Meanwhile Mark was photographing Daniel preparing for the day…

…And then he went to Kohl Mansion in Burlingame to capture the preparations. The elegant brick mansion is a Catholic college preparatory school as well as a beautiful wedding venue with a magnificent Great Hall – the perfect backdrop for the gorgeous flowers.

When Tania arrived at the mansion she was whisked up the back stairs to a room overlooking the ceremony area where she could peep out and see the guests arriving.

Now it was time to use the grand staircase, escorted by her dad!

I couldn’t stop smiling when the precessional music started – no Wagner’s Bridal Chorus for Tania – but probably my all time favorite Smiths’ song, There is a Light That Never Goes Out, performed orchestrally by the Vitamin String Quartet! DJ Henry Kim did a “live mix” of the song so that the high point of the song started just as Tania reached the top the aisle!

The ceremony was beautiful; Tania and Daniel looked so happy and kept bursting into giggles.

We managed to capture a few pictures of Tania and Daniel before we took the group photographs against the bougainvillea.

Best men, Mike and Jason enjoying a little Dutch courage before the speeches:-)

At the start of the reception the wedding party was introduced. This picture made me laugh; Tania and Daniel started strolling to the doorway and then burst into a sprint and then straight into a traditional Armenian dance!

Tania and Daniel met at Tania’s brother Sami’s, and Daniel’s sister Raluca’s, engagement party!

The first dance.

The truly sumptuous Great Hall.

Right at the end of the evening we got a few minutes to capture some romantic shots under the fairy lights. Then it was back to dancing for Tania and Daniel and home for Mark and I.

What an amazing day – the most adorable couple and lovely family, friends and venue…perfect!

Venue – Kohl Mansion
Floral design – Pacifico Soriano Designs
Wedding cake – Have Your Cake
Catering – Schumann’s Four Seasons Catering
Hairstylist and makeup artist – Nora Arechiga
DJ – Henry Kim @ Big Fun Disc Jockeys
Videography – Mirar Productions
Photo-booth – Denon and Doyle
Limousine – Lone Star Transportation
Pastor – Rev Balabanian
Wedding coordinator – Barbara Cleary

We met at our favorite beach on Lake Tahoe, Sand Harbor. Blimey it was busy and hot, but Kendall was very cool and unfazed by all the attention she was attracting.

A couple of weeks later Kendall and her mum travelled to San Jose for some more urban-style shots. Downtown on a Sunday morning is lovely and quiet and we found lots of interesting spots to photograph in.

I really like these murals on First Street…

Our last stop was at Santana Row using their rustic Mediterranean style walls as a great backdrop. Don’t you just love that red wall of lanterns?

A few miles down the coast in La Honda is the wedding venue, Chateau La Joye, sweet, rustic and perfect. The charming chalk board welcomed us in.

It was impossible to hold back the tears when Lauren’s dad saw her for the first time in her wedding dress. Lauren looked gorgeous; her Mum’s veil complementing her beautiful gown perfectly.

The wedding was conducted by Lauren’s Uncle and Jessica sang “When I Say I Do” beautifully throughout the wine ceremony.

During the cocktail hour we took a rather informal approach to the “formal” photography – encouraging laughter and relaxed poses; our goal – to keep things as fast and fun as possible.

This was such a laid back and relaxed wedding, our couple focused on being with family and friends and simply enjoying the day with a plentiful flow of wine and good food. The wedding was beautiful throughout. Here are some more of our favourites from the day…

Lauren’s Grandpa’s 1932 Ford Roadster whisked them away at the end of the evening.

Lauren and John, their family and friends, are the loveliest people, so a huge thank you to them all for making Mark and I feel so at home.

Why am I a wedding photographer…? Being in the presence of so much love – I just adore it!

Wedding venue and coordinator
Live Band
Wedding cake

We had a wonderful time bombing around San Francisco, taking in the amazing versatility the city has to offer on one of those rare summer days where the sun was out in all its glory. It was a pleasure to capture this couple’s love for one another, so apparent in their interaction with each other on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.

We met in Mission Dolores park, along with a thousand other people; Tania and Daniel each carrying a big red balloon! Not wanting to seek attention (ha ha) they joked and shared some intimate moments on a bench with probably one of the best views in the city.

Next stop was a tranquil corner of the Golden Gate Park – not a soul to be seen, just a crazy couple with their balloons!

By the time we reached The Palace of Fine Arts, we were a balloon down, (it escaped to balloon heaven) so we ended the session with romantic shoots amongst a backdrop of grandiose columns and domes and those magnificant green doors.

This lovely couple will be getting married in September at Kohl Mansion, so be sure to check back for a posting on what is going to be an amazing wedding.

We travelled to Lake Tahoe, meeting our couple at beautiful Sand Harbor where we spent a couple of hours clambering over huge granite rocks, paddling in gently lapping water, and generally having fun.
Trashed dress? No – it’s safe and clean back in its protective layers… But it did get worn again!

Here are a few of our favorite images from the day…

The boudoir photography session we are donating, to be sold in the silent auction, includes hair and make-up, 2 hours of photography with 3 – 4 changes, a private online proofing gallery with 50 fully retouched images and a bespoke sexy little book with about 30 of your favourite pictures.

Throughout the session we’ll gently guide you and put you at ease so it’s a fun, relaxed time, and you’re unaware the camera is clicking away.  The session can take place in your own home, or if you’d prefer, a hotel room, even outdoors…wherever tickles your fancy! The value of the session is approximately $850.

So please check out the Breathe studio on Saturday where a Shinto tree will be standing tall in their foyer where members and studio guests can leave prayers of hope for Japan. Take part in the raffle and silent auction which will be going on throughout the day. Enjoy the evening festivities with complimentary wine from Cin Cin Wine Bar, appetizers, Michi’s sushi, and a Japanese Tea Ceremony at 6:00pm.

We’re really looking forward to being part of this great fund raising event!

We’re delighted to see Today’s Bride magazine are now featuring their gorgeous day on the About Weddings website in the Real Weddings section

It’s a little disappointing the photographs are cropped into a square format – especially the panorama shots – as you lose the drama, but please check out our blog post from last year to see them in their full glory!

I also noticed their florist was featured in April’s edition of Sunset magazine!

Gry has just released the e-book equivalent. I’ve just received
my copy and since I was again truly impressed, wanted to let other photographers know about this great resource!
At £29 ($48 approx.) this is phenomenal value. The techniques described are high end, but you don’t have to be a fashion or beauty photographer to reap rewards from this book. There are so many workflow tips and basic methods described to maintain image quality, that it would be great value just to understand the basics of digital image quality!
I have digested the previous CS4 version (not that the latest version is only for CS5…) and highly recommend this material to all photographers – especially those who have basic retouching skills and are frustrated with learning options out there.

Where does this leave the DVD? I think this complements it well – there’s lots of clever use of the latest pdf technology to present rollover images and other interactive methods to better demonstrate the techniques.

Simply excellent, and highly recommended!

With a combination of classic, sexy, and a pinch of sassy images, your bespoke boudoir book makes a gorgeous gift for the love of your life or just for you!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from a recent shoot where make-up artist Wendy Tran really enhanced our client’s gorgeous eyes.

We like to use natural window light, but because the daylight was quickly fading Mark set out to fake it. For those interested in the technical details, we set up two Kino Flo 400 light banks with diffusers and warming gels as our key light. This was complimented whilst shooting with hand-held Video lights and reflectors. We then moved to conventional studio lighting with our favorite wind machines!

Throughout the session, we gently guided our client to create those oh so flattering “S” curves and feminine poses and highlight those fabulous eyes.

A boudoir shoot is an experience every woman should have, so what are you waiting for?… book a session today!