Thanks again Samantha! You were ideal for this! I love how your bubbly personality came right through in the fun shots! We’ll see you in July!!!

Some places are easy to take great photos! Not to mention Samantha was fabulous!

Simple and elegant....

The Poplar Creek waterfall makes for an amazing backdrop!

I just LOVE how her personality explodes out of this shot!!!

She was so perfect I know some will not believe that she is NOT a professional model! API brides are the best!!!

Just something different. If you know her, you can totally tell it's Samantha!

I don’t quite need to explain, since the photos show for themselves, but Mike and Stephanie look, dress, and act in perfect style. I had so much fun laughing with them and walking around making images that look a little more edgy than I’m used to.

Below you can see a few of my favorite shots from our graffiti chic photo shoot:

Photo taken by Mark Elola

I also used the opportunity to take some much needed photos of the kids!

Simple baby pose photos

For the boys we also kept it simple. Working with kids can take a lot of patients. Especially your own! For this reason I prefer to keep kid photos looking natural. We focus on great lighting and getting a nice smile! The results are always great.

Easy shot using natural light to make a great photo!

Same simple pose for a great kid photo!

As a photographer, I felt I had complete freedom to experiment with ideas that I usually don’t want to risk time on when there are pressures at an actual wedding - I felt like I could do anything, that I could be as creative and artistic as I wanted and not worry if I was losing time.

And, please don’t be confused, we only call it a “day after shoot” because the traditional name for this kind of shoot is “trash the dress” and that just sounds scary. But nevermind the name; regardless of whether you want to do this the day after (like this couple did) or a week later, a month later, a year later, the “day after shoot” will guarantee you some of the most amazing images you’ve ever seen.

This is literally the first shot I took - look how happy they are! It’s like this whole shoot was just an extension of the wedding the day before.

The shadows of the Golden Gate Bridge were making their way across the fort. Seemed romantic, so I thought I’d have Henry and Lynnette dance around down there.

I don’t normally do “jumping shots” because they’re not really very natural… but these guys were actually jumping around like this so I couldn’t help but take the picture. I mean, it was just natural.

I know that it’s a huge break from tradition for the bride and groom to meet before the wedding - but speaking as someone who has shot a lot of weddings and understands how the photo time can often go (how quickly it can disappear), I’ve learned that meeting before the ceremony for photos is one of the best decisions a Bride and Groom can make. When you have a first look, it’s completely private. You’re not surrounded by a bunch of friends, family, guests, or friends of friends. It’s just the two of you. We back off with the longest lenses possible and photodocument some of the most precious moments that will happen on your wedding day.

As someone who sees thousands of wedding photos every week - the photos that always seem to have the most authentic emotions, the most honest, tender expressions, are those that are taken in the privacy of a “first look.” Just about every bride and groom who’s done a first look with us has told me, “We’re so happy we had the first look - I felt like it was the only time we really got to be alone and it really helped calm the nerves.”

One Bride once told me she was so happy that they decided to take their photos before the ceremony because after the ceremony, after she had cried and the wind had swept through her hair a bit, she was glad she had taken all the formals with her husband when her hair and make up were still pristine.

Aside from that - doing photos before makes your whole wedding experience YOUR wedding experience. You aren’t bogged down by a big long hour of photos that stops you from experiencing what’s happening at your own wedding. Once the ceremony is done, since all the formal photos have been taken before, both the bride and groom get to enjoy the cocktail hour with their guests. Guests also like this since they don’t have to wait around for an hour, sometimes an hour and a half, before things get rolling.

If you decide to do a first look, you have my promise that I will do everything I can to make sure your “first look” experience is every bit as special as it has been for our brides who have done one in the past.

Here are some photos from Jennifer and David’s “first look” that were taken just a few weeks ago at the Foxtail Golf Course

The one thing we photographers always seem to say each other is this: “Lighting, Lighting, Lighting.” And guess what, it will have more impact in the gorgeousness of your pictures than, “Location, Location, Location.”

(These photos were taken at Nicole and Jeremiah’s wedding at the San Ramon Wedgewood Golf Course)

As photographers at weddings, we’re always looking for soft, diffused light that brings out the best in people’s skin, features, and expressions. The best light (better than shade, better than indoors, and certainly better than the harsh sunlight at 12 noon) is the golden, warm, fuzzy kind of light that comes over the horizon just before sunset. This light is so good for photos you’re almost guaranteed something incredible in every shot.

So what do I recommend - no matter who your photographer, whether A Perfect Impression or otherwise, contact them BEFORE you schedule your ceremony start time and especially your Formal Photo times. The best thing you could possibly do is discuss all the issues about lighting with your photographer, pick their photo-obsessed brain for any detail as to how you can get the best looking photos, and then make sure you schedule your most important photos (i.e. Ceremony and Formals) to be happening with the last 2 hours of daylight before sunset.

You won’t regret it!

Here are just a few images from some of the weddings we’ve photographed at Crystal Springs: