Every year around Easter my daughter and a group of my closest friends go camping at the Indians campground in the Los Padres National Forest. It is one of the best parts of my year. I often do some photography while I’m there. This time, the fun stuff was putting a strong IR filter on my lens and getting some long exposure shots of the Arroyo Seco river.

This photo is a 25 second exposure (I know, my previous post is a long exposure shot too, must be the flavor of the month.

It was just after a storm, so I got some shots of clouds as well.

All photos @ Alex Schoenfeldt 2012
All rights reserved
San Francisco Photographer

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?

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.

Copyright Alex Schoenfeldt 2001. All rights reserved.

I’m just going to let this photo speak for it self.

It was taken at a wedding reception at the Metropolitan Golf Links, in Oakland CA October, 2008.

Bride hugs her best friend

Infrared wedding photos from the Oakland Mormon Temple

When people get married at the Mormon Temple (or LDS Temple. Feel free to tell me in comments which is better) the temple itself is an important feature in the photographs. I love shooting there. As a photographer, I appreciate the scale, the lines, and the tones.

I’ve shot there many times, (here is another LDS wedding that made it to my blog) but this past week was my first time there with my infrared converted digital camera. It was a nice sunny day, which enhanced the effect.

All Photos copyright 2010, Alex Schoenfeldt Photography. All Rights Reserved.

I thought I’d combine my new love of experimenting with infrared with my old love of wedding photography.

This photo was taken in the park in front of the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. On a busy Saturday, the park was full of people, and really not the most romantic place. A great place for people watching, but not the best place for bridal shots. However, the infrared really transforms the scene. It becomes a magical land with romance and mystery, the crowd of Saturday tourists fading into the background.

All photos © Alex Schoenfeldt 2010. All rights Reserved
Alex Schoenfeldt Photography

I recently bought a digital canon, a D60, that has been converted to shoot infrared. Now, you can’t quote me on this, but here is to the best of my knowledge how this thing works. All digital cameras have a filter in them that blocks infrared and allows visible light to pass. In my new IR camera, someone has taken out that filter and placed instead a filter that does the opposite, blocks visible light and allows IR to pass.

If I’ve got that wrong, let me know in comments.

I first took the camera out to the Berkeley hills, and I loved it right away. I could tell immediately that I had to learn to see in a new way to get the most out of this camera, which as a photographer was an exciting prospect.

Then, I took the camera to the Big Sur River with some friends, and here are the results:

All Photos © Alex Schoenfeldt 2010. All rights reserved.
Alex Schoenfeldt Photography.

Lisa and Chris got married at the Evergreen Lodge in Goveland, CA. They were on the older side of brides and grooms. (Not old, jut older than most first timers). Something I noticed with couples that are in their 30′s and 40′s when they get married. They stress a lot less about every little detail, and bring their own personal ascetic to the wedding instead. It’s quite nice really.

Photos © Alex Schoenfeldt 2006. All rights reserved.
Yosemite Wedding Photographer

Art Photography: Photo Safari Alameda Naval Base

Yesterday, I spent a little time on the old naval base is Alameda, CA.

I love old abandoned buildings and the like, so this place is a dream come true for me.

All photos © 2010 Alex Schoenfeldt
San Francisco Photographer

I met Julia and Otto at a cafe near their house in Oakland. One of the reasons they picked me over other photographers they liked, I have photos of African American people on my website. The even said “You’d think black people don’t get married, looking at vendors websites.”

I think their wedding was at the Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo.

I particularly like this photo because it is simultaneously formal, candid, and photo journalistic. I like to have a light touch during formals. Too loose, and people feel confused. Too tight, and you miss shots like this.

Black and White Photo of African American Bride and Groom

© Alex Schoenfeldt 2010. All Rights Reserved.
San Francisco Photographer