I have now started to produce custom slideshows for all my events that will go online a few days after the wedding and can be shared with friends and family. These are really pretty cool, and I’m really exited about offering them as way to share and display photos in the best way possible. I’ve put together a sample slideshow from the wedding of Kim and Erick as an example.
Click HERE to view the slideshow.
Exciting news! I’m just finalizing plans for travel to Cape Town, South Africa for this coming summer. After living in Cape Town this past year for four months, I’ll be returning this coming summer to do a combination of tuberculosis epidemiology research, and a number of photography projects as well. I’ve been to Africa several times now, and it is truly a wonderful place. While this means that I will be unavailable to shoot weddings in the San Francisco Bay Area between the months of June-August, I will be available for South African clients within the Western Cape region during that time. Below is an image taken from the top of Table Mountain, above Cape Town- certainly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
As the year winds down, I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite photos from my first year with my own business. These images will be from weddings throughout the Bay Area and Central Coast of California, and South Africa. In addition to just the favorites, I wanted to share some of the background and stories behind some of the images. These images for me go beyond the stories that I capture for these couples, and are often other little side-notes that I get to enjoy as a photographer.
I find that some of my best photos from weddings usually involve children. They are so uninhibited, funny, and just so darn cute. My first set of images comes from a wedding that I shot earlier this summer. I find that these three images are some of my favorite children’s photos- two flower girls who were best friends, and just happened to be playing together in the best light imaginable during a classic California summer evening. I first noticed this scene as these two girls ran away from a set of informal portraits to go and play. I caught this scene with a long lens as the girls paused to contemplate the next step for their escape from the formality of the wedding day.
Seeing the great light and great shots that could develop, I took off from the reception hall (an old barn in the middle of vineyard and large field) and followed the scene as it developed from a distance. Using a telephoto lens, I let the girls interact without interfering, and watched as the they ran right in front of the ceremony location.
They then paused for a break to play among the big oak trees around the area, where I got this final great shot of the series.
What these images don’t shot is what happened next…after providing me with these wonderful images the girls decided that they were completely finished with the formal restrictions of the wedding. They took several roses from the floral decorations around the ceremony, and collected all of the beans that had been laid out on some tables as decoration. They then sat down in the grass to build mini “bean-castles,” mounding up the decorative beans and putting flowers around them. The wedding coordinator was horrified initially…but we all had a good laugh soon after, and the girls were put on “helper duty,” assisting the coordinator with setting out candles and rearranging the decorations around the tables. They did a good job too.
This past weekend I met up with clients Kim and Erick before their wedding to shoot some engagement photos in Palo Alto. I always enjoy doing engagement sessions, as it gives me a chance to get to know the couple I’m working with better, and helps them get used to being in front of the camera. Kim and Erick were a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to shooting their wedding soon.
We then went on to the ceremony at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church. I loved the cross-beams on the roof of the church and the beautiful warm lighting.
Thanks for checking in for the new Noah Hawthorne Photography blog. In addition to my regular website at http://www.hawthornephotography.com/ , I’ll be using this site to show more of my latest work which will include some of the things aside from weddings that I’ve been shooting- whether for work of just for fun. Feel free to check in to see samples from what I’ve been up to, and do enjoy the photos!
Today I went to look at the locations for my client’s Rosemary and Phoenix, whose wedding I’m shooting tomorrow. We will be taking pictures at the Claremont Hotel before heading over to the ceremony at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, and then on to the reception at the Highlands Country Club in Oakland. While at the reception site today I got a view of a breathtaking sunset over the Bay and took the chance to snap a few photos. I certainly feel lucky to have a job that allows me to carry a camera around all the time and gives me the chance to explore some of the more beautiful places in the world, while also encouranging me to find the beautiful in the everyday and ordinary.
