The Clift Hotel

Nicole and Steve
November 5 2008

Slideshow
Full set of pics will be here

I appreciate my clients from this year so much. More than any other year Ive been doing this, the 2008 wedding season has been filled with brides and grooms who march to the beat of their own drummer. It's so cool to see the kinds of things couples come up with when they put a lot of effort into making their wedding their own.

Nicole is a talented artist and designer, and her funky, artistic, elegant style was all over this wedding. The Clift was a great location for this wedding as it is one of those SF hotels that manages to be cozy, elegant, and full of unique style all at the same time.

I've been trying to find the time and words to describe everything properly but for once, I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:


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loved Steve's vows.

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Nicole did the paper flowers around the chuppah herself.

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fun group!

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this light in this place was amazing. I loved the soft side light from the windows in the main room and the low, romantic light in the lobby.
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Love it when they choreograph the first dance. These guys were good!

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finishing move:

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the little handbound books were their favors, from etsy.com, which is a great place to buy everything from makeup, to clothing and jewelry, to art and gifts and food, esp. if you want to support small biz and handmade, environmentally conscious and often upcycled products with way more heart than you can find at your average walmart.
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vendors:

Clift Hotel: Lauren Balukjian was the awesome coordinator, and they also did the catering and cake/desserts.

flowers: Yoshiko Williams (don't have a website for her)

dj: Randy Harris, Pacific Entertainment

dress: Paris Connection

makeup: Christy from Addiction Salon

hair: Renee from Maire Rua

San Francisco Film Center

Melissa and Greg
September 13 2008

Slideshow here
Full set of pictures will be posted here.

This is the second time I've shot at the SF Film Center, the first being last year's wedding of Christine and Andrew. This wedding proved to be a real treat for me however, because it brought a lot of photographic elements together in one place that I've been wishing for for a long time.

1. A spiral staircase.

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I've seen many other photographers do the "couple in the center of the spiral staircase" shot, although the one that always sticks in my mind is Renee Allen. It is such a powerful composition and metaphor and I love to use it, but rarely do I get to shoot at a location that has one. So I was thrilled when I walked into Le Meridien hotel in downtown SF, where Melissa and Greg were getting ready, and saw this staircase in the lobby!

2. Extended time with the couple in the limo.

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Logistically this doesn't often happen, because usually when they are going somewhere in the limo I have to get there too, and my car full of wedding gear has to arrive with me. But occasionally there is cause to take a drive with the couple in their limo, and something about the enclosed space, the quiet soothing ride, and the distraction of the scenery results in a level of inimitable unselfconsciousness that makes me a happy photographer.

3. A super huge long veil.

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Brides in the bay area don't tend to wear cathedral length veils, and I don't blame them: it's hard enough walking around in heels in a dress that is longer than you are. But the image of the bride in a nice long veil is so appealing, and when you combine that with a windy day and a nice view you can do some incredible things. We've all seen those shots of the bride and groom under the veil...but how about when the camera goes under the veil too? Melissa and Greg and I had a lot of fun with this: big thanks to their friends for helping.

4. A deep blue sky with puffy white clouds.

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I'm always kvetching about how we don't get a lot of "big sky" in the metropolitan bay area--by the time the sky darkens enough with the passage of day, the fog has usually rolled in and if you're lucky you might get some weird grey streaks in the sky resembling clouds. But this day blessed us with a gorgeous sky worthy of the midwest, and I was all too happy to kneel down low and grab some of it in as background for my pictures of the couple, the ceremony, and just about everything else.

5. One of my favorite florists as decorator.

This is kind of a no brainer, but when the florist and the photog know each other from before the wedding you can usually bet on a stellar performance from each of them: the florist is trying to outdo herself so that she can get some great shots for her portfolio, while the photographer knows she is counting on her and will go the extra mile to be worthy of it.

In this case Laurel Winzler was the florist extraordinaire. She also did Tammy and Jamey's wedding last year.

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6. Outside looking in.

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Most of my work focuses on shooting from within the event, like a fly on the wall, showing what it feels like to be inside the moment with no sense of emotional distance. Distance is, in fact, avoided at all costs. Maybe that is why I like the contrast of a shot taken from the outsider's perspective so much. It both intensifies the closeness of the B and G, cocooned in their little world...and at the same time draws some focus away from them and onto the outside world, which often seems cold and pale by comparison.

I'm sure you can think of 100 more metaphors for that.

Two more shots I like are below. Much more on the slideshow.

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Vendors:

San Francisco Film Centre


florist:
Laurel Winzler

caterer:
Union Street Catering

cake:
Inticing Creations
I love Kelly's style of offbeat, unique, beautiful cakes and I really loved this one. Here is a detail.

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dress:
Trudy's Brides

Recent E sessions: Crissy Field : Palace of Fine Arts : Peju : Domaine Chandon : Rutherford Train Station : Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers

I haven't posted any e sessions in awhile, so I thought I'd put up some of my recent faves.

Nicole and Steve (with Joe), Crissy Field and the Palace of Fine Arts
(wedding 10/05/08)


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Sanjay and Shereen: Peju, Domaine Chandon, and Rutherford Train Station
(wedding 11/15/08)

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Nicole and Greg: Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers
(wedding 4/18/09)

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Trentadue Winery, Geyserville CA

Ann and Drew
September 13 2008

Ann and Drew's Slideshow
Ann and Drew's Full set of pictures will be posted here

About time for a new wedding, wouldn't you say? Ann and Drew were married at Trentadue Winery in Geyserville CA, on September 13 2008. Something that really struck me about Ann and Drew's wedding was the sheer number of people who love them. Their wedding was attended by around 250 people: I've done bigger weddings, of course, but with Ann and Drew's wedding you could tell that every single one of those people was like family to them. The warmth and connection in this crowd was huge.


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Ann wore a simple, Monique Lhullier halter top dress with a sexy open back, her hair down and adorned by two simple white flowers. I love retro fashion and to me she looked very 40's femme fatale, which was an unexpected surprise to me (from the beginning I pictured her in a more classical/romantic, spanish lace kind of dress for some reason, kind of like the one Erica wore in our bridal session at Flourish) but it suited her perfectly.


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One unique thing about the ceremony was when Rev. Dalton had Ann and Drew's parents and grandparents each bless the rings individually, infusing them with their love and support for their marriage.

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My good friend Laura Miller of Laura Miller Design did the flowers and she really hit it out of the park. The bouquets were feminine and beautiful and the table settings were colorful, chic, and made the huge, high ceilinged banquet room feel warm and personal. The wedding colors were navy blue and pale pink and the guys wore navy jackets and khakis.

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I am falling back in love with lens flare--the interesting, unpredictable effect you can get from shooting directly into a light source (in this case my off camera flash, but also works with the sun esp. when it is low in the sky like just after sunrise or before sunset). In this image the flare is subtle but you can see it as the slight texture overlaying Ann's hair and the top part of the image. Here is a better example of flare from this wedding (the rainbow lines and green circle above the couple):

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Flare is caused by light bouncing around in the body of the lens between the glass elements inside it, and like many artistic techniques it takes some playing-with to get what you are looking for...it is also something you don't want to overuse. I like the ethereal look it gives to photos of the couple alone or during private moments, like kissing shots... like a visual reference to the "fireworks" produced by a great kiss.

This is one case where as a photographer you gotta spend the money--the quality of the lens (and the glass inside it, the way it renders light and color) has everything to do with the way lens flare will look in photos taken with that lens, and different lenses produce different flare effects. Top of the line pro lenses like the Canon L series lenses produce the best flare because they have the clearest, largest, highest quality glass inside them. Prime lenses especially (fixed length lenses like the 85mm f1.2L, as opposed to zooms like the 24-70mm f2.8L) are known to produce awesome flare.

Of course any pro photographer will tell you that you are much better off spending your money on top of the line lenses than dropping $5000 on the latest camera body. Bodies come and go and are obsolete in a year, but good glass can last a lifetime, and all the megapixels in your shiny new camera's sensor will do nothing for you if the images you capture have to pass through a cheap kit lens first...

Ok, school's over. Back to the wedding.

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Trentadue has some amazing grounds to shoot in, including rows of vineyards, stands of trees, huge pine trees diffusing the sun into golden shafts of light and train tracks that pass right through the entrance to the property. All those awesome converging lines going off into the distance make for one very happy photographer.

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This one deserves an explanation. During MOH Shonda's toast, she mentioned how at a family event years back, when Ann and Drew's relationship was just getting started, she had been told that Drew's dad, Andrew Elliot, was capable of chugging a beer while standing on his head. She asked Mr. Elliot to demonstrate at the time and he declined, but placated her by saying "on Ann and Drew's wedding day, I'll do it". Well, now that day had come, and Mr. Elliot was being called out...And he did not disappoint.

This is one of those moments where you can't believe you're getting paid to do this.

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3 cheers to Ann and Drew for actually spending time dancing at their own wedding! ;)

And OMG the food was amazing. Trends catering did an incredible job, the cocktail hour appetizers alone were the best--I'm still dreaming about this cheese spread they had with nuts and dried fruit in it--and dinner was fabulous. When I first met Ann and Drew they told me they were not having a wedding cake because they really weren't into desserts and sweet stuff--instead they would be serving some individual desserts for the guests. Well, if this is the kind of spread put on by a couple who "aren't into sweets", I think I'd be scared to see what it would look like if they WERE.

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Mmm...rings and bokeh!

Vendors:

Trentadue

flowers
Laura Miller Design

dj
Scott Grothe
That’s Entertainment

officiant
Rev Peadar Dalton

caterer
Trends Catering

videographer
Thomas Hughes

bridal boutique
Glamour Closet, San Francisco

makeup/hair
Tami Maytum
Indulge Salon
(925) 933-2220