Destination Sacramento Wedding Photographer fun alternative » arboretum wedding photographer

Christine and Jim’s Engagement Session

daveshilling — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:43:31 +0000

I met the fun and carefree bride to be Kryssi while attending the Plan Green event at the UC Davis campus. . She helped facilitate the event, and she was one of the first people to come up and talk to me while I was setting up my booth. I was so excited to hear from her soon after about taking wedding photos for her and Jim! She’s the kind of woman who makes people around her smile, and Jim snatched her up! Smart move Jim =) Even though Kryssi works super close the the UC Davis Arboretum, she wanted to get some different textures for her engagement session. We had a great time cruising around Old Sacramento and basking in the warm afternoon sunlight, surrounded by 100 year old brick buildings. Check out some of my favorites from the day!

Love the pockets on this bag!

I just knew that Christine and Jim would be awesome, and they were… thanks for being so patient and fun, and I’ll see you in Tahoe in 31 days!

Much<3,

Dave

Green is the New Black

daveshilling — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:42:27 +0000

Green is everywhere now, and I couldn’t be happier! And I don’t mean winter grass, I’m talking about the concept of sustainability, especially from businesses. Companies everywhere are turning to more environmentally responsible choices for distribution, communication, and day-to-day operations. Many of the things they do benefit the environment and the business. If you have been to Costco, you see a fine example there. No plastic bags are allowed, only leftover product boxes. And nobody complains! Today on the UC Davis Campus, attended a vendor fair where catering and venue businesses were invited to show off their environmentally friendly menu offerings, and companies were there to demonstrate how their facility is a wise choice for anyone who is an enviro-geek like myself.

And then there was me. I was the only photographer there! I didn’t have duck meatballs in creamy risotto to offer passerby’s, I may not have been the busiest booth, but I felt like I was the most fun… Rather than have a typical trade show booth, I turned my lil space into an instant photo-booth, and people could come over and have their picture taken doing something silly while they were browsing the vendors. Cool right?

So why the heck was I there?? I got a special invite from Lina, the Director of Event Services at UC Davis to attend the trade show and represent for all of us Green photographers out there. Lina and I will be working on a project for UC Davis to help promote weddings on campus. Check out the photography I’ve done at the UC Davis Arboretum to see how gorgeous this place is… I can’t wait to rock out some wedding photography here soon! If you are a bride thinking about getting married here, check out their website for more details, and just know that fabulous pics are guaranteed!

I had a good time meeting new people from different vendors across the valley, and of course the brides-to-be who were there looking for food options, and found wedding photos too =)

Special thank to Lina for inviting me to the Plan Green Trade Show, you and your crew were fun and energetic, and I can tell you love your jobs! Since every post can benefit from a photo or two, here’s a picture of Lina’s crew getting some hangtime!

Much <3,

Dave

UC Davis Arboretum Wedding Photography| Christine and Roger

daveshilling — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:48:27 +0000

I love shooting at the UC Davis Arboretum. My first session there was thanks to Amy and John, and when Christine suggested a location that was chill, romantic, and had water, I ditched our original spot once I realized how awesome the Davis Arboretum is. I scoped it out as a possible location for my own wedding, but walking around the place has shown me many more cool spots to shoot! Christine is not only a friend, but also a bridesmaid from Mishell and Christians Yosemite wedding last summer. Here she is looking FAB as a bridesmaid:

She told me then that she was planning to trick this poor boy marry this stud named Roger, and now its her turn in front of the camera! Excellent choice Christine, Roger is a cool guy! Here’s some photos from our day around the Davis Arboretum:

UC Davis Arboretum
1 Shields Ave
Davis, CA

I love this sequence… so cute! I love when my clients want to goof around on our shoots.

The light that poured in at the Davis Arboretum was golden and delicious!

IN addition to being gorgeous and fun, these two are also part-time Ninjas, and they had a Ninja fight when were trying to shoot silhouettes… hey, sometimes you just need to kick somebody in the face.

I’m so proud of Christine for braving the big scary spiders to get this shot!!

We were literally in our cars, driving away, and I saw this steam rising… I flagged Roger down and when Christine got out, she jut knew exactly what I was thinking…. I love my brides!!!

I had so much fun on this shoot, and I think it shows in these pictures… can;t wait for your Monterey Wedding!

much<3,

Dave

UC Davis Arboretum Wedding Photography: Amy and John

daveshilling — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:29:00 +0000

Amy loooves pictures. And John loooooves Amy. I hadn’t even snapped one photo yet, and I was already having a good time just feeding off of their excitement! I love when a client is as excited as I am about love documentation. Amy, John and I headed to the UC Davis Arboretum for our sweet engagement session… We almost crashed a wedding that was going on there ’cause it was blazing hot and we were so thirsty! I had my fancy camera, so I could easily pass as the assistant wedding photographer. Ok, ok, we would never crash a wedding. That’s bad karma. Cast your eyes upon these treasures!

UC Davis Arboretum

1 Shields Ave
Davis, CA 95616-5270
(530) 752-4880

The sneakpeek photo, which I happily laid on the ground for, while light poured in from ether side of this gazebo.

This isn’t Joe’s first time on this bench at the Arboretum… he proposed to Amy, right on this spot!! We took this photo here and I wasn’t told that this was THE spot until later on….I guess I just saw the same thing in this bench that John saw…

I was so stoked that Amy and John were willing to climb a tree for me and take some fun photos! Amy and John are sittin in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!

Amy is just gorgeous…. I literally couldn’t take a bad photo. John meant business too, and hit me with some GQ material.. You go John!

Amy and John wanted to rent bikes to ride around the lake that is in the center of this sanctuary, but couldn’t get anyone to rent, so they borrowed one from a fellow Davisian. So RAD!

We left the Arboretum, and headed to the campus where they first met for more photo-action… We wanted to get soem bikers flying by while they kissed…so we waited. And by the time we were ready, everyone would be gone! Then I saw some fellow extreme sports enthusiasts on BMX bikes… I whipped out some BMX lingo and they agreed to all do wheelies across the frame while we shot…victory!!! check out this sweet sequence:

What a gentleman!!

When Amy knows what she wants, she gets it..John, you were doomed from the start =)

As the light faded, we felt there was no other choice than to have an acrobatics competition on the white benches. I think John won this round with a perfectly executed toe-touch!

You guys rock, I had so much fun! Getting stoked for your Chinese wedding at King Palace soon!

Much <3,

Dave

UC Davis Arboretum Wedding Photographer: Sneak Peak

daveshilling — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:24:00 +0000

I had an amazing time shooting Amy and Jon’s engagement photos tonight at the Arboretum and other parts of the UC Davis campus in Davis, Ca. This is one awesome couple… I caught them flirting with eathother more than a few times, and if thats not a sign of robust love, I don’t know what is! Here’s a sneak peek at a few photos while I take on the daunting task of picking my favorites out for a full post!

Much <3,

Dave