Lorena and JJ - Wedding Love, Salinas Style

You just never know how a wedding is going to turn out. I knew that there were amazing plans in store for this wedding. I knew that a mariachi band would play throughout the day. I knew that a full live band would take us through the night. I did not know that I would take the bride and groom into an historical movie theater. I did not know that I would take the bridal party into the stands of the Salinas Sports Complex. I did not know I would have this much fun at a wedding! Lorena first heard about us from a co-worker of hers (huge thanks Josy!) that we had the pleasure of working with about five years ago. From the first moments that we were together on their wedding day, it was obvious that Lorena and JJ had planned their own special touches for their wedding. We all had a blast working together and it was an amazing celebration! A stunningly beautiful church! A stunningly beautiful bride! While walking through old town Salinas, we fell upon the Fox Theater, originally built in 1921. I could have spent all day in there, but unfortnately we had less than five minutes. Big thanks to David of the Fox Theater for letting us in! Lots of great words and touching stories surrounded Lorena and JJ. Of course our good friend Tequila made a couple of appearances. These guys ROCKED the room like no other. Here's a sign your having a good party - when the room just can't contain it! For the last shot of the night, I wanted to try something different. This group shot is composed of a about 12 individual shots of the various couples taken alone. If you know me, you know how much I hate to use photochop, but sometimes there's no other way. In my head, I knew how to make it work but had never actually tried anything like this before. But I've always said that a wedding, under pressure, is the perfect place to push yourself and experiment. Do you like it? When I met JJ for the first time at the wedding, he confessed to spending hours on my website looking through our work with admiration and made me promise that his photos would be on my website as well. This one is for you guys!

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Samantha and Geoff - Yosemite after dark

Samantha and Geoff traveled from Sydney Australia to marry in Yosemite. As far as I know, thats just about as far as someone can travel to get married. They were joined by Samatha's longtime friend Lindessa who drove up from Palm Springs just for the wedding (and back down after it was over)! After finalizing a time and location, we decided on having the wedding in a meadow just behind the Yosemite Chapel as the sun set behind El Capitan. We met for the first time Tuesday afternoon and she looked stunning, just ask Geoff! Earlier in the afternoon Samantha had gone to Bellissimo Brides to have have her hair done and it looked amazing. Reverend Carol Dewey officaiated the ceremony which was simple and beautiful. I have really come to love elopements--they are like a full blown wedding stripped down to the core, the love between a husband and wife. There was absolutely nothing to distract from the love of these two. But in this case, there was another little girl present, their soon-to-come daughter Winter who held her own special place in the ceremony. Have I mentioned I love what I do? Samantha took a little longer to arrive than planned, but that just us more time to hang out and get to know Geoff. In case you are wondering, Geoff = very cool guy. A spot just behind the Yosemite Chapel became the perfect sport for the union. I love the simple representation of an amazing point in her life. Such peace. It's amazing how something so simple as a pair of shoes can capture personality. Passion. We stopped to enjoy the last of the daylight as it slipped behind the horizon. Once we got rid of all traces of daylight, things got interesting :) Shooting in the forest in complete darkness is not the easiest thing to pull off, but I always enjoy a good challenge. Fortunately, Samantha and Geoff ROCKED these shots! Yeah, we were still taking photos late into the evening (think starlight). I was exhausted to say the least, but the result was well worth the work!

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