Wente Winery Wedding

Steve and Jody were married in October at Wente Winery in Livermore, CA. It was a fabulous day filled with traditions, details and activities. They merged their two different backgrounds perfectly into one celebration that everyone enjoyed.

After getting ready in the separate bride and groom suites Steve and Jody met near the vineyard for their "first look". Here Steve sneaks a sip from the flask just before Jody appears. Jody's mermaid dress was super sexy with its plunging neckline and streamline fit. Steve took some long looks as Jody twirled around to show off the dress. After their few moments together we started on their pictures in the vineyard and some family images.


The ceremony took place on Wente's large lawn area which was decorated with simple but gorgeous hanging floral arrangements and their chuppah. As they walked away as husband and wife it made for one of my favorite images of the day.


After the ceremony darkness came upon us more rapidly than we had hoped. So we moved as fast as possible to capture the remaining family and bridal party images. Toward the end of the session we were using artificial lighting sources which made for some fun shadows.

At the cocktail hour they had set out their guest book which has places for the guests image to be inserted later. Also below, the guys showed off for the camera as they held the girls flowers and played with the brides veil.

Everyone loved the candy banquet and I found it the perfect spot to shoot the rings!

The reception was full of entertainment with the Hora, cake cutting and lots of dancing.


Besides the dancing; one of my favorite parts of the evening was taking Steve and Jody out for the night shots!

Thanks to Laena Brandenburg for second shooting.

Flowers by: Jacklyn Le at Le Bouquetier
Video by: Chris Miller at Silver Lens Productions

Love Story Contest - Reminder

Hi All!

Just a little reminder that the deadline for emailing me your love story is tomorrow Thursday January 1, 2009. I hope to receive a few more good stories!

Thanks to all the couples who have already submitted their stories. There have been a few tearjerkers!

Passing of Time

Life stands still when you hear it. Literally you refuse yourself life while you hold your breath as the screaming voice on the other end of the line mutters crazy words that you don’t want to hear. Your mind denies it then immediately moves on to ask abrupt questions. How, when, where, give me details! After the immediate shock dissolves your mind turns to questioning yourself. Could I have done anything to prevent this. Could I have…

If you’ve ever suddenly and/or mysteriously lost a close relative then you are familiar with this thought process that I experienced in November when we lost my mother’s sister. It was sudden, mysterious and completely unexpected.

We have not yet received any satisfying answer to the questions that still haunt our family. But we are all working at moving forward. Just in case you wanted to know why its been such a long time since my blog has been updated.

After the memorial and a brief reception a small group of my aunt’s close friends and relatives gathered at my cousin’s hotel suite. There we enjoyed Aunt Donna’s favorite beverage (good wine; Cabernet) and listened to some of our talented friends play guitar. She would have really had a good time! I created the below memorial brochure for her memorial services.

Engagement Session at De Young and The Flower Conservatory

Jeremy and Krista started the session off a bit stiff and giggly. It was really fun to watch them become more and more comfortable working with me and the camera. They went through the gamete of emotions starting with stiff and giggly; then serious and sexy to playful and finally calm and relaxed.


They are all ready for the wedding day now; with a ton of new poses to pull out of their pockets. And how great does Krista look in white!


There were so many good images from the session I had a difficult time choosing which images to post!


Can't wait for their wedding in Monterey June 2009!

Wedding at Santa Clara University and Freedom Hall

Hoang and Karina decided to take all their family and bridal party images prior to the ceremony. They gave me about 3 hours and had family arrive in intervals. It was like a perfect dream! Karina's organizational skills made the day a breeze.

We met at Santa Clara University near the mission and started the shoot with just the two of them. We then photographed the bridal party and family as they arrived.




After photographs at the university we all went over to Freedom Hall and took a few more images as the sun set. I know the image below of them kissing has the worst sun flare ever but I think it makes the image even better! It's like they are surrounded by the suns energy!

They had a short and sweet ceremony followed by a yummy buffet dinner and a jamming dance reception. Hoang and his sister must have taken dance lessons together because they really worked the floor when they danced together. It reminded me that I need to make time for dance lessons.

Congrats to Hoang and Karina!
Thanks to Jen Low for second shooting.

Engagement Session at Stanford

Brett and Sara met while attending school at UC Davis. They moved to the Bay Area last year and are planning their wedding at Wente Vineyards for May 2009.

I find that everyone responds differently to being photographed. Some couples I have to work with for an hour or so until they become comfortable in front of the camera. Other couples take their best images at the beginning of the session. Brett and Sara warmed up to the camera right away!

Here are a few of my favorites.


Can't wait for the wedding!

Garre Winery Wedding in Livermore, CA

Shawn and Clara were married in early October at Garre Winery in Livermore. They were both pretty mellow even prior to the ceremony which made it easy to work with them.

Chris Flitter owner of Events by Twist did an wonderful job of planning and coordinating the day for this sweet couple. She made sure no detail was missing.

The beautiful floral design was created by The Pedal Pusher located in Pleasanton.

The winery has a small bridal room were the girls were able to finish up their hair and makeup and get dressed. The porch made for the perfect place for some last minute portraits of Claire just before the ceremony.

Garre also has vineyards in every direction so we didn't have to walk far to find a green location for the bride and groom photos. It was also nice that Clara didn't mind getting her dress a little dirty for the vineyard photos. So we were able to get lots of nice shots of them roaming among the vines.

And they took a 5 minute break from the reception for my favorite night shots!

Congrats to Shawn and Clara!