Jerry Yoon, San FranciscoVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Jerry Yoon PhotographyAbout 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!
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!
Amelia & Justin Lyon, Orange CountyVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Amelia Lyon PhotographyAbout Me: Hi, I am Amelia. I like to dance and sing my heart out in the car. My family has been in the wedding industry for 3 generations. Being the first photographer in the family, it has given me a unique perspective on how to keep things fresh and fun! Hello, I am Justin. I like to play Ping-Pong, and I too like to dance. Being a film and TV producer by trade, I am obsessed with finding the story that every image has to tell. Collectively we are wedding, portrait and music photographers. Now that we've started to tell you our story, why don't you let us capture yours?
My favorite thing about this engagement session (besides working with Dani and Sean, of course) was the location. This sweet couple invited us over to their newly restored Craftsman home in LA. I’ve always been intrigued and drawn to Craftsman houses and would love to own one myself one day. I completely fell in love with the restoration Sean and Dani have done on their home. When discussing locations for their engagement session, they decided that it was important to include their home as they saw it as an important part of their lives right now. I really feel like engagement sessions work way better when my clients choose locations that have some sort significance to them and is in an environment that they are comfortable in.
We started the session off in their breakfast room, complete with an adorable ceramic monkey!
Jerry Yoon, San FranciscoVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Jerry Yoon PhotographyAbout 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!
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!
Wiley Valentine, CaliforniaVendor: Invitations and Paper ProductsWebsite: Wiley ValentineAbout Me: Wiley Valentine is named for our artistic grandmothers, Mary Wiley and Norma Jean Valentine. Our company is 4 years old and growing strong. We specialize in invitations, stationery, and all sorts of paper delights. We love the forest, vintage books, thunder storms, butterflies, fairy tales and the smell of rain. We strive to think of our environment first when creating our paper products, and only use 100% recycled or 100% cotton papers.
I am really loving the new and unique ways couples and photographers are coming up with to create these fun, whimsical engagement shoots. It seems there is a definite trend towards trying to capture the essence of the couple in the engagement shoot and I must say its brilliant! I would love to see the shoot inspire the invites and then inspire the wedding itself! So fun! Here are a few of my favorites…
Flush Designs, PasadenaVendor: Invitations, Event & Floral Design, PhotographyWebsite: Flush DesignsAbout Me: Flush Designs is run and owned by me, Courtney C. Keefe de Jauregui. It is all encompassing, from the custom & handmade invitations seen at my website, to full exploration in event styling and design, to flower arranging, to playing sidekick and second shooter to my husband's wedding photography. I am working on becoming a wedding "One stop shop". :) I am a graduate in fine art painting, but a self taught graphic designer. As I still needed to get my hands dirty, I started taking letterpress classes, thus becoming my new love. When I am not busy working (usually still in my pajamas) and telling myself to remember to buy a new chair (this one hurts), I am singing to my 3 cats and enjoying a cold pint with my husband at our favorite local Irish pub. Maybe it's in the reverse order. :)
Amina Wojcik, Toronto, CanadaVendor: PhotographyWebsite: Still MotionAbout Me: Amina is sassy, easily combustible, and eclectic. Her images are both timeless and edgy, but most importantly, her images are emotional. They tell not only the grander story of the day, but also the peripheral moments that make up the final feature. She is inspired by both photojournalism and fashion photography, creating a truly unique approach and experience.
Vietnamese and Guyanese…two very different cultures coming together in the marriage of Vy and Navin. But while there are so many differences, there is one common denominator. Rice.
During their engagement session, we incorporated the many things that make them who they are. From symbolic dragon racing tributes to a 3-legged cow (to be explained in a blog post to come after their wedding), there are many photos in their gallery which only Vy and Navin will get (for now anyways).
Here are a few that I’ve been working on (no real cows were harmed in the making of these photos).
Jerry Yoon, San FranciscoVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Jerry Yoon PhotographyAbout 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!
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.
Jerry Yoon, San FranciscoVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Jerry Yoon PhotographyAbout 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!
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!
Jerry Yoon, San FranciscoVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Jerry Yoon PhotographyAbout 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!
What can I say about this amazing session? This was an epic photo safari! We spent over three hours walking around their neighborhood in the Mission district taking pictures. The Mission is one of my favorite places to shoot, not because it has one great looking spot, but it’s full of life. The nitty gritty, the charming parks and the unexpected.
As we were walking down the street, we saw a huge crowd of people at the park. They were holding a movie night there and of course my brain was working overtime to see how we could incorporate such a fun backdrop. I love this session because Page and Kevin were brave enough to go up in front of everyone to take a pic. They got a huge applause from the crowd and nobody got hurt!
Emilie Sommer, Portland, MaineVendor: PhotographerWebsite: Emilie Inc.About Me: Emilie earned a degree in photojournalism from Syracuse University and worked at USA Today and The Washington Post in Washington, DC, before opening her wedding photography studio, emilie inc, in Portland, Maine. She loves all the intricate details involved in planning, the warm fuzzy feeling about two people in love and freezing those moments in time in a photograph. It’s a contagious dancing-through-daisies kind of good feeling. She also started the Roots Workshop, the directory News Wedding Photographers and the non-profit Pink Initiative
Clients-turned-friends Sarah and Hawley live just around the corner from the studio in Portland and are to be wed next month. When I wanted to have a show and tell portrait training exercise with my new associate Whitney, this adorable pair excitedly volunteered for an impromptu engagement session on the Eastern Prom. I walked Whitney through different angles, lenses and portrait poses of a typical shoot and here are some of my favorites from her take.
We spent over three hours walking around their neighborhood in the Mission district taking pictures. The Mission is one of my favorite places to shoot, not because it has one great looking spot, but it’s full of life. The nitty gritty, the charming parks and the unexpected.
