Michelle + Eric: An Elopement from Cityscape to Rolling hills (San Francisco/Nicasio, CA)

Michelle and Eric love to travel and so they decided to elope in San Francisco. They flew over from Toronto, the city they live in, with their parents and a few close friends, to have their Civil ceremony at SF City Hall. In addition to celebrate in San Francisco, Michelle also wanted to go back to visit a beautiful ranch with horses in Nicasio where she has visited when she was very young. It was not easy to design and plan a wedding remotely, and Michelle did it with amazing details, from the route to the City Hall, the driving machine for Eric, to the celebration in Sausalito and Nicasio. When Michelle told me her plans, it sounded like a romantic movie, and my mission was to capture their day just like one.

On their day of, we started early in the beautiful classic Omni Hotel for the getting ready pictures. Although Michelle has planned to take the cable car to the City Hall, for whatever reason, the cable car driver did not stop for us, and all of us just stood there, watching the cable car passed us by. It was quite disappointing, and we had to use our backup plan and took the cab instead.

The City Hall was especially crowded that day. Of all the times I have been there for Civil weddings, I have never seen that many people, especially wedding couples and their photography/videography crews! Michelle and Eric's ceremony was a short but sweet, and we were able to get a few nice signature shots inside, away from the crowds. After the ceremony, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and to get some images with the bridge. It has been a while since I've been on this side of the GGB for photos, and it was quite refreshing!

Before we headed out to Nicasio, Michelle and Eric took the group to Scoma's, a nice restaurant in Sausalito on the pier, and we got a lot of nice picture moments too!

The drive up to the Danehill Manor was quite long, but the jaw-dropping scenery was well worth it! It's just like entering a different world, and felt like a dream! It was also my first time being so close to that many horses, which were freely wandering around! The owner, Karin, was very friendly and she kept reminding us how to make eye and body contact with the horses to get close to them and have them follow you. It was a unique experience and a wonderful afternoon at this gorgeous place! 

Congratulations to Michelle and Eric again and thanks for letting me capture this memorable day of theirs!

Romancing in San Francisco: A Pre-Wedding Session with Sally and Stanley (San Francisco, ca)

A few months ago, I got a special request from Taiwan to have a pre-wedding session in San Francisco. Sally and Stanley from Taipei have planned to come to the States for a visit and would like to capture their fun trip in this beautiful city. I was really looking forward to their session, as I love to capture the wonderful moments of travelers to our city for them to treasure.

On the day of the pre-wedding shoot, we met at a neighborhood Cafe around Lombard Street. It was impressive to see them both already dressed up and more ready than I was for the shoot. Sally looked really pretty in her beautiful gown and Stanley appeared so handsome in his nice suit. We walked up and down on Lombard Street and the couple got lots of blessings from passer-bys along the way. We later visited the Palace of Fine Arts and found lots of cool places to shoot with the amazing natural light. Our last stop was Crissy Field and Sally and Stanley spent some wonderful time there until sunset.

Thanks Sally and Stanley for inviting me to capture your beautiful bridal session in this cool metropolitan city. I am very much looking forward to seeing you again in Taipei!