We had the pleasure of meeting Gemmy and Karen when they were referred to us by their friends Megan and Albert. It’s definitely flattering when couples appreciate our work enough to recommend us to their friends and family.

For Gemmy and Karen’s engagement session we had a lot of fun roaming around UC Berkeley. Both of them graduated from there a few years back and it was nice to be there with people who really know the area and can point out all the interesting parts. Perhaps we were there right in between the semesters but i’ve never seen the campus so quiet.

Gemmy and Karen are going to be wed at Auberge Du Soleil in Napa and we are so excited to document their big day! Here are some of the engagement session favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we first received the contact form from Sveta about her upcoming wedding we knew we were speaking with a true fan of our work. Sveta first heard of Choco Studio over a year ago, when SF Gate published an article about us and who we are as a couple. We aim to find people who connect to our style of seeing the wedding day and more often than not we can tell right away if our photographs have reached them. It’s a true joy to work for people who understand and appreciate our approach.

Even though we only had a chance to finally meet Sveta and Dae on their wedding day, right away we could just see that they are made for each other. The love between a couple on their wedding day is truly contagious.

Here are a few favorite selections:

 

Wedding ceremonies at the SF City Hall are always short but nevertheless full of love and laughter:

 

Dae could not take the eyes off his beautiful bride even for a second :)

 

 

These two were so happy and so into each other I think they barely noticed their photographers. Love it!

 

 

Congratulations Sveta and Dae, we wish you many many years of happiness together! Can’t wait to have the rest of the wedding gallery ready for you.

 

We love to photograph City Hall weddings and would love to photograph YOURS! View more information here: San Francisco City Hall Wedding Information.

 

 

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