The historically grand Hayes Mansion used to be a private estate. It now is a grand hotel with lush landscape and dramatic views. Yuanyuan & Mike’s wedding started in that estate and mansion and the ceremony was set at The Ranch Golf Club in San Jose with a sunset that casted a golden glow on the couple, literary.

As usual, Tiffany Chiang crafted a beautiful bride into a princess in both her hair styling and makeup artistry. Although we have never photographed in The Ranch Golf Club of San Jose…in fact, we have never been there but with 5 minutes of prep time and blessings of a beautiful sunset, everything beautiful was showcased in light.

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.

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 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.

View Kirsten & Marcos’ Wedding Album

Your flowers have died. The cake has been consumed. All the alcohol bottles, emptied. You are left with hundreds, if not, thousands of dollars worth of fabric and lace.

What to do with your used wedding dress?

That has been the ultimate question for brides for decades! Some decide to donate it to a charity. Some go the eBay route. Others pack it away in hopes that their daughter will one day wear it, although you know your daughter will politely decline as she secretly cringes. Why not take that dress out before it begins its asphyxiation process in its bag. And then, have some fun with it?

So, there you have it, the fine art of trashing the wedding dress. I have shot high fashion, glamour and have taught a large variety of photography and photoshop workshops but this one, is by far the funnest photoshoot.

All the images can be found in the Trash the Dress Gallery.

- MS

Being a bride isn’t easy. You have a thousand things that you are coordinating and another thousand that you have to do yourself. As the saying goes, “If you want to get things done right, you’ll have to do it yourself.”

On top of all that work, you’ll need to select a photographer without knowing their true abilities. That’s one of the biggest reason referrals work great and higher-end bridal shows are filled to the brim. So, what are the Top Criteria to look for in your Wedding Photographer? Hopefully, this list will help you funnel down the list of photographers to a top 2-3 that you will be absolutely thrilled with.

1. Style : Your eyes tells it all. What styles are you attracted to? Is it photojournalistic (documentative by nature with well composed artistry fused within)? Traditional (posed beautifully against a backdrop of scenery of sorts)?

   Although there are some photographers who are more flexible than others, you can pin point down your style easily by just going through photographers’ website. The photographer’s portfolio will look really easy on the eyes if you really like his style. Comparison shop by viewing the images will provide a big payoff here.

2. Website : Any legitimate photographer should have a professional website that showcases his/her portfolio of imagery he/she is capable of. The website should be clean and easy to navigate. The portfolio and design of the website can clue you in on what he/she likes and his/her composition skills in photography.
3. Blog : What is more important than the website is the blog!!

   See what the photographer has been shooting every other week!! Every photographer places their absolute best work out of years of shooting in their website. But it’s the consistency in their artistry that you will only find in their weekly blog.

4. Clientele Variety : The portfolio of the photographer website should contain a variety of clients. If it contains a lot of images from the same people, you might want to research further as those may be weddings of relatives of that photographer.

   Weddings place a lot more stress on a photographer. Every moment counts. The fast paced environment do not allow the photographer to think twice about how to expose their images correctly in the technical sense.

5. Reference/Testimonials : Ask the photographer for testimonials or reference from his past clients. That will give you an excellent idea on how well he works with his clients. If people you personally know has worked with him/her before, it’s even better.
6. Engagement Sessions : Photographer who does engagement sessions will provide an excellent test-bed for you and your fiance(e) to work directly with your photographer in a casual environment before your momentous day. This will strengthen your relationship with your photographer as well as produce a larger variety of imagery in your albums.
7. Backup Equipment : Ask your photographer how many cameras will be there at the wedding. If he/she replies “one”, run away as fast as you can.

   With the digital imaging revolution, just about everyone has a $1000 digital camera and claims to be a photographer. Do not get trapped into allowing your big day to be shot by a photographer who does not have multiple cameras, multiple lenses, multiple memory cards, etc.

   I have seen weddings half ruined by photographers who dropped his camera into mud and not being able to continue shooting for the rest of the day. Do not let that happen to you.

8. Photographer #2 : Beyond backup equipment, if you are paying good bucks for the wedding, expect an option from the photographer to allow a 2nd photographer to be present.

   Providing multiple angle coverage is more important than one might think. Just by the couple turning away from the photographer to kiss, the main photographer may, within that second, lose his ability to capture the most important moment of your life.

   In addition to that, a 2nd photographer may come in handy to direct group photos to be shot smoothly, arrive to a wedding separately ensuring that if the main photographer is stuck in traffic or whatever other inevitable that may happen. Essentially, the 2nd photographer is your one time insurance coverage that pays for itself.

9. Speed is of the Essence : Find out from the photographer when will your images be available online (average timeline is a week), when will your album be designed (average timeline is a month) and when the final album can be delivered after the approval (average timeline is another 1-2 months).
10. Contract : Never do business with any wedding vendor without a clearly written contract or agreement that specify what exactly you will receive.

This will hopefully get you started on how to narrow down on your search for the photographer of your dreams. Do meet up with your photographer if you have questions. A good professional photographer will answer your questions to the best of his/her abilities in the most honest way possible.

- Michael Soo

This completely customized wedding album was actually completed on Tuesday 4/17/2007, a mere 3 days after the 4/14/2007 wedding!!! Not to brag but this is somewhat unheard of. Most photography studios require at least one full month to complete a wedding album design of a lesser quality.

I only get to post this today since I don’t want others to see the album before the bride and groom do. It’s a courtesy thing. They check it out last night and loved it with a minor change to the last page. So, it’s signed off and ready for printing.

Rie & Bryan’s Wedding Album

- Michael Soo

Rie (pronounced Ree-ia) and Bryan are the absolutely sweetest couple I’ve met. Bryan has got to be one of the most considerate guy out there. They would consult every details of the wedding with each other. On top of that, their spontaneity adds to the fun.

We had to switch our shoot plans from one dress to another due to location conflicts. They also had to switch their engagement shoot date. Their engagement shoot was in a cold windy location. I could see goosebumps on Rie’s arms and she didn’t even flinch. What a trooper!

This wedding is at the Cypress Hotel, just a mere 5 mins walk from my studio. Lea Mcintosh (a truly gifted and charming lady with a business mind), the Cypress’ Catering Director referred me to Rie and Bryan.

Cypress is a fantastic hotel to shoot in due to how much thought they placed in designing their interiors. Every corner can be a great background to shoot in. So, I suggested to use it as the location to shoot for Rie & Bryan’s Engagement shoot, days before the wedding itself.

I cannot stress how important engagement photographs are. It meld and transforms a wedding album elegantly. It creates diversity of colors, collage of emotions, texture and charm to an otherwise, plainer album.

Rie’s dress and train are absolutely gorgeous. The design of the dress contours around her hourglass figure fashionably. It’s an awe to watch her stroll the aisle in that dress. Bryan is one lucky man.

Paul (my 2nd shooter) and I shot over 1500 images in that short 6-7 hours. My return rate for my images are higher than most, so I tend to get 30-40% keepers. What that means is that the album is going to be super amazing. I’ll update the blog with a link to the album when it is completed (possibly in a week or two). Meanwhile, you can view the images in Rie & Bryan’s Wedding Gallery with options to purchase prints.

- Michael Soo