Stas & Inga's Wedding (San Francisco)

In the last post you met my good friends Inga and Stas, and had a chance to see photos from their engagement session. And now, on to the wedding!

Inga and Stas were married by a cantor at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Every detail of their ceremony and reception was thought out to the last detail and it was truly beautiful. During the ceremony, a screen above the huppah displayed photographs of beloved family members who were no longer here to witness this special day. The Ketubah (the Jewish marriage contract) featured a gorgeous illustration created just for this occasion by the groom's uncle. The colorful backdrop with intertwining trunks of willowy trees was custom-printed on silk and made the ceremony even more special and unique.

I was honored to be in the wedding party at this wedding, so unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture many of the fantastic and special moments that I otherwise would have. But there are still many wonderful images that I took away to preserve the memories of the emotion shared on this day.























































Until next time!
www.alicesokoloffphotography.com

An Engagement Session with Stas and Inga (Rancho San Antonio)

In the spirit of joining the ranks of true bloggers and making up for lost time, I have decided to post some engagement photos that I took a few months ago with Inga and Stas.

Part of the art of creating beautiful engagement photographs is in the preparation. When we discussed the scheduled engagement session, I told Inga that I had a vision of her in a red dress. Inga said, "you know, I was actually planning on wearing a red dress." That's when I knew this engagement session would be a success! :-) In addition to the beautiful red dress, Inga brought accessories. In fact, she spent almost an entire day tracking down a stylish matching umbrella. But it was all worth it, I think. They also had several other outfits to match the other locations we were planning on visiting during the photo session.

This is the photo I was contemplating when I asked about the red dress:



The rest was unplanned, but the gorgeous location, cooperative weather, and my highly photogenic subjects made it all come together.









































Until next time!
www.alicesokoloffphotography.com

Maternity Photo Session with Alissa (Mountain View)

After featuring the promising, but not particularly satisfying "Coming Soon" sign on my website for some time now, I have run out of excuses and resolved to start blogging.

As a photographer, I will focus my blog on providing you with updates of my photo-escapades. I believe one never stops learning and that photography is an art, which must find resonance in the hearts of the viewers in order to be considered masterful. Therefore, please post your comments, thoughts, and suggestions and tell me what I'm doing right and even what I am not.

For my first post I have decided to include photos from a maternity photography session that I did last week with Alissa, the mother of a beautiful two year old girl, and currently in her 30th week of being pregnant with twin boys. Unfortunately, Alissa was has been on doctor-prescribed bedrest for the past month and we couldn't have our session sooner. But despite her discomfort, Alissa was fantastic (though I will let you be the judges). :-) She says she has only had professional photos done when her daughter was a month old and before that on her wedding day, but the question I have most frequently gotten since I have started showcasing Alissa's photos has been--"Is she a model?"

























Ok, so maybe this is not a maternity photo, but I couldn't help myself.











I am feeling a little nervous, since this is my first post, so please don't hold back your positive feedback--I really need the reinforcement. :-D

Until next time!
http://www.alicesokoloffphotography.com/