We met Iweni and Mikhail last year through a referral by Roxanne and Vince, whose wedding we’ve photographed in 2006. Most of our couples find us through past client recommendations and we always greatly appreciate this compliment! :)

Iweni and Mikhail live in SoCal and their big day in San Ramon a week ago was a bit of a destination wedding. This couple’s celebration included quite a large bridal party: 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen, and they seemed to have a blast together throughout the day.

Our photography coverage started at the hotel where Iweni was getting ready and later we drove to take photos at the beautiful Heather Farm Gardens in Walnut Creek.

Afterwards, following the ceremony, we proceeded to The Bridges Golf Club and the fun continued with bride and groom portraits, bridal party shots, and of course the reception. We’ve photographed another wedding at the Bridges Golf Club last year and we always enjoy working at this amazing venue!

A super-fun bridal party:

Gorgeous table settings were awaiting guests at the reception:

A candid during the cake cutting:

Congratulations, you guys!! We were honored to be a part of your wedding.

See their engagement photos here.

Mike

If you’ve noticed a new banner on our main website during the last week, it’s because I’ve recently applied and got accepted into the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association!

The [AG]WPJA is a subdivision of WPJA that focuses on photographers that excel in the art of post-production image processing. Acceptance is based on meeting and upholding the organization’s standards of originality and skill and includes strict guidelines for membership inclusion.

I feel lucky to be a part of a handful of California photographers that have been accepted into the [AG]WPJA. One of the benefits for members is the opportunity to enter the quarterly photography contests and have the images critiqued by some of the most talented and well known shooters in the industry. I can’t wait for a chance to enter some of the images I’ve created thanks to our amazing clients. Trophies, prizes, and awards are given to the top 10 selected images in a variety of categories.

Mike

A little over a week ago we had an incredible engagement shoot with Deepa and Ash. We got excited that Deepa came dressed in traditional clothes; it made the pictures all the more interesting! We spent some time photographing these guys in Menlo Park and then moved over to Stanford’s campus for the rest of our time. The couple was laughing and smiling the entire time which made our work easy!

Some great backlighting at Stanford:

Having some fun with Deepa’s scarf:

Their energy was contagious!

Thanks for a great time! Can’t wait for the big shoot next Saturday.

Mike

Woo hooo… some of the shots from our trip are now ready! We had a great time unwinding and checking out the beautiful rocks and landscapes of the Valley of Fire state park. You can probably see why it was given this name… :) Enjoy!

The elephant rock:

A few of the beaver tail cacti were already in bloom:

Relaxing at sunset:

Mike