I recently met up with Allison and Asheesh in San Francisco for their engagement session and we had a great afternoon. They both live in that part of the state, and I had been meaning to make my way up there for some time, so we were finally able to get together. As usual, weather in the city was blustery and mostly fogged in, but hey, it’s San Francisco! We met up in Union Square for a bit before heading over to the Golden Gate as the sun went down. Just navigating the streets of the city was an adventure in itself since none of us knew exactly how to get around, but we really had fun the whole time. I’m looking forward to seeing them again next year when I photograph their wedding. In many ways it will be just like San Francisco; a beautiful combination of East meeting West!
I’m happy to say that within a few days, I will be launching a BRAND NEW webite! It’s been almost a year and a half since I updated images on my main web site, and as much as I love a bunch of the ‘old’ images, I’m excited to share new ones ! Also, look for a handful of blog updates in the coming weeks as I finally begin to catch up on work. Yay!
Coordination: Creative Affairs by Amanda
Flowers: The Floral Palette
Linens: A Perfect Table
Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Rachel and Marc at the Hotel Del Coronado. I’m getting a quick ’sneak peak’ online for them today because I know they’re excited to see some of their images, and I’m even more excited to share them! They are heading off to Kauai tomorrow, so I’m thinking of offering honeymoon photo coverage starting now. : )
Marc has been working on finishing law school here at USD, though he and Rachel met at Wake Forest in North Carolina. Rachel and Marc live here in San Diego, but their guests came from all over to attend their wedding. Most of Rachel’s family came out from North Carolina and Marc had his own Chicago contingency present.
Without further ado, here is a big sneak peak!
One of my favorite getting ready images – Rachel thinking about how she’s just about to put on her wedding dress. (Vera Wang, btw!)
Putting on the veil. Success!
A perfect combination of beautiful bride, stunning dress and storybook location.
If you look really, really, really close, you can see a reflection of Marc in his ring!
The flowers were amazing. Natalie at the Floral Palette did incredible work as usual. All the linens provided by Irene at A Perfect Table completed the ballroom for a beautiful reception.
Father and Daughter.
We always love to make a few parting shots at night for the closing pages of the wedding album. I love these!
I love getting letters! When I open my mailbox and I see a card-sized envelope in there with a hand written address, I get excited. Knowing that my clients are happy means everything to me and it’s one of the most rewarding aspects of my work.
There are a huge range of emotions attached to a wedding day, so when the images are presented to my clients, their family, and friends, all of those feelings come right back as if the wedding happened just yesterday. Maybe it’s strange, but when my clients tell me that they watched their slideshow and that it made them cry, I feel like doing a little victory dance around my office!
I had one of those victory moments recently when I received a card in the mail from Anne Holland, the mother of my client Beth Holland….who is now Beth Vannoy. It was a moment where I thought I might cry! She wrote such a thoughtful card that I can’t help but share it here.
“Oh Philip!
What a talent you have – How lucky could Beth and Jay be? You captured the every element of emotion with the anticipation of the greatest and happiest day in Beth’s life.
Your Photos are absolutely dreamy! Beth is a beauty – but you definitely captured her inner beauty. What a gift you have in your ability to ‘evoke’ and ‘capture’ such lovely photos. We could not be more pleased.
Thanks to Sharon, we were so lucky to have pictures to remind us of that lovely day in San Diego.
With fond memories – and priceless photos!!
Anne Holland
Mother of the Bride.”
On May 24th, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Laura and Charlie at the Admiral Kidd Club in Point Loma. The event was coordinated by Sharon Cole, so of course everything ran smoothly and all the details were perfect. The Admiral Kidd Club is right on the bay with a fantastic view of downtown San Diego across the water.
I love shooting details…especially shoes!
Laura really looked amazing. I knew from the day I met her at our consult that she’d be a beautiful bride!
En route from the hotel to the Kidd Club.
Lining up for the ceremony.
Laura and Charlie asked for a group shot of all the guests. I’m pretty sure we captured everybody : )
Laura’s parents got carried away…
A little while back, I had the pleasure of meeting up with TaShanta and Shannon for their engagement session in Coronado. I’ll be photographing their wedding in September at the Marriott downtown. They came out from Houston to take care of some final wedding arrangements and enjoy some time in Coronado before heading back home. Since they’re getting married by the bay on the San Diego side they wanted to do their engagement session over in Coronado so we could take in the city view. I can’t believe it’s only a few more weeks until their wedding!
We met up first in the flight path in Little Italy. Shannon flies all over the place for business.
Hello Everybody!
It’s been a busy season so far this summer and I know I’ve got a ton of new stuff to blog. I am busy working on getting a new format dialed in here so I can show larger images and get a bit more creative. All the posts up til’ now will stay, but I have a feeling the images are going to seem small compared to what I’ll be blogging from now on. Look for plenty of updates in the coming weeks, as I start catching up on blogging everything that’s been going on. A lot of exciting changes are happening, including a new website set to launch in a few weeks, as well as a partnership that has been in the works for months.
Check back soon! Cheers!
Christine and Mike exchanged vows at the Torrey Pines Hilton on May 23rd. You may remember Christine and Mike from my blog post about their engagement session at WindanSea beach. One of the things I enjoyed most about being part of their day was watching them with all of their friends and family. It was obvious during the ceremony, when guest after guest came to altar to offer shells for the ’shell ceremony,’ that each and every person there was important to the bride and groom.
Christine was escorted by planner extraordaire Sharon Cole to her 'reveal' where she and Michael saw each other for the first time just before the ceremony.
This is it! Christine and Michael having their 'first look.'
The guys played it cool before the ceremony...
Groomsman/Newscaster Shawn Styles is a ham...even off camera!
The first dance in the fairway pavillion.
One of the best bands at a wedding EVER. I promise to have a link to them here soon!
Christine and her Dad. A super cool guy, and I'm not just saying that because he wears Persol eyeglasses almost identical to mine!
In Late April I met Charlie and Laura at Balboa Park for their engagement session. The snapdragons were blooming in every shade of purple and everything else in the park felt like Spring. I’d like to share a few images from our afternoon. We met on a Monday, when all the museums are closed, so we had a lot of fun with the park mostly to ourselves. Charlie and Laura are getting married this June in Point Loma.
When I blog about weddings, I always like to share a few details about each one, along with a handful of images, but I don’t usually talk about what went into making them or how I feel about them. I’ve been looking through images from the recent wedding of Beth and Jay at the Coronado Marriott, and as is usually the case, I’m having the hardest time picking out just one or two bridal images to post. I’d like to share a few of my favorites of Beth and say a few words about why photographing the “getting ready” is one of my favorite parts of every wedding.
There’s always a certain amount of excitement and tension in the room as the bride gets ready with her girls, because everybody knows that it’s not just a dress fitting, or a rehearsal : today is THE big day. Not very many people get to see a bride the minute her dress is laced up, or when her veil is being secured, or when she holds her own flowers for the first time. There is something very special about watching a bride see herself in the mirror for the first time once she is finally ready. It’s truly an honor for me to be there each time, and it’s a big part of what I love about photographing weddings.
Speaking as a photographer, my challenge is to find a way to make a beautiful portrait, regardless of the location. The first thing I look for when I show up to any wedding is where the light is coming, and then I figure out where and how I’m going to do the bridal portraits. Once the bride is ready, she usually looks to me to know what to do next, so I have the honor and the privilege of making those first few bridal images, and the day always just gets better and better from there. The first images I look at when I get home are the bridal portraits! I know how much these images mean to the bride, her new husband, and her family. For every girl that grew up thinking about how she’d look someday, as a bride, it’s my goal to create the images that she’ll remember the day with for the rest of her life.
Here are a few of my favorites of Beth just as she finished getting ready at the Coronado Marriott. The rest of the wedding will follow shortly in a new post!
