Alex Schoenfeldt Photography, San Francisco Photographer

You could not fake this moment for a million dollars. Candid wedding photography.
Portraits are great, don’t get me wrong. A god portrait can reflect back to someone just how beautiful they are. I love doing portraits. I love the collaborative process and the deliberate pace. But my heart leaps at candid, photojournalistic and naturalistic photography. To capture a moment as it happens is such a thrill. Most [...]
Pregnancy photo. Beautiful pregnant Indian woman on a Northern California Beach.
I did a pregnancy photo session for a couple recently. We started on the hills above the ocean somewhere south of Pacifica CA. We got some great shots of the two of them but the award winner is posted below. The long back hair, round pregnant belly, dark Indian skin, the dark cliff walls, the [...]
Waterfalls and stairs in black and white. Plitvica National Park in Croatia
I took this black and white shot in Plitvica National Park in Croatia some number of years back. The color there were gorgeous. I grabbed a roll of slide film out of the bag (remember that stuff?) and was shooting mainly for the colors I saw. Only when I got back to the USA and [...]
Alex Schoenfeldt Photography now has a Facebook Business Page
If I link my blog to my Facebook page, and my Facebook page links to my blog, and I twitter about it, will the world explode? Social media or no, I’m still one of the best photo-journalistic wedding and event photographers in the San Francisco Bay Area! The home of Alex Schoenfeldt Photography on Facebook.
Portraits of Children at the Campfire after school program
Last year I volunteered regularly at the Campfire after school program in West Oakland. The program gives affordable and enriching education and care to a great group of kids in a low income part of Oakland. They do a really good job with the kids. They help them with their homework (and see that it [...]
Father Son
Last time I updated, the shot was a Facebook screen grab of a father and daughter during a wedding. This week, it is a father and son. It was a family portrait session, and I saw this moment and grabbed it. Photo © Alex Schoenfeldt 2011 San Francisco portrait Photography
The human touch, father daughter.
I love my job. Photography is fun and all, but I get to really be a part of Such a beautiful moment in people’s lives, where for a few hours people are not afraid to express love. I’m there to capture it. I took this picture years ago. I posted it on FB for the [...]
Artistic photo shoot with handmade hat
Wednesday night 11:30 PM I got an emergency text from a client, Jeanne Henzel Swartz, proprietor of Joona She was having a photographic emergency. She had just finished a hat for a competition, and photos were due at 10:00 AM tomorrow. She had been planning to shoot it herself, but her model flaked. She needed [...]
One more from the San Jose Country Club wedding reception.
I’m putting all of the photos from the wedding I shot last week at the San Jose Country Club online today. This is the same wedding as my previous post with the flower girl dancing on the grooms feet. I saw this shot of the bouquet toss. Bouquet flying through the air, girls and women [...]
Girl dancing on man’s feet. San Jose Country Club, San Jose CA
In this case, the girl dancing on a man’s feet is the flower girl dancing on the groom’s feet. The reason I love this shot is that it could be any girl on any man. Father/daughter, brother/sister, uncle/niece (in this case it is new uncle in law and niece. The flower girl was the bride’s [...]

You could not fake this moment for a million dollars. Candid wedding photography.

candid, photojournalistic, wedding No Responses »

Jan 212012

Portraits are great, don’t get me wrong. A god portrait can reflect back to someone just how beautiful they are. I love doing portraits. I love the collaborative process and the deliberate pace.

But my heart leaps at candid, photojournalistic and naturalistic photography. To capture a moment as it happens is such a thrill. Most people just are never going to fake an emotion right. Show me “overjoyed and in love” the best actors can pull that off, but for most of us, if you want a photographer to capture that moment, they have to be there, be quick, be unobtrusive (it can’t be about the photographer by definition) and be good. I love the moment when it all comes together. I am not thinking of my camera, I am not even thinking of myself. I am just caught up in the moment as it happens, and I capture it as it happens. This feeling, this is why I love wedding and event photography.

This picture below is an example of what I am talking about.

Look at them! Happy, laughing, in love, in the moment. Real. I love that I captured that and can show it back to them.

Pregnancy photo. Beautiful pregnant Indian woman on a Northern California Beach.

art, black and white, Environmental portrait, nature photography, portrait 1 Response »

Jan 142012

Prenant Indian woman on a beach in Pacifica California

I did a pregnancy photo session for a couple recently. We started on the hills above the ocean somewhere south of Pacifica CA. We got some great shots of the two of them but the award winner is posted below. The long back hair, round pregnant belly, dark Indian skin, the dark cliff walls, the cold white-capped ocean, this shot just works in my opinion.

It’s on the blog twice. I was just going to post the color version you see first. This shot is a bit intimate, and I know for a fact the husband has some conservative family members, I thought I’d check before I put it out there on the interweb for all to see. I emailed a proof of the shot with my request, and when I got the email saying “yes” back it also said “aren’t you going to use the black and white version?”

Which one do you like better?

Waterfalls and stairs in black and white. Plitvica National Park in Croatia

art, black and white, Photos, travel No Responses »

Jan 132012

Plitvica National Park Croatia, black and white photo of a waterfall and stairs

I took this black and white shot in Plitvica National Park in Croatia some number of years back.

The color there were gorgeous. I grabbed a roll of slide film out of the bag (remember that stuff?) and was shooting mainly for the colors I saw.

Only when I got back to the USA and had the roll processed that I realized that it was black and white slide film, which is really rare. Most of the roll was just not very interesting. Images that had been framed and composed with color in mind and as one of the main focal points just looked dull in black and white. This shot though, I’ve always loved.

Now, shooting digitally, I don’t have to worry about this mistake any more.

Portraits of Children at the Campfire after school program

African American, non-profit, oakland, photojournalism, photojournalistic, Photos, portrait, pro bono, street photography, Sunset, uplifting 3 Responses »

Jan 102012

Proud and happy young african american girl in Oakland California

Last year I volunteered regularly at the Campfire after school program in West Oakland. The program gives affordable and enriching education and care to a great group of kids in a low income part of Oakland. They do a really good job with the kids. They help them with their homework (and see that it gets done!), feed the kids healthy snacks, play games (kickball, FTW) and give them a supportive and accountable environment. I was proud to be a part of what they were doing.

One of my duties included portrait photography of the students. Here are some of my favorite portraits of the students.

This first shot, this girl (or teen, or young woman) she was a spunky kid. Strong willed, smart and tough. I love to see her so fiercely happy here.