So here are some photos of us in action and behind-the-scene shots from last year. The good, the bad, and the funny:

The hardest thing during this shoot was not not to get my gear completely soaked:

Mike showing our couple exactly how he wants them to walk:

Getting in my way :)

It’s not a proper Mexico wedding without a sombrero, isn’t it?

I loove photographing babies, it’s the best workout ever! :)

Sometimes I get carried away with all the wedding details:

Trash the Dress session in the Mexican ruins:

I never can get enough of photographing pretty shoes:

Mike, making sure he properly documents all the reception details and food­­:

Covering the preparations in Hawaii:

Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes during a trash-the-dress shoot in the Hawaiian jungles:

MIke sporting his beloved crocs:

Testing the light at the De Young Museum:

Hope you enjoyed it :) We are currently still at WPPI, enjoying classes, inspiration, and great networking with our photo friends. The trade show with all the new albums, canvas prints, and more opens tomorrow and we look forward to checking it out.

Happy Monday everybody!

We’ll be back in the office on Friday, March 12th. We should be available by phone, but the best way to reach as during this time is through email.

And here’s a little reminder that spring is truly on its way:

Stay dry!

Everybody has heard about the dress shopping experience being a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work. After visiting two bridal stores and trying on about thirty dresses we were exhausted. There were a few dresses we kind of liked, but nothing that really stood out. I still didn’t know what I want, but knew exactly what I don’t want – nothing too puffy, no crystals, no beads. I knew that if it’s hard for me to move in the dress, it was not for me. I wanted something simple, earthy, organic and flowwy. I found a few of those in the magazines, but to my dismay none of them looked good on me.

Can you tell we were tired? :)

Last week I made another round of appointments, this time in San Francisco. Again, we found a few dresses that we liked and at the end of the day we walked into a small bridal salon in North Beach. Soon, we realized that there was nothing really to look at, nothing that I would be excited to try, but just because it took us a while to find the salon, I decided to at least try something on. It was here that one of the dresses on the racks suddenly caught my eye. The dress was nothing like what we looked at before, but for some reason I felt the urge to give it a try anyway.

No, I didn’t have a “That’s the One!” moment when I put it on and I didn’t get all teary eyed. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I liked it when I came out of the fitting room. But the more I looked at myself in the mirror, the more I realized that the dress is just perfect and I can totally picture myself wearing it for the wedding.

Well, the next morning I came back for my perfect wedding dress :)

Here are five tips that helped me find the dress:

1. Right after you get engaged and before you make your mind up on a wedding dress style, go to the largest bridal salon in your area. Try to have an open mind and try on a variety of wedding gowns, don’t eliminate anything at first glance. Even though certain styles work best on certain body types, don’t let the “rules” narrow your search too much. And if the salesperson brings you something she says you must try — try it, even if you don’t like the way it looks on the hanger.

Now that you know the basic style of the wedding dress that suits you, you can search the Internet and bridal magazines comparing fabrics and subtle design changes that may look even better. Make notes, tear off magazine pages you liked, and bring them to your next wedding gown appointments. Try not to get too attached to a wedding dress that looks great on paper, there’s always a chance that you won’t like it in person.

2. Start looking for your wedding dress at least nine months before the wedding day, because the whole style of the wedding should match the style of the bride’s dress. If you’ll fall in love with a vintage wedding dress, your whole wedding will have to reflect that :) Also, it takes about six months for your wedding dress to arrive from the manufacturer and for it to be properly fitted.

3. For your own sanity, bring along only a couple of very important to you people, maybe your mom and a supportive friend with great taste. Three or more people are going to be offering a ton of conflicting opinions and it’s going to create unnecessary drama. Advice is important, but you should remember that it’s your wedding day after all and to listen to your instincts; if you have to be reassured that the dress looks great on you, it’s probably not the one. Can you really see yourself walking down the aisle in this gown? If not, take it off and try another one on.

4. Dress shopping should be fun. Don’t overwhelm yourself with too much in one day, if every wedding dress is starting to look the same, call it a day.

5. Your perfect wedding dress is the one you don’t want to take off. It sticks out in your mind and you find yourself comparing all the others to it, you feel accomplished and excited when you go home.
But even after you think you’ve found your wedding gown, take a day, sleep on it and come back to the salon the next day. You want to be absolutely sure it’s the one for you: since bridal gowns are custom-made, they are absolutely non-returnable.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Well… now, despite sometimes nasty weather and a few bruises, there’s no stopping me. Even though I still have a long way to learn and all my attempts to jump end up with me landing on my back, I absolutely fell in love with this sport. We try to go up to Tahoe (Kirkwood Resort is our favorite) every chance we get and enjoy the snow while it lasts.

So here’s my thought: if you are an adventurous couple who loves playing in the snow, we would love to photograph your engagement session in Tahoe! Snow covered nature is so beautiful, we can shoot anywhere in the South Lake Tahoe area.

We would also be excited to learn of any couples who want get married in Tahoe and need a wedding photographer. Would be awesome to shoot a wedding on top of the mountain :)

Here are some favorites from our last week’s visit:

Per everybody’s request we’ll be posting the best behind-the-scenes 2009 pictures next on our blog. I’m sorting through a lot of these pictures right now, trying to understand how much we are willing to embarrass ourselves :)

Next week we are leaving to Vegas for the annual Wedding and Portrait Photographers convention. We’re very excited for this opportunity to learn and network, and we’ll share it all on this blog.

Natasha

This issue is currently on the newsstands through Springtime, so check it out! We’ve included some of our favorite tips below the image:

Northern California Brides Magazine article – How to read a photography contract:

“The process of finding the right photographer eventually leads to signing a contract to seal the deal. But before you put pen to paper, make sure that the document includes the specifics of what you and your photographer have agreed to, and that you understand what you’re getting and how you’re being charged.

The fine print: In case of illness or a sudden event out of control of both parties, Choco Studio will substitute a photographer at no extra cost to the client.

Explanation: The contract should state the photographer’s emergency policy. Make sure that he or she belongs to a reputable network, so you’ll get photographs of similar quality if a substitution needs to be made.

The fine print: Choco Studio will deliver 75 images per each hour of photography coverage.

Explanation: It helps to know how many images you can expect. Some photographers provide a total of 200 while others give up to 2,000. You don’t wont to be disappointed with fewer images than you expected, or overwhelmed by repetitious shots.

The fine print: The client will be asked to select images for the albums and will have up to six months after the delivery of the photographs to make the selections.

Explanation: If your photographer is going to design the album, the contract should include the processing and delivery timeline. In our contract, we have a deadline for receiving image selections, because when clients take too long to select images and approve album layouts, it really affects a photographer’s workload and schedule.

Continued in the magazine…”

Hope this helps some of you better understand the basics of a wedding photography contract and find the right wedding photographer!

The day started at Campton Place Hotel where I probably spent way too much time photographing Anna’s awesome shoes :) and from there we made our way to City Hall where all the guests were ready for the ceremony to start, right on the Mayor’s balcony.

I just loooved this pair of Louboutins:

We decided to do all the portraits right inside of the City Hall because of the rain. We spent about an hour shooting in the halls, on the stairs, in the elevators, and even by the drinking fountains! Anna and Gary were great sports, ready to participate in any crazy ideas we had :)

Then we were off to a candlelit reception at Saint Francis Yacht Club. In line with the Doctor Zhivago wedding theme colorful matryoshka dolls were set as centerpieces at each table surrounded by brightly lit candles. The live piano music greatly added to the evening’s atmosphere. The Saint Francis Yacht Club wedding also included a beautiful ice sculpture of a Russian Orthodox Church in the cocktail area and the guests were treated to black caviar and other hors d’oeuvres.

That evening at Saint Francis Yacht Club had much delicious food and warm toasts. The reception ended with a traditional Russian folk dancing performance in which Anna was one of the stars.

Congratulations, Anna and Gary!!! We were honored to be a part of your day :)

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a wonderful weekend.

We are working on a beautiful Doctor Zhivago themed winter wedding that we’ve recently photographed. It’s going to be on the blog by the end of the week!

Have a great Tuesday, everyone.

Natasha

I’ve known Gene since we went to college and it was an honor to be there. There was no shortage of gorgeous details, special lighting, and emotions for us to photograph on this big day. We loved shooting at Mark Hopkins hotel and this wedding was gorgeous in every way.

View from the top of Mark Hopkins hotel:

This beautiful Chuppah was provided by “Miracle Chuppahs”:

These guys really practiced their dance moves and the crowd was thrilled:

The toasts went on all night:

It was a pleasure to work with Bob of Video Madness:

Click on the image to check it out:

To view Jenny and Jeff’s entire wedding blog post, click here.

Loved this quiet moment at sunset between the ceremony and reception:

A few behind-the-scene shots:

Congratulations to this wonderful couple!! We were thrilled to be a part of your exciting day.

We had a great time this weekend with a wedding at St. Francis Yacht Club on Friday as well as a wedding at Mark Hopkins Hotel on Saturday. We’ll be making our way through all these photographs in the next week or two and posting them up asap!

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend.

Mike