I’ve recently been selected as one of the judges for an international photography contest for ISPWP (International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers). It was an honor to participate in the judging of this competition because of the level of talent and experience of it’s members. Choco Studio has been a member of ISPWP for several years now (even winning second place in one of the contests) and I was glad to have an opportunity to give my time towards one of its quarterly competitions.

A total of almost 2,800 images were submitted into 20 categories that included Emotional Impact, Humor, Pure Art and Decisive Moment as well as more common wedding topics such as First Dance, Ceremony, and Reception. Admittedly, it took about 9 hours to judge the contest and it was a really great experience of thinking about the decisions I was making and drawing conclusions about my own photographic style. The winning entries were submitted to ISPWP and averaged with votes from three other judges.

You can view the winning images and read more about the contest at this link: ISPWP Spring 2011 Contest.

Mike

 

 

 

We’ve been looking forward to Agata and Ilya’s destination wedding at the beautiful Hans Fahden for a long time. They’re from Chicago and save for a meeting with them at our home studio one evening we’ve only had a chance to get to know them over the phone. Ilya is from Ukraine and Agata is from Polland and interestingly enough they grew up only a few hundred miles away from each other. Coincidentally, their families just happened to relocate to U.S. on the same exact date. And year.

Driving up to Calistoga on their wedding day we didn’t know what type of weather to expect – it’s been so unusually unpredictable lately. It seemed that the closer we got to Calistoga the gloomier it was becoming. And then finally, just before we turned into the wedding venue it actually started to rain. We’ve photographed weddings at Hans Fahden before and we know that it’s a venue made for beautiful outdoor ceremonies. It was time for some improvisation and some thinking that was definitely outside the box :)

We found Agata in the bridal room, not a bit upset, laughing about how they chose Calistoga over Chicago because the weather in Chicago can be so unpredictable. We loved her and Ilya’s positive attitudes and knew that we were absolutely going to be able to make the best of it.

Hans Fahden is a gorgeous venue with an incredibly lush garden and an actual cave for the receptions. Every time we’ve photographed there we’ve taken portraits in the garden area, but because it was raining we needed to use every dry spot we could find (even though it meant that the dry spot was only big enough for the bride and groom!) We had to think quick and get inventive, but it’s surprising what’s possible when you have enough time and a brave and trusting bride and groom :)

At the end of the day the skies parted and I don’t think the rain took away from this celebration one bit. Check out some of our favorites:

 

It’s truly a pleasure to be a photographer at a wedding at Hans Fahden Vineyards – the grounds are always gorgeous, rain or shine, and photo opportunities are everywhere.

 

Two of my favorite details of the day: Agata’s wonderful pink Louboutins and their hand-made super cute cake topper:

 

Getting ready:

 

Agata and Ilya’s first look:

 

Quick portrait of the beautiful bride:

 

Loved these simple and colorful bridesmaids bouquets by Verde Flowers:

 

Love this rainy portrait – these two really didn’t care about the weather!

 

One of my favorites from the day:

 

 

Hans Fahden has this beautiful overgrown pond that looks like it’s from a fairy tale. As soon as the rain stopped we jumped at the opportunity to run all around the property for fun portraits:

 

OK, this one of our very favorites from the entire day. We knew that Agata and Ilya want to have a wide angle landscape picture of them in the vineyards and we found this beautiful hill prior to the start of the wedding. We were all excited about it, but when it started to rain we lost hope – the hill required quite a hike through tall grass and prickly bushes to get to it. Imagine our surprise when Agata said she is still up for creating this picture! Thank you Agata for being so brave, it was so worth it!

 

Hiking through the tall wet grass:

 

 

 

The rings!

 

Loved shooting portraits inside of the cave:

 

A great moment during the Ketubah signing:

 

Their first dance:

 

Agata’s dad gave a very nice and hilarious toast during the reception:

 

Love this picture of Agata’s dad performing for everyone during the reception:

 

The beautiful pond on the property:

 

 

Couldn’t end this post without a behind-the-scenes image that Mike got – Ilya’s caring the bouquet and me trying to keep Agata’s dress off the ground and off the wet grass:

 

All the wonderful vendors of the day:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Hans Fahden Vineyards
Hair & Makeup: Salon 360
Florals: Verde Flowers
Catering: Wine Valley Catering
Wedding Cake: Sweetie Pies
Officiant: Rabbi Gershon & Fr. Dowling

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To view other gorgeous Hans Fahden Vineyard weddings photographed by Choco Studio visit:

Hans Fahden Vineyard Spring Wedding Photos
Hans Fahden Vineyard Summer Wedding Photos

 

We’d like to share pictures from a vacation we took only a month ago – this is absolutely unheard of! :) It usually takes us months and months to get to our personal images because there’s always something more important to work on. Well this time there are too many people who’ve been asking to see the images and so this weekend I decided to go through our loot and share some of our favorites. Let’s start at the beginning:

This April we went on a last-minute trip to Colombia. We really didn’t plan to travel anywhere far this year, but a few of our friends were going and when everything came together the temptation was just too hard to refuse :)

I’ll start with answering the most common question we get asked: Yes, Colombia is safe. After decades of civil conflict not only it is finally safe to visit, but it’s a must-visit country. Colombia is one of the most well-developed countries in Latin America and has amazingly diverse landscapes – from the gorgeous beaches of the Carribian to snowy mountains in the south. It was close to impossible to pick favorites and decide what to see during our two weeks trip, but below are some of the highlights.

 

Cartagena was the first city we visited and we were amazed at the history and colonial architecture we found there. Charming and old Cartagena quickly became our favorite city in Colombia. We stayed at a super cute tiny hotel within the old city walls and spent our days walking its quiet 16th century streets and plazas trying to soak in all the colors around us.

 

 

The view from the roof of our hotel Casa Gloria during twilight:

 

We came upon this church while searching the streets for a place to eat one night. There was a wedding ceremony going on inside and of course I had to snap a shot of it :)

 

 

Colombia’s food is amazing! I think we liked everything we tried there :) From delicious breads and buns for breakfast to amazing seafood for dinner, and tropical fruits sold on the streets as snacks in between – we just couldn’t stop eating.

 

 

We took a short day-trip from Cartagena to get to the famous mud baths of Volcan de Lodo El Totumo. The crater of the volcano is filled with warm mud with the thick consistency of sour cream. We spent most of our time laughing and trying our best to sink further then buoyancy would allow :)

 

A few more Cartagena scenes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this we spent a few days camping in Park Tayrona – one of Colombia’s most popular national parks. This scenic park is located right on the Carribean coast and has gorgeous uncrowded beaches frequented mostly by locals. There are no roads in the park so all the visitors have to hike for a couple of hours to get to the beaches and campgrounds. It was definitely worth it!

 

In Tayrona there was the option of renting a hammock for the night:

 

As romantic and tempting as sleeping in the hammock on the beach sounded, most of us wisely decided to stay in tents.

 

While traveling, we always try to visit the local markets – not the souvenir markets intended for tourists, but the markets where locals buy their food. Plaza de Mercado de Paloquemao in the capital city of Bogota was the real deal wholesale market with livestock and produce. We spent a couple of hours wondering the labyrinth of its rows, enjoying all the colors and smells of an incredible variety of locals fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

 

 

 

 

 

We absolutely loved Colombia and cannot wait to come back to explore it further! I can’t recommend visiting this beautiful country enough.

We are now in the middle of our busy season – there are going to be three weddings and an engagement session shoot within next five days, but we’ll do our best to keep the blog updated with all of the recent events! Hope you had a great holiday weekend!