The Expressive Blog

Here is a recent engagement portrait session I photographed in San Francisco, at The Palace of Fine Arts, Baker Beach and a little-known photo-spot near The Palace of Fine Arts, on Lyon Street, San Francisco. There is a special significance to "Baker" in Baker Beach, in this engagement photo session, because that will be the couple's family name, after they tie the knot, later this summer, in San Francisco!

Here is a selection of favorite images, from this fun engagement portrait session...

Here we are, having fun at the place I call the Lyon Street Steps. This beautifully landscaped area is great for photo-taking, but the steep stairs also serve as a workout spot for some locals. A sort of stairmaster with a real San Francisco view!

Next, we headed over to Baker Beach, for the grand finale of this engagement photo-session. Conditions were perfect, as you will see! We had a gorgeous sunset and only light breezes, making the evening very comfortable, considering how San Francisco can often be windy, foggy, cold... or even all three combined. They brought two different outfits to wear, giving greater variety to their engagement portraits. After the fine time we enjoyed , creating these portraits, I am really looking forward to the wedding!

From time-to-time, I meet folks who I just know I will have a blast working with, and that is exactly what happened when I met these two, at a bridal show, a few months ago. They asked if we could do their engagement portraits in Big Sur - one of my favorite places!

We decided to begin the photography session with a tour of the Point Sur Lightstation, which is something I have been wanting to do for some time, but had never actually done on my visits to the area. Since none of us had ever taken the lightstation tour, we did not know what to expect in the way of photo-opportunities, but we were not disappointed. Even though we were on a docent-guided tour, we had plenty of chances to create photos along the way, while learning history, and odd facts about the lightstation. For example, who would have thought that due to the strong winds common on the high rocks where the lighthouse is located, the former lightkeepers would keep their chickens on leashes, to prevent them from being literally blown away? I am happy to report that we too, were blown away... by the amazing beauty of this place!

Here is a small selection of images from this Big Sur portrait session...

The lighthouse sits atop the rocky pinnacle, shrouded in fog in this image.

As we walked up the narrow asphalt service road, we eventually got a glimpse of the lighthouse, as seen in upper left of the above photo, and the images below...

After our wonderful windy experience at Point Sur, we headed down to the beautifully landscaped grounds of Nepenthe Restaurant for more photos, and an early dinner. Those who know Big Sur, love this spot! If you're not seeking food, come for the incredible views! We found perfect spots with great light for portraits here, and also hammed it up a bit, as you will see...

For some reason, Carolyn could not resist the temptation to make a call, on this old English style phone booth. The call went on for some time though, and me and Colin were feeling kinda left-out.

Eventually, Colin realized how he could join in the fun too. I am not sure if they were having a three-way call, or just talking to each other here...

After all the fun-and-games at Nepenthe, we finally headed further South, to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, where we finished our marathon engagement session with an incredible Big Sur sunset. I think I had to pinch myself a few times, to be sure I was really working in Big Sur this day, and not just dreaming. Many thanks, to Colin and Carolyn! I look forward to the wedding, this October!

When one is "looking at the world through rose-colored glasses" it looks something like this...

Cherry and Will had me create their engagement portraits in Monterey and Pacific Grove, and even though it was a bit cold on this day, we had a blast roaming around Lover's Point, Berwick Park, and many little-known spots along the rugged rocky shores of Pacific Grove. I loved working with them, because they were full of aliveness and open to doing anything to make an interesting photograph. These two did a lot of laughing and smiling, and I think they had as much fun during their engagement photo session as I did. I can only imagine how much fun their wedding will be, later this year, at Highlands Inn, in Carmel!

A few images from this session follow...

One of the funniest moments was when this curious bird, which was the pet of another beach-goer, came over looking as if it might try one of Will's toes for a snack!

Rocio and Ruben asked me to do their engagement portraits on the Stanford University Campus, at and around the Stanford Memorial Church. With the beautiful architecture in that part of the Stanford Campus, and lovely spring blossoms all around, it provided an amazing backdrop for me to work creatively with them. Many folks feel at least a little on-the-spot or shy about being in front of the camera... that is until they are in front of my camera, having a blast, as these two did! There was plenty of happy laughter, and we all enjoyed a magical spring-like evening. We collaborated on lots of ideas for fun, interesting photo-opportunities, which helped us create these engagement portraits. Thanks again, Ruben and Rocio, for a wonderful photo-session! I'll be looking forward to the wedding later this year!

Here is a sampling of my favorite images of Rocio and Ruben...

I am pleased and honored to announce that one of my images was chosen out of thousands submitted by a select group of California wedding photographers, to grace the cover of the January 28th, 2010 "The Ultimate Wedding Guide" issue of Good Times Magazine. Shown below, is the cover of today's issue of Good Times, illustrated by one of my recent wedding images, taken at Carmel River State Beach. Although Expressive Photographics is available for weddings and events nation-wide, the majority of my work happens in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas. The Carmel and Pebble Beach area has some fabulous wedding venues, all within short distance from amazing photo-opportunities such as this beach photo-spot!

Cecilia and Ron held their fabulous, festive, wedding at their home on 12/31/2009. From now on, NYE will be twice as fun for the both of them! I had a blast capturing all the laughter (there was a lot of that), and everyone celebrating this sweet occasion. Congratulations Ron and Cecilia, and thank you for allowing me to be there as your wedding photographer!

They also had the able assistance of Nina Leis, of Leis Events, who choreographed a perfect night of ceremony and celebration, and worked tirelessly to make sure everything went off without a hitch. If you are planning a wedding or other special event, and you want it to be fantastic AND easy... do connect with Nina, to see how she can help make it happen for you!

I could go on and on about the beautiful sparkly details, and great things that happened on this evening, but the photos tell the story so much better than I can. Here is a small sample of the pics from Ron and Cecilia's wedding...

After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a cocktail hour, while the Great Room was completely reset for dining. Paul Alexander, of Continental Caterers, and his great crew made quick work, and the results were gorgeous. Like this...

Here, Nina, of Leis Events, makes sure the tower of cupcakes is all set to enjoy. Nina is one of those professionals, who make you wish all event planners had her kind of personality, because while she is very effective at getting things done, she does it all in such a pleasant way. I think she must love what she does for people!

Kelvin and Sumaiya held their wedding overlooking the Monterey Bay, at the renowned Monterey Plaza Hotel on Cannery Row, Monterey. The day was amazing, and the couple and their guests were all great fun to work with. I would like to send out my personal thanks and best wishes to Kelvin and Sumaiya! Here are a few of my photos from their wedding day...

Hair styling was done by Nana, of Artisans Salon, of Monterey.

Makeup by Terri Estrada, Monterey area aesthetician.

The floral creations were exquisite, and I couldn't resist taking lots of detail shots with them! The florals were provided by Floral Designs by Reina, who can be reached at theflowerlady2000@yahoo.com.

In this traditional Tea Ceremony, the bride serves the parents of her husband and the groom serves the parents of his wife, as a gesture of respect. Beautiful moments...

I was so happy that Sumaiya and Kelvin wanted to take some quality time with their photographer, at the end of the evening. They asked if we could capture something romantic, with the lights reflected in the waters of the Monterey Bay. Of course I LIVE for cool photo-opportunities like this! The icing on the cake, was that due to the fact that things ran about one hour later than planned(no, I'm not kidding... the bride's getting ready process was very elaborate and took just a wee bit longer than they expected), um... like I was saying, the icing on the cake was the amazing moon, which we would have missed if things had gone according to schedule. See for yourself...