Wedding Documentary Photography and Videography Blog

Nidhi and Somesh had a wonderful weekend bash! Like amazing….wonderful! What an honor to photograph such a large, spectacular event, with a guest list of people that pretty much came from all over the world. I looked forward to this wedding as much as Nidhi and Somesh did because I wanted really wanted to push myself and create something really new and fresh. I get so excited to go out and shoot because every wedding is so unique and everyone couple is different. Every time I step out the door and pick up the camera I teach myself something new, not always just about cameras, but about people. That’s what keep what I do so interesting.

Their venue was Casa Real in Pleasanton, California. I think this place was made for Indian weddings……seriously, it has it’s private driveway, parking lot. It has outdoor seating for a lot of people and they have a huge shade for guests with misters (it was like 100 degrees outside and I decided to wear all black this day)….The bridal dressing room is huge, bars everywhere, seperate room for cocktails etc……And the people who work there are all really nice!

Well, I am still editing the 3,500 photos we shot so I thought I would post some of my favorites……Wait until you see the video!!!

Tech Notes: Canon 5D Mark II camera, different lenses. Some of the shots are from Bobby Moon my assistant. All in all, we had 4 of us there doing photo and video. All editing was done in Lightroom, no photoshop! Not that I am opposed I just love lightroom so much I rarely need Photoshop. Enjoy!

Wow, what an amazing wedding on a perfect July Saturday in beautiful Los Gatos….My home town!

I was extremely excited to work with Miyo and Jose because they are awesome people and very interesting ! Also, I love shooting weddings where two cultures come together, in this case, Japanese and Italian culture. Miyo is a film gal so we have lots in common, and by hiring Wedding Documentary for her photography and videography, she obviously has good taste! Jose is one smart guy, speaking five langauges, including Japanes, Chinese, Italian, English, and I am guessing he speaks Spanish and French too!

Miyo and Jose picked one of my favorite places for their wedding ceremony and reception, Hazlwood. The grounds at Hazlwood are gorgeous and we have perfect light all day long, with warm winds and cloud cover making the sky a huge softbox. The foliage by the pond is really tall now. A year ago it was much shorter but now the place is so lush and private, I would highly recommend having yoyur wedding there. Brenda, the owner, is the sweetest lady and I have such a great time shooting at her house that I can’t wait to go back to shoot another wedding! Also, even though it’s kind of off the beaten path, it’s so nice once you are there because everything is really close together yet feels open. Did I mention their catering rocks the house! Seriously some of the best food I have had comes from this place, and that should mean a lot considering I am a foodie and I eat catering more than once a week!

Just so you know, NO PHOTOSHOP, was used on these images. But I do like Lightroom and my Canon 5D Mark II and collection of glass! Video is coming soon! Stay Tuned! Drop a comment with what you think!

Maritza and Jess could not have picked a better evening to do their engagement shoot in San Francisco! We started at Baker beach and then went over to Lombard Street, and finally over to the Embarcadero. We had a great time, such a great time, that I didn’t even care that we came back to my car at Baker Beach, only to find the gate had been locked by the rangers and I was possibly going to have to wait until morning to get my car. But that would be crazy right? So Jess, drives around, finds a ranger, then tells them about the car, and they send someone to unlock the gate in ten minutes. Pretty exhilerating way to end the shoot but I do say, it felt good driving home that night!

The photos posted below are some of our favorites. For these I used Lightroom, then imported them into Nik Software’s Viveza and Color Pro to do some more effects. Blemishes were removed in Adobe PhotoShop CS4 and the camera was the Canon 5D Mark II. If anyone is interested in seeing some videos on effects, leave a comment of what you want to learn and I will make something!