Sakay Family Photos - Candlestick Park, San Francisco
I always believed my professional photography would open new opportunities for me. Within the last five years I have been blessed with shooting more than 100 portrait sessions, engagements and weddings that extends beyond the Monterey Bay and have met a lot of good people that resulted in being friends and/or has continued to utilize me for their professional photography needs. Last week was no exception as the Sakay Family from Salinas, California inquired for a family portrait session. It was a couple years since I took photographs of their family and with a new addition; they were certainly due to update some new family portraits. So when Lydia Sakay called me a few weeks ago I jumped on the opportunity to do some great work for returning clients. I was already excited to see them again and catch up but this family portrait became really special as the location was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Like many Niner fans, the wounds have not fully healed as losing to divisional rivals is never an easy pill to swallow. In addition, Candlestick Park is no longer the home of our beloved San Francisco 49ers, so the nostalgia of championship football and NFL football glory will soon come to a physical destruction. It was definitely something to look forward to and ultimately taking my professional photography to a new milestone.
From the start of the tour, just looking at Candlestick looked like an historic monument and being built in the 1950’s one can imagine the resources available in constructing something the entire San Francisco Bay Area and many more can embrace. The Sakay family was definitely Niner-fitted as they knew what they were getting into and prepared for another family treasure. With a few snaps in the luxury boxes and team locker room, the peak of the experience was standing on that football field and end zone. I touched the field and looked up to the bleachers and upper deck and was in awe with my surroundings. For a moment, I forgot why I was there in the first place as the feeling of San Francisco Giants and 49er greatness happened on that field. Once I snapped back into reality, I was able to take some great family portraits of the Sakay family.
It was a great experience in many facets; I was able to do what I love and photograph people, traveling back to San Francisco and also reflecting on historic events that happened in Candlestick Park. Professional photography has been a great outlet for me and I’m excited to service my clients through my talents and craft. It is upon these experiences that remind me of why dedicating one life’s work is such a satisfying approach to life. A special thank you to the Sakay family for allowing me this opportunity as I know it doesn’t happen often. So the next time you are looking for a professional photographer, please don’t hesitate in emailing me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.
Rudy and Melissa - Salinas Church Wedding
Meeting Rudy and Melissa early last year was a fun experience. As a young couple ready to get married, they truly had an amazing love story on how they met and how their relationship matured through the next few years. As I’m sure we can all agree that every relationship has their peaks and valleys and lessons gained and learned. They were no exception and yet their love continues to flourish way past their wedding day and their chemistry between each other becomes more apparent with these professional engagement and wedding photographs.
Often enough with engagement shoots, we love to collaborate with our bride and groom to choose the best locations and establish a good theme for their photo session. I usually ask what would be their ideal response from family and friends who may see the pictures and go from there. While R&R Photography enjoys our local spots in the Monterey Bay area, it isn’t stretch to travel farther to meet our client’s needs and expectations. Rudy and Melissa were very open to the idea of traveling to San Francisco to not only take in the sites but to have us tag along and take these amazing photographs of them. Everyone had a great time hanging out and just talking about all the wedding planning ahead. We even ended up at one of my favorite spots, Nation’s, as I often ate their cheeseburgers during my undergraduate days at San Francisco State University.
From the start of the wedding, R&R Photography was there with all the pre-ceremony details. I met up with Melissa at a local hair salon in Salinas and met her mother and a few of her bridesmaids and maid of honor. It was a fun jump off to the day as we laughed and had fun with taking photographs. By the end of the session, Melissa was dolled up and looked beautiful as ever. She was definitely a gorgeous bride anxiously preparing for her special day. On another side of town, Rudy was also getting ready with his family and groomsmen. From my second shooter and assistant, it sounded like they were having their own fun in celebrating a momentous chapter in their lives. With most weddings we have the opportunity to photograph; it’s much more than just a bride and groom getting hitched, but more of two sets of family joining together.
The ceremony was held at Madonna Del Sasso Church in Salinas with a full mass ceremony. The only limitation we faced was the limitation of photographs as requested by the pastor who was very vocal about where we should be. While these limitations aren’t fun for R&R Photography, we do respect them and communicate with our bride and groom. In the end, the wedding ceremony was just as serene and even had a good moment of laughter as Rudy and Melissa mocked a wedding kiss by kissing each other on the cheek rather than the lips at first. Laughter filled the church and everyone came together for professional family photos afterwards.
Overall, it was another successful wedding shot by R&R Photography and our clients are in love with the photographs we captured. If you are interested in booking with R&R Photography, please don’t hesitate to call or text me at (831) 540-5087. I’d love to hear from you! =)
Meet Your Wedding Crew
With 2013 now in the past distance, 2014 starts with a great bang! I just booked a flight for a major convention in Las Vegas, NV in March. The crème de la crème of professional wedding photographers will be there and it is my intent to rub some elbows with these industry leaders. Geeky again, I know, but I’m always up learning new things and refining my wedding photography. Within the last few months, I have been planting the seed towards a blossoming wedding season. Since October last year, I have been working with business professionals to not only help with client referrals but also help expand my photography business. Surprisingly enough, I made friends at the same time and look forward to getting to know each member. As a professional photographer, sometimes it can feel like you’re all alone running your business so it’s important to find other working professionals that are just as passionate with their business as you are with yours.
The second Winter project I had was working with Steven Garza with Higher City Films in creating a promotional video. As the lead creative for Higher City Films (a.k.a. HCF), it’s fun to think out loud and through ideas out for the promotional video. Casual conversations, surprise phone calls and late night texts traded off over the holidays so it was really exciting to put it all together. Like Steven, I like the artistry of simplicity. Our promotional video shouldn’t be us “trying” to be anyone else but ourselves. So we met up on an early Winter Saturday morning and drove to one of our favorite spots in the Monterey Bay. It was cold, I remember that, but it was also fun and honest. We took our time and ended up spending the entire morning filming. With Steven’s magic, our 2014 promotional video looked fantastic and ready to be debuted at the bridal show.
With another bridal show later this month, things are definitely looking up for me with R&R Photography. It will be exciting for me to see how this year unfolds. I hope that I may accomplish everything on my “Dream and Do” board that I see/read every day in my office. I plan to blog every Tuesday and continue to check in and see where this New Year will take me. I am inspired with all the brides and grooms that I meet and honored that they enjoy my artistic approach in capturing the memories of their engagement and wedding.
Winter Bridal Show - Central Coast Bride
Every year, R&R Photography participates with Central Coast Bride with their awesome bridal shows. We meet a lot of people at the shows and it gives us an opportunity to speak with brides about our style of engagement and wedding photography. We really want to get to know the brides and grooms and see if our style of photography fits with their expectations. We love to collaborate with our clients and set clear objectives but also gives us define lines of where it is advantageous to being creative. Our goal really isn’t to book weddings there but to meet and engage with brides and grooms and set up a meeting in the near future. We enjoy meeting new people so please come and say hi when you come by. I have a limited amount of tickets available as my guest; please don’t hesitate in contacting me at [email protected].
With Central Coast Bride’s wedding planning tools, Brides now have easy access to everything they need to save loads of time and stress. Whether you want a Cambria Wedding or a Ventura Wedding, a Santa Barbara Wedding or a Monterey Wedding, a Carmel Wedding or a Paso Robles Wedding, Central Coast Bride has everything you need to ensure your perfect wedding is easy! We like easy so it has been a great working relationship with Kevin and Carolayne of CCB.
Bridal shows can be hectic for brides and grooms as it’s a great one stop shop to take care of everything. Not only the photography, but food vendors, wedding venues, florist, music and lots more are there at your service. By the end of the day, things may be so overwhelming your head is about to spin off! So my advice is to take your time with each booth and have fun with it. Planning a wedding as tedious as it may be can be fun. I’m sure there are wedding magazines and/or Pinterest sprucing up these wedding planning chores to make it more enjoyable or at least more organized. I love speaking with brides and grooms about my wedding photography. I can only hope that I can express well enough but more often I can just show them photographs from recent past weddings. We normally use the most recent wedding photographs from the past season as our portfolio. This way, our style continues to be fresh and evolving. Choose vendors that are not only experts in their craft but people you like and have a great energy with. Imagine how more enjoyable the day would be with strangers that you like.
And for those who decide to not partake in this Sunday’s bridal show due to the NFL playoffs, a part of me wants to be with you too. In most situations we’ll meet just the bride and her entourage while, if the fiancé is so lucky, to be home watching the Niners on TV. Good thing for Wi-Fi and Instagram.
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus - Shine
This past weekend I had the great pleasure to be invited to a holiday concert. While all festivities are special this time of year, I was in for a treat. My good friend, Allan, who I have known since high school but more importantly have kept in touch via Facebook inspired me to not only watch talented men sing their hearts out but donate my talents for a great group of gentlemen. Secretly, I had the best seats in the house as I got access to a balcony to take one amazing shot. In addition, all the good people at First Congregational Church of Santa Cruz were very helpful and sweet. The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus performed their holiday concert called Shine in Santa Cruz.
So I invited my buddy, Steven from Higher City Films and off we went. On a brisk cold night, we were excited of the unknown. You see, in the heart of the wedding season, professional wedding photographers need to prepare and be ready for anything and everything. There's anxiety that comes along with that kind of unique opportunity. In many fashions that adaptation then results in an artistic approach. That's usually the approach R&R Photography comes with in covering wedding and engagement photography. This night was different and it was fun.
As we arrived at the church, Steven and I were warmly greeted by everyone. I got to see my friend Allan and we checked out the venue. The church is beautifully decorated with holiday cheer and certainly can fit a good amount of people. I checked with a church official and asked if they were expecting a full house and he responded, “Oh yeah”, with a nice smirk implying a majestic series of song will be upon us. The church’s parish administrator, Brooke helped me the week prior in just getting some of the logistics but even that was warm-hearted and informative.
So what’s next? I told Steven we should meet the guys. With no hesitation we headed downstairs to the music room where all the preparation was taking place. We go to meet some of the gentlemen singing that night and snapped off a couple of photos for the blog. Camera shy? Not at all, we were welcome to take a few quick pics. We then headed off to the dining area where more of the men were preparing. With more holiday cheer cleverly disguised as red wine and homemade cookies, Steven and I got to observe their preparation to the concert. We overheard technical cues and the array of song lists and continued focus, but more over the fun of singing and performing. The conductor, Tim, was great and well in-tuned with the guys as he made sure he had everyone’s attention in that room.
The concert in itself was powerful, inspiring and a great reminder of what the holiday season is all about. Love. In this happening, I was pleasantly surprised on how I was warmly greeted as a true visitor but left with a good feeling of love. I didn’t know anyone other than Allan plus I brought a friend of mine to keep me company and at the end I could have just gone to the church and watch an amazing concert all by myself and have come away with the same results. So in the spirit of the season have a happy holiday and spread good cheer.
Merry Christmas from Randy with R&R Photography
