Ilona and Carl’s wedding was literally star-studded.  Both the bride and groom are actors from San Francisco.  Carl’s children also played a role in their wedding.  His son was one of the groomsmen and his daughter was a bridesmaid.  The story of this sweet newly formed family actually began when the groom decided to change careers and leave New York.

Carl used to be an officer in the NYPD but had traveled across the country seeking  jobs as an actor in California, one of which was a role as Karl Sly on the TV show Trauma, a San Francisco based drama series.  Ilona, is of Hungarian descent, but pretty much grew up in San Francisco.  Also an actor herself, she easily caught Carl’s eye on a movie set and the two started dating soon after.   Ever since meeting her, he couldn’t stop talking about Ilona, making frequent phone calls to his brother in New York to tell him about the best thing that’s ever happened to him!

So how did I get chosen to be the photographer of this wedding?  I too, met Carl on a set, but I’m sure I didn’t catch his eye the same way that Ilona did.  He was a model for a commercial shoot I was working on for a ring company.  We had a great time doing the shoot together, and well, needless to say, I caught his eye enough to be chosen as his wedding photographer.  Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be a part of your wedding!

Just the name, Shakespeare Garden, conjures up thoughts of great love stories, and one immediately thinks of “Romeo and Juliet”. But in this particular wedding, we celebrate Bee and Eric’s love story. It’s cool that Romeo and Juliet met at the Capulet family party and all, but it’s really impressive how Bee and Eric met thousands of miles away from home, in another country! They both live in the Bay Area but happened to have made a trip around the same time, across the globe all the way to Thailand, and found each other.

Since Bee and Eric both enjoy nature, they chose to have their wedding ceremony at Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park, while opting for a traditional Asian banquet reception at the Grand Palace Restaurant in South San Francisco. The two locations vary greatly in terms of the background scenery. Our job, as photographers, is to think ahead about how to work with the different locations to capture the perfect wedding pictures, no matter what the backgrounds look like.

With its natural green scenery, and tucked away in a quiet area of Golden Gate park, Shakespeare Garden offered a great backdrop for photos. It features plants and flowers mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare and is designed with many elements of an English garden including arched brick walkways, flowering trees, and old-style benches, all of which are simply beautiful for picture-taking.

Grand Palace Restaurant, shown above, like many Chinese restaurants, presented us with some challenges. The restaurant had yellow walls and harsh yellow lighting which aren’t the most attractive for pictures. However, with our experience, we were still able to capture beautiful photos by working certain angles and using our own camera lighting. That’s what great photography is about – being able to work with whatever background you have and yet creating that special moment in pictures.

Between the two locations, we captured another special photo as well against a backdrop of the city. On the way from the garden ceremony to the reception, the bride needed a restroom and so we followed her as she wandered about in her heels and wedding dress. It’s a rare sight to see a bride on a city street and so we couldn’t resist snapping shots of her and her stylish BCBG shoes. “Who knew that walking to find a restroom could look so good!” exclaimed one of the bridesmaids. The city streets can provide an interesting background but often, it can look cluttered as well. It’s all about how you take the picture, but we have to agree, the bride looked awesome rocking her dress in her BCBG’s.

Dress by David’s Bridal
Bride’s shoes by BCBG
Bridesmaid dresses by BCBG
Bouquets and flower arrangements by Nicole Ha

I’ve known Ben and Christine for a year now.  What started out as a client/photographer relationship has bloomed into a wonderful friendship.  They are a great couple and as I got to know them better, I saw the beauty in their personalities and everything around them. Their wedding was a clear reflection of that natural beauty.

Both Christine and Ben enjoy hiking, cycling, rockclimbing, and any activities related to nature, it seemed.  It explains their love for Yosemite National Park, a place that also happens to be home to many beautiful dogwood trees – Christine’s favorite flowers.  This is where they chose to celebrate one of the most important days of their lives together – their wedding day.

The Ahwahnee Hotel was their selected wedding venue and so my assistants and I were given wonderful accommodations there as well.  This is the best resort in Yosemite, where anybody who is anybody, basically all the celebrities, get to stay.  Whoohoo for us!  I may not be a celebrity but it sure was a pleasure to stay here and feel like one, and get to spend time with the bride and groom too.   It was the perfect rustic setting for a Yosemite wedding and the location, with so many interesting picturesque backdrops, was a photographer’s dream come true.

[Show as slideshow]

On the morning of, we sat down for a quick breakfast where I managed to capture a reflection of Christine’s favorite dogwood flowers in her cup of coffee.  The couple loved the picture and this image quickly became one of their favorite pictures as well as mine.  I followed along as Christine and Ben went on their scenic morning stroll.  The misty fog provided a nostalgic, romantic portrait on the bridge by Yosemite Falls.  In another photo, we captured the waterfalls gushing behind as well.

As the bride prepped for the wedding, I ran around busy, snapping shots of her wedding details.  Her M by Marinelli shoes, which she bought from FootCandy in Santana Row, had sparkly silver straps and encrusted jewel ornaments.  It was definitely pretty eye candy for the feet.  We did a photoshoot of them against a soft yellow silk cloth, where the handmade paper leaves (their wedding favor tags) were strewn about as if they had gracefully drifted off the trees. The round jewels on her shoes reminded me of her brilliant 6-carat engagement ring.  The ring itself was impressive and looked even more so when stacked on top of the other rings that they were using for their wedding ceremony.  The stack included two other especially meaningful rings – one for their daughter, Olivia, and one for their son, Nicholas.

Ben and Christine’s wedding was decorated with white flowers and some pops of yellow.  They included round-petaled white orchids, large white lilies with yellow centers, some smaller butterfly-like varieties of yellow orchids, and more.  The bride’s bouquet was also white with tinges of yellow centers and included a few feathers for flair.  These flowers and the white and yellow color combinations created an effect reminiscent of dogwoods.  They were the lovely designs of Karen Baba of www.plandecor.com. 

What defines the bride the most is probably her wedding dress.  Christine wore the much coveted Melissa Sweet Saffron dress and the matching veil, a look that has caught the eyes of many ladies browsing the Priscilla of Boston website or Gabrielle’s Bridal Atelier in Campbell.  The Saffron dress is pretty to many because of its beautiful, soft silk organza fabric and its detailed embroidered flower appliques that are touched with Swarovski crystals, but the dress appealed to Christine in even more ways.  The sweet, little embroidered flowers reminded her of dogwoods and the whole dress itself had the rustic feel of Yosemite.  Even the veil was decorated with a border of dogwood-like flowers.  It’s a girl’s dream to be enveloped and surrounded by her favorite flowers on her most special day.  Christine had that, but even better, both she and Ben were surrounded by nature, all that they loved and all those who loved them, in the middle of one of the most beautiful national parks, Yosemite.

Every year, the San Francisco Chronicle allows readers to nominate their favorite local businesses for its BayList on sfgate.com.  This is the first year that we’ve been a part of this contest. Thanks to our brides, clients and other readers who voted, we won 2nd place for best wedding photographer on the Best of the BayList! It’s quite an honor considering that there were 200-300 photographers from across the bay that participated!

We’re definitely stoked!

As a photographer, I often get to work with a lot of pretty models, but I’m used to it, and as a professional, I would never ever drool over them. However, with this particular photo shoot, I really found it difficult.

My latest models have been making me drool like crazy. The curves on those thighs and legs, their beautiful golden tone and the color on that tender rack of juiciness are all irresistable. All this is set against the rich, warm colors of the backdrop, a beautiful table hand-made from two logs. They’re exactly what I like capturing in my pictures. I’m talking about the barbeque chicken and ribs from Sam’s BBQ restaurant here. It’s a good thing that Sam actually fed us before the shoot, making it the tastiest shoot that I’ve worked on, literally.

Sam’s father opened the restaurant some years ago, and today, it is packed with fun and good food, even on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. That’s because Sam is a brilliant marketeer. He hires in a band on slow nights and is now having professional pictures taken of his food. This was great timing as one of the catalogs is now asking to include his restaurant in their book because others have provided terrible quality pictures. This is such a great opportunity to show off his food and have people drooling for more.

At the end of the shoot, Sam offered me a gift – the beautiful wood table he made for the backdrop. He had heard how much I loved it. What a beautiful piece of art any photographer would appreciate! Thanks Sam!