using some of the images we shot on the day of their engagement session. I include a high resolution disc of engagement images for my couples to use in my wedding packages. I love to see the creative use of my work.

What made this card extra special were the words she wrote inside.

I love what I do ...

Engagement Sessions

I really love the e-sessions that I do with my couples.

I am really fortunate that all of the couples I work with are so much fun and we really have a great time while taking the photos.

The time we spend allows me to find out what's really important to the Bride and Groom and
how they relate to each other. That may be why people say my images look so intimate and real.

Posed photos are important but the emotions and the memories are what I love to capture.

From the altar to the dance floor, I look for images that will move you.

I recently spent a few hours with Sean and Liz in the East Bay

We had a lot of fun as we hit various locations,but at one point I thought I was going to be attacked by a squirrel who seemed to be running toward us.

I managed to avoid the "confrontation" with him.

Maybe the fisheye lens I was using looked like an walnut to the squirrel.

He missed my leg by inches. The three of us got a big laugh about it.

Is it just me or have the squirrels become more "agressive" lately ?

I photographed a wedding in Golden Gate Park a few years ago and I noticed the signs in the park that discourage feeding them.

When I saw one jump on a guys leg while we were sitting on a bench, I understood the need for the signs.

The squirrel had a "gimme a snack or else" look on his face...

Wedding Photography can be dangerous :)

Even with the "stress" of a possible squirrel attack, Liz and Sean look great together,as you can see from the images I have posted here.

Ted and Amy's Excellent Adventure

I remember the day I met Amy in my office. We clicked instantly and I was so excited when she selected me to photographer her December 2008 wedding.

We had a fun filled day in Old Sacramento during their e-session and a local winery

But the wedding day was more than I had anticpated. Amy did such a spectacular job with all of the details on her special day. She was an absolutely beautiful Bride. She and Ted make a striking couple and my camera loved them. Don't take my word for it see a slide show here -

Ted and Amy