Here’s a slideshow of photos from Starla and James’ wedding in Roanoke, Virginia earlier this year. I know I say this for just about every wedding I shoot, but it was a great wedding! The ceremony location was a little challenging with how dim it was inside, but the reception location more than made up for it with how much beautiful light those big windows let in. I tried taking a cue from my friend Graham on packing light (check out his travel blog), and so this was the first multiple day, out-of-state wedding I’ve shot without any checked luggage. By minimizing my gear to only the essentials plus a small lighting kit and backup equipment, I was able to make room in my camera bag for my toiletries and extra clothes. Also, I don’t usually talk about equipment on here, but something you gearheads out there might find interesting is about 80% of the shots were taken wide open with a tiny 35mm f2 lens. I just can’t get enough of that focal length and I really like the small size of it compared to big zoom lenses. I think the photos taken with it turned out quite nice and I will be using this lens a lot at weddings from now on.
As far as the slideshow goes, make sure to let it finish loading before pressing the play button or playback will be jerky. After you finish watching it head over here to see the rest of the photos and/or order prints. Thanks for looking!
Here’s a short slideshow from Emily and Chris’ wedding in Portland and Eugene. I’ve been friends with Emily and her family for a long time and one of the very first weddings I took pictures at (before I started doing this professionally) was her older brother George’s wedding. I like to think the photos look so much better this time shooting in that same gymnasium purely because I’ve gotten better, but that wouldn’t be giving proper credit to the amazing job everyone did decorating the place! Probably the most notable feature was the amazing cake that was shaped like a bunch of silk pillows piled onto each other. Congratulations Emily, I’m so happy to see you found someone special!
You can see the rest of the photos and order prints here.
I’m back from Hawaii and Virginia and despite catching the flu I’ve managed to put together a little preview of images I took at Rachel & Stephen’s fabulous wedding in Maui. More to come soon.
Time to share another wedding slideshow. This one is from Jordan and Jodain’s amazing Lebanese wedding in Jackson, Mississippi. I’ve always loved documenting ethnic weddings, and this proved no exception. It seems like every wedding I’ve shot lately has been a new favorite, but this one really was amazing on so many counts. Besides the hookah pipes, I think the most unique thing about this wedding was the music. Not only did they have a huge band come and play live music at the reception, but they brought in a second band when that one was finished to play middle eastern music! It was awesome listening to it and even more awesome photographing all the excellent dancing that took place.
I’d like to thank Gwen Aucoin for shooting the wedding with me. She’s based in Louisiana, so if you know anyone getting married down there tell them to check her out. Her website is here. One other person I’d like to mention is Julie Crosland, who was Jordan and Jodain’s wedding coordinator, and a heck of a good one at that. Julie helped make one of the largest weddings (400+ guests) I’ve been to also one of the smoothest. I’m not sure how often she works as a coordinator, but if you’re looking for one in Jackson let me know and I will get you her contact info.
To watch the small version of the slideshow, just click the play button below to start it. Alternatively, you can watch a larger version of the slideshow here. Either way I recommend letting the slideshow finish loading before playing it (this might require pressing play and then pause to get it started loading) to avoid jerky playback. When you’re done watching the slideshow you can see the rest of the photos here. Enjoy!
Finally, I’m a referral based business, so if you like what you see and know someone getting married don’t forget to tell them about me! I have a website specifically for weddings here.
I recently had the honor to fly to Hawaii and document Jade and Chris’ wedding after doing engagement photos with them in San Francisco last Spring. What an amazing wedding! Not only was it one of the most lavish weddings I’ve ever been to, but there was such a wonderfully positive energy present throughout the whole weekend. Jade and Chris are one of those couples that you just know are going to be happy together for a very, very long time. The whole weekend was full of memorable moments, but my favorite part of the whole wedding was probably the night before at the rehearsal when Jade’s father, Steve, gave one of the most touching speeches I’ve ever heard. It was funny and sad and everything in between. I think it was only the second time I’ve gotten choked up on the job. The slideshow I’ve attached is about 10 minutes long and includes music so it might take a while to load but it’s totally worth it. Click the play button to watch it:
If you ever happen to be in Hilo, I highly recommend getting in touch with Steve and his wife Sue who run Orchid Tree Bed and Breakfast. I got to stay there my last night on the island and I couldn’t think of a better way to end my trip. It’s a beautiful house right next to the beach with a veritable jungle of tropical fruit growing in the back yard. The food was delicious, and they’re probably the nicest hosts I’ve ever met in my life. The photos on their website don’t even come close to doing it justice so I’ve included a few from my stay.
Double rainbow seen from the back patio of Orchid Tree Bed and Breakfast
Fresh fruit platter Steve prepared: papaya with lime, mango, kiwi, lilikoi, and pineapple
Swimming pool, palm and papaya trees behind the Orchid Tree Bed & Breakfast
I'm a freelance photojournalist based in Oregon focusing primarily on documenting weddings. You can see some of