Destination Sacramento Wedding Photographer fun alternative » Engagement

Aly and Jake are Engaged | Downtown Sacramento Engagement Photos

daveshilling — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:37:08 +0000

Aly and Jake are my kind of clients… fun, easy going, and smiling by default. We had a great time at the Sacramento Marina doing their Downtown Sacramento engagement photos, and I can’t wait for their Old Sugar Mill Wedding this May!

They let me try all kinds of goofy pictures… this one was fun, and I really liked the visual trickery:

We had a great time at the Sacramento Marina shooting their Downtown Sacramento Engagement photos, and I can’t wait for the wedding!

Much <3,

Dave

Rick and Jaclyn Engagement Session: Part Two

daveshilling — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:04:31 +0000

Okay, here is Part two of Rick and Jaclyns engagement session at UCSC… (check out Part One here). Not only are these two lovebirds super fun and awesome, they are just visibly in love, happy and despite claiming to need direction when we did their University of California Santa Cruz engagement photos, half the time I just stood back and said “be cute and lovey and stuff” and they just… did. Looking forward to shooting their Monte Verde Inn wedding photos next month!!! Miss you guys!!

I get many emails asking me how I create these pictures (okay, it was my grandma)…fortunately for me, my buddy Rob was snapping some action shots during our session… Here are some Behind the Scenes photos for a few of the photos above… see if you can match them up!

Crouching Dave, Hidden Camera.

I literally risked my life on this next one… but it was so worth it once I saw the photo.

This photo makes no sense… I look like I was frozen during the UCSC engagement shoot and just fell to the ground.

This is the most fun you can possibly have at “work.” Rick and Jaclyn, thanks for making my job more fun than some people’s day off!!

Much<3,

Dave

Rick and Jaclyn Engagement Session: Part One

daveshilling — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 05:33:29 +0000

I specifically needed to blog these photos seperately, and first, so that everyone gets a clear picture of how fun Rick and Jaclyn are. They brought the awesome. Aaaaaand go!

Awesome was brought-en!

You guys are so rad!!

part deux coming soon!

Much

Dave

Brian and Anitra are engaged!

daveshilling — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:39:49 +0000

Brian is one of my oldest friends, and when I learned that he had found a lady worth his awesomeness, and asked her to marry him, I was super stoked for my bro…. and of course I wondered if I was going to get the chance to shoot this wedding. Here is how you and I know that Anitra is wife material. Their wedding day was originally going to be on September 24th.. but I was BOOKED. and heartbroken. Not only could I not shoot it, I couldnt even attend!! Brian came to my wedding, so its only right that I show up for his… so what did Anitra do? SHE CHANGED THE DATE. yes, read that again, let it sink in. Brides raaaaarely do this for anyone let alone someone they have never even met before. But on September 17th, I am going to rock their wedding SO HARD that I will get a music deal afterwards. I know you were thinking ” really, rock that hard?” yeah, that hard. Here’s their engagement session around their house and in a randomly cool spot downtown:

I love this picture… have you ever seen anyone look so natural and awesome underneath their own kitchen window??

Thanks for making me photoshop out that Dr. Pepper bottle Brian!!

If you saw this in real life, you wouldnt think anything of it… They are standing in a driveway!

They had a little picnic out by the river, and even though the sun was almost down, these Sacramento Picnic engagement photos turned out awesome!

Sneak Peek: Sacramento Engagement Photography- Brian and Anitra

daveshilling — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:33:05 +0000

Here’s a sneak peek of my engagement shoot from yesterday… I met Brian and Anitra at their house.. and we never left.

more one the way!

Much <3,

Dave

San Francisco Ferry Building Engagement Photos| Mi and Wa

daveshilling — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:09:12 +0000

When I met Mi and Wa and talked to them about where they wanted to have their Engagement photos, they knew it was either going to be Tahoe or San Francisco…. “San Francisco has alot more color options that Tahoe” I commented, secretly hoping they would choose The City as their option. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE Lake Tahoe… But lets be honest, if you want more than trees, snow, water, and blue skies, we’re heading into the city, and if it city pictures you were really after… The City seemed like the obvious choice ( for those who arent hip to the lingo, “The City” is a casual term for SF). We headed down on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The weather said partly cloudy, but the hourly report said it was going to be sunny from 4pm-7pm…. eeeeexcellent (= Here are some of my Favorites from The Ferry Building, The Embarcadero, and Baker Beach:

I had to include this short series of “normal” photos because Mi wanted to get Wa to laugh, so she grabbed his pectoral, also known as a moob (man-boob) and squeezed it… instant laughter. She’s a keeper, bro..she’s a keeper.

In case you were wondering who assisted me on this photo… it was Wa. in addition to looking passionately into Mi’s eyes, he also made sure to be my human lightstand. Killer job Wa, you nailed it!

Thanks for giving me creative freedom, and for posing on the rocks near that old naked man on the beach! ( He was wearing jewelry… and I’m not talking necklaces people).

Looking forward to your Chinese Wedding in Sacramento this May!

Much <3,

Dave

Sacramento Wedding Photography Sam and Jason

daveshilling — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:37:02 +0000

Leaves, Cowboy boots, Really tough looking geese, and random office buildings, served up hot! Sam and Jason are extremely fun people, and it is couples like them that make it hard to believe that this is actually a job, and taking these photos is considered “work.” I went into this shoot with no particular idea of where we would end up… I only knew two things…

1. There would be a wardrobe change

2. Outfit nomber two was suited for a nature setting.

…and that was basically it. They let me parade them around for some Midtown Engagement photos, then we headed down to the river and got in touch with nature.

P.S. You know that cool photo where you run through a bunch of birds and they are flying away and your couple is frolicking and looking all happy n stuff? Yeah, don’t try it with geese. They will barely even move, and you just look like psycho-geese harassment people. So, just mental note that. Now for the eye-candy:

Sam and Jason, you guys are super fun and you make loving my job a reality! I realy had a good time shooting Midtown Engagement photos for you, and I’m super excited to shoot some Chateau at Incline Village Wedding photos for you guys this month!

Much <3,

Dave

San Francisco Engagement Photography | Ericka and Kris

daveshilling — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:18:23 +0000

This wasn’t really an engagement session. This was an adventure. It began as a swan-dive into traffic on the bridge and apologetic phone calls for being one of the thousands of people who were late for something. We all were, I could just feel it and see it in the faces of the San Franciscans. But once I made it to Mema’s house, it was all good. Mema is Kris’ grandmother, and this was base-camp for our day. Mema invited me into her charming city home… the kind I pictured myself in if I lived in The City. I met her husband Gino, a retired sports professional, and as we waited, they shared stories about how things used to be. I loved that…. That was a whole paragraph, and I haven’t even seen Kris and Ericka yet! After some chit chat, I finally meet up with Kris and Erica to start our session in The Palace of Fine Arts. Now of course, this spot was being worked over hardcore.. There were brides everywhere, and I could spit and it would land on another San Francisco wedding photographer. Its a popular spot. Kris and Ericka gave me permission to get a little artistic with this shoot, and incorporate alot of background scenery for some context… We avoided every cliche San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts Engagement photo possible, and I was really stoked with the outcome.

This is the bench where Kris proposed… awwwww!

Any time I shoot San Francisco engagement photos, I always try to just drive around, up a hill, down a windy road, etc, until we find an interesting spot that catches my eye… I usually say something like OOOH! OOOH! and then we pull over and get to snappin!

After our shoot we ate dinner at a chill little Italian restaurant that Mema and her husband were very well known at… it was like being with a celebrity! The Veal Scallopini was a specialty, and it was delicious.. poor little baby cow. ( I bet if they had a photo of an adorable baby cow next to the Veal entrees, nobody would order it) . Ericka and Kris made my so much more than an engagement session… in fact, this wasn’t an engagement session at all. It was an adventure.

Can’t wait for next years Morgan Creek Country Club Wedding guys!!!

Much <3,

Dave

San Francisco Engagement Photographer | Nicole and Marc

daveshilling — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 04:26:47 +0000

I love the City, I enjoy big crowds of people moving like one big creature, and I can’t get enough of Marc and Nicole! Marc is a Giants fan, and when the Giants made it the World Series, their first game was scheduled for the date of our engagement session… how awesome is that!! After a hearty bowl of Chipotle for all of us, we headed into the city for some unique engagement photos, and the only Giants fans in the world who did a photoshoot in San Francisco without being glued to their high def TV…after our shoot, we listed to the Giants whip Texas’ ass on AM radio, and stopped for a quick snack… aka full babyback rib plate! Love em? yeah, they’re alright (= Here’s some of my favorite photos from our shoot:

Baker beach engagement photos are a must in SF, and I had to stand waaaay far back to get the bridge on the photo. I couldn’t even shout to them! I was rocking my $25.00 Goodwill lens for this one. Hooray for bargain shopping!

Not too long after this photo was taken, a photographer for the SF Chronicle photographed them standing there… she thought they were just spontaneously kissing..lol. I bursted her bubble soon after (=

This baker beach engagement photo was done with a wireless flash so I could show the location and the couple in a dramatic way after the sun headed south… Baker beach is an awesome place for engagement photos!

Updated caption for this photo: GIANTS WIN!!! GIANTS WIN!!!!

Team Keller, I really enjoyed spending the day with you and becoming, to some degree, a Giants Fan. Soon I will be shooting your wedding at the Old Sugar Mill and posting some Old Sugar Mill Wedding Photos! w00t!

FEAR THE BEARD!!!!

Dave

Ashley and Todd are engaged!

daveshilling — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:08:56 +0000

Ashley and Todd are a super fun couple, and I hope I did an adequate job of representing their chemistry and fun-loving personalities in their engagement session photos! One thing I love about them is that they made me feel comfortable shooting any idea that popped into my head, and they were stoked on the fun and unusual photos.. pretty much my ideal situation. Kind of funny that usually it’s my job to make my clients confortable, but I think they did that for me more than I for them. Thanks for jumping, goofing around, being in love, and being you!

WARNING: Mom Shot AHEAD!!!

Check out Todd putting the moves on his lady:

Much <3,

Dave