The slideshow from Emily and Chris’s beautiful and super-fun wedding in the redwoods is ready and can be viewed here: emilyandchris.readyforyourcloseup.com. I love this slideshow – it really gives the feel for what a fun, unique and completely entertaining wedding this was!

I had a fun weekend in San Francisco at the Lighting Essentials workshop. The instruction at this workshop was much better than the last one I attended, but the workshop was overbooked, which created a bit of a paparazzi feel. I was one of the more experienced photographers there, and most of the lighting information was a review for me, which is exactly what I wanted – a low-pressure atmosphere to practice different lighting setups and maybe learn a few new tricks along the way. Plus, I got to help out a few of my fellow participants, which was lots of fun, since I love teaching. So even if I didn’t learn a lot of new stuff, the weekend was definitely a success: I met a lot of new photographers and models that I’m sure I’ll work with again, got to practice various lighting techniques and generally had a fun time in and around San Francisco.

I’ve been wanting to do a Trash the Dress session for a long time, and I finally found a willing and enthusiastic dress trasher in Harleen! She grew up in Folsom so I just followed her around to some of her favorite spots around Old Folsom and then over by the lake. We found some great spots in the woods and finished off with a jump into the lake! Harleen was great – she kept saying things like “Oh, I really want to climb up there!” The session finished with some extra excitement when on her second jump into the cold lake, Harleen got a bit tangled up in her dress. Luckily, we had prepared for this possibility beforehand, and my assistant Carrie was holding my camera strap so I could jump in without bringing the camera with me. After a few seconds of dress adjustment, Harleen was freed and everything was OK. It seemed fair that she wasn’t the only one that had to walk back to the car with wet clothes!

Kickball, croquet, liquid nitrogen, redwoods, beautiful, smiling bride and groom and tons of happy guests. What more could you ask for from a wedding?
A bride playing kickball is a sight to see, especially when she gets tagged out by her new husband! Emily’s a grad student in Physics at UC Davis, and it wouldn’t be a physicist gathering without the liquid nitrogen, so I asked my friend Cassandra (who works with Emily and referred her to me in the first place) to get some from her lab. She was more than happy to oblige…
I had Erika and Jeff working with me at this event, so with an extra assistant I was able to try out something I’ve been wanting to do for a while: we set up some studio lights in a small copse of trees and turned it into a little “photo booth” where the guests could wander by and have their picture taken. There were a lot of families here, so a lot of them took the chance to get an impromptu family portrait, and it was lots of fun.

One from the “photo booth”:

Yup, that’s liquid nitrogen – don’t they have that at every wedding?

I had a great time wandering around Old Sac with Marissa and Wally. Marissa told me she was a bit nervous, so I was expecting them to need more of a warm-up, but they were naturals! They got into it right away, and Marissa brought some great props – Noah’s Bagels (they met there) and their favorite drinks (I won’t ruin the surprise, just scroll down and check out the picture). My new assistant, Erika Felts, was a great help, and got some nice images as well. Wally is a music recording artist and rap singer, so I’m looking forward to their wedding – maybe he’ll take me up on my suggestion to rap his vows… of course, then Marissa might fire me

A couple from Erika: