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Yvonne and Ron decided to have their ceremony and celebration in the Wine Country at Paradise Ridge Winery (707) 528-9463. Then they visited me at my home studio in Berkeley about eight months before their wedding
and fell in love with
my work. I was thrilled that they asked me to photograph their wedding. We talked again about a week before the date. Yvonne was so excited as she went over the details. I jotted down the names in the family tree, the names of attendants and their significant others, and so on. They even instructed me, "Anytime Yvonne's dad is dancing, get a picture." Because I had never photographed a wedding at Paradise Ridge, I arrived about an hour early on the wedding day to scout locations - indoors and out. The archways at the entrance to the cellar didn't appeal to me because there were distractions - signs, rain gutters, ashtrays, etc. The area that all the other photographers (as I saw in sample albums in the tasting room) had used were just not good enough: they suffered from bad lighting and distracting backgrounds. I found one spot outside that, with correct camera placement, would give us beautiful photographs. I also decided that the fireplace in the tasting room would also be a good background. We started photographs in the outdoor location, and then moved indoors so that the groom wouldn't see the bride. When we finished the formals (on both the groom's side and the bride's side) my assistant and I got ready for the ceremony on the patio. After the ceremony I grabbed that candid they had asked for - the bride and groom ringing the bell on the balcony above the ceremony site. As the sun set we did a serious of great close-up and full length portraits (in color and black & white) of the bridal party and various family combinations. The changing light opened up a new vista overlooking the vineyard, and we had a blast taking romantic pictures on the path and stone wall. I finished the day with several hours of candids/wedding photojournalism in the banquet hall and tasting room. I have selected twenty images for this sixteen page on-line wedding album. Please enjoy! |
