Annie and Joel are the cutest couple.  Their wedding at Russian River Vineyards was just beautiful.   There was a long walk to the ceremony site under a beautiful tree, dining under the redwoods and dancing like crazy!  There was so much love and joy and tears at this wedding!  But good happy tears and a great time was had by all.    All the best to you guys!

I just adore Dawn and Brent.  They are so remarkable together and just caring, loving, fun and well loved too!  Their wedding at Arista Winery was just beautiful.  This time of year the light is just beautiful and some of my favorite images of the year!  I especially love the series of Brent when he waits then sees Dawn coming.  The groom at this moment is one of my favorite things to shoot at a wedding.  I always have  my lens pointed at him at this moment.  Those few seconds just say so much.  I wish you both the best in your future together!

I lived in New York City eons ago.  I go every year a couple of times and walk my butt off each and every time.  I recently went for my birthday and as is my norm took my camera everywhere.  So just  a few images to share…

Three weeks after September 11th, 2001 I went to NYC on my yearly Fall trip.  I’d originally planned to go this week for my birthday and my friend’s birthday but knew it was going to still be muggy and hot so I changed it for three weeks later.  Fortunately for me.  Flights had resumed and my trip was on.  There were only 6 of us on a huge jet but on the way back it was a completely full flight.  I knew I was only going to shoot black and white film while I was there as it was just the most fitting thing to do.  But while people were still hurting, life was still going on.   Just like today.  A lot of my still very favorite images were taken that week.   This is just to remember.

I heart Misti Layne. She is stellar; her photographs speak for themselves; they make you stop and think. Take a look at her website. My words would not adequately describe what I feel about her work.

She was the last of three photographers we interviewed, and as soon as we met her, we knew she was the one. Misti has a warm, fun, friendly, open personality that we connect with, and that at the end of the day we would have gorgeous pictures.

She offers professional, high touch client oriented service, including being responsive by e-mail and phone, taking both digital and film pictures (she has a Holga; major points!!), and of course doing both color and black and white pictures. If you like, and I do recommend this, she will select the pictures for your album with your input and edits, of course. I tried selecting pictures myself and it was challenging given the number of great pictures. Another plus is that in her 2010 packages she offers 3×5 prints (high quality) of every picture that she and her assistant takes.

Our wedding pictures are nothing short of stunning. Looking at my pictures is like reliving my wedding day over again. I cry and laugh looking at them, and am so amazed at what she was able to capture. She captured our wedding.

I could not get over how people who are normally not that photogenic looked just radiant. AND she got candids of our folks, which is pretty much a miracle because they can spot a camera from a mile away and immediately pose. My mom loves her, and she’s difficult to please. Our family and friends are raving about the pictures too.

Misti advertises herself as your photographer for life. I would hire her again for our next life event, if she’ll have us! And of course I recommended her to friends.

Hire her! You’ll be just as thrilled.

Thank you Nirmala and TS!  You gave me a lot to work with and you guys are just too cute!

I had a great time photographing Toni and Christian recently.  They are having their first baby and their excitement is palpable!  We shot simply in their flat in San Francisco and the natural light was fantastic.  The time will come soon and I’ll be putting up baby photos as well!  All the best!

This years event at Colgin was of course catered by Thomas Keller of French Laundry as usual and again an amazing menu! It’s always fun to watch him and the crew in the kitchen.  The entertainment started with the bartenders!  Don’t believe me, well take a look at them!  From Cirque USA, they really had people entertained including Ryan Seacrest.

I’ve been shooting with a Holga longer than I can really guess.  I recently heard that the latest thing is shooting with them at weddings.  Well, ok, not the latest thing in my book!  I took this image at the wedding of Tse-Sung and Nirmala at Holly Farms in Carmel.  Gorgeous!  It was my favorite shot of the day by far.  I hope you agree!  It’s simple, old school, has texture and depth.  Film is so underrated and I find it simply beautiful.

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Nirmala and Tse-Sung got married at Holly Farms in Carmel last month and it was just amazingly beautiful.  The DJ was Gregory Talbot of Uptempo Productions.  He really had the crowd moving.  The grounds are amazing, unique and fabulous.  The images are amazing and so is this couple.  I think you can see they have a ton of fun together!  All the best to you guys!  By the way, the black and white shots were taken with a Holga!