Weddingbee PRO
There’s been a lot written about this topic on many blogs and magazines, but this article, Photography, written by Seattle Bride Magazine hit home for so many reasons.
Seattle Bride Magazine hired an amateur wedding photographer to follow Joey Hong, a pro photographer from John & Joseph Photography in Seattle. I actually met Joseph for a very brief moment when I was starting out in photography myself. He was shooting at my ex-girlfriend’s wedding in LA, and I introduced myself to him during the reception while he was going around shooting. I just remember afterwards sitting at my table thinking, “man, if I could only ever be as good as them, how awesome would that be?”
Before the wedding, my ex told me that she hired these guys in Seattle and paid something like $5000 to have them come down and shoot her wedding. I was like you paid what?! And you flew who from Seattle?! At that time, I didn’t even think paying over $1500 for a “wedding” photographer was worth it. Don’t they just stand there and say “1, 2, 3, cheese!” Well, after I saw their website, I immediately knew why she hired them. So I had to meet them when I got a chance. Their website was my first exposure to really good wedding photography. Jerry Yoon Photography might not have materialized if not for this chance meeting with one of the best out there!
This article does a great job of pointing out the difference a fraction of a second makes when a pro is ready for a photograph vs. an amateur who is fumbling with their settings and can’t execute on all levels when a peak moment is flashing by. Well, I’ve said enough about the article and now you should just go read it.
Roseann and Michael are getting married down in LA, but we can’t be there, so the next best alternative was to do a pre-wedding session. It was pretty cold that day, but Roseann braved it and worked the camera well. I wish we were able to shoot their wedding though, because we had so much fun together.
I’m pretty excited to blog this one for three reasons.
1. Aubrey and Blake shot this wedding and just killed it on this shoot. They just keep gettin’ better and better.
2. This is the first wedding ever at the newly built California Academy of Science in San Francisco! That Africa room is one of the coolest places to have your reception. It’s going to be all over the internets soon.
3. Jessica and Fred have tons of style and I couldn’t be happier for such a cool couple. Her dress is so classy. I love it when brides do something a little different.
Dress: Angelo Lambrou
Bridesmaid dresses: Anthropologie
Florist/Design: Sebastien Sanges
Hair/Makeup: Mark Carlos Salon
Shoes: CONVERSE!
Ties: CyberOptix Tie Lab
Cake: Masse’s Pastries
Caterer: La Bonne Cuisine
DJ: Denon & Doyle
Programs: Monogram Wedding
Harpist: Diana Rowan
Emotional. Heartfelt. Pretty. That about sums up Cathy and Mike’s great day of fun and fun lovin’. Cathy was so happy the whole day and was one of the most chill brides I’ve ever shot. Not to mention that she’s also a stunner and very silly as well. You can’t ask for more in a bride!
My jaw also dropped when they showed me the winery’s processing plant. What a perfect place to shoot. I think I ended up with one of my favorite group shots of all time.
My good friend Carmen Alvarez came with me to shoot this one and as always it’s a blast working with her. Vendor details to come soon! Here are the highlights.
Shooting Chiara and Eric was just plain fun. I’ll attribute it to the fun couple, but Aubrey also came out to shoot with me as well. It’s always fun tag teaming on an engagement sessions. It was a slightly cold and windy day in SF, but otherwise a great day to shoot. We started off at the Park at some random corner and worked our way in a little. We quickly found ourselves behind the California Academy of Sciences, which is not too shabby of a place to shoot. Well, that’s until the security guards kicked us out. It’s funny how 99% of the places I’ve gotten kicked out of have done so after we’ve gotten a ton of images. It’s almost like a badge of honor to get kicked out for us photographers.
Can’t wait to shoot their wedding this summer in Carmel. They’re going to have a fun board game theme, so I’m pretty excited to see what they come up with!
I love it when couples find a cool spot to shoot at. I don’t know how Christine found Flora Grubb in SF, but it was definitely a fun place to shoot. It also helps that I’m beginning to like succulents and plants due to Ingrid’s own green thumb. After Flora Grubb, we drove around and found some urban spots to shoot at. I loved the variety and shapes that come out of these sessions. At one point we actually got close to Hunter’s Point, which is probably the most dangerous place in SF. We didn’t stay near there that long!
Our associate photographer, Aubrey, also came along and shot with me. Half the shots are hers!
When you think of backyard weddings, small and intimate come to mind. Mainly, because backyards are pretty small, at least the backyard that I grew up in. Well, Zack’s stepdad’s backyard was definitely not small. His beautiful home was way up in the hills and only accessible through this one lane road. The road opens up to this curvy driveway and out pops this amazing home with views to die for. It’s the perfect backyard wedding venue that isn’t available to the public. I know, sad. We loved shooting there and hope that we get more backyard weddings in the future.
For the wedding to look this good though, it took Sharine’s sister, Clarice, the better part of a year to mastermind everything. She’s definitely got an eye for detail and created an amazing wedding for her sister. She recently started her own business designing pieces for weddings and has a blog at Happenstance Designs. Now onto the beautiful backyard wedding that was built with much TLC.
This is my second adventure into the heart of Oakland, my hood. Oakland doesn’t get much love for picture locations, because compared to San Francisco, it’s considered ghetto. Well, I’ve always been about finding contrast in pictures. I think that a beautiful subject comes off the page when it’s surrounded by something that’s not inherently beautiful. Like, for say a freeway underpass versus a tree. I think that’s why we see so many fashion adds with models in a dingy alleyway.
It’s also important for my creative juices to get recharged in an environment where it forces me to find the right spot to shoot in. Jeanine and Tommy are from Oakland, so they fit right into the mix. I love these guys for so many reasons. They’ve got the heart of lions in the midst of some of the hardest times that they are facing. Here are some highlights of us gallivanting around town.
Every wedding has a funny story. Well there’s two for us in here. We traveled up to Stockton for this wedding and were happily shooting, when lo and behold Ingrid’s brother materializes out of the crowd to say hi to me. His wife was there too and I was so confused for thirty seconds. When I’m shooting my brain is in the zone and anything that gets me out of that throws a complete wrench into my highly excited mind. It was definitely a pleasant surprise, because we both didn’t know that we were going to be there. I quickly ran over to Ingrid and told her that someone special is here for her. I think they had fun watching Ingrid and I work the whole day. They said that they can now report back to Ingrid’s mom and tell her that we really do own a photography business and that I’m legitimately earning an income. Now we can get married. 
The bouquet toss is always a fun ritual that we like to shoot. It’s one of those moments where we don’t know what is going to happen, but just hope that we get some good reactions to capture. Well this time the girls were hungry. So hungry that when the bouquet came flying towards them, they just tore it apart completely. I thought it was one of the funniest and most desperate moments captured. Gotta love all the action! Thanks Rosemarie and Lawrence for the memories, you guys rock!
Coming back to my alma matter (sounds weird to say that now) and shooting is always fun. It’s the familiar mixed in with the “how am I going to top the last shoot here” mentality that makes it a fun challenge. It also helps that Kimberly and Daniel are so easy to work with. They laughed at all my jokes and did everything I told them to do. Sometimes I feel like my couples are working for me and not the other way around. We snuck into Kimberly’s optometry school offices and played around with things we probably shouldn’t have. Oh the joy of clandestine operations. Can’t wait to shoot their wedding next month!
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Jerry Yoon, San Francisco
Vendor: Photographer
Website: Jerry Yoon Photography
About Me: Gone are the days of being stuck with boring wedding photography, where everyone and everything looks like the same old photographer took it. We're not here to please your mom. We want to rock your socks off with imagery that explodes off the page and makes you feel all fuzzy inside. We're inspired by who you are and not what others think you should be. Playwright, architect, nuclear scientist, tax man, dance machine, burly construction man, blog stalker. We take them all. Can't wait to jump into the pool together and make something your kindergarten teacher would be proud of!
