This couple was tons of fun to work with, they had all kinds of great ideas that they contributed to the wedding photography shoot. We started with their San Francisco city hall Civil Ceremony and covered that with some amazing candid photos. The bride was particularly fun and laughed quite a bit throughout the ceremony. We were able to capture some of these great moments to help the couple remember the fun they had at their City Hall Wedding. After the ceremony we took them on our San Francisco city hall wedding photography tour and went to every floor in the building for a nice variety of indoor pictures. This normally takes about 1.5 hours and includes pictures of the Family, the Photo Tour and of course the ceremony. Our photography coverage did not end there, however. They booked our San Francisco Photo Tour which takes us on a journey through various destinations in the City. They chose 3 locations to visit, which included the Palace of Fine Arts, The Legion of Honor and Crissy Field. The Crissy field location is where we obtained the Golden Gate Bridge images. There are other places in San Francisco to obtain wedding images of the bridge, but Crissy happens to be one of our favorites. For more details about this amazing shoot, scroll down below the pictures below.
As mentioned above, our couple booked the San Francisco Tour Package. This provided them with 4 hours of photographic coverage and 3 San Francisco locations after their city hall pictures were completed. We started at the famous Palace of Fine Arts. This is a favorite destination for many of our couples, especially our Asian newlyweds. We were able to get some great shots among the tall columns and fantastic architecture at this iconic San Francisco location. It was an ideal day with not too much wind and comfortable temperatures. Our first pictures were taken at the front of the Palace overlooking the water and fountain. This is a favorite iconic locations for many wedding photographers and tourists. However, we didn't stop there and took them behind the building and got some fun shots at various places around the Rotunda and pond. One of the attributes of the Palace of Fine Arts that I like are all the walking paths. This gives us a great opportunity to photography our couple strolling through the beauty of this famous landmark.
After spending about 30 minutes at POFA, we journeyed on to our next location which was Crissy Field. Our couple had a nice surprise in store for this location which was a large set of colorful balloons. This may have been our first time photographing balloons during a wedding shoot and it was a great idea. We posed the happy bride and groom on top one of the hills we like to use for Our Golden Gate Bridge pictures. This is a location you will not see in too many other San Francisco city hall wedding photographer's portfolios. Part of the bottom of the bridge can get cut off, but as you can see in the pictures, it still makes for a nice backdrop. The balloons added a splash of color and additional interest to the wedding photographs. We also did a few jumping shots that were requested by the bride and groom and they turned out great! The more movement and interaction we can get, the better.
Our Asian couple had another surprise for us when we arrived at the Legion of Honor. She changed into a beautiful blue dress. Actually the perfect idea for this location because a splash of color really adds a new dimension to wedding photos here. We absolutely love the Legion of Honor for its repeating columns and amazing light. It is almost like shooting in a professional photography studio. The only issue that limits us here is the fact that the background is one color. Basically different shades of gray throughout. Yes, this does make for a non-distracting background which can be beneficial for many types of wedding photography images. But then you throw a bit of color in the mix and it really spices up the pictures. Her colorful dress worked perfectly and made the shoot! For one shot, I did some edits to make the background truly black and white, but then kept the bride and groom in color. This special effect adds a bit of interest to the photos as long as it is not overdone. On these 4 hour shoots, we encourage our newlyweds to bring different things for the shoot. Whether it some sort of special accessory, sports jerseys, wine and glasses or a new dress, it all works great.