01. Weddings

Sat - August 11, 2007

Tom and Mimi's Wedding in San Jose

A wedding with lots of style and elegance. Tom and Mimi put together a gorgeous wedding. The ceremony took place over at the Mission Santa Clara and the reception in the new Rotunda of San Jose City Hall. I didn't even know they did weddings in there. Mimi is a big part of the Thi' cosmetics team, a amazing company owned by Taylor Pham. Taylor one of the most sought after make up artists of the Bay area was the the maid of honor. Initially Ann Hamilton was to shoot this wedding with me, but as you all know she was away taking care of her family. She was missed. But, luckily our good friend Jesse Leake was open to help shoot this one. Here are some of my favs. ENJOY!!!

Morning Tea ceremony. Simply elegant.

Some details.

Tom and the boys, looking cool.

Love having my brides move, showing a little sas and just being you.

Letting kids be kids.

Here is a little fine art. I took some of the detail of Mimi's dress and created this awesome bridal shot.

Taylor and Mimi, just having a little fun before the ceremony.

Tom's auntie is a nun and had this beautiful detail.

Reception details.

They imported this paper lamps from Vietnam.

Love the sunset lighting.

Here is a shot of the four of us. Thanks for having us, we had a blast.

Posted at 09:24 AM

Tue - August 7, 2007

Kevin and Lisa's wedding in San Francisco

Where do I begin? These two are the best. Talk about a fun wedding, this was it. From the engagement session in NYC to the wedding, we had a blast. Lisa, a broadway actress and Kevin a Golf pro came in from the east coast to have a beautiful wedding in San Francisco. It was nice to be working so close to home. Here are some of my favs from this weekends wedding.

Love my shoe shots.

I found this framed image in her getting ready suite.

Kevin's 90 year old Grandmother saved the day for one of the groomsman. She sewed up a hole in his pants. This is why I do not disregard getting ready for guys. you never know where the story is going to unfold.

Here is the view of Union Square from the bridal suite.

Kevin getting ready.

Seeing each other before the ceremony. Right after this, Kevin jaw dropped and Lisa was in tears.

Gotta have my cool groom shots.

Little groom detail by Matika of Simply Blooms.

A must have shot. Walking and talking.

Tanya grabbed this of Lisa. Beautiful.

At it again with the iphone shots. I will post that tomorrow. But, don't you love the handbag hanging from my backpack. I do it all.

Lisa's sisters made all the paper peonies .

Floral arrangements brightened the room. Karen Chang did a amazing job.

Lisa surprised Kevin in the cocktail hour by singing a song. She has a amazing voice.

Honey Bunny. Her mom told a cool story during the ceremony, made lots of people cry.

Little more singing. Everyone joined into "Some of Lisa and Kevins favorite things".

Very original first dance.

Simply elegant.

Touche', cake cutting time.

Posted at 10:37 PM

Mon - July 30, 2007

Dan and Anna's wedding in San Francisco

Sorry it's been a little while since I have posted a wedding. It was nice to be photographing in the city over the weekend. Dan and Anna did their engagement session back in May in Boston. I was fun to get out to there for the weekend. The wedding took place just minutes from the studio. The ceremony at the Shakespeare Gardens and the reception at the Flood Mansion. The Flood is literally just up the hill from our studio. Awesome views of the bay, you can see from the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz. Anyways, here are some of the shots I grabbed this weekend.

Girls I am really getting into my shoe shots. So get some cool shoes for the wedding day.

These are two of my favorite bridal shots.

Casual Cool shots for the boys.

Anna had to have her jumping shot. My kinda bride.

Woof, woof.

Some artistic bride and groom shots in front of the De Young Museum.

One of the cool moments during the reception. A birthday cake for one of the groomsman.

Thanks you two, I had a blast.

Here is the hot list of vendors who came together to make this a wedding to remember. Happy planning.

James Leary Flood Mansion
2222 Broadway Street San Francisco, CA 94115
www.floodmansion.org

Shakespeare Garden
Golden Gate Park @ Martin Luther King Drive

Wedding Gown Eve’s Bridal
363 Primrose Rd. Burlingame, CA 94010
www.evesbridal.com
650.343.2378

Wedding Planner: F. Duncan Reyes
F. duncan reyes events
583 Myra Way
San Francisco, CA 94127
www.duncanreyes.com
415.586.2252 home office
415.794.4117 cell

Catering (Food): Melons Catering & Event Planning
3963 Callan Blvd
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Attn: Ann Lyons or Charlotte
Jackson (Assistant)
www.melonscatering.com
800.729.6356
650.583.1756
650.583.0329 fax

Dance Lessons: Metronome Dance Center
1830 – 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.metronomedancecenter.com
415.252.9000

Entertainment (Ceremony): Music To Go !
San Francisco Conservatory
Of Music
50 Oak Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-6011
Attn: Elizabeth Lowry or
Megan Koch
http://www.sfcm.edu/musictogo/musictogo.aspx
415.503.6258
415.503.6299 fax
415.905.8053 (Megan Koch)

Entertainment: DJ Kenfused
95 Stoneyford
San Francisco, CA 94112
Attn: Ken Anolin
www.djkenfused.com
650.245.8299 cell

Equipment Rentals (Catering): Classic Party Rentals
1635 Rollins Road, #A
Burlingame, CA 94010
Attn: Valerie Vasquez
www.classicpartyrentals.com
650.652.0300
650.697.9090 fax

Equipment Rentals: Hartmann Studios
100 West Ohio Avenue
Richmond, CA 94804
Attn: Amber Solomon
www.hartmannstudios.com
415.232.5030

Hair & Make-Up: Irmina Loeffer-Martinez
22461 S. Walnut Circle, #A
Cupertino, CA 95014
Attn: Ifmina Loeffer
408.781.5001

Hotel Accommodations: Clift Hotel
495 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Attn: Lauren Fisher, Sales Mgr.
www.clifthotel.com
415.775.4700 hotel
415.441.4621 fax
415.929.2302 Sales

Floral Designer & Lighting Design: Hunt Littlefield
2565 Third Street, Suite 236
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.huntlittlefield.com
415.738.2360
415.308.3486 cell

Posted at 11:10 PM

Sat - July 21, 2007

Carol and Greg's wedding in Saratoga

Okay, so after posting my iphone teasers here are the real wedding images. We had a perfect day, in a amazing garden setting. I felt right at home in the Hakone Japanese Tea Gardens. The wedding had everything from fun clients to KFC to a coffee bar. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Jazzing up the simple style of the rings with chopsticks.

Posted at 11:44 AM

Sun - July 15, 2007

My very first iwedding

Okay, I couldn't resist. Instead of shooting with my 50 mm 1.0, I went for my iphone and grabbed some shots at yesterdays wedding. I had a ton of fun shooting yesterday, check back in for the real shots tomorrow. I'll post those when I get to L.A.

Let me know what you think. Here is my bridal portrait.

Details, details, details.

Little ceremony detail.

Had to get a shot with the bride.

My clients thought of everything, including mocha frappuccinos.

Posted at 12:02 PM

Sat - June 9, 2007

Justin and Orlena's wedding in San Francisco

Just returned home from Kauai and ready to shoot another amazing wedding. St. Cecilia's church and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins would be the locations for this high end wedding. Orlena and Justin had originally planned on getting married at the Flood Mansion (which is only blocks from the studio). But, decided to change the location based on the number of guests. Ann came to support me that day and grabbed some very cool shots. Here are just a sample of what we grabbed that day.

Ann loved this detail.

I have really been getting into the shoe shots. Girls be sure to get the perfect pair.

Orlena, WOW she was one beautiful bride.

Lots of great details.

I loved getting the details of the groom. They always have them, you just have to look for them.

Ann went big for this cool portrait.

So did I.

Exiting the church heading for the reception.

I had to hold traffic and lay down in the middle of California to grab this shot. Crazy!!! Anything for the shot.

Little windy at the top of Nob Hill.

We walked away with some of the most beautiful dance shots.

Thank you Orlena and Just. We had a amazing time.

Posted at 12:04 AM

Mon - May 21, 2007

Tony and Susan's wedding in Danville

Keeping it intimate. Tony and Susan are planning a big wedding at the end of the year. Susan's dad had become very ill and might not make it to the wedding. So they decided to scale things down, and do something for just the families. It made me think how important my job really is and the value of photography. Just one of the reasons I love my job.

Posted at 07:54 AM

Sun - May 13, 2007

Doug and Janet's wedding in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Nestldown a real hidden gem. The location is a amazing. Acres of breathtaking landscape and lots of great photo ops. Janet and Doug in from Connecticut wanted a outdoor event amongst the redwoods and nature. The wedding had lots of style and tons of fun. The wedding was back in April, so just doing a little catching up on my blog. Posting from my hotel room in Boston. I later caught up with them in NYC for a post wedding day engagement session. Here are some of my favorite shots.

Posted at 07:23 AM

Tue - February 27, 2007

Wedding albums

Here we are exactly one month away from my big talk at WPPI and I am so ready. I have a killer presentation and the new branding kits are looking really great. I have been shooting here and there during the winter months, but we are more focused on getting our wedding albums done.

So many of you have album plans with us this year. I wanted to offer some advice when selecting your images. Keep in mind that the albums need to tell your story and that is how we are photographing your wedding day. When I walk into a wedding I see so many things that can best tell a great story. So I make sure we get it all. Landscapes, portraits, photojournalism, details and lots of candids. A wedding album should have it all but don't over do it. Less is more. That is key. Select the core shots. Let me decide for you what should be color vs. black and white. If I see what you selected needs more, I will add it in or if there are duplicates of something. I will grab the stronger of the two. But, make your list and I will go over it with you.

Here are some of the layout we have been producing in the last couple of weeks. Keep in mind that these are two pages each and are full page spreads.

This was a cool wedding that Ann and I shot together.

The mother of the bride sent me a photo of the bride as a little girl. We incorporated it into the layout.

Sometimes a series of images look great.

Posted at 10:52 PM

Sat - February 24, 2007

Christina and John's wedding in Calistoga

I made my way up to Calistoga to shoot the wedding of Christina and John. The location was the Calistoga Ranch and it was nice to be back in the Napa Valley shooting. This was a second marriage for both and by the way they were connected you would have thought it was their first. So, the wedding would bring together two families. The kids were definitely the highlight of this wedding.

Here are some shots from the wedding.

Of course Christina, went for a couture gown.

An amazing bridal detail.

Found this while doing getting ready. Very cute!

And John, went for a Armani suit.

One of my all time favorite accessories. Mont Blanc!

Here is John and his boys.

There were cute kids everywhere.

Ceremony and Reception took place in the wine cellar.

This is my buddy Matt. John and Matt take care of all my credit card processing.

Not here is THE SHOT. The new family. What a great looking bridal party.

Posted at 06:05 PM

Sat - January 13, 2007

Reiko and Stephen's wedding in San Francisco

Ann and I started 2007 with a amazing wedding at the Asian Art Museum. So the 2007 wedding season we are in full speed ahead. We had all the luck on our side that day. Not a cloud in the sky and it was a bit warmer than usual.
The setting for the wedding was the Asian Art Museum. The backdrop of city was behind us and we timed the portrait session for sunset. This wedding had it all. Fun bridal party, emotion, great lighting and location and I was shooting along side of Ann Hamilton. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to start the New year.

Here is a list of vendors:

Venue: Tisha Hong, Events Asian Art Museum
Photography: Gene Higa, Photographer
Coordination: Jane Hammond, Jane Hammond Events
Videography: Pete Malone, First Floor Films
Disc Jockey: Mark Hagerty, Denon and Doyle
Flowers: Mandy Scott Flowers
Make-up: Maria Chang, Professional makeup Artisrty

Here are some shots from the wedding day. Can you say Sample Album? I am positive I will be proudly showing off the wedding in the studio.

One of my all time favorite make artist in the city. Maria Chang of Professional Makeup Artistry

A little ring detail.

Guys may not have allot to do while getting ready. You can always grab some cool shots of the guys.

Meanwhile Reiko was getting into her very simple and elegant Vera Wang gown. With the help of all the girls of course.

Another one of my favorites in the city. Mandy Scott of Mandy Scott Flowers one of our Cow Hollow neighbors did a amazing job on the flowers.

Here is something you don't get to see all the time. Video and make up in action. By the way, Pete Malone took care of video.

More of Mandy's creations.

Fun shot of the portrait session.

Ceremony detail. 1000 origami cranes. In japanese culture couples will fold 1000 cranes as a wish for a long and prosperous marriage and make dreams come true.

Jane Hammond of Jane Hammond Events. She took care of the lighting, pipe and drape for the ceremony site, food, and coordination.

Tisha Hong of the Asia Art Museum was great to work with. Fun and very professional. I keeps getting better. Big group shots. this one was on the grand staircase. 200 + guests.

Amazing detail. Letterpress calendars for all the guests.

Wanted to make my own art at the museum.

This last shot said it all. Lots of emotion. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Well, this wedding defiantly set the tone for the 2007 wedding season. I have some really amazing weddings lined up this year. here in San francisco and around the world. So check in weekly.

Posted at 11:25 AM Read More

Wed - December 13, 2006

Kathy and Charles's Wedding Album

Throughout the year we create custom wedding albums for our clients. Some trust our vision and go with a pre-design. Others like to go through all hundreds of images and make their selections for the album. From there we make our changes based on our clients feedback.

Our designs are clean and have a flow to tell your wedding day story. The top image is one page the others represent two pages each. Here is a sample of a album that we did for Kathy and Charles.

Posted at 01:40 PM

Wed - November 1, 2006

Martin and Emiko's wedding in Carmel valley

Carmel valley in the fall. It was perfect setting for wedding at Bernardus Lodge. I first met Martin and Emiko in Los Angeles and San Diego last year. Both were art majors and we hit off right away. Martin is a surfer and snowboarder so we had so we things in common. It made me think that I really need to start surfing again. Martin is actually a boot designer for DC shoes. His snowboard boot designs have gone into production for several years now. You can see Emiko's design talent in the way the ceremony and receptions were set up. This was one beautiful wedding. I also wanted to say thanks to Nikki and Ted for the referral. I did their wedding back in 2004. It was nice to see them again at the wedding. I also had the pleasure of working with Suzy Summers of Always RSVP, who kept everything in order and running smooth.

Martin and the guys, went for comfort and style. They all sported of course DC shoes and Nixon watches.

A little Bocce Ball before the ceremony.

Emiko went for style. She wore Jimmy Choo.

A little Dress art.

Flowers for were done by the amazing Karen Axel of Tapestry Flowers.

The whole room was Emiko's vision. She loved color.

Of course we had a groom cake in the shape of a snowboarding boot. They had a hard time cutting it.

Emiko seemed to be smiling all day long.

Here's a shot of Ted and Nikki.I actually did their wedding several years ago.

Posted at 07:47 AM

Fri - October 20, 2006

Chad and Mary Anne's wedding in Napa

Fall is here and we had perfect weather for a fall wedding at Auberge du Soleil. Chad and Mary Anne wanted to have a wedding that would honor both of their religions. Mary Anne, is Catholic and Chad is Jewish. So the ceremony had the best of both worlds. They signed the catuba and were married under the hoppa while incorporating the cord, coins and veil. It turned out to be nice compromise. They kept it intimate and very elegant. I also had the pleasure of working with Traci Steuteville of Napa Valley Celebrations.

Nam Vo did her make up.

I asked if I could be in her wedding photos.

Taking one for the team. Whatever it takes to get the shot.

Here is the shot I grabbed.

Seeing each other for the first time on the wedding day. Mary Anne kept saying how much she missed Chad.

May I have the rings, please.

Heading down to the vineyards for killer portrait session.

Haute Bride for her hair Jewelry.

Ceremony site on the deck over looking the valley. We had amazing light during sunset.

Ceremony details.

Reception details.

They had so many great family and friends that wanted to share stories. Some embarrassing, some, funny, but most of all supportive.

Here is a email that Mary Anne was kind enough to send over. This is the pay off for me. Happy clients.

Hi Gene!
The photos are fantastic! You captured all the emotions and the events so vividly. As I was going through all the photos, it was like a storybook. Each photo triggered a memory for me and in some cases, enabled me to see the things I did not see, like all the flowers on the ceremony deck, etc. Thank you so much for that! I am so very appreciative that you and Tanya were there to be my "eyes" throughout the evening. You do such good work. Chad and I are both in awe!

Sincerely;
Mary Anne

Posted at 11:20 PM

Thu - October 5, 2006

Joe and Kathy's wedding in San Jose

If you remember a couple of weeks ago. Ann Hamilton and I did a engagement session at Baker Beach. Well, the wedding day was here and we had a amazing time. We started pretty early in the morning for getting ready. We had the pleasure of working with or good friend Taylor Pham. One of the most sought after make up artists in the Bay Area. She just launched her own make up line. THI' Cosmetics. Anyways, we had a 13 hour day ahead of us and 5 locations. Vietnamese ceremony, chinese tea ceremony, church wedding, location shoot and of course a chinese style reception. Long day but worth it.