I was in San Francisco yesterday for the awesome wedding of Shirley and Rifkin. I hadn't met them beforehand...only through text messages and phone calls, so I was excited to finally put some faces with the friendly voices. I gave Shirley my usual "Happy Wedding Day" phone call in the morning and was stunned to hear her say "Well, I didn't sleep last night. Horrible things happened yesterday. I'll tell you about it when I see you." And, then...(insert shocking music) she told me that she'd been held up at gunpoint and mugged the night before her wedding!!!!! HOLY &#^$ So, as you look at the photos, keep in mind that she'd just been mugged the night before...and yet still was happy and smiling! YEAH, love is a powerful thing! Rifkin and Shirley knew they were the one for each other just 3 months after they'd met for the first time. They've been planning this awesome urban wedding for a couple years since. ;) As an extra special helping of love, we'll make this sneak peek a little longer than usual. I am so happy that everything ended up well, and that nobody was hurt. Rifkin and Shirley...you guys rocked the house! Shirley's face as she sees her wedding venue all decorated up for the first time...

So perfectly beautiful! Felizia and Zack just got married this weekend, and it was absolutely over-the-top fun! The ceremony was at late afternoon and indoors (good thing because February weather gave us some rain...boo hoo) at the wonderful Palm Event Center in Pleasanton, CA. Felizia and Zack promised me that the party was going to be memorable...and it was! The chairs were empty, because everyone was out on the dance floor. Felizia's son even tore the sole off his tuxedo shoes from all the dancing. Memorable for a few minutes too was the panic when we realized the rings had been left back at the groomsman's house before the ceremony. The panic was short-lived, the rings were retrieved, and nobody had to wear cigar bands after all. :) (ok, I lied. People did sit down long enough to eat and watch a great photo slideshow.)

Indulge me for just a moment while I have a happy toot-my-horn post! Last year's New Year's resolution was to get out and try different things for my business. Things that I normally would say "Ah...I don't have time for that" or "Oh, I've been meaning to do that" kind of things. So, I finally entered a few photos into the quarterly contest at The Wedding Photojournalist Association and The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association. The WPJA is for unretouched photos, and the Artistic Guild of the WPJA is for photos that have been digitally processed in some way (contrast, textures, etc). The AG/WPJA one of the few photography associations that I belong to, and if you haven't seen it...check them out. They're devoted to the candid, photojournalistic style which is obviously what I personally love. As these quarterly contests draw loads of entries from around the world, I'm proud to announce that I won with three photos! 8th Place for Ring Shots from Meghan and Geoff's Wedding This shot is indeed of the three rings all standing up on end. It was done at the end of the night, shot with a 100mm macro lens. I'd had a couple of sodas at this point, and my hands were shaking a little bit. It probably took me about 3 minutes to get them to FINALLY stand on end...when a sorta tipsy guest walked by the table and *poof* I had to start all over. =) The work was worth it...I love this shot. 12th Place for Bouquet/Garter Toss from Annie and Mike's Wedding This was a great group of guys going after the garter. So rare to see them really stretching out like that. Shot with a 580EX II flash+CPE3 with a 5D for quick shot firing. 15th Place for Ring Shots from Cheryl and Mark's Wedding I was wandering around the grounds of Rancho Bernardo Inn looking for something interesting to do with the rings. It was a late night reception, so I decided to go into the building to find a little bit of light to work with. Inside the lobby, as decoration, there was a set of encyclopedias tucked under a side table. While it didn't have every letter of the set...it did have the one I was looking for. "M" for marriage.

My last wedding of the year was a wonderful affair! Mike is that sweet awesome guy who had me hidden in the bushes for his actual proposal to Tracy. It was the most romantic, thoughtful thing to do. I was in tears and it still gives me the shivers to remember it. SO, naturally I was super excited to be a part of their wedding! I'm gonna write more on this in a bit...but I want to share a sneak peek at some photos now. And, in the award for the most creative way to present the rings to the groom, the groomsmen pretended to have lost the rings and instead had them shot (literally shot) to the stage by a bow and arrow from the audience. VERY clever and hilarious! A+ for creativity guys!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone's Christmas shopping is all done, after all we are 6 hours into Black Friday shopping. Jason is out braving the crowds right now, the girls are watching Shrek III, and I am here to share. New to the blog (although I have been meaning to add these for months now)...slideshows! As my first one, I'll share Nancy and Ryan's wedding day. It was fantastically fun, hope you enjoy the photos! Don't forget there is music with slideshows, so before you click that play button make sure you're ready to listen.