Memories at the Twining Vine Winery: Nicole and John

Weddings are a swirl of emotion. There’s good and bad, anticipation, excitement, fear, maybe even some anger, and resentment from time to time (not everything can go right). By in large there’s usually a prevailing wind that pushes the day in a specific direction.

Every once in a while I run into one where I can’t hit on a specific emotion to take my cues from. There are so many feelings going in so many directions that you get caught in the eye of the storm. While in that calm center I pick out moments to capture knowing full well that as my back is turned I’m missing something else. That was Nicole and John’s day in a nutshell.

The location: the beautiful Twining Vine Winery tucked away in the Castro Valley hills, a place where Nicole’s father did plenty of work in the years before his untimely passing.

The guests: Friends, family, framed prints of missing loved ones, and most importantly, a baby boy just learning how to walk.

The stress: Nicole had stretches of time on her own with her new son planning and planning.

The joy: Finally it was here and now it’s all rushing by so fast.

My hope, as with every wedding I shoot, is that I chose the right moments, that what is pictured is what they want to remember, and that what they remember is filled with emotion. 

Nicole and John afforded me some time towards the end of the evening to set up some dramatic photos after dark and I'm so glad that they did.

As I was face down in the bushes getting this ring shot, a guest stopped me and said something along the lines of, "You sure do get into your work."

The most killer cake topper ever!

Those fluttery moments tucked away in a barn just before the ceremony.

California Coastal Wedding: Brittany and Garrett

What better way to sound off the wedding season than with a beach wedding shot down by Pismo in Cayucos with the lovely Jean family? Things didn't exactly go as planned, but they never do. We had a closed pier with a crane on it, wind chill that sent women's hair everywhere, my flash didn't agree with the situation, and I'll leave out who was tardy (you know who you are), but as always, to people said "I do," and that's all that really mattered. 

Shot under the Cayucos Pier.

 I was so excited about this pier when I looked up the location on Google Maps. The pier in Cayucos would have been great to shoot on! It was closed. Not only was it closed but it had a big, ugly crane on it. You can see it starting to creep into the frame at the end, so you couldn't even shoot the entire pier from a distance. Really bummed but we got some great shots down below.

Details, they're the first things that slip from the memory and therefore the most important to capture.

Had to put a bridesmaid to work as a light stand to capture this. She did an excellent job.

The girls all looked great in these as opposed to the traditional heels. 

As you can tell by our veil and dresses in this shot, it was a liiiitle breezy that day, but we made due. The nice thing about weddings is that you tend to look past things like the chill and the hair whipping about into people's faces because the emotion commands the scene.

I really need to start shooting these details with my cellphone so that you can see what the scene looks like before I light it and pick the perfect angle. 

Midday is not always the best time for dance photos, but with the right lighting shot from just the right angle, we can make it look a wee bit more dramatic.

And now for the big reveal, all of the reception photos were taken at a local park. You can see more on our Facebook page. It's all in how you shoot it.

The ceremony site. 

A kiss during the first dance. On our facebook page you can see some of these shots in color and see how amazing they look with the flash popping off in the background.

As always, thank you for stopping by. This was a long day far away from home but I'm so glad that I got to be there. It's always a gamble shooting at the beach. Wind, crazy hair, cold, harsh sun, no sun, cranes inexplicably parked at the ends of piers, but if you simply abandon all your preconceived notions of what you want to shoot and instead focus on the emotion, on the love, you'll come out with amazing photos.

Special Announcement: I've teamed up with Aaron Draper and some other photographers to do a series of critiques. The aim is to give photographers meaningful feedback on their work. Check it out and submit. New critiques every week. http://www.professionalphotocritique.org/

Discounts: Everyone in the wedding party is entitled to a $200 discount for their wedding day.

You can see more from this wedding on our Facebook page here.

If you'd like to find out more about our photography, look us up at www.daveandmel.com

Want to see some editing videos that show a bit of how David works his magic? https://www.youtube.com/user/DefiningDave

More stuff for photographers here: http://www.professionalphotocritique.org/

And if you want to see cute pictures of our kids along with sneak peeks of what we're working on including all of David's little sketches, follow David on Instagram at: http://instagram.com/dnoceti

Photo Critique 002

Just a quick update for anyone interested in photography related stuff. I've teamed up with Aaron Draper and a few other photographers to start providing photo critiques. Five photographers, each with their own niche, give their views about a submitted photo, once a week.

The second critique is now up on the site over at www.professionalphotocritique.org. For my part, I handle post processing.

Warning: This is my first video where I actually show up on screen (if you don't count the Zack Arias/creativeLIVE video I did way back when). For some reason, at 11pm, on a Sunday night, after being out in the sun all day at the first ever Found in Turlock Bridal Showcase, and after having downed some nyquil, I decided it was a good idea to film, edit, and post this video. Sadly, my awkwardness can be attributed to none of those things and this probably won't get any better with time. Of course, that's not going to stop me from continuing to make them.

Follow the blog, leave a comment, submit a photo, share with friends.

Beautiful Diablo Grande Same Sex Marriage: Central Valley Wedding Photography

Abraham Lincoln had a practice of leaving letters of great import to sit on his desk over night before sending them out. His wife Mary would often throw them away if he grew too passionate in his responses, or he’d simply rewrite them upon achieving a cooler head. Over the years I’ve learned to do the same with posts to the internet. This is one such post.

It is a post I have anticipated since second shooting this wedding with my friend Aaron Draper, yet I have found it to be one of the most difficult posts I’ve ever written. Anticipated, because of the photographs; difficult, because of all of the second guessing. Do I make a statement? Do I speak passionately? Do I say nothing at all?

These photographs have been sitting on my desktop for days now, the blog post just waiting for text. I look at them each day and each time I do I smile. I smile not because of some statement or witty turn of phrase I have prepared, but because of the emotion -- the love -- I was able to capture that day.

Thankfully, I thought to seek the counsel of a friend, herself married to another amazing woman. I was worried about saying the wrong thing, about making too bold a statement -- and even of making none at all. She appreciated the concern but in the end confirmed my suspicions: I was indeed over-thinking it.

I realize now, after all the second guessing, all the worrying, all the back and forth, that the photographs speak for themselves. They are my statement, my response, my reason for doing what I do.

I hope they bring a smile to your face just as they do mine.

Beautiful window light at Diablo Grande.

Had to dance around two or three videographers and their gear. Luckily, videographers rarely see what photographers do.

These rooms are on opposite sides of the building but somehow I was able to sneak in some equally amazing window light for Marco's getting ready shots.

A fitting sign in book for these two.

Now that's anticipation.

Marco working on his vows.

Wedding parties don't need to be huge to be meaningful.

I didn't get to do any shooting during the portrait section of the day because I was holding a light stand the entire time, but I was able to capture this as the guys were heading to the next shot location, and frankly, I love it.

Jared's dad built this arbor just for the wedding. How is that for unconditional love and support? Every couple should be so lucky.

The looks these two shared were amazing.

Marco is trying to keep it together.

This moment. This is what it is all about.

I can only imagine what these two might have gone through to get to this point, but their expressions tell me that it was all worth it.

"I do!"

Jared hired Franc D'Ambrosio, a well known Phantom of the Opera, to come out and serenade them during dinner. It was phenomenal and by far the absolutely most romantic thing I've ever seen at a wedding.

Marco was nearly speechless.

That is one happy groom.

Definitely a keeper.

It was even touching to simply watch these two listen to the performance.

Franc D'Ambrosio

There was dancing still to come, but to me this shot sums up the evening nicely and it's how I like to remember that day.

Venue: Diablo Grande in Patterson, California.

Special Announcement: I've teamed up with Aaron Draper and some other photographers to do a series of critiques. The aim is to give photographers meaningful feedback on their work. Check it out and submit. New critiques every week. http://www.professionalphotocritique.org/

Discounts: Everyone in the wedding party is entitled to a $200 discount for their wedding day.

You can see more from this wedding on our Facebook page here.

If you'd like to find out more about our photography, look us up at www.daveandmel.com

Want to see some editing videos that show a bit of how David works his magic? https://www.youtube.com/user/DefiningDave

More stuff for photographers here: http://www.professionalphotocritique.org/

And if you want to see cute pictures of our kids along with sneak peeks of what we're working on including all of David's little sketches, follow David on Instagram at: http://instagram.com/dnoceti