I absolutely love shooting all weddings but when I have the opportunity to shoot a Filipino wedding, it’s always something special.  In addition, I have Renee Flanders tagging along for this beautiful wedding.  Renee is one of my recent brides in which I had the honor and pleasure of being her wedding photographer.  From one professional photographer to another, it’s nice to be admired through a shared passion.  She’s a local like me from the Monterey Bay area but currently in Germany and with immediate plans to come back home.  She’s an avid photographer and specializes in portraiture work and was highly curious about wedding photography.  So when she asked me if she can hang out during one of my weddings, I was excited to have her along.  Renee has a great personality and can easily engage with her clients because of her down to earth personality and infectious smile.  It was a good change of pace having her because she wasn’t afraid to ask questions (which I absolutely liked) and to was a good refresher of what I really know as a master photographer.  Throughout the wedding day, Renee was professional and personal with everyone she engaged with.  I recommend Renee for head shots, senior portraits and other portraiture work.  You can find Renee here (website) and here (facebook)

We started with Maddie in her home in North Salinas and it was already filled with family and friends who have traveled hundreds of miles coming in for this special occasion.  It was a familiar feeling as like for most families; weddings become special events for not only the bride and groom but with some Filipino flair.  There was food cooking in the kitchen and family members were either getting ready or chatting away as if the party has already started.  It’s a celebration of life and love with many special moments to be photographed.  I was very excited to capture these moments.  As the day started, we began with photographing some of the wedding details such as the brides shoes and wedding dress but also other noticeable details that would only matter to Carlos and Maddie like the caged birds in the garage which Maddie’s mom has a love for and photographing their children in their best clothes.  With such attention to detail, photographing their wedding will be just a beautiful and timeless as a wedding should be.  By the time we were finished with the wedding details, I was whisked upstairs to get a glimpse of the bride.  Maddie made a beautiful bride standing in front of her maid of honor, aunts and mother and in a moment’s notice; it was time to head out to Madonna Del Sasso Church as Carlos was patiently waiting.

The ceremony was emotional with Maddie’s father had tears of joy filling his eyes as he gave his daughter away and many others also felt this strong emotion.  As like most Filipino weddings, no one was shy in snapping away with their smart phones and iPads (gasps).  I think Renee asked if these were distractions as a professional wedding photographer and I quickly replied, “Not at all, because the photos I take will be better.”  Isn’t that what your wedding photographer should say?  The wedding mass was filled with Catholic rituals, regular mass and the moment everyone was waiting for, their first kiss as husband and wife.  After that, it seemed like everyone was ready to celebrate.  We quickly got the formal family portraits out of the way in the church and headed to Carmel Valley, where Carlos and Maddie celebrated with special day with an intimate group of family and friends.  While most Filipino weddings have a guest count with 250 or more, Carlos and Maddie went small.  Like 100 guest small.  It was a great reception as it was not too fast paced and the weather was beautiful.  Thank you again Maddie and Carlos for having me as your wedding photographer.  We love customer referrals so please don’t hesitate in forwarding my website and email address to those looking for great photography.