Feb 242012
 
architectural interiors photography oakland california dining room

Most of my photography has people in it. I do weddings, events, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, family portraits, group portraits, headshots, and whatever else I am forgetting, but usually there is a person in the picture.

That does not mean that photos with people is all I do. In a few hours I am shooting product photography in San Francisco. If the product is visually appealing to me I’ll post some samples. I also shoot architectural interiors and exteriors. Here are some interiors I did for a talented architect last month.

architectural interiors photography oakland california dining room

architectural interiors photography san francisco bay area

architectural interiors photography oakland california

Feb 102012
 

Kristy and Ronan got married with a few family members present at San Francisco City Hall. City Hall is a great place to elope. It is prettier by far than most wedding venues in the area. After the wedding, I took the bride and groom around on a tour of some of the most photogenic spots in San Francisco.

The Japanese Tea Gardens are a great place to take a bride and groom. The spaces are intimate, the backgrounds are exquisite, and it is easy to get shots with nobody else in the frame. Next, Alamo square, which has a great city view for that cool street shot. The warming hut is the best place to get shots with the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Palace of Fine arts is so pretty as to almost be cliche, but it is still that pretty.

Feb 042012
 
Pretty little girl mugging for the camera in a park in Oakland

I was doing a family portrait session. Mom, dad, two great dogs and one cute and happy little girl. She was one of those bubbly charming kids that make people without kids think “we should have kids.”

She got a little bored or posing with her mom and dad in a look at the camera way, but she didn’t mind “mugging” for the camera. Her mom put her on the table and let her just go while I snapped a few dozen photos. There are plenty of great shots from this session, but this one is just so fun. It’s just so sassy! The lines work really well, and the red offers such an interesting contrast to the greens and browns. Oh, I also like the textures in the photo.

Pretty little girl mugging for the camera in a park in Oakland

Photo © Alex Schoenfeldt 2011
All rights reserved
San Francisco Photographer

Jan 212012
 
Northern california wedding photogaphy. Candid photojournalistic shot of the bride and groom laughing in the reception.

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.

Northern California wedding photography. Candid photojournalistic shot of the bride and groom laughing in the reception.

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

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?

Pregnant Indian woman on a beach in Pacifica California

pregnancy photo on the beach, beautiful preganat indian woman