Rose Garden Wedding in Walnut Creek

The afternoon sun that blanketed the grounds of Heather Farm on Emily and Ben’s wedding day presented a beautiful backdrop for a day full of fun, adventure and love—attributes of the couple themselves. The Gardens are nestled on the hillside over looking Heather Farm in Walnut Creek and make for a lovely place to have an outdoor wedding ceremony.

We have photographed a lot of weddings over the past decade, but we never get tired of capturing the unique moments of each wedding day and truly appreciating the work and attention that couples put into to making the day special not only for themselves but for their family and friends. One touch that we really loved at Ben and Emily’s wedding was a table that displayed the wedding photos of their family members. This highlighted one of the biggest aspects that we love about wedding photography, which is helping families preserve generational memories. It is great to know that the pictures we have captured throughout the years will one day be placed on tables such as these.

The ceremony and reception were filled with bouquets of soft, beautiful floral arrangement that coordinated with the romantic pastels of the bridesmaid dresses, which there were ten of (evidence of how well loved this couple is)! The couples wrote their own vows to each other and it was hard not to get a bit emotional ourselves when we listened to the stories of how their love has grown so far and how they will intentionally foster it’s continual growth. It is a pleasure to look back at photographs of the couple under the wooden gazebo draped with natural greenery and know that this was a moment that they were able to convey just how much they love each other while surrounded by their friends and families.

Emily and Ben created an evening full of love punctuated with many thoughtful details that really highlight the beauty of a natural light venue. Cheers to Emily and Ben and cheers to love!

Nonprofit Business Headshots in Oakland

It can be easy to associate portrait photography with a yearly elementary school photo shoot or glammed up headshots for an aspiring model. However, headshots and portraits for nonprofits and other businesses in the bay area is becoming increasingly vital to helping agencies get a leg up in creating landing pages and social media content that clearly and attractively conveys their mission. The applications for portrait photography are endless and are increasingly used by companies and nonprofit organizations to draw visitors, donors, and community members alike, to their website.

Nonprofit organizations tend to value not only the clients and populations that they serve, but also have a very committed workforce. Having portraits of each employee on the website, along with their biography and contact information can lend a personal appeal to a nonprofit website. This recent natural light portrait shoot that we booked with a Bay Area nonprofit was evidence of the power of photography in creating a visual representation of the organization. They had struggled with low quality, poorly lit and mismatched photos of their staff and they wanted images that were consistent and captured their organizations surroundings in downtown Oakland. This nonprofit now not only has words to describe their mission, but also now has full color photos of the staff that helps this mission become a reality. Staff portraits on a website can add a personal touch to a nonprofit website as people who may be seeking help can be comforted that they will be greeted by a familiar face that they have seen on the website.

Environmental portrait photography is another aspect that we really enjoy delving into. Being able to shoot artisans at work, in their own workshops, with their own tools gives them the material to give their patrons a sneak peek at how their business functions.

Whether it is for a large nonprofit organization or a small pottery workshop, portrait photography allows companies and artisans alike to have a visual medium to share their work with the world.

Let us help you with your headshots and portraits!  Fill out our contact form and let us know about your project. We can't wait to hear from you!

Historic Mansion Wedding in Oakland

Some may see wedding planning as a serious challenge. Liyan and Brian are a fun couple who took this literally as Brian completed a series of challenges in order to win over his bride. In the end, Brian earned the right to “unlock” his bride by following a set of clues to find their house key frozen in a block of ice.

Once the key was found we were able to photograph a traditional Chinese ceremony at the couple’s home in Oakland. The rich fabrics and tapestry of Brian and Liyan’s Chinese outfits were a pleasure to view, as was the intimate gathering of family to celebrate the union of these two.

We love a good outdoor ceremony and Liyan and Brian’s Camron-Stanford House Wedding was no exception. The natural light complemented the sleek and simple elegance of Liyan’s gown. The mix of soft and bright pinks layered through the flowers, the bridesmaid dresses and even the ties of the groomsmen provided a lighthearted and romantic touch to an already beautiful natural view.

The blend of family traditions with sleek modern touches punctuated the entire event. It was a joy to see the genuine smiles, the laughter and the love between family and friends that were created that evening and it was not a challenge at all to see that Liyan and Brian have a very bright future together.