Dreambox Photography

Stephen and Shannon are two scientists who are in love, so what better place to do their engagement session than at the California Academy of Sciences?

For those of you who have not been to this unique museum, shame on you! Go immediately! It has beautiful architecture, a rainforest, and adorable penguins. It’s like the Exploratorium, but for adults! Who am I kidding? The Exploratorium is also for adults.

Anyway, Stephen and Shannon flew out from Boston for this shoot (and to do the rest of their wedding planning for their California wedding in Healdsburg). We thought it would be raining all weekend, but instead, we were greeted with lovely California sunshine.

The California Academy of Sciences has this surreal space-age looking rooftop: the living roof. It is a rooftop covered in plantlife! An interesting and unique landscape for an engagement photography session, for sure.

Inside of the rainforest:

One of my favorite shots:

Meet Jeremy, Melissa, and their two girls, Ally and Lauren. This session was a little different for me because 1) Jeremy is a friend of mine, and 2) Jeremy is an incredibly talented photographer. When I found out that Jeremy was visiting the Bay Area (he’s from Southern California), I was hoping he’d want me to do family portraits for him!

I love doing family portrait sessions when the family is full of fun and laughter like this one. Ally and Lauren are both so energetic. They’re also not camera-shy at all because their dad is a photographer who is constantly taking photos of them so they made my job super easy.
We decided to do their family portrait session at Tilden Park in Berkeley. I love Tilden because it’s an oasis of green in an otherwise urban environment. I also love the steam trains, carousel, and petting zoo that are there. It was a weekday, so those attractions were closed, but we still found a gorgeous spot to shoot.

Lauren, the younger daughter, is a little daredevil! She’s not afraid to let go of her dad here:

Both girls wanted piggy back-rides so we had a fake game of chicken.

Once Jeremy help Lauren upside down, Ally also wanted to be held upside down. She didn’t use her hands!

We kept joking about what the letters could spell out. The best we came up with was “Jamal.” I guess if Jeremy and Melissa ever have a son, they could save that name for him.

Climbing the fence:

The girls ended up sword-fighting using their pin-wheel props. I love the action here!

Sisters collecting flowers:

During their visit to the Bay Area, Jeremy and Melissa took the girls to San Francisco’s Exploratorium. The girls had been learning about nature and things like fungi and moss, so when they found a mushroom, they were so excited!

Lauren got tired towards the end so the girls went to play with their parents’ iPhones in the car while I took photos of Jeremy and Melissa.

See, Jeremy is a wedding photographer. This means that he spends all of his time taking photos of other people/other couples. I see tons of photos that he takes of his wife and his kids, but hardly any of him with them! There are especially few of just him and Melissa, so I wanted to dedicate a lot of time during this family session to capture their moments together.

I love how he’s constantly making her laugh (and she’s got such a pretty smile!). These two met in high school as a blind-date to prom. They’ve just celebrated 8 years together and have two beautiful girls together. Such love!

Thanks, Jeremy and Melissa for letting me capture your beautiful family!

With my new website redesign also comes a much easier way to blog, so from now on, you’ll all be seeing waaaay more photos from me.

This week, I present to you Melissa and Jero’s wedding photos! These two decided to make a themed wedding: a 1920s speakeasy themed wedding. The coolest part is that all of their guests went along with the theme, dressing up in 1920s inspired attire, and being the coolest group of guests I’ve ever photographed.

Melissa’s shoes were hand-painted to look like peacock feathers to go with her wedding theme. The reception was held at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in the Peacock Court.

Meanwhile, Jero’s waiting for his bride.

The men looking like they came straight out of The Godfather (1 and 2, not 3).

The ladies hiding in another room before the ceremony. I love how effortlessly chic Melissa looks.

You know the wedding’s awesome when the ring-bearers look like tiny mobsters.

Chic little flower-girls.Jero had this giant grin on his face for the rest of the day:

Celebrating the newlyweds!

We did some portraits outside of the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins. I love the line of the buildings and the color palette.The centerpieces were vintage-inspired birdcages and flowers. Gorgeous and unique all around.

Here are the guests during cocktail hour. Don’t you love how everyone is dressed? From fedoras to suspenders to feathers and frills, these guests are looking fly!

A table honoring family members:

This.

Their guestbook is actually a large and beautifully crafted poster:

They also had vinyl records with their engagement photos printed on them. Guests signed the sleeves.  How unique is that?

Another guest looking awesome:

They were surrounded by friends and family for their first dance.

Jero’s younger brother gave a rib-bursting speech that highlighted Jero’s best traits (including his trickery, like the time he controlled his brother’s computer wirelessly and made him think their grandma was haunting them).

Peacock themed wedding cake made with EDIBLE peacock feathers from Etsy.

Awesome guests dressed up:

Melissa and her father share a dance:

The Filipino tradition of the money dance:

The view of the night from the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins: