These photos remain one of my favorite impromptu portrait sessions ever. A few years ago I was driving through Palo Alto and I spotted this early 1960 something Mercury Monterrey and felt compelled to knock on the door to inquire about a potential car portrait with the owner. A lady answered and next thing I knew we were doing family portraits in front of this insanely cool vintage automobile. I love the fact that its so salt of the earth with the kids eating snacks out of a bowl the entire time - hilarious. Enjoy.
Heavybit DevGuild and experts in the open source community doing there thing at an all-day event in San Francisco’s Dogpatch Studios.
Eric and Katie reached out to help commemorate an elopement during their visit to Sausalito. This couple was so easy going and fun to be around and never flinched whenever I gave them silly things to do as we adventured from the Golden Gate Market, down Bridgeway through downtown and ending in the Sausalito Yacht Harbor. Loved the range of romantic, silly and fun photos that we were able to capture together. A total blast was had. Enjoy!
Kong Summit 2022 in San Francisco’s Palace Hotel was a dynamic affair filled with lots of energetic presentations, fun, food and music. Kong are definitely pros at throwing events and everything just clicks with the trains all running on time. Always a pleasure working with these folks. Check out some awesome event photography below.
AGS Los Angeles took place down in Venice Beach at the Marina Del Rey Marriott during one of this year’s most epic storms in California history. It snowed in the Los Angeles foothills and mountains and all the speakers and attendees got 360 degree views of the city and were able to watch as cascading storms brought rain, hail and beautiful light. The most glorious aspect of the day was being witness to a multitude of rainbows and one that lasted for almost an hour. Good spirits abounded and lots of good networking
Heavybit has always been a treat to work with, but germane to this post is that they care about aesthetic and have great taste. That goes along with them wanting awesome portrait work for their speakers of the numerous events that they throw. I pride myself with making people feel comfortable and special when I have them in front of my camera. Here’s a series of portraits I’ve taken for them over the years highlighting that.
The Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference (CTAD) brings together international expertise on the latest techniques in fighting against Alzheimer’s. My Granny was afflicted, so it felt right to help contribute my talents in event photography to the cause in my small way. The 2022 CTAD conference took place in San Francisco’s Hilton Union Square and hosted hundreds of speakers and attendees. Lots of great presentations on the latest therapeutic trials were revealed and an attentive and friendly crowd was there to soak it all in. On one of the days they hosted a party with dim sum and jazz quartet for everybody to enjoy and relax to. Check it out.
Jennie & Josh eloped in Oakland city hall. They lucked out with a solid officiant that had a wonderful presence and dropped some nice wisdom about relationships. Who doesn’t need that!? The two mom’s flew out to take part in their special day as well and were giddy with how they had both lucked out. After the ceremony we went on a little adventure for portraits around Lake Merritt, Grand Lake Theatre and ending up things Sequoia Bayview Trail in Joaquin Miller Park. I got to see the couple’s awesome dance moves, eagerness to have fun and their burgeoning love.
Alex and Joey got married The Clift Royale Senestra Hotel in San Francisco. It was a sweet natured affair with lots of fun. It is always beautiful to be surrounded by that loving energy. Their ceremony took place on the top floor. Awesome portraits were had out on the balcony overlooking a vast expanse of San Francisco, with a little fog coming in from the west. My wife was a champ in being there to pick us up after the ceremony, so we didn’t have to mess around with an uber/lyft, in going for a quick and efficient portrait session at Huntington Park, atop Nob Hill. Later the reception was back at the hotel. A touching reel of the couple as kids played for the party, and I’m not going to lie to you - I shed a tear. Their deejay was spinning vinyl and had impeccable taste and kept the grooves and the people going. It was really a treat to get to document their special day.
Did research to get the best breakfast burrito in Venice Beach where the AGS Masterminds Los Angeles event was taking place. $28 later it turns out AGS in the Rose Room had three types of breakfast burritos to choose from. Oy! My luck improved from there though and I ended up getting some great shots telling the story, and having a fun time while I was at it. Capturing all the people, places and things in this event photography. Once everything wrapped up, my man, Koren, the videographer and I hit up the boardwalk for 15 minutes or so to document that interesting scene. Stay to the end for those. Enjoy!
David reached out to me wanting to get an engagement proposal documented live. High stress material for all involved. Many props to David and his cojones for going for it. He shot and he hit nothing but net. Stephanie was joyous. Once I was unveiled to both parties we kept it pretty mellow, sweet and romantic as we explored the Conservatory of Flowers and then a mini adventure in the surrounding area of the Golden Gate Park. Got lots of lovely shots of these two cuties and a few solid shots of the viridescent plant life in the conservatory.
Photographing the Miramonte High School prom was an absolute joy. It was filled with nostalgia from my perspective, witnessing all of the rituals, the awkward moments, the jubilation, the horsing around and of course, some burgeoning romances. My proms and homecomings were typically in our High School gym and these youngsters were balling out at the California Academy of Science museum - incredible. I found them way more mature and cooler than what I remember from my youth and these kids knew how to party and cut a rug. It was a blast. Check it out.
Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) 2022 went down at San Francisco’s Westin St Francis hotel bringing together parties from all over the event industry. There was awesome music, top-notch chefs bringing epic breakfast foods, photo booth fun and of course networking. I captured some fun moments and a few solid portraits of vendors and attendees. Check it out.
Seena and Tracey got married at San Francisco City Hall. Beforehand Seena got ready at their place in the Marina district; while Tracey set up shop at the Ritz Carlton. Everything was easy going, fun, with love emanating. Friends and family all came together later at city hall for super sweet wedding officiated by a good friend. They did their reception that evening at the hip Monroe SF. DJ Primo Pitino manned the turntables; bringing the crowd to the dance floor with his beautiful ear for music and fog machine. A lovely day.
AGS crew bringing the sunshine at their summit of marketing experts at the Marina Del Rey Hotel in Los Angeles. Lots of solid event and portrait photography to be had on this blog post. Please check it out.
Ted and Shahira got married on a beautiful day at the Fairmont up in Sonoma. The vibes of their friends and family members was just amazing to be a part of. It’s obviously still hard work photographing big and intimate events, but when you really feel the love surrounding a couple on their special day, you just kind of float through the day with ease. Check out the awesome love of T & S.
Kong are absoute pros on throwing events. So even though Covid placed limits on how they normally function they still made their imprint felt with a unique conference with big production value that their community could take part in from home. They had their usual content of the latest developments in their industry and great fireside chats with many experts with a host of incredible interludes during the two days from acts from individuals like Golden State Warriors home deejay, DJ Sharp, to the San Francisco Mariachi band, a fitness instructor, hip-hop freestyle emcee, a painter and other artists. It was great.
Photographed these two sweeties wedding a few years ago and they reached out wanting to take photos celebrating getting through the worst of the pandemic. They wanted to explore Pacifica’s Pedro Point and it was a joy documenting their relationship as it is filled with inquisitiveness to the world around them and a constant stream of intellectual and loving rapport. Check out our little adventure below.
It was a foggy day up in Bodega Bay, but the special love of Lauren and Loren definitely shined through. They brought Gypsy their adorable chihuahua they adopted during the pandemic along as well. We adventured around the Bodega Head trail and just let their unique relationship do the talking. Enjoy these cute photos.
The American Biomanufacturing Summit took place in San Francisco’s Hyatt Regency, filled with experts within the biopharmaceutical industry highlighting new trends and discoveries. The crowd was positive and super friendly with knowledge and networking flowing freely between industry leaders and attendees. Check out this post for some top-notch conference and event photography.
Steph and Kol and all of their special people came together for a lovely wedding in Alamo, California.
Over 1000 Unite Here canvassers and allies convened for a car rally at the Starlight Drive-in inside Atlanta in support of Ossoff and Warnock for the two Georgia U.S. Senate seats. To witness thousands of cars and rally-goers honking and being lively during a pandemic and doing it safely is a powerful image forever imprinted in my mind. Union members provided the entertainment and hyped the crowd prior to the main event, Reverend Warnock bringing the heat on why it matters that he be elected.
Automobiles, automobiles, automobiles photos after the fold from some recent time in Reno, Nevada and Atlanta, Georgia. Check it.
I was beyond honored to have had the opportunity to photograph this Unite Here campaign rally in Atlanta to help elect Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock to the 2 U.S. Senate seats in Georgia. Over 500 political canvassers assembled in a show of force of their collective power while musicians, local politicians and speakers, such as Nsé Ufot of the New Georgia Project, helped provide inspiration and focus to why the runoff election mattered. You can definitely feel the strength and beauty of all the rally-goers spirits in this imagery. Enjoy.
PCMA hosted another awesome event at the very colorful and stylish Marketplace on Maiden Lane. Enjoy.
Ted and Shahira’s love glowing at golden hour atop the Batteries overlooking the Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. Behold below the fold.
Some great event and portrait photography from yours truly from the American Academy of Ophthalmology Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Laura and Greg’s lively party celebrating their engagement with friends and family at the Waterbar along the Embaracadero in San Francisco. Check out some of the awesome portrait and event photography from that nice evening.
It was another awesome App Growth Summit this time down in at the Marina Del Rey Hotel in sunny Los Angeles. Lots of speeches, networking and good vibes were to be had despite the fact that we were all whistling past the graveyard as this was the last event I photographed for months as the pandemic soon took foot in America. Enjoy.
Alon & Dave’s beautiful love came together at a wedding in San Francisco’s majestic city hall. They even brought probably one of the coolest dogs ever in their chihuahua named Henry. In the middle of the ceremony some bureaucrat interrupted them and their County Clerk commissioner because they had their dog, that individual even called the sheriffs to intervene. It was pretty wild, and we all had a pretty good laugh about it. At any rate, the vibes were upbeat and we went out to Point Lobos and Sutro Baths for some portrait fun after the deed was done. Had an absolute blast with these dudes (and dog). Check out our adventure and the awesome photos we made together below.