Most of us could recall something specific in youth that fueled our passions and inspired what we love today. Maybe it was a future mechanic picking up a toy tool set, a programmer absentmindedly tapping at the keyboard like a piano, or an artist doodling with crayons on paper.

For Julie Dorst, it all started with a lambswool jacket, the comforting look and feel of which gave her joy and comfort when she wore it. Since she was young, Julie knew she had a knack for fashion. Like any artist, things that people don’t normally give a second glance at would call out to her. She loved the feel of soft textures. Bold prints inspired her to piece together different colors and see how they complemented each other. Before long, she developed an affinity to the chic and stylish. Fueled with a desire to share her sense of fashion with modern women, Julie became a designer and launched her clothing line on the internet, recently introducing her Fall 2013 collection.

Julie’s brand is captured in classic silhouettes, timeless colors, and modern prints. Best of all, it’s made in the USA. Whether women are at work or around town, Julie wants to inspire comfort and confidence with her clothing line.

We love the opportunity to shoot all the photographs for her website, www.juliedorst.com. Julie’s Fall line boasts the rich, earthy, and bold colors of an autumn harvest, and we had fun contrasting this against a canvas of nature’s own colors. Here’s what Julie has to say about her passion and how it all started:

“The Julie Dorst brand is a culmination of my lifelong love for fashion
and the entrepreneurial bug I caught while counseling start-up companies
as a lawyer in the Silicon Valley. As a child I had an affinity for anything
soft or blue, and my adoration for texture and color along with my favorite
lambswool jacket (an updated version of which I still wear today!) became
the foundation for what has now become my brand. Based in California,
where a woman’s busy day can require her to look stylish in a variety of
circumstances, my clothing line is inspired by the idea that wherever she is,
a woman should look fabulous and feel great. If any of you women are like
me, I know I have a much better day when I’m wearing the right outfit!”

To browse Julie’s collection or for information on how to purchase any of the outfits that may catch your eye, head on over to Julie’s website!

When we decided to renovate the studio, we wanted to create a cozy, inviting space with lots of natural light and elegant furnishings. But we weren’t just thinking about the inside environment; we wanted to do something good for the outside environment, too.

That’s why on top of all the other renovations we made to our studio—literally—are 28 SunPower solar panels. They are the most efficient panels in the business, and will help us save money and cut way down on greenhouse gas emissions.

I don’t want to bore you with too many numbers, but this is pretty impressive: the panels will offset our power costs by $300 a month. Over the next twenty-five years, we’ll save a whopping $92,000.

But the environmental benefits are even more amazing. By installing those 28 solar panels, we’re saving the equivalent of driving a car 354,000 miles. We’re saving the amount of CO² produced by 3,400 trees. Imagine if a family that never recycled anything started recycling all their cans and bottles and paper. Twenty-five years later, they have saved 98,400 pounds of solid waste from ending up in landfills. That’s the equivalent of how much energy we’re saving!

With all the lights and equipment we need to use, photography shoots can suck up a lot of energy. But we believe creating a beautiful photograph shouldn’t come at the expense of the natural environment. The new solar panels help us give back to the planet while bringing our power bill down—a real win-win!

We decided to go with SunPower because they have been around for over 25 years and offer the most efficient solar panels on the planet. They’re so efficient that they even generate power on cloudy days! The panels sit low over the roof, and their sleek design makes them barely noticeable. We don’t have to put in any extra effort at all. And whenever I want to see something that will make me smile, I can just pull up the SunPower app on my iPad to see how much energy we’re saving.

Come visit our newly renovated studio to see all the improvements we’ve made, inside and out!

As we say goodbye to 2011, we also say goodbye to the headache of renovating our photography
studio. We spent 3 months dealing with the fine white dust from the drywall, the teeth-shattering jackhammering, and the noise from dawn till dusk. Renovation is super stressful, especially if, like me, you’re someone who is meticulous about the tiniest details: light, color, the shape of the tiles, design, ambiance, and on and on.

But the good news is that our studio renovation is finally complete! Champagne all around, please! Happy New Year!!!

We decided to go through the remodeling process because we wanted to be able use the studio as an elegant backdrop in photos. Renovation of this proportion usually takes 6 months, but we
completed a majority of it in just under 3 months because we are utilizing the space as a studio and can’t have such a long downtime. We had to be extremely creative in making the renovations in sections.

We did all the interior design ourselves, and we’re so please with how it turned out! The studio used to be really dark, but now light pours in from skylights and windows. Glass doors open onto the yard, creating a flow between indoor/outdoor living space.

We created more light by adding 7 new skylights, and a bunch of new windows. We also installed at least 60+ new light fixtures into the studio, most of which are LED (energy efficient and non-toxic).

The interior has a wedding theme with a glamorous, contemporary, warm and extremely sexy feel. The furniture is modern and cozy, the perfect place for couples who are getting married to get comfortable, have some wine and cheese, and chat with us about their plans.

The fireplace is elongated, see-through and set into beautifully curved tiles, bordered by wood. The other side has a large black granite surround, sitting on a sensual red wall. The see-through fireplace is fun because it’s essentially 2 fireplaces in one.

The salon also received a facelift with new light fixtures, glass French doors and new flooring.

With its beautiful lighting, flowing design, comfortable furnishings and elegant touches throughout the space, visitors tell us the new studio has the feel of a high-end lounge.

So exhilarating is the experience of getting to know two people in love. We felt very blessed photographing Jed & Becca’s engagement session in San Francisco and San Jose. The photos are possibly one of our best so far. We strive for unique photos every time and it makes us super delighted.

Oh, about the best shot, here it is. Thoughts?

And here are the others shot in San Jose’s HIstorical Park, beach, Palace of Fine Art, etc. So MUCH fun! At the end of it all, Jed, Becca and I had a blast. They also decided that they also wanted us to be their wedding videographer. It’ll be fun doing photography and videography / cinematography in the Stanford Memorial Church in Palo Alto and the San Mateo County History Museum. Can’t wait!!!

We are very blessed to be one of Yelp’s highest ranked photographer in the bay area. Yup, with approx. 50 FIVE STARS reviews, we feel loved. However, today came an email stating that we now have a negative FAT ONE STAR review in Yelp! A one-star what?!!

We’re breaking the mold ! Making history and causing chaos in the industry. People officially now hate us on Yelp!

- Michael Soo
Sad Photographer of the Year

We recently photographed some pretty cool looking products and it made me think. Ok, not too hard but…

Ever wonder why women have so many purses? I figure that it might have all started back in the caveman days. You know, women were the gatherers and we men, were the handsome, daring, not to mention, hairy hunters. Ok, back to the gatherers. Well, the women had to collect berries and what other food they could find and you know all of that doesn’t fit into their hands. So came the invention of the purse – some cloth or fabric or other material to hold the food. But then they added colors and made the purses out of different materials and so came the invention of the designer purse! It’s a theory anyways. I think this evolved into a display of color to attract us men, you know, like how some birds attract others with cool unusual colors.

These days, women switch up their purses so much, one might worry that it could be a wasteful hobby. Well, worry no more. Wo Schiffman, founder of the new company Fibre Arts Design, created a line of bags that are made from recycled materials. Recycled purses that can eventually be recycled. That sounds really awesome. Well, you probably don’t want to recycle these though. They’re the latest trend and they’ve traveled to fashion shows in L.A, San Francisco, and are now on their way to Milan! Who wouldn’t want to keep these new bags! From my perspective as a photographer, the unique colors and fabrics definitely have caught my eye.

Her new line also includes bags for us men. For years we’ve pretended that we didn’t need purses, er, bags and we try to stuff the minimal into our wallet and into our back pocket. Sometimes it does get uncomfortable especially when you’re sitting down for a long time. Nowadays, we’ve got a lot of other gear like sports water bottles, cameras, etc. Besides, hasn’t it occurred to you that it might be dangerous for men to stick their keys in their front pocket? Guys, there is serious potential for injury here! Think about it! Besides I could use something to hold my extra camera gear. Maybe I should consider a man purse after all, er I mean a bag. You think that I could attract the opposite gender by sporting a cool new bag from Fibre Arts Design? Would women find me fashionable? Should I try?

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Makeup Artistry and Hair Styling by Tiffany Chiang of designHERimage

18 year old Reilly is leaving Atherton, California for college in Texas. Everyone is excited for him, but at the same time, sad. As fine art photographers and cinematographers, our imagery and video/cinema speaks about the family we photograph. Even more so when each family members have so much love and fun with each other.

We almost felt like close relatives, being there, absorbing the love and resonating and reflecting the TLC back into our photographs and cinema. This was photographed in the backyard of their home during our family portraiture session in Atherton, CA (next to Menlo Park and Palo Alto). Enjoy Texas, Reilly!

(Notice Georgia whispering “I love you” to Reilly when she was leaning on his shoulder? )

Who do photographers go to when they need a photographer themselves?  Do you know that 50% of our clients are photographers?!  We get doubly excited when our clients are photographers since their expectations for quality is significantly higher than everybody else’s.  That gives us wonderful challenges that we can work towards!

We get our share of camaraderie with fellow photographers since we teach photography & photoshop workshops, we have a forum with over 1,500 local photographers and we are setup to be the smug leader for Smugmug Pro in the Silicon Valley fairly soon.

Aaron, a good photographer in his own rights and a member of our forum (I say “our” because I see the forum as a property of the community) and Lani have been together for 9 years! I really enjoy the fact that they are shy at times but do finish each others sentences. Lani loves Mexican and Aaron loves sushi. I did suggest them to live near a Jap-Mex combo restaurant (we did pass a Chinese-Mex restaurant on our way to the engagement shoot. So these things do exist). Engagement photos below,

…all shot within the confines of a water temple, golden gate park, japanese garden, golden gate’s baker’s beach. It was a really fun day where the sunlight was kind to me, allowing me to craft such portraits for them to enjoy for a long time to come!!

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The past two months has been nothing but a truly humbling experience for us. We have been blogged, reviewed, voted and published. Here are some of our recent delightful encounters that made us blush to no end…

• As of today, we’ve been voted to TOP THREE of the BEST Wedding Photographer in the entire San Francisco Bay Area by San Francisco Chronicle. Help us Capture The Love become #1 !!!

• Queensberry saw our work and they love what they saw!

• Profoto, a high end international professional lighting company interviewed and blogged about us

• James Robinson, a fellow photographer found us via the Profoto Blog and went ahead to interview us

• Our work was published by both Gizmodo AND Engadget at the same time!

• We got into the front cover and numerous pages of the highly successful Nesting Newbies magazine!

• We’ve taught in several highly successful workshops in Santana Row and were requested by Smugmug to be the South Bay’s Smug Leader, proceed to give talks and organize activities for hundreds of local photographers!

We feel really blessed and we’re definitely counting our blessings and appreciate all the support and love we have gotten over the years from everyone!

I wanted to help Nancy and Kevin create a dream photo shoot, but what inspires one to dream? Is it the dress? Is it the location? Or is it just that magical feeling of love?

For this engagement shoot, Nancy wore the English Garden sheer strapless dress from Ema Savahl Couture. Detailed with sparkling flower appliqués made in the warm shades of nature, it is a romantic, dreamy gown. The dress, blooming with flowers and made of airy fabrics gave Nancy an ethereal look. It was the inspiration that turned the backdrop of the Pulgas Water Temple into the home of a Roman god, the columns of the Legion of Honor into a rendezvous spot and Golden Gate Park into a fantasy world of love.

And so the dream began:

She was a beautiful maiden who lived in the woods. She never ventured outside, for she had been warned, “Once you step outside, you may never be able to return.” But that one beautiful day, she could not help but be drawn to the light beaming from the other side. Wandering to the edge of the woods, she stopped to embrace the light, ready to step out of her world and into another.

What a beautiful new world she had never seen! Through the lavender fields, she frolicked, her airy chiffon gown flowing behind her. Was the sweet scent wafting from the flowers in her bouquet or was it just the magical scent of her beauty? Her presence caught his eye.

Who was this beautiful maiden, wandering about? He had to know. He greeted her on the plains of his meadow and offered to share his world with her.
It began with a friendly stroll through the meadows…

They spent much time together, roaming about his land. They had many a secret rendezvous. Some were hidden behind the columns where she gave him pecks of love on the cheek.

With spring breezes blowing by, their love bloomed with secret kisses underneath the flowering cherry blossom trees.

This beautiful maiden completed him. He could no longer ever live without his soul mate.

However, as time passed, she missed her home. They both knew that she soon would need to return to the woods.

It was then that he realized he needed to be with her and so he gave up his world to be a part of hers. She was now his world.