I first met the Daughtery’s years ago with their adorable Pug Vito.  He was a total charmer with a toothy grin.  When they called to do some family portraits with their new daughter I remembered them ONLY when he said Vito was our dog!  We did these family portraits at their home in San Francisco.  The front bedroom had amazing natural light and we piled everyone–the dogs included of course–on the bed and created some truly simply, beautiful and intimate family portraits.

Families come in different types and sizes and capturing the nuances of a family is the goal for me.  They are never the same!  I never know what is going to happen and just go with the flow.  Especially with babies and pets.  In this case, it was both!  The dogs were just too cute and the baby, well she was totally at our mercy but the irony is we had to work according to her desires!

The images show a beautiful family in all it’s glory.  Congrats to the Daughtery’s!

Sarah has been a friend for years and I am so happy she found Tres!  She’s an executive assistant at a winery and does a lot of planning for them so she planned the travel idea, the locations, the outfits and the accessories!  I love when clients have ideas!  It really brings their unique relationship to the table.  It was so fun and somehow in the process of rolling on the ground getting different angles I even ripped my jeans!  The engagement portraits to me are so important and I really do love doing them.  While I have known Sarah for years it is a great opportunity to work with couples on a fun day without stress and we learn about each other in the process.  Then too you have some great engagement portraits in the process!

Sarah has seen me work numerous times but now she was in front of the lens and for the first time ever Tres got an idea of the process too.   So because of this we have familiarity, ease and trust the moment I walk into the wedding to photograph the big day.  This is an important step in the process.  Yes you have to love your photographer’s style and images but you have to really like them too.  A florist drops off flowers and you may or may not see them.  The photographer?  Well, we are with you all day!  So it’s important to really like and trust them.

A special thank you too to the Robinson Family Vineyard!  The not only provided us with the location and the car but a great tasting too!  Yes, I do get to drink on the job!  Without them these engagement portraits Napa wouldn’t have been the same!

I have always loved live music and the eclectic nature and talent of musicians.   The passion they have is awe inspiring for me.  My friend Johnny Ceravolo is an amazingly talented musician and I had the pleasure of doing some black and white portraits of him recently.  He’s the lead singer for When In Rome and I originally met them when they played in San Francisco at the Red Devil Lounge.  Being a product of the 80′s I had to go see them along with Missing Persons and it was a great show.

I wanted to do some artistic musician portrait photography and he thankfully agreed!  We went to Franklin Park in Los Angeles and the weather was perfect.  I was last there with Tara Novick at 5am a couple years ago and it was moody and misty. This time it was sunny and lent itself to the dark, contrasty idea we had of black and white film and simple.  I believe the character of a musician has to show and I believe these do show Johnny and his personality and provide a sense of who he is.  He’s an amazing talent and I got wait to work together again!

Ceremony Magazine recently published its first ever San Francisco edition.  It’s truly a beautiful magazine for wedding planning resources, professional wedding vendors and San Francisco wedding photography.  I’m truly honored to be a part of it and have my images and real weddings within it’s pages!  The magazine has sections for wedding ideas, real wedding’s photography with the couple’s stories, detailed information on venues, photographers, florists and everything weddings you could need.  It’s really a great wedding planning resource guide and beautiful too!

Recently my wedding images of Sara and Todd’s St. Francis Yacht Club  wedding was highlighted in Ceremony Magazine’s blog.  This was an amazing day with an amazing couple.

Ceremony Magazine is about professionals in the wedding industry and what they can do.  Speaking only for photography of course, there are a lot of people who pick up a camera and call themselves a wedding photographer.  Sadly, I’ve heard a lot of bad stories in regards to wedding photographers from brides who were crying because they hired someone who professed to know what they were doing only to be disappointed in the end with their wedding photographs IF they got their wedding photographs.  I recently heard a story of a photographer who wouldn’t go out into the rain to get a new flash card so was deleting images during the wedding to make room for new images.  I always laugh when people come in with their list of questions from a magazine that are recommended to ask a photographer but I’m happy to answer the questions.  It means you’re doing your research and taking this seriously!

When it comes to the relationship you have with your photographer it is important you love their work but also that you love them and trust them!   I hope that when I walk into that room to start photographing your day you know you can trust me, that I will deliver what I promise, that I’m coming with $25,000 worth of equipment and don’t mind getting wet if need be!

So be assured that the people you find in Ceremony Magazine are among the top of San Francisco and you can trust them!

Sara and Todd at St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco

I had the pleasure of photographing the Equality California Charity Event last week and it was a great time for all.  Held in the ballroom of The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, the charity event raised over $45,000 to support the LGBT community.

Senator Dianne Feinstein received an award from the group honoring her support of the LGBT community.    The adorable Wilson Cruz of film and TV fame did a great job hosting and the crowd just loved Thelma Houston.  Ms. Houston sang all her old signature songs and just had people dancing in the aisles.  It was a fantastically fun charity event to photograph and I hope the photos show that!

MODERN MODE

Pat Gibbons Florals

BEHIND THE BLOOMS Serving San Francisco Bay area weddings and special events, veteran floral designer Patricia Gibbons of Pat Gibbons Floral, El Cerrito, Calif., turns out picture-perfect traditional and vintage tabletop arrangements, but her signature style is contemporary.

SQUARE DEAL “I’m known for modern designs that have an Asian influence, and I like to bring that aesthetic fusion to my work,” Gibbons explains. To decorate the long, rectangular banquet tables that have replaced standard rounds as a wedding staple, Gibbons likes to “echo the line by using rectangular containers going down the tables. Zinc containers with black river rocks create a bold statement.”

STYLE ON A DIME “Hydrangea is one of the best flowers to use to create a full, budget-friendly display,” Gibbons notes, “while curly willow branches or loops of bear grass can be brought in to add to add height and movement to the design.”

Read more: http://specialevents.com/decor/divine-decor-for-centerpieces-today-all-trends-are-in/#ixzz1t5SAAug1

Suen and Jerry are such a loving, adorable couple.  They kind of secretly married just the two of them and because her father wanted to see her in a white dress they did it again for friends and family.  It was an intimate affair at a private home in Healdsburg.  Who poured the wine and made sure guests were happy?  Jerry did!   Who made sure to keep people calm when the officiant was late?  Suen did!  They put the priorities on their guests with great food, great wine and making sure people felt at home in this home!  I love small intimate affairs like this and the images I can get are so endearing and so indicative of that.  The intimate moments are what make a wedding.  Yes, the flowers, the dress, the bride and groom to be sure!  But when it comes down to it…the love and feelings and emotions of all!  This gallery includes some details but I had to include the smiles, the laughs and happiness too.

Kim and David are just delightfully fun and crazy.  They are so fun together and take nothing seriously!  This wedding was one of my favorites to be sure.   David was full of funny faces and Kim was right there with him.  The Western ceremony was held at the beautiful Grace Cathedral and the reception and p’ye-baek ceremony at The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco.   The wedding was planned by Sadie Waddington of One Big Fish.  She did an amazing job coordinating this day.  The florals by Bella Flora were just amazing and perfect for these venues.  Filling a ballroom like that at the Fairmont takes a lot and the simple design was perfect.

This was my first time doing the full p’ye-baek ceremony and it was just fun.  Now, apparently the bride is not supposed to laugh but Kim couldn’t stop!  After all the pomp and circumstance it was determined they would have 22 children!  Well, they do have the first on the way so I think a lot of grandparents are going to be very happy!

This was a wonderful day with a wonderful couple and one of the many who inspire me to do what I do.  We also spent over an hour with portraits which gave us so many of these fun options.  Fortunately I had a groom who was game to lay in the grass with a sunbathing couple.  How often does that happen–never!  It’s pretty obvious there were a  lot of laughs this day.  Best wishes guys!

I photographed The John Corbett Band last week at The York in Los Angeles and once again they totally rocked it.  Here are a few of my favorite shots.  I love photographing live music and I hope you can see the love, passion and fun these guys have on stage!  Be sure to request they go back!

Kyle and Nicole are the sweetest couple.  They got married at the Cathedral Basilica St. Joseph in San Jose and had their reception at the Corinthian Ballroom in San Jose.  It was January and Nicole really set the winter tones with red, black, white, faux fur and gloves.  Her details were just delightful but this wedding was one of the most emotional I’ve seen in a while.   When Nicole looked in the mirror the first time she took a huge breath and reality hit.  When she was ready to walk down the aisle with her father she was overtaken with emotion but fought it best she could.  Didn’t matter though I caught the moment.  This wedding was a long time coming and they did it with panache!  All the best to you both!