Megan and Andy (or “Megandy” as they’re known to their friends) we’re married on May 15th, 2010 at  the Rush Ranch Open Space in Suisun City, CA. I love outdoor weddings, but especially when they’re in such a gorgeous setting as this.I remember thinking I could have just wandered around the ranch taking pictures even if there had been nobody else there.

The ceremony (officiated by a close friend of the couple) was moving and included toasts and songs from friends and family. The all-vegan catering was delicious, and the bride and groom are obviously very much in love, and I think it comes through in all the pictures of them.

My top 5 favorite things about this wedding:

1. Rush Ranch Open Space
2. Delicious vegan catering
3. Wooden SPORKS!
4. People playing Ultimate Frisbee in suits and dresses
5. The groom’s daring leap over a barbed wire fence

Danielle and Fred were married on May 2nd, 2010 at the Brazil Room in Berkeley’s Tilden Park. My favorite part of this wedding was when “The Nguyen Family Band” (Danielle’s cousins) took the stage and played a bunch of awesome covers. Their performance was a surprise wedding gift, and the looks on the bride and grooms face when they started playing were priceless.

My top five favorite things about this wedding:

1. The Nguyen Family Band
2. Paper cranes
3. The groom’s dad and his amazing dance moves
4. Lots of little cakes in different flavors
5. Adorable little kids being little and adorable

Bethany and Dan were married on May 1st at the Farm at Putah Creek in Winters, CA. I love the down-home (yet elegant) vibe of this wedding. Lot’s of great details, and cool style at this very unconventional celebration. Some my favorite things about this wedding: suspenders, roasting marshmallows, barn dancing, kids with parasols, and a groom in boots.

This is only the second time ever that Brides has featured a same-sex wedding, so I’m very honored that they printed my photos, but I’m even more happy that they chose this wedding. I hope this is another sign that the tide is turning in the fight for marriage equality in California.

Scan of Brides: Northern California (cover photo not mine)

]]> http://stevetakespictures.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=841 http://stevetakespictures.com/blog/?p=773 http://stevetakespictures.com/blog/?p=773#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:05:28 +0000 stephenhughes http://stevetakespictures.com/blog/?p=773 I haven’t posted anything to this blog in a while, but I swear I have a good excuse! Briana and I got married on July 10th, and then we were on our honeymoon in France. See? I told you there was a good reason.

For the past few months, I’ve been so busy shooting and planning my own wedding that I haven’t had time to post anything to the blog or even update my portfolio. But I’ve got a ton of great new weddings and engagement shoots that I’ll be posting here over the next few weeks.

In the meantime here are some photos from our honeymoon to Paris, the Loire Valley, and Brittany:

Bela is an adorable little guy, but he’s also completely deaf. Getting any animal to pose for photos is difficult, but without being able to get their attention by making noises, it’s nearly impossible.

Here’s what we got before Bela decided he didn’t feel like going near the white seamless anymore.

On the last wedding I blogged about, I was using more black-and-white, this time I went a step further. I did a mix of color and black-and-white, as well as adding some split toning and other post-processing techniques into the mix. For a long time I always strove for accurate color and a very straightforward documentary style; I think I got a little bored with that, so I went a little more creative with the developing on this set. Luckily the bride and groom LOVED them. I don’t think I’ll go this route with every wedding I shoot, but it’s fun to change things up a bit every once and a while.

Here are some of my favorite shots from Pauny and Raja’s wedding:

Here are a few of my favorite shots, and a short video of some competitive pie eating: