Friday, February 25, 2011

Debleena & Miki: San Francisco Engagement

I had the pleasure of photographing Debleena and Miki's engagement in San Francisco last weekend. Despite the chilly wind, we had a lot of fun - thanks, Debleena, for being such a trooper! I love how comfortable they are with each other - it made my job really easy.


We started at the Palace of Fine Arts.


Did I mention that they're super sweet together?

How cool are these giant green doors at the Palace of Fine Arts?

Back to back. Miki's only a *smidge* taller.

Debleena, you're adorable.


And Miki, you're not so bad yourself. I love when a guy can pull off pink!

And then we explored the Marina neighborhood a bit.


And then we hit the beach. The sun popped out right before sunset and gave us some great light. I planned it that way. Obviously.

Yup, sparks between these two. Literally.


I love how these two laugh together!

And then we went to the Bridge. A San Francisco engagement session isn't complete without some great Golden Gate photos!


How's this for some San Francisco glamour?

Not enough glamour for you? How about this?


Or this?
Near the end of the session, we were treated to this gorgeous sunset. If you look closely, you can see the Farallon Islands right below the setting sun!

Thank you, Miki and Debleena! Best wishes for a wonderful wedding this summer!


Monday, February 21, 2011

Sutro Baths: Blue Mood

Taken a bit later in the evening than the glowing, gold version. While I like the golden version, I think the bluer tones capture the spirit of the ghostly Sutro Baths a bit better.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/20 @ 10s (to smooth out the water), ISO 50. Lee 2-stop GND handheld in front of the lens.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Golden Gate Breaking Storm

Another image from Thursday evening's dramatic sunset. The clouds were moving and changing so fast that each image I took seems so different.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, 2/22 @ .6s, ISO 50. Lee 2-stop soft and 3-stop hard GNDs stacked and angled.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Crissy Beach Stormy Sunset

I lucked out yesterday evening as the storm broke up right at sunset and the clouds lit up with pink and orange-y red. The not-so-neutral density filter lends a slight magenta cast to the image, which I've kept because I liked it :)

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/14 @ 5s, ISO 50. GND .9 hard and .6 soft, stacked and angled a bit diagonally.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Sutro Baths Sunset

I'd passed by the Sutro Baths for years without knowing they were ever there. Thanks to Flickr, I'd seen some beautiful images made there and finally went to explore last weekend. I found the place so inspiring, with so many interesting angles! It dawned on me that I might have found it so interesting because I haven't seen many images made there, and so I have fewer preconceived postcards in my mind, allowing my mind to wander freely. I still made a few images from this location, which I'd seen before, but I have a bunch of others that I'm excited to share that are (hopefully) somewhat unique.

There was a beautiful, partly cloudy sky overhead, which created the pretty reflections in the water.

Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 24-70L, f/22 @ 3s, ISO 50. .6 soft and .9 hard GNDs.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

A valentine, photographer-style :)

This is Seal Rock, just offshore from Lands End.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Magic Light, Lands End

In the spirit of photographing more of the Bay Area's non-postcard views, here's an image of an underrated San Francisco destination: Lands End. The cypress forest and beautiful green understory near the Cliff House are often bathed in magical light like this. If you haven't been there, check it out!

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/7.1 @ 1/40, ISO 400. Handheld.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Summery Winter Sunset

This was taken last week during the crazy string of amazing sunsets. The view of the Bay Area from the East Bay hills is amazing. This vantage point is near Grizzly Peak up above Berkeley.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200L, f/10 @ 10s, ISO 50. No filters.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Pilot's View of LAX approach at twilight

This video is so cool that I had to repost it. Los Angeles isn't the most beautiful city, but this descent into LAX at dusk with millions of lights twinkling is pretty awesome!