Last minute I ended up going to the Dominican Republic in search for the dream wedding locations.  I really wanted to highlight the beauty of this country and demonstrate that it is fine to visit despite the devastation in neighboring  Haiti.  My brief 5 day trip to the DR came as a call for a story from a popular destination wedding publication.   The story is still being finalized, so I will make another post once the article is published.  Lina, my traveling companion, and I had a rented car and had meetings in the mornings, would relax on the beach in the afternoons, and usually drive the next destination in the night. We covered the Northern Coast as well as the Southeast of the island.  When I started gathering information for the article my focus was on the big resorts, and although big resorts have their place, I quickly found some amazing alternatives to the typical island wedding.  We met with an amazing event planner, and an awesome luxury villa rental company. The dollar goes so much further in the Dominican Republic, that you can have a multi-day wedding in your own private villa for the same price as an average wedding back in the States.  One such company I highly recommend is North Coast Management, with a shot of their luxury villa Castellamonte bellow.

The beauty of a customized wedding, pretty much anything is possible, including a helicopter bringing the bride to the altar.  In Cabarete, we met with Richard from 4TW wedding planning, an amazing wedding planning business in the Dominican Republic. Richard is an American expat, living there for the past 13 years.  His resume is impressive, and he is just an all around great guy, helping couples realize their dream wedding.  I highly recommend him for your Dominican wedding.

As far as resorts go the most impressive one was Casa De Campo. We got an amazing four hour tour and an extremely enjoyable lunch with their marketing team. This 7000 acre property has a world class golf course, a marina, polo fields, stables, church, 5000 private villas and homes, hotels, restaurants, you name it. Its a city in itself, and was by far the most amazing resort experience.  Tons of celebrities own property there.  We also visited Casa Colonial, Barcello Puerta Plata, Blue Bay Puerta Plata, and Dreams La Romana. They were all pretty much on par with each other, with Casa Colonial standing apart from the rest. Its an ultra exclusive resort, with amazing architecture design and world class spa amenities. Dreams La Romana had a pretty nice vibe, with a spectacular gazebo with flowing curtains.  We stumbled on a few hidden gems, ideal for smaller weddings in a beach setting. One was in Bayahibe, a small fishing village, a few minutes away from Dreams La Romana.  It is a boat shaped bar and restaurant named Barco Bar. With the right planning it would make a great wedding venue, with many guest rooms available in town or the resort accommodations up the road.

Last, but not least, I just want to acknowledge all the great people we met on this trip.  Its a long flight from California, but trust us, it is so worth it!
Even more photos from the trip on my site!

Had another amazing show with my great team, Mark and Lina. We ran into some issues with the alcohol permits, and had to resort to serving Martinelli’s instead of sparkling wine.  It was pretty smooth regardless, and I feel that we got some great leads from some amazing couples. There were some really great vendors we met at this show including friends from Elixir, Michael John Productions, La Bonne Cuisine, Hotel Kabuki, and the Martinelli Event Center.  Bellow is a sampling of the great brides and grooms we met with.

I spent this Valentines day with a great couple, Sarah and Eric. We’ve done an engagement shoot in the past, but I needed a couple for a commercial shoot at the Oakland Zoo, and they were up for the romantic activity.  It was one of the coolest shoots I’ve ever done, and the access that we got from the zoo was nothing short of exceptional.  The images are for the zoo to promote their wedding packages, and I was more than happy to take the job.  We took some shots in front of their Snow building, and then moved into the Zoo.  The employees brought out a snake and a ferret. They had names, but I forgot them.  I tried to capture the great features of the park, as well as capture the romance between Sarah and Eric.  For more information on having ceremony or reception at the Oakland Zoo visit: http://www.oaklandzoo.org/

While a third of the country was watching the Superbowl, Keith, Alison and I took advantage of the nice weather and created some beautiful photos. They wanted to capture the vibe of San Francisco in the images, especially since many of their relatives are from out of state and don’t get to see the beauty of our city. Keith and Alison really wanted to get shots of the cable cars, the Bridge, the beach, so we did. I actually don’t have too many of those shots in my portfolio, so I was more than happy to follow their lead. One notable thing about my connection to the couple is that I took the very first photo of the two of them at the event where the two of them met. I have known Keith for years, and when he asked me for that photo, I did not think much of it. Fast forward a few years later…I am at their house for our initial consultation meeting and the photo is everywhere. When I realized what that one image meant to them, I almost shed a tear. Its an amazing feeling when I see my clients treasure the images that I captured. Very glad to have the opportunity to continue capturing their great memories.

Receive some FREE headshots for promoting our facebook page. Simply “Suggest to Friends” the Facebook page to your friends. If 25 or more of your friends become new fans of the page, I will give you a free shoot. Its that simple. The shoots will be 30 minutes in or around SF, at a mutually convenient time. You’ll get at least 5 professionally retouched images for your Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc. I really appreciate your help! Click on the image bellow to get started!

Note: offer limited to first 20 shoots.

We just had our second bridal fair of the year, and it was amazing. Got to meet some great couples and had a pretty good overall presence. The Westin’s loading zone was super convenient, and it was a quarter of the trip we had to make at the first show. My team for this show included Lina, Chelsea and Mike. We were rocking and rolling in our little corner. Everyone loved the books, and we had some brides that stayed well over 20 minutes. The feedback and the connections we received were fantastic. Kimberly and her team from International Wedding Festival put on a great show. Our next show is with Modern Bridal on Feburary 28th, at the Concourse Pavilion in San Francisco. Here are some photos from our booth.

I had the pleasure of shooting little Parker and her family. Her mom bid on a photo shoot with me at a George Marks Children’s House silent auction. I felt really good about giving to the organization, since they do an amazing job helping families during some of the toughest times imaginable. I did not hear from the winner for a long time, and then one day the phone rang and we set up a shoot. My approach to this shoot was no different than a bridal couple, and I just let things unfold in front of me, capturing genuine emotion in a natural way. The resulting shots were fantastic, and I got another 5 star yelp review from it.

Eric contacted me to get some head shots and body shots done for his modeling portfolio. We had a great shoot, with 3 looks and 3 locations including Oyster Point Marina and the Embarcadero. Hopefully Eric will get some modeling work soon.