Roger & Gem Wedding

My old friend Roger got married at the Hans Fahden winery in Napa, and I went to it fully prepared to take a ton of photos. I usually do this whenever I go to weddings, mostly for the benefit of the bride & groom so they can have some immediate gratification before getting their hands on the photos from the professionals. And, of course, I like to take photos. But this time around there were so many people with serious camera hardware at the wedding that I decided to relax and not go overboard. Nonetheless, I'm happy with how a few of them turned out.


I happen to catch Gem looking right at me as Roger delivers a toast.
f/1.4, 1/50s, 50mm, ISO 160





The girls looking sophisticated while eating Rock Candy.
f/2.8, 1/50s, 24mm, ISO 160





Roger & Gem make their first appearance after the ceremony.
f/2.8, 1/125s, 17mm, ISO 200

Golden Gate Bridge at dusk

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, as seen from the Marin headlands.


f/8, 17mm, ISO 200, 10 second exposure

Watermelons!

While driving in San Francisco around 17th & Florida I spotted this colorful mural painted by Pico Sanchez on a stretch of wooden fence, and instantly knew that I would have to return with my wife and camera for a little portrait session. Turns out that we went back to the mural twice, the second time with me insisting that we bring a slice of watermelon along with us. Fun was had by all, including the curious and amused passers by (especially the observant guy who yelled "WATERMELONS!!" from his car window as he drove by).

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from our second visit.


f/2.8, 1/1000s, 19mm, ISO 200


f/2.8, 1/600s, 24mm, ISO 200

Ferry Building - San Francisco

f/10, 13 seconds, 17mm, ISO 200
Shot at dusk from the Hyatt hotel across the street.

Doe Mountain Trail Mesa - Sedona, Arizona

Taking interesting pregnancy photos isn't easy, I've come to realize. It's a bit of a tightrope act of trying to show the belly in all its glory while at the same time taking extra care to show it (and mom) in a flattering way.

I like how there are three distinct 'formations' to look at in this photo. You have the baby bump of course, the small stack of rocks that someone created, and the grandeur of the mountain valley.

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f/8, 1/200sec, 20mm, ISO 200
Doe Mountain trail mesa
Sedona, Arizona

Fun with textures

Inspired by my friends over at the image is found photography, I thought I would take a crack at introducing some textures to my images. Here is my first experiment.



f/2.8, 1/80s, 17mm, ISO 800

For reference, this is a sample of the concrete texture I used (the original is too big to display here). I flipped the texture horizontally so the crack you see there would appear on the right side instead of the left as it is below.

(I found this image on some free texture site.)