Archive for March, 2011

Sometimes, one of the best wedding gifts mother nature can give is to withhold rain. In the week leading up to the wedding, rain seemed like an inevitability, but March 26th brought us a beautiful, breezy day. Jennifer and Kevin must have been elated. After coming down with the flu just a few days before their wedding, they were grateful to get out from under the weather. Wedding preparations took place at the elegant Mark Hopkins Hotel in Nob Hill, and then a short limo ride later we were at the spacious First Unitarian Universalist Church for a moving ceremony. A trumpet rang out to announce the commencement of the ceremony. Jennifer is a teacher, and the wedding was full of spirited and talented children. It brought an incredible energy to the day. A children’s choir even sang during the ceremony! Since no rain was imminent, we headed out to Golden Gate Park and the Conservatory of Flowers to get some gorgeous outdoor shots. Finally, a Chinese feast awaited on Broadway. Kevin and Jennifer, congratulations on planning such a wonderful day for your family and friends!


mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

mark hopkins hotel san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

unitarian universalist church san francisco wedding

golden gate park wedding photo

golden gate park wedding photo

golden gate park wedding photo

mark hopkins wedding san francisco

OK, here’s the deal: Beautiful Karen and dapper David are having their wedding at the Berkeley City Club, which is a Julia Morgan joint. Karen mentioned to me early on that she was a big fan of the architect. So, for the engagement session, I put together an itinerary that took us to several Julia Morgan sites in San Francisco, including the San Francisco Zen Center, the Chinatown YWCA, and the Fairmont Hotel. Thanks, Ms. Morgan, for the lovely brick walls! At some point during our shoot, they decided it was a good idea to buy some cognac, and who was I to stop them? “Sasha, how do you get your clients to comply with all your crazy ideas?” That’s how. You’ll notice down below in the behind-the-scenes picture, that we were pretty much living on the edge in order to get that tunnel shot. Karen was breathless around David all evening, but probably never more so than when the bus went by! They bought me a martini after the session to settle the score.
san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

san francisco engagement session photo

Recently I had the pleasure of being flown out to NYC to create a promotional film for the non-profit Praxis Youth Leadership Orchestra. Praxis aims to dramatically improve the skills of advanced, talented young musicians by training them alongside seasoned music professionals. The nearly 1:1 student-to-teacher ratio and the invaluable coaching the students receive were truly a wonder to witness. I brought my cameras along for the ride, and set up 30 Flip cameras to record Praxis’s inaugural performance in the Italian Academy at Columbia University in New York City. I constantly challenge myself to bring a unique perspective to my films, and this clip perhaps takes us to uncharted video territory. The idea was to capture a moving portrait of each musician. The full promo film is coming soon! Thank you, Praxis!