Noah Hawthorne Photography | San Francisco Wedding Photographer » Mexico

Mexico Destination Wedding in Cuernavaca

Noah Hawthorne — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:35:26 +0000

Jorge and Lilia’s wedding in Cuernavaca, Mexico was a beautiful event, a huge party, and a ton of fun. Cuernavaca is a small town about 2 hours south of Mexico City, known to have some of “the best weather in the world.” Indeed, I arrived to find the warm-but-not-hot Mediterranean weather waiting for me in the middle of winter, and made my way to the Hotel Camino Real Sumiya- a tennis resort with boutique Japanese architecture and expansive gardens. I joined my wonderful past clients Ian Balam and Lili Rojo who are turning into amazingly talented photographers from La Paz, Mexico to shoot the event together. The ceremony took place at a small and exotic church overlooking the city before heading back to the resort where carpenters had spent days building the dancing and banquet facilities. Stage lighting, a wonderful band, and 700+ rambunctious guests made for a wedding evening unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

Lili’s photo:

Ian’s photo:

Lili and Ian. I can’t wait to see where they will go with their new studio.

Past clients Juliane and Emilio were also there for the event.

Lili’s photo:

Lili’s photo.

Cuernavaca Destination Wedding | Sneak Peak

Noah Hawthorne — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:15:11 +0000

I’m back from Cuernavaca, an enchanting town south of Mexico City. I met with my wonderful Mexican associate photographer (and past client) Ian Balam and his wife Lili for the wedding of Jorge and Lilia. They were married at the Camino Real Sumiya Hotel, a luxurious Japanese garden resort with a huge, stunning, 700 person event. Here’s a teaser- more images coming soon!

Mexico City Destination Engagement Shoot | Desert of the Lions

Noah Hawthorne — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:32:42 +0000

Mexico is one of my favorite places to travel and a simply perfect location for a destination wedding. It has an abundance of beautiful Spanish colonial architecture, friendly people, amazing food, beautiful beaches…ok, you get the idea. I’ve spent lots of time in Mexico, even living in La Paz in the state of Baja California Sur. However before this destination wedding I hadn’t spent a lot of time in Mexico City, Mexico’s sprawling capital city. Interestingly enough, Mexico city is also one of the largest cities in the world, with over 20 million people. Juliane and Emilio wanted to get away from the bustle of the big city, choosing the Desierto de los Leones (Desert of the Lions) monastery for their engagement shoot. This beautiful secluded retreat dates back to the early 1600s, and stands outside the city in a beautiful pine forest, light years away from the city below.

The lighting was absolutely beautiful, and we had the afternoon to wander through the building and the gardens outside. See some of my favorite photos from the engagement shoot below:

The Desierto de Los Leones Monastary – founded by Carmelite monks in 1606.

As with any engagement shoot, this was a great opportunity to get to know this fantastic couple. We worked in English and Spanish, had a ton of fun, and I already can’t wait to get back to Mexico for another visit. While this was a local wedding for Emilio and Juliane, it was a destination wedding for me – and I really can’t say enough about how welcoming and open everyone was. Thank you, thank you, thank you! When I get clients who are this fun, loving, and outgoing (and I get to work in such beautiful places) my job really doesn’t get much easier.

Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and more?

Noah Hawthorne — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:02:33 +0000

For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently on my way through South America, traveling with my girlfriend Nancy through Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. Thus far we have made our way through a day in Mexico City, and then down to Chile where we have visitied Santiago, Valpariaso, Pucon, and we’re now on the shores of Argentine Lake Bariloche to get into Patagonia and Glaciers National Park in Argentina. This will be followed by the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Cold, but fun! I’m actually off to buy some gloves after this blog post, as my fingers almost froze last night walking around town.

Here’s a quick favorite of a dancer we passed in (warmer) Mexico City, in full Aztec regalia dancing in from of the Zocolo (central square).

La Paz family photoshoot with the Ibarra family

Noah Hawthorne — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:01:13 +0000

Today I met with the Ibarra family for a family photo session. We spent a few hours playing around on the beach and the downtown Malecon. The sunsets have been spectacular lately in La Paz, and today was no exception. The kids were super cute, and all I had to do was sit back and let mom, dad, and the kids do their thing. Here are a few of my favorites…
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Hoy contacté con la familia Ibarra para un sesión de fotografía. Pasamos unas horas en la playa y el Malecón tomando fotos y divirtiéndonos. Los atardeceres han estado absolutamente espectaculares en La Paz, y hoy no fue excepción. Los niños fueron muy lindos, y me hicieron un trabajo fácil. Aquí son unos favoritos…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Noah Hawthorne — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:54:36 +0000

Just a quick note to wish all my family, clients, and friends a happy Thanksgiving!

This year I’m missing Thanksgiving for the first time, electing to save turkeys by going to Mexico, while finishing some of the consulting work I’ve been doing with Fundación Cántaro Azul in La Paz.

I was invited to have dinner with Ian and Lili (my wonderful past clients whose wedding I did in Paris in September) and their parents, so I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving! (y con mucho espíritu mexicano;), Feliz Día de Gracias!).

Back to La Paz

Noah Hawthorne — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:04:17 +0000

I’m off and traveling again. After engagement sessions with Melissa & Mike, and then David & Uyen, I ran off to the southern tip of Baja for a bit of work of a different kind. I will be returning to the USA to meet with clients and photograph the remaining weddings that I have scheduled throughout this year. Aside from wedding photography- here are my goals for the next 6 months:

1) Become a well versed connoisseur of Baja tacos, with a specialty in fish and carne asada

2) Improve my Spanish!

3) Do photoshoot with Baja Challenge, an adventure tours company. We’ll be biking and hiking around Baja together, trying to get a real feel for the state and what this really cool company has to offer. Check them out here!

4) Work with Fundacion Cantaro Azul- an NGO devoted to improving water quality, sanitation, and health education for rural communities around the world. I’ll do some consulting with their projects, and take pictures as we go and work with the rural communities in the Comondu region of Baja California Sur. Check back for updates!

5) Scuba dive with whales. Baja has some amazing diving, and I don’t do enough of it. I’ve tried underwater photography before and it’s super scary to take all my nice equipment deep underwater while I wait for it to flood. So if I say that it’s really cool, you’ll just have to take my word for it. August-October are supposed to be the months to go and I have my dive gear all polished up and ready to go.

By the way, if any of my faithful blog readers want to come down to visit in La Paz, I have an apartment all set up and would love to host you. I can do engagement shoots, wedding photography, a personalized photography seminar, scuba trips, cactus hikes (there are A LOT of cactus around here), or taco madness around La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, or Los Cabos. Just send me an email and we’ll set something up!

Time to go out for a jog on the malecon here along the bay, then I’m back to finish posting my past few engagement shoots.