FLORA + VICTOR

A winter wedding in California.

December in California often brings us crisp air, blue skies, and in San Francisco, less fog. Despite the shorter days, it comes with beautiful winter sunlight that’s softer than your summer high noon sun. This December day was no different and Flora and Victor’s wedding in the San Francisco Presidio was a beautiful event full of exuberance and emotion.

The day began at the Lodge at the Presidio where they held an intimate tea ceremony with their immediate families. We proceeded to the Chapel of our Lady for their ceremony and concluded with a reception at The Commissary. Three diverse spaces, all within walking distance of one another.

VENDOR DETAILS:
PRE-CEREMONY ACCOMMODATIONS // LODGE AT THE PRESIDIO
CEREMONY VENUE // CHAPEL OF OUR LADY
RECEPTION VENUE + CATERING // THE COMMISSARY
FLORIST // HOME SWEET FLOWERS
BAKER // CAKE COQUETTE

MY + NHAN

In a two-part session to celebrate their marriage in San Francisco, I first met up with My and Nhan at Marshalls Beach on a classic, foggy San Francisco afternoon. The fog provided a cool and moody atmosphere and incredibly soft light. We adventured down to the shore, stayed warm, and enjoyed the iconic California Coast and Golden Gate Bridge vistas.

In stark contrast to that session, I met up with them a couple days later at the always stunning San Francisco City Hall. It’s hard to do wrong with that incredible piece of marble and granite filled architecture. We were fortunate to have a quiet day and beautiful light to work with. A splendid couple of days.

Growing up in northern Marin (Novato, for those curious) the thing I’ve learned about photographing in the Marin Headlands is that I’ll never know what to expect when I get there. Over the years, I’ve accumulated some knowledge on how to assess conditions and even if I’m right when I arrive, it may be a completely different story in 10 minutes.

This was sort of the case with Alan and Thu’s engagement session in the Marin Headlands. Upon arriving a bit before sunrise, it was a pretty densely overcast and foggy, especially up at the higher elevations of Hawk Hill. As we got started, the sky cleared up a bit but a dense bank of clouds lingered along the horizon blocked the rising sun. But then mother nature decided to hook us up with some incredible light through a stunning sunrise display. For the rest of the morning we intermittently swapped foggy overlooks with warm sunlit scenes and sunny skies with grey backdrops but that’s part of the charm of the San Francisco Bay and the coastal fog, is it not?