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Chateau at Incline Village Wedding Photographer – Sam and Jason’s Wedding

daveshilling — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 22:53:47 +0000

Every time I go to Tahoe, there is usually one thing in mind: Snowboarding. Freshies. Shredding the gnar pow-pow, if you will. This time I had a whole new mission… complete the coldest wedding I’ver ever done! Sam and Jason are two lovebirds who were attracted to Lake Tahoe’s winter beauty… what they didnt expect was the coldest week that the Northern California region had experienced in YEARS. Records were being set daily… It was snowing below 1000 feet, and temperatures in Lake Tahoe were in single digits. Knowing I faced the possibility of missing the entire wedding over the weather, I left the night before and braved 6 hours of traffic to arrive in Incline Village. Even though the snow cleared and the next morning was nothing but sunshine, I was glad Jessica and I left the night before to guarantee that I wouldn’t be late. This was actually the first time I had stood in single-digit weather, and I think my breath was freezing. It was craaaazy cold! Fast forward to the next morning, and it was sunny, but still below 20 degrees… poor Sam had to stand out in that weather in a strapless wedding dress for photos… I had to stop taking pictures when her arms began to turn purple. Forget getting the dress dirty… Sam is the new queen of I’ll-do-anything-for-my-photos. Enough of my blabbing, here are some of my favorites from the day:

We started the day getting ready at a house they rented across from the Chateau at Incline Village. This definitely made things easy! Window light poured in from one side of the room, and we used every last dropfor Sam and Jasons wedding photos!

*Jasons awesome shaving photo by Jessica Moores. Thanks for your help Jess, you rocked it out!

This is Sams smile. The real deal. Her and I had an agreement… I would stand and wait for the real smile as long as necessary. She never kept me waiting long (=

She is happy in this picture for 2 reasons: 1. she is marrying Jason today at the Chateau at Incline Village and will have an awesome wedding and rad wedding photos… and 2. Jason is keeping her warm while its 17 degrees outside. Good work Jay!

Jason broke many hearts that evening.. these guys were taking it a bit rough that Jay was no longer a member of the Wolf Pack!

I literally had one of these boots stolen off of a foot for this photo.. Jay, now you know why you were walking with that limp for 5 minutes (=

shhh… dont tell anyone that we were standing in the parking lot of the Chateau at Incline Village for this awesome wedding photo, ok? pinky swear!

Thank you for inviting me to the coolest wedding ever! (literally) I had a great time, and I remember thinking how much fun it would have been to be a guest… which is probably why I spent the last 1o minutes dancing (=

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

Old Sugar Mill Wedding Photography| Courtney and Owen

daveshilling — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:23:41 +0000

Courtney and Owen Like to live dangerously. I got a call from them to photograph their wedding only a month away from the ceremony date! The Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, CA had a last minute cancellation, so they moved their wedding up by a full year! Brave, brave souls (= I’m so glad I was available because their wedding was an absolute pleasure to attend. Courtney and Owen are just the type of couple that after knowing them for 10 minutes, you would happily entrust them with your children or let them drive your mint ’57 Chevy to Kansas. Their love for eachother is evident, honest, and geniune, and I think the photos from their wedding are an artistic interpretation of not only them, but how they made me feel while photographing them. Here are some of my favorite photos around the Old Sugar Mill and the rustic brick and broken pane buildings…for some reason, I preferred more black and white than normal for this blog post, and some darker photos than usual. Either way, I really enjoyed taking these.

There are wine barrels everywhere at the Old Sugar Mill wedding venue, and they made a nice accent for this dress photo

The shoe shot….my way. Old Sugar Mill Wedding photos must have bricks in there somewhere! Thanks for your help Courtney! <3<3

Courtney and Owen were married in the Barrel Room… a nice, dramatic spot for ceremony at The Old Sugar Mill wedding venue.

Thank You for inviting me to photograph your wedding, I really enjoyed being there for your day!

Much <3,

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

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

2010 means better choices.

daveshilling — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:57:21 +0000

It isn’t every day that I watch something on television that directly impacts the way my day begins and ends.

I watched Food, Inc. after being recommended by Jasmine Star on her Wedding Photography Blog. She mentioned how watching this documentary about where our food comes from shaped her food choices, and after watching it myself, I understood why. I don’t want to list out every awesome point that the movie made, just watch it, but at the end of the day my family and I decided to make a stronger effort to know where our food comes from, support local growers who grow their food naturally, and find a more responsible choice for our meat purchases. Today we headed to a local Farmers Market behind Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights to check out what local growers had to offer during the winter season, and we came home with a bag full of goodies! Everything we ate was delicious and the cost was not prohibitive to doing this every week, so it has instantly become house law. Jenny is headed to the Farmers Market downtown under the freeway to see if they will have any locally raised meats that weren’t corn fed and raised in their own excrement ( seriously, watch this documentary) and I look forward getting pictures on my phone of these delicious treats! For you photo-nerds and the generally curious, here’s a setup shot for the delectable fruit display above:

NERD ALERT!!!!
Two SB-800′s both fired with CLS on manual at 1/80th power. The flash at camera left is snooted with a piece of tin foil, and the flash at camera right is diffused through an extended roll of paper towels help up by a flashlight. D300, 85mm@f8, ISO 200, 1/250th sec

P.S. We all tried the Asian pear on the right for the first time this evening . It was so freakin delicious. We’ll be getting more next time!

Much <3,

Dave