White Veil Happenings

Our wedding yesterday with Carolyn and Matthew was at the New Heart Worship Center, a spacious facility than comfortably seated more than 300 guests for the ceremony and reception. What impressed me was that Carolyn and Matthew did not take for granted even one of them. They made it a mission to greet every table and allow guests to be photographed together with them. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites after a very quick run though of the digital images.

Click to enlarge.

The Dress

The Rings

Toes

Watching Carolyn come down the aisle.

Father and Daughter

First Kiss

Tags: Carolyn, Matthew

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If you haven’t noticed, our NW falls colors are beginning to appear. From now through mid October is an excellent time to be scheduling your engagement shoot. I know just where to find these fantastic colors. And the firey colors go so very well with hot blooded couples in love!

Vine Maple

Larch Tree

Early Vine Maple

Tags: Autumn

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Mey and Ramon represented the “double happy” Chinese symbol for the joining of two families.
The day began with a Chinese ceremonial processional of wedding guests bearing gifts for the bride and groom. These were presented in a wonderfully personal and ritualized ceremony. Other short ceremonies followed, roast pig and assorted Chinese delicacies were served and then we headed to Pt. Defiance Rose Gardens for some outdoor portraits - in spite of the light rain.
The next stage was our familiar American style wedding with a few twists. Mey entertained everyone with not just one, but two dancing performances. First a hula dance in her wedding dress, and then a change of costume for an awesome belly dance in her exotic red Chinese costume. This wound up being a 14 hour day for us, a very long one, but one we would not have missed for the world.
And here we go with some blog photos to tide everyone over until I can finish up three earlier weddings.
Enjoy!

An Offering

Double Happy

Mey at Pt. Defiance Park

The Cake

Tags: Chinese, Wedding, Wedding Cake

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A sign the rainy season will soon be here in full force.

Tags: Dahlia

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Friday, Sept. 12th at Wright’s Park in Tacoma. Click to enlarge.
I learned many years ago that for the best landscape photography you need to either get up at the crack of dawn or be out there for the two hours before sunset. Well, the same applies to outdoor wedding photography. The light has such a soft and golden hue that is extremely flattering to the skin tones of our brides. Combine that sweet light with a beautiful park setting and you have the recipe for some dynamite photography. Of course a beautiful bride and groom obviously enjoying themselves can only help!

Holding tightly together.

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Tags: Dove Release, First Kiss, White Doves

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Leifer Mansion, Marysville, yesterday.

The Bridal Party

The Cake

Under the willow tree.

Wedding Rings

Daisy

Holding Lacey

The Ring Bearer and Flower Girl

And now to push the creative boundaries a little with a special lens that Dan used, and work with it to produce a whole new look and mood seldom seen with wedding photography. You may or may not like the “look”, but as I’ve said before a camera is an artist’s tool and it is a means of expressing an inner vision, in this case to add a dreamy and nostalgic feeling to the images. After all, there is so very much of that going on during and following the wedding day, isn’t there?
Click to enlarge.

Petunias

Tags: Leifer Mansion, Marysville, Wedding

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Bryan and I had the honor yesterday of doing some promotional photography of some truly awesome jazz musicians. Mike is the main man in the ensemble. Greta Matasa, Jazz singer was included, as well as Jack on saxophone and Clifford on Bass. Mike’s web site is here. Naturally he offers CD’s of his music for sale on the web site, and you can even preview the songs before you make your purchase. These guys have a very sophisticated and moving rhythm to their music. I loved the little snippets of their tunes and singing as we went through the shoot. Sweet!

Mike Strickland at the piano.

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Tags: Greta Matasa, Jazz, Mike Strickland, Musician

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This was a two day shoot for us. Saturday for the Hindu ceremony at Union Station, and Sunday the American style reception at the Tacoma Glass Museum. What a beautiful and colorful ceremony! It was very traditional and elaborate. Pauline has an excellent link on her wedding web site that explains the rituals that were involved. Highly recommended reading. This is only a small sampling of what we captured from the two days. Update: We now have an on-line slideshow for each day posted for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Pauline's expression as she said I Do.

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Tags: Hindu, Indian, Union Station, Wedding

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A hot and muggy summer day at Lake Tapps for this one. Seldom does a wedding challenge a photographer as much as this one did. The light began with intense sun and ended in pitch darkness for the departure of Chris and Tammy in a vintage Jaguar. From my macro ringlight, to Profoto strobe on a lightstand, to handheld off camera TTL “flash on a stick”, to video lights, I was never so grateful to have the tools in my kit to do a job like this right. The photos will speak for themselves.
And a special “Thank You” to Tammy and Chris for just being themselves and sharing their wonderful day with us!

Love Potion

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Tags: Chris, Lake Tapps, Tammy, Wedding

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Friday we had one of the best backyard weddings we have ever seen. What it lacked in size it made up for in scenery and an exuberant family and wedding party. A wedding with attitude!
Click on the image to see it larger.

Tanja

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Tags: zzz

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