Shefali and JP - San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts and Legion of Honor Engagement Session

This session included the lovely Shefali and JP against a gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts backdrop and also the Legion of Honor. Though it was cold and misting heavily, it was awesome. :) Enjoy!
San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts engagement
San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts engagement
San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts engagement
San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts engagement
San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts engagement
San Francisco Legion of Honor engagement
San Francisco Legion of Honor engagement
San Francisco Legion of Honor engagement

Maggie | Senior Portraits

Senior portraits with another lovely student about to graduate from my alma mater, UCSB!
UCSB graduation senior portraits
UCSB graduation senior portraits
UCSB graduation senior portraits

Day Trip to Sausalito

We spent a fun day travelling to Sausalito for Tyler's mom's birthday. We took BART to San Francisco, took the ferry across to Sausalito, had lunch at Spinnaker, and visited the Heath ceramics factory, finally having some dessert at the Miette patisserie in the Ferry Building. All images shot on the Fujifilm X100S!
Sausalito San Francisco miette heath
Sausalito San Francisco miette heath
Sausalito San Francisco miette heath
Sausalito San Francisco miette heath

Marisa + Leon | Engagement

I'm so happy to have had connected to this amazing couple through a friend of a friend of a friend! This session was such a breeze because their connection was so strong and I could just let them do their thing the whole time. I had a blast!

This is my second time shooting at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose. It's too bad that they have now issued a photo permit requirement to use the garden as a backdrop. Just as we ended our session, the rangers were shooing out the other three photo sessions (graduation portraits, bridal portraits, and a family session) that were going on.
San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden engagement
San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden engagement
San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden engagement

Passion

When people ask me what I like to do when I'm not doing photography for work, I used to be a little embarrassed that I would still say, "Photography." But I really shouldn't feel embarrassed about something I'm passionate about. After all, it's really not a bad thing to hire a photographer who lives and breathes the craft outside of worktime as much as during the job.

Featured in my image below is a shot of my desk a while back. This is what I do in my free time, when I'm not photographing for work. I play with film. I play with instant film. I take pictures with digital cameras. This is what I like to do for fun.

35mm 120 film instax fujifilm x100s

Gilroy Bridle Path Drive and Anderson Lake County Park

Some more beautiful scenery of Gilroy, California at Bridle Path Drive and Anderson Lake County Park.
Gilroy Bridle Path Drive
Anderson Lake County Park
Anderson Lake County Park
Anderson Lake County Park
Anderson Lake County Park

Holdfast Money Maker | Part 2

See the blog post about my initial thoughts here: Holdfast Money Maker | Initial Thoughts

So, I've used the Holdfast Money Maker for about three weddings now, so now I have more experience with it and can share some more of my thoughts.

Seriously, this thing looks really, really awesome. It actually looks more awesome on guys, in my opinion. Tyler looks great with it on when he's wearing a dress shirt (Photos later, when I get around to getting my film developed.) The straps got uncomfortable after the first few hours of the day. It's stiff leather, so it does get more uncomfortable than something like the Black Rapid's dual strap system, which I assume is soft and cushiony. I found myself adjusting and moving the straps around like a backpack, but only recently I tightened the strap up about three notches. I think that because the Holdfast is so straight and stiff, it might be better suited for a male body, which usually has a straighter torso.

Another thing I noticed is that even if I'm wearing a long sleeved dress shirt, I still feel the straps chafing my skin. I'm not sure if it's because the straightness of the Holdfast is competing with the curves of my body or if my skin is just more delicate or sensitive.

One last thing - I'm not sure what those metal pieces in the back are for (the ones resting on the shoulder blade). They don't seem to serve a purpose other than rip a few pieces of my hair off if I'm not careful. I still have to wear my hair completely out of the way (like a bun!) or else it catches every so often.

Anyway, I've tightened the strap three notches during the reception of the latest wedding, and it was much more comfortable after that. Though I'll have to wait a few weeks to test that theory out. Still, it's a beautiful strap and I get a lot of compliments on it. Well, either "Cool strap" or "You look like Laura Croft!" or something along the lines of that.

Photo by Tyler Watkins.