My last blog post showcased some of my favorite photos from a portrait session I recently photographed around San Francisco. If you haven't seen the post... just scroll down and give it a look! This blog post shows something a little different....

I was very excited to photograph Josef and Paloma at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. When we arrived and started adventuring around various lookout points, I realized that it would be a bit of a challenge to create a unique photo centered around the Golden Gate Bridge. It's an iconic landmark that has been 'shot to death' (as photographers would say)... it's been photographed millions of times in millions of ways- and that makes creating a unique portrait involving the bridge a bit of a challenge. However....

I LOVE challenges! So when we arrived at these various lookout points to take some photos centering around the bridge, my creative wheels immediately started turning and I was determined to capture a unique photograph of my three beautiful subjects! 

Instead of simply taking a photo of Josef and Paloma standing and smiling with the bridge in the background... I found some beautiful little yellow wildflowers and decided to frame my three subjects with the pretty little flowers in the foreground. I wanted to create something different! 

So here I am... crouching down in the flowers... up against pricker bushes (I earned handfuls of scratches!)... on the edge of a drop off...

Josef and Paloma thought what I was doing so funny that they both decided to whip our their phones and take a photo of my creative (genius) at work! (The above photo is thanks to their phone snapshot!)

So... amidst the flowers, prickers, drop off... and with my three beautiful subjects (Josef, Paloma and the Golden Gate Bridge)... we were able to create the gorgeous photograph below!

I was very happy with the outcome of our - not so ordinary - Golden Gate Bridge portrait! Sometimes to create something unique, you have to get a bunch of pricker bush scratches and some dirt on your jeans!

When I travel, I do not often have any photos of myself... I'm always the photographer behind the camera! This time, I asked Josef and Paloma to take a quick photo of me with the bridge... clearly I needed some posing guidance!

I hope you enjoyed this short & sweet behind the scenes blog post! 

I'm endlessly grateful to have the opportunity to create and work as a wedding photographer... I love what I do!

About a week ago, I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding day of some close friends of mine! If you didn't get a chance to read about their engagement and love story... I encourage you can to do so here: Caly & Steve's Love Story. They're a match that you want to get to know!

Caly and Steve tied the knot on May 30th... in a sunny little park in Syracuse, NY. We were anticipating rain showers during their wedding day (we know rain showers all too well here in Syracuse!)... however, we were so lucky and there were no rain drops to be heard of until after all of the photos were done! Their afternoon ceremony was sweet and full of emotion. They were surrounded by the love of their family and friends... you could feel the energy of the love from a mile away! Caly and Steve had written their own vows for each other and they were beautiful. I had to hold back tears while photographing! After their ceremony ended, after hugs were given and shouts of happiness rose up into the warm Syracuse spring air... I took some wedding portraits of the newly weds around the pretty, lush park. Once we had finished up there, we made our way to Westcott Street in Syracuse for some more wedding photographs. We also managed to get a few photos inside of their favorite cafe... Picasso's Pastries! We even had time to sneak in a photo with their two fuzzy children! 

Caly and Steve kept their reception simple and special- a delicious meal, hearty laughs and great wine with their loved ones in Syracuse at Phoebe's Restaurant (the food was amazing!). Caly and Steve's day was full of love, laughter and all the wonderful things a wedding day should have. It was perfect... and they are perfect for each other! I'm positive that their adventure as husband and wife will be nothing short of amazing! 

Caly and Steve... I know I sound like a broken record... but I am beyond happy for both of you! Let the married adventure begin!