This past weekend was our first back to back wedding weekend of the year and it was great! We had two awesome weddings and will share more about them soon. Congrats to Joe and Deb who were married at the Willow Heights Mansion on Saturday and Andres and Lisha who were married at the St. Claire Hotel on Sunday. Both weddings were great and I can’t wait to share some images soon! This will be a busy week of editing for us with some albums to finish up and starting the editing for these weddings but well have some fun blog posts along the way.
We forgot to include one of Joeys weddings from 2008 in our highlight slideshow (sorry Sis). My sister was married last year and her images were on my personal computer not my work machine so I forgot to add her wedding to the show. Here is the final 2008 show with everyone!
Here are a few more shots from Ignacio and Louisanas wedding. The had a beautiful ceremony at St. Joseph’s church downtown San Jose and then a reception at the Ranch Golf Club. The lighting at the end of the day was just amazing and we were able to create some awesome shots of the two of them and a few fun images of the bridal party. Here are a couple more from their day. We also finished the layout from their album recently and the album turned out so great, it really tells the story of the day well. I’ll try and post some layouts from the album soon! You can also view their slideshow here: The Ranch Wedding Photography Slideshow
With the launch of our latest site it got me searching through my archives to see how much the site has changed over the years. From our last site to the current there isn’t a huge change, just larger new images and a few other cool features to come soon. But from our first site there have been some big changes to the design of the site. It was fun taking a little trip down memory lane and looking through our old sites and here are a few screenshots to share with everyone:
Here is our first website
Our 2nd website came out about 4 years later
Our 3rd site spash page, the portrait gallery was our old site and wedding gallery went to our new site
I wanted to do something a little different this year for our Year in review show. Normally I will put together about 100 of my fav shots from maybe 5 or 10 weddings and put together a show. This year I really wanted to include all of our brides and grooms from 2008. Every wedding we shoot is important and we always capture shots that we love so I decided to include just 3 shots from every wedding. Going through over 100,000 images was pretty tough, and choosing only 3 per wedding was even harder, but I finally narrowed it down and created a quick show. Check it out and leave us a comment below.
2008 was another incredible year for us, we were able to document some awesome weddings with some really great people. Fasten your seatbelts, here is our 2008 review in 2 minutes 13 seconds!
Are you new to photography? Or a seasoned veteran looking to come up to date with the latest technology? We offer many classes available to help share our passion for photography and what goes into some of our award winning images.
The amazing Crystal Lequang from Amazáe Special Events and Nicole Ha from Nicole Ha Designs are putting on another fabulous event to showcase some of the latest trends in the wedding industry. The first event they had last year was amazing and they are set to make this years event bigger and better. Last year they put together some really awesome vignettes to showcase their design work and it was truly amazing, this year there will be even more designs to showcase the latest and greatest.
We are also honored to be one of the featured photographers at the event so come on by and say hi, i’ll be there all night!
Here are a few images of last years event to get everyone excited for whats to come:
casa real una bella sera event
casa real una bella sera event
This years event will be at the Julia Morgan Ballroom on Sunday April 5th from 5:00 to 9:00. Hope to see you there. For more info go to http://unabellasera.com/
http://unabellasera.com/ - Una Bella Sera event.
By Mark | Posted in Weddings Go to http://unabellasera.com/ for more information!
Professionals vs. Amateurs March 11, 2009 – 8:06 am
A great wedding coordinator friend of ours (Heidi from COUTURE CELEBRATIONS) posted a great little food for thought on her blog today. You can check it out here: http://couturecelebrations.blogspot.com/2009/03/thought-of-day.html. I totally agree with her and think its something for everyone to really think about. In todays hard economy I know everyone really wants to get the best deal out there but with your wedding do you really want to take a chance on some vendors like your photographer? In college I knew of a lot of people that would put up ad’s to shoot a wedding and would do them for very cheap, sometimes the photos came out OK and sometimes they really didn’t. Even someone who does photography part time for a few years isn’t going to have the expertise to give you the shots that you deserve on your wedding day like a true pro. A high quality professional can produce results far more than you would ever imagine and years down the road you will usually be pretty happy for selecting a professional. I love Heidis quote “But not getting what you expect is NOT a deal.”, this can be so true when it comes to photography. Sometimes instead of comparing packages from all different photographers I think its better to find out who’s work you like and then see if you can fit their work into your budget. Sometimes you might have to pick a more basic package and not get all of the albums you would like to right away, but those can always be created later, and what’s the point of having multiple albums if you aren’t happy with the photos in them? Just something to think about :)
Our brides (and grooms too) are the best clients in the world! We really get to work with some awesome people and I love it when we get messages from them after the wedding when they first see their photos. We are going through all of the feedback from last year and it really touches me to hear how our passion for photography touches so many lives. We are building a new page with our client testimonials and will be adding more in every week. Check out what some of our clients have said about our work here: Stagi Imagery bridal buzz
New Wedding photography website: http://www.fineartweddingphotography.com
New website is live, check it out!
Our new wedding website is now live, check it out here; Fine Art Wedding Photography We are going to be adding many cool features over the next few months like some video slideshows, video testomonials and a cool video intro so keep checking back! We are also going to be adding a few more galleries so there will be more work to view! And once this project is done we are going to start a entire new site for our Lifestyle portrait work and engagement photos! More on that to come soon.
Let us know what you think of the new site.
New Wedding photography website: http://www.fineartweddingphotography.com
Our vendor spotlight this week is Andrew of Studio MSV. We first worked with Andrew last year and were amazed by the same day edit he put together, it was a very artistic cut of the day and to have put it together so quick was pretty awesome. All of the guests at the wedding couldn’t believe the video! We have also been able to hang out with Andrew at other functions and he has a great personality and is a fun guy to hang out with, at a wedding its always a plus to have a fun videographer to capture your day. You can view his latest work on his blog at: http://studiomsv.netor check out his website: http://studiomsv.com/. Check out a little more about Andrew below:
the reason I love what I do ….
Someone once said, “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” These words are true in the sense that working won’t feel like work if you’re happily doing your job each day. But one thing that I’ve found to be even more profound and can even better affect the way you feel about your work is the people you work with. Consider this: you find your dream job and are content to wake each morning to earn your living. But your co-workers are always gossiping about you or sabotaging your projects. How long do you think you will like your dream job? Conversely, if you love the people you work with, no job - no matter how nasty (have you ever seen “Dirty Jobs”?) - will ever get you down!
That’s why I love doing what I do. The people I work with and meet are top notch! The photographers I work with, the coordinators, and especially the brides and grooms, are all so inspiring, creative, and loyal, that it’s hard to have an “off day”!
your wedding specialty …
One of the things that I’m proud to say I helped pioneer in the Bay Area is the Same-Day Edit. The “SDE” - or as I call it, the Instant Video - is a short highlight movie that is shot, edited, and played back on the day of the wedding. It usually takes me two to three hours of editing time to create a beautiful short movie of the wedding day that can be shown during dinner or toward the end of the reception. In fact, we have the capability of turning the highlight movie into a wedding favor DVD that each guest can bring home with them! The Same-Day Edit is a real crowd-pleaser and something in which I was instrumental in bringing to popularity.
But beyond the Instant Video or products like our Covert Proposal Videos, fun Engagement Music Videos, and others, it’s my style that brides gravitate toward. Our videos are never boring or “typical” and always evoke emotions. It’s my unique style that sets us apart form the rest.
best wedding memory …
I see so many memorable things at so many different events that it’s hard to pick out just one!
But if you put a gun to my head - or invited me to participate in a vendor spotlight blog post - I might choose this one as my favorite wedding memory: I think it was the second wedding I ever shot. Ever. The bride’s caterer ran out of food and she went to her room really upset. The groom went after her in order to console her and I was stuck trying to decide whether I should follow and document it or let them alone.
I decided that, as the wedding videographer hired to document the event, it was pretty much my duty to keep record of what had happened so the events could be captured for posterity. I followed them to their room and started rolling tape. Teary-eyed and flustered, the bride described to me what had happened and how she felt. It was some of the most genuine footage I’ve ever documented. The couple subsequently sent me a thank you note that said they loved the video and that I was their favorite vendor. That, I was the “most professional and most pleasant to work with!”
It’s moments like those that make doing what I do such a pleasure!
favorite movie …
My favorite movie of all time is Ben Hur. No other movie comes close. Netflix it. (A close second is Die Hard and Fight Club.)
last movie rental you watched …
The last few Netflix movies I watched were all from my wife’s queue so I’m too embarrassed to name them.
where can you be found on days off …
I rarely have days off, but most recently, I went up to Lake Tahoe with my wife, two kids, and a bunch of my church friends. On other days when I’m taking a break from working, I relax by watching TV. Some of my favorite shows are (or “were” - alas, some of my favorites tend to be less popular and, to my chagrin, get cancelled before they’re due!): The Shield; Deadwood; American Idol; Damages; Flight of the Conchords; Dexter; and others.
what superhero would you be …
I used to collect comics in my youth and still find them beautiful to look at and stimulating to think about. So you might get a much longer answer than you anticipated if I go Full Geek on this answer. But the short of it is: I appreciate Batman’s emotional complexities and raison d’etre, but who wouldn’t want to be the seemingly immortal and nearly omnipotent Superman? My answer? Superman. (But I would skip the formalities of having an alter ego. I would just be Superman all the time… and I’d play sports instead of fight super villains.
if I am typically craving something it is ….
… dangerous to be in my way.
fav song at a wedding (and least fav) …
My least favorite is probably the electric slide. No offense, folks-who-used-the-eclectic-slide-at-their-reception.
The song that I’ve heard at a wedding that became my favorite is “I Loved Her First” by Heartland. I’m not a big country music fan, but the first time I heard that song being played during a father/daughter dance, I couldn’t help but to imagine 20 years or so into the future and to picture my daughter, Hannah (7) being given away to be with her husband-to-be. :-(..
See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXhJ3oCg3K8
Wedding photos from Leal Vineyards in Hollister, Ca. Léal Vineyards sprawling 45 acre estate offers the ideal setting for the perfect wedding. Whether your desire is exchanging your vows under a beautiful wooden gazebo, an elegant affair in the “Barrel Room” or dancing under the stars at “Lavánda”, Léal Vineyards and a great glass of wine can make all your dreams come true. Leal is a great venue that has a bunch of different options available for weddings. They have a nice barrel room for that romantic indoor wedding or a few different outdoor spots one with a lakeview and vines surrounding you. You can event rent the 2 houses on the property and make your wedding last the entire weekend! There are so many great spots around there for wedding photos, you can shoot in the vineyards the wine cave and waterfall or go up to the houses and shoot around the property. Check out the slideshow to see a recent wedding we photographed out there:
Here is another new wedding slideshow from a event out at Villa Montalvo (now Montalvo Arts Center). One of our favorite places to photograph in the South Bay we have shot many weddings out at Villa Montalvo. There are two different areas you can have your ceremony there at the Oval Garden or the Love Temple. This wedding was at the Oval Garden with the reception in the front of the Villa. One thing I love about shooting weddings here are that the grounds are enormous and you have so many cool things to shoot, the inside of the Villa has some great photo ops the outside there are some great architectural spots to shoot around and then you have the vast grounds that you could spend hours walking around photographing a bride and groom.
Here is a slideshow from our last wedding at Pebble Beach. It was such a perfect day out there for a wedding, no fog but a little overcast which created some amazing soft light most of the day. Andrea and Erik were such a fun couple they had a permanent smiles on their face all day long, it was a great day!
Our workshop schedule has been released for 2009! We are excited for these new workshops and have even added a new one for Marketing that will focus on some of the new technology we can use to market our business like Podcasting! I love sharing everything I have learned in 10 years of business and our workshops are packed full of information and lots of fun! Check out our workshop information at: http://www.wedclix.com/workshops/ I’ll also post some images from our previous workshops soon!
If you can’t make any of these workshops and would like to join our mailing list for future workshop info click the button below:
If you are a wedding photographer looking for some really cool wedding slideshows for your clients check out http://www.motionslideshow.com. They are just finishing up their site and have some demos up for you to check out. I think the demos online look really great (and have some awesome photography :) so check them out! Here is one of their demo shows:
I am a Photographer based out of San Jose Ca. I travel all over the place taking photos of wedding and other events. I have been married to my beautiful wife Lisa for 7 years. She is a Real Estate agent for Alain Pinel Realtos (http://www.lisa4homes.com)
We have a baby on the way (baby Faith coming in Sept!) and have 2 cats Jasper and Lucky.
When we do have free time we spend it together biking, swimming, playing tennis, snowboarding, or Watching movies.
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