If you know me, I always preach about being able to take a great photograph any place, any time. Location doesn’t matter as much. Being in Hawaii again makes me eat my words. I never appreciated Hawaii when I lived in Honolulu, HI between 1991 and 1994. Then again, I was not a photographer then.

I appreciate it more each time I return. The sunset in Kona, North Shore, Waikiki, etc. makes the sky glow hues of red, purple, blue and yellow in just about every evening.

Brian is an executive in Symantec and a art collector who loves the work of Peter Lik. He already owns four Peter Lik’s landscape art pieces in his home thus far and is looking for collections to match, in his wedding photographs.

Beyond his deep appreciation in Landscape art, the Hawaiian within him yearns for an escape to serenity and love. The latter, he acquired in abundance from Dee, his wife-to-be, in about a month or so, October 8th.

Capturing landscape and people well require a multitude of skills such as lighting, meteorology and people skills. Brian also wanted his dad’s home in Aiea, Oahu, Hawaii where he grew up to be photographed as well. That required the photojournalism part of me to emerge, to understand his story, his life in this beautiful home. A home to a large mango tree the he used to climb, growing up, a basement of dirt that he played in and a view from the entry to his home.

We were at Waikiki, Honolulu for a few night scenes and the next day, traveled north to Turtle Bay Resort, Oahu for some of the photos as well as an abandoned building that doesn’t even show up in Google map!! Then, to end the day, an unknown beach in the North Shore. It’s a beach that is filled with sea turtles, climbing up shore for a breather. We saw at least 10-20 sea turtles during our scouting trip there.

An amazing day with fantastic friends. Nothing beat the dinner after at Ige’s and the 19th Puka. Thank you, Brian & Dee for such an amazing time. Tiffany Chiang’s makeup and hair styling was beautifully done, as usual. Her help in directions and ideas made the day wonderfully pleasant.

What an amazing way to end the Engagement Session in the North Beach, Oahu, Hawaii with Brian & Dee. As I was going to pack up after the session, Brian and Dee are already cleaning up and Tiffany was about to collapse the light stand, two surfers walked right in front of us. My ninja skills snapped into action for this last but sweet photograph in our 10 day Hawaii extravaganza.

Photos from the Engagement session with Brian & Dee will be up shortly! Need to rest as we just returned from Honolulu, Hawaii mere hours ago.

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!!!

Mark practices his first dance with his groomsmen in the Four Seasons Hotel of Palo Alto / Silicon Valley while Janet practices her walk up the stairs in the prestigious Stanford Memorial Church in Palo Alto. Their beautiful first dance in the Palo Alto Golf Club is a small part to what makes this wedding so elegant.

The wedding photos in the Four Seasons, Stanford Memorial Church and Palo Alto Golf Club are a real match to Mark & Janet’s style.

We chose a cinematic musical piece with Scottish intonation and blend to showcase Mark and his cool British accent (when they are entering the church). Check out their cinema!

What I found endearing is how Mark holds Janet’s Victoria Secret’s bag proudly as he exits the ceremony with her into their Rolls Royce.

Jenny Chang & Josh Curtis, aka (JC)² got hitched at Hotel Valencia in Santana Row this past weekend!! It’s about time too. These two love birds are the sweetest couple. They are hardworking, intelligent and outright impeccable.

Jenny is none other than the wonderful architect who drew our studio remodel plans a few months back. Her wedding this past weekend drew a tear in my eye. I get more and more sentimental as I photograph more weddings. I thought it would be the other way round but it didn’t turn out that way.

Their post-ceremony photos in Santana Row are fun and took less than an hour to create. Tiffany, our makeup artist & hair stylist did her makeup and hair. She was thrilled with the results, which prompted her review in Yelp about us and her. Check out the photos!

R.I.C AKA Russell • Ian • Clarissa got married in the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, CA this past weekend. Russell loves beer. Clarissa from Singapore speaks similar essence as I do. She is a total fan of the aromatic and fruity Moscato. Ian, their incredibly adorable 18 month old son, loves his iPad 2. After photographing their wedding in the Ritz, R.I.C to me stands not as their initials but as Romantic, Intimate and Charming. Their families and friends from Vancouver and Hawaii couldn’t agree more.

Imageries from the ocean view wedding amidst high cliffs, misty fog, cool breezes and elegant setting next to the golf courses at the Half Moon Bay’s Ritz Carlton sets the mood of the wedding. It allows one to truly understand that the venue can indeed enhance the enchanted feeling in a wedding.

I had Paul with me as my 2nd photographer and Davey as the assistant. Clarissa struggled with the cold air after the ceremony. We had to cut short the post-ceremony photoshoot. Despite that, we got a lot of amazing photographs, mostly shot within such a limited timeframe (in minutes), much thanks to the help from the staffs of the Ritz Carlton, such as Lesli Mack and our amazing Golf Cart driver, Joe. He was tying his invisible shoe laces while we photographed the scene above.

Connie and Steven has a grand wedding reception in The Westin St Francis, San Francisco at Union Square a day after Christmas. They want an intimate wedding in the San Francisco City Hall on Christmas Eve. The huge Christmas tree before their ceremony on the Rotunda, right above the grand staircase, creates the most romantic and sensational background for their beautiful wedding I’ve seen in a while.

Because our package includes 4 hours of photography, this leaves ample time for us to drive down to the Legion of Honor for some romantic night photographs.

No wedding day is perfect. However, the beauty is that the imperfections make the wedding memorable and unique. See the Nestldown wedding photos in PR Web

“Rain on your wedding day is not the ideal for most couples; however, Michael managed to take the gloomy weather and turn it into some of the most amazing photos,” said Jennifer Hiatt, the bride.
Read more in San Francisco Chronicle

“True artists can create beauty from adversity. Capture the Love found the silver lining on our rainy day,” said Jasper Hiatt, the groom. “When you look at Michael’s photos, you feel the couple’s personality and energy. That’s what capturing the moment is all about.” Read more in Yahoo News

The original post with full photos from the October 30th’s outdoor wedding photos in Nestldown, Los Gatos can be found in our Rain on my wedding day blog posting.

Photographer Mike Goedde (pronounced as “geddy”) of Episode Photography interviewed numerous high end photographers for his wedding for months. His candidates include Wedding Photographer of the Year, Gene Higa, award winning, Salles Photography among others. Mike booked us immediately after meeting us at our studio. We were truly honored. It is flattering and quite a grand privilege when a phenomenal photographer wants us to photograph his/her very own wedding!!!

The expectations coming from a fellow photographer are usually huge. On the bright side, they will usually go above and beyond to collaborate for great imagery!

Here, the intellectual groomsmen study and plan in the library of Pine Inn, Carmel by the Sea to find the best spots for photography.

Pine Inn is mere minutes away from the wedding ceremony venue, Carmel Mission, aka San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo Mission. The mission is an absolute photography heaven. We could easily spend the whole day there, taking one breath-taking shot after another for the couple. Here are just a few of the photographs we shot in the short amount of time we we were there.

Alexa was resting in the vintage Chevy after the ceremony at Carmel Mission. I immediately noticed a transparent sticker on its window that says “Just Married” and the shadow falls upon her arm. How appropriate!

Alexa and Mike love to travel. Hence, the theme of the wedding revolves around cities across the world. A old world map was also printed as a mural-like setup on the reception in the St Andrew’s Banquet Hall in The Inn at the Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach.

Here are the rest of the images, one with them silhouetted against the fiery sunset, a real treat since the week leading to the wedding was sprinkled with rain. On the wedding day, the weather was perfect. The sunset surrounding the Inn at the Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, spectacular. An impeccable way to start a new life together. Congratulations, Alexa and Mike!

What could be more disappointing than a wedding, one year in the making, to have it be rained upon? Brides tends to think that their wedding photos will look gloomy on a rainy day. On the contrary…

The weather forecast did state a 40% chance of precipitation on October 30th. In the history of this lushly landscaped private retreat, Nestldown of Los Gatos, it has not rained on October 30th in the past 20 years. So, we’re safe…or are we?

Well, it rained…and rained…and rained on October 30th. The outdoor ceremony had to be moved to the indoor barn. It was beautiful and we captured the wedding in ways that the bride was not expecting. The rain did stop for a few minutes for us to capture moments amidst the redwoods in Nestldown. Here are a few shots shot between the downpour,

And here are the rest of them!

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