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.

Sometimes I don’t feel like writing.  Okay, a lot of times I don’t feel like writing, but I’m good at it.  I read a lot and write just a tad less.  Since my high school years until my doctorate work, I’ve written papers, essays and reports consistently with adequate breadth and quantity.  When I committed to blogging, I thought to myself, “This should be easy”.  Was I in for a surprise?  This year, in the heart of the wedding season, my blogging stopped.  It was at the backburner sadly enough, but gladly enough it was because I was photographing amazing weddings from the Monterey Bay area and across California.  It was about a couple of months where I didn’t even write a rough draft of my blog.  My weeks were filled with photography, production and lots of business dealings.  There was just not enough time in the day to write.

So know I write here, right now.  What do wedding photographers blog about?  What else? We write about weddings and all that comes along with it.  From wedding details, the venue, wedding flowers, wedding rings and brides and grooms.  So not only do we photograph these things, we should (ahem), I should be writing about the same things as well.  Easy enough right?  Well even with more than twenty weddings booked this year and a few on the horizon for 2015, there to be more to blog about.  As an artist who uses photography as their chosen medium, it important to write about what you see and in some cases it may be valued even more.   As many writers can attest, the delivery and tone of words and style of writing is just as important as a complimentary illustration or photograph.  That’s why I love showing off my wedding photographs with just a quick caption to really hone in on what exactly is being expressed.

So what more may I write about with future blogs?  Well expect all things weddings at any given blog but also expect much more.  I’d like to write about all my opportunities within photography.  I’m lucky enough to extend to real estate photography, boudoir and family portraits but also have great adventures like weekend road trips or visiting family and friends across California.  So in time, I’m sure you’ll get to know more about me other than just being a wedding photographer.  Now that I think of it more, my blogging will be an extension of my other social media channels as well as my endeavors as a wedding photographer.  So please come and visit my blog as I definitely do my best to write about what is in front of my lens but also share the beauty around me.  I’m so lucky to be a wedding photographer where I get to photograph moments of love, happiness and triumph between couples who are in love with one another and have close family and friends to share this monumental time in their lives.

With 2 weddings left to photograph this calendar year, autumn is upon us.  I’m fond of October as it always brings back good memories of when I was a 4^th grade teacher.  Imagine student’s nestled in their desks working away with Math and History and a cool-warm breeze floating through.  With the leaves on the trees not yet deciding to show their beautiful foliage yet, it doesn’t mean that the good parts of the fall have not started.  There’s my favorite baseball and football games to watch (go Giants and Niners), spending more family time enjoying our local Indian Summer and also my time to take a quick breather.  I enjoy taking this month to reflect on my experiences and review my recent photographic body of work.  While I take every photo assignment as if it’s my one and only, I try to create the best images I can.  I love to create expressive photographs and may also be my worst critic.  It’s really a blessing to enjoy wedding photography so much as a labor of love.  I’m truly honored to be blessed with this skill, craft and talent.

I’ve had a wonderful wedding season meeting so many wonderful people, so many beautiful venues and golden sunsets.  I think I have captured some of my favorite wedding photographs within these past months.   With the weddings I photograph, there is always something special happening.  There are this special moments of love and adoration that only a camera and a master photographer can capture.  I attempt this feat whenever my eyes are behind the lens.  Past all the decorations and flowers comes family and friends who are blessed with two people who truly love each other.  Getting married is a day of happiness and love and to be captured artistically and naturally.  These are my favorite kind of weddings.  I love to photograph expressions as they are happening.  I love to be a fly on the wall and see how happiness unfolds in front of my camera. 

This autumn, an old-new project has resurfaced.  I really enjoy photographing people.  That’s a solid foundation for my success as a wedding photographer, so in part the next evolution for R&R Photography is to include family portraiture.  The history of family portraits began even before the Renaissance period filled with vanity.  In recent times, people take family portraits to share them with family and friends on their social media.  I’ve enjoyed making great photographs for my family and have made it a family tradition to do this every year.  This extends my brother and sister’s immediate family as well.  So now, more than ever, I have started a new endeavor as a family portrait photographer serving the Monterey Bay area.  So if you are interested in great family photographs this holiday season, please don’t hesitate in contacting me.  We can meet over a cup of coffee and collaborate on making your family portrait session special.  I look forward to meeting more people and share my unique style of portraiture to the world, or maybe around these parts.