Lafayette Park Hotel Wedding

I met Kyle and Katie at Daniel and Sabrina’s wedding last year. When I met with Katie for the consultation she warned me that Kyle would not be into taking a lot of posed images at the wedding. Which was fine with me; as I typically prefer to take more Photojournalistic photos and less posed images.

They were married in June at Lafayette Park Hotel. The hotel has some great places to take photographs. I especially liked the iron gates near the front of the hotel.

On the day of the wedding Kyle was pretty kick back and we ended up taking lots of different picture scenarios of him and the guys. We had a blast setting up different compositions!

After the ceremony we took a few more images in the hotel lobby which has beautiful natural light.

The reception was bustling with the majority of their guests on the dance floor. I have to hand it to Brad Kinney Productions; Brad did a great job with transitions and remembering key guest names. Not to mention the music selections kept the crowd grooving til after it was time for me to depart.

Congrats to Kyle and Katie who are expecting their first child very soon!

Thanks to Jennifer Low for 2nd shooting.

Wedding at Clift Hotel San Francisco, CA

Ryan and Rochelle were married in June at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco. I didn't know this venue existed until Rochelle had contacted me about 10 months before the wedding. What a cool hotel! Their venue will only accommodate small wedding parties of about 60-70 guests, but if you are going for a small wedding this would be a great city location.

Ryan and Rochelle took most of their family images prior to the ceremony; which I always prefer.

The hotel has a huge Alice in wonderland type chair in the lobby. It takes a ladder to climb up to be seated! Awesome for some surreal photos!

During the ceremony both the groom and bride were caught shedding some tears. After the ceremony they had a brief cocktail hour while the hotel staff transformed the ceremony location for dinner.

The side sun room where the cocktails were served has perfect light for portraits. The ceiling and side wall are all covered in white material and the open side of the building is all glass windows.

I cant wait to shoot another wedding at the Clift! See their slideshow on www.cfoto.com under the Slideshow link.

Thanks to Karl Ko for second shooting!







DJ: Matteo

Family Portrait Session in Atherton, CA

Tina was in a wedding that I photographed last year. She called me in June for some family pictures with emphasis being on their 2 year old boy Sebastian. Tina had taken him to a kids photo studio (to remain unnamed) but didn't have much luck getting good images. So my challenge was before me.

We met at Holbrook Palmer Park in Atherton hoping Sebastian would feel more at ease in this setting. It took a while but I finally got him to warm up to me. Yippy!

These are a few of my favorites from the session.

Maternity Session in Mountain View

Masako and John were referred to me by Greg and Val. Greg and Val are a wonderful source of referrals for me! I had shot Greg and Val’s wedding last year and they have sent me several referrals since then.

When Masako was about 6 months pregnant she scheduled a maternity session. A little early (about 7 months is best) but it turned out perfect because she also wanted some images of just her and John without the belly in the picture.

They are both sweet people and were easy to work with.
Congrats to John and Masako who are expecting their first child in August!

Felton Wedding - Jason and Liz

This is a long past due blog entry. Jason and Liz were married in May in his parent's beautifully gardened backyard. After the ceremony the couple and their bridal party hopped into a fire truck and we went to Henry Cowell Park to take some images.

Liz had really developed her modeling skills since the engagement session. At the wedding she was much more aware of her facial expressions and body flow. They were so much fun to work with!

After some images at the park we went to the Felton Firehouse for the reception. Liz's parents are both volunteer fire fighters and Jason is a fire fighter in Monterey. How cool is that to have your reception in a big firehouse!

After dinner, toasts and dancing we took Jason and Liz out for some night shoots and then into one of the firehouse garages to take a few last images. We had too many good images to post. To see their slideshow go to www.cfoto.com and click on slideshows.

Thanks to Jen Low for 2nd shooting and assisting!

New York - Baby Cakes and Old Friends

On our last Sunday in the New York area Bryon and I drove to Stanton Island and took the Ferry to Manhattan. There we met up with my old friend Natalie.

First we went for brunch at a little place that was super busy (cant remember the name) but they offered free drinks with their brunch items. Nice! We then walked around little Italy and over somewhere else to a new museum. We hung out with Natalie for most the day dragging her here and there. It was great to catch up!

We also visited a wheat free bakery called Babycakes. I bought a bunch of stuff to bring back to one of my wheat free buddies. Everything we had there was okay (for wheat free) but my friend Michelle makes way better gluten free cupcakes!

New York - Canal Street, Conan O'Brien

New York - A place of diversity and constant movement. Bryon and I stayed just outside New York State in New Jersey in May and adventured into the city via car, train and ferry. Oh, that sounds like a bad movie!

One of the days that Bryon had to work in their New Jersey office I met up with my friend Sherree who happened to be visiting NY from California. She has lived in NY in the past so it was fun just following her around.

We met at Grand Central Station. Find Sheree in the picture.

Then we hooked up with her friend Brandee and went to lunch and to Canal street for a little shopping. We wanted to buy a bunch of New York t-shirts for Sherree's daughter and my nephews. We went into a little souvenir shop and started holding up shirts to see which styles we liked best. The lady who was running the place became irate with us for opening too many t-shirts and kicked us out! Speaking partially in slang English (words I cant repeat) and partially in Chinese. It was hysterically funny! Only in New York!

Once we were done shopping on Canal St. we went over to the NBC store and bought Bryon an Office coffee mug. As we were headed toward the cashier we were pushed aside by security guards yelling "clear the way!" We looked at each other - "Cool someone important must be coming through!" We got all excited and pulled out the camera. Who could it be? Within a few minutes we saw camera men running backwards (thats talent) with Conan O'Brien running in front of them acting all crazy. Good thing I'm somewhat tall! Find Conan in the picture!