Posts tagged cityhallwedding
Hans & Luke

When taking photos I was talking to Luke and Hans that it’s interesting how just 45 years ago Harvey Milk got shot in San Francisco City Hall just for being gay. And look we’ve come a long way as an American society to officially accept people for who they are regardless of their sexual preference. And if you have a relationship with a person why deny them an option to get married? How does it really effect other people?!?

I’ve been raised in a very liberal family where my parents looked at the social and political structure from a higher point of view. They were educated in the best universities in Moscow (my dad was an architect and my mom - a speech therapist, my grandmother was a doctor). They have taught to be critical and not simply accept the ‘propaganda’ but to look deeper. 4 years of university majoring in History taught me that there’s no black and white. The truth is somewhere in the middle. It also taught me that while the whole point of history is to learn the lessons and not to repeat our mistakes, we keep making the same mistakes over and over, not learning as a society. But the reasons I often quite simple - self interest.

With that said… what is the self interest in having a people of the same sex get married?! None.. it’s their business. And i’m extremely lucky to have been there and capture the marriage of Hans and Luke with their families in attendance

How much time should I book with you?

Quite often I get asked “What package is best for us?", “How long should our photo session at the City Hall should be?”

My answer is “It depends”. And here is what I suggest to consider:

  • Do you have a larger wedding party?

  • Have you booked the civil ceremony at the City Hall Rotunda or booked 4th floor or Mayor’s balcony?

  • Is it just the 2 of you?

  • Do you have specific images in mind that you must have?

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

  • 30 minutes is truly designed to cover the ceremony. If it’s just you or have a small group of guests will take group photos after the ceremony and will have 10 or so minutes for just the 2 of you.

  • 1 hour - If you have a wedding party and/or would like various photo combinations with them and a few couple portraits this is a great option for you. We can do a lot in an hour (samples below)

  • 2 hours - If you have a specific images you’d like, specific locations including outdoors and potentially have a larger wedding party (10 or more) I would suggest this package

  • 4 hours - couples that would like cover their reception after their City Hall session

I understand not everyone wants long sessions around the City Hall and couples are also cost conscious for very good reasons.

Keep in mind no session is alike. They are all unique because of the couples, their families and mostly because of space availability at the City Hall at the time.

My general recommendations when selecting the right package for you:

Here are examples of full session:

30 minute session - ceremony, family/guest photo (if present) and few portrait photos in 2-3 locations at the City Hall

1 hour session - more couple’s photos around the City Hall

1 hour session example 2 - more couple’s photos around the City Hall

2 hour session - for larger wedding party and more photos around the City Hall (especially if you have specific requests)

Sarmaya & Ekin

Every time I enter the City Hall and meet my couple, I think ‘how lucky I am to be here! I get paid to be in one of the prettiest places in San Francisco, be part of a special day, spend time with happy people, be creative and capture the moments as they unfold.

Sarmaya and Ekin were such a couple. Their officiant allowed them to speak their vows (officiants don’t always allow because of time). The officiant only gave them 1 minute each but they wrote over 2 minutes of vows. So we continued them after the actual ceremony.

The Christmas Tree in the background perfectly dates the photos and adds some nice light to normally darker Rotunda area (especially in the afternoon).

I sometimes get asked if the photo session should start after the ceremony and not during it. And my response is always the same - I love the real emotions during the ceremony. While I can stage that later, it's just not the same unless you’re an experienced actor. Here is an examples of some real unstaged ceremony moments.

Elena & Marco

It was June 10 2022 and it was THE hottest day in San Francisco this year. It was steaming 95 degrees outside at 11 AM when we did the outside shots.

I happened to know Elena through friends. As a matter of fact her friend recommended me as a photographer and when she reached out to me she didn’t realize she actually knows me. It’s been many years since we’ve seen each other so it’s quite understandable.

Their ceremony was scheduled for 9 am and I said if you’d like to get some nice clean shots of the Grand Stairwell let’s start a bit earlier. Well… as you know Hair and Makeup can take a while, so they ended up running a bit late, they also forgot their marriage license at home and basically we were behind.

But… here is a lesson to all the couples. It all worked out quite well at the end. They had a wonderful officiant - John, all their family and friends they invited made it on time to see the ceremony and they got married. They also weren’t stressing about all the issues they had. They were enjoying their day. Luckily I didn’t have another session till 11.30. So i could give them some extra time.

Of course.. i’m not saying it’s ok to be late and forget your marriage license. Do come prepared and on time especially that your photographer might not have time beyond the scheduled time. But as we know life has full of surprises. Here is an example when the couple really enjoyed their big day and didn’t let any small obstacles mess up their day.

Christina & Nathaniel

The most serious people can appear very much fun, goofy and going along with the mood of the day. And the mood of the day is marriage. And unless you’re forced in it, It’s about having a great time.

And that’s how it was with Christina and Nathaniel. When you see a man in the uniform you always think discipline, seriousness. While Nathaniel possessed that, he always had the most caring smile and his eyes sparkled when he looked at Christina. And he wasn’t hiding his feelings. There was no reason to do so. Besides, his bride looked gorgeous in her white dress, with her veil and he obviously couldn’t take his eyes off her. There were few specific shots where I wanted to have both of them looking at me, and you could see it was quite an effort for him to stop looking at Christina and look at me. And i can’t blame him :)

As my April and May have been extremely busy with weddings (i don’t even get enough time to do regular blogs), I’m realizing more and more while I like artistic shots, I’m learning more towards interesting shots where my couple’s character is coming out, where their personality shines. And I’m beginning to have larger number of those type of images versus cool silhouette shots with City Hall in the background. Don’t get me wrong. I like those, but lately I’m leaning more towards personality shots. And here are a few examples of that.

Bella & Joseph

I love January. Not just because it’s when my birthday is but because it often feels like a fresh start. Maybe it’s because of the vacation and holidays and maybe because in our minds new year is a sort of reset when we start anew.

First wedding of January after holiday and a long deserved vacation and I loved being back at the City Hall. The light at the City Hall in winter time is one of a kind. It’s low and it hits the windows on the north side, bouncing off the walls, creating this ethereal feel.

I love backlighting my couple, often times using another light on them as I like to have more light on the faces. Other times I’ll just ask my couple to be directly in the sunlight and pose them in such a way that it works. With Bella and Joseph I was able to experiment and try what I don’t usually do. And that’s the best part of what I do and makes me excited. It’s never the same and it’s not going to be the same for my couples. It’s not this pose with this spot - a template shot. No it will always vary and will be adjusted to the couple, to the feel, the mood, the light. So many little components go into the shoot and it’s not something we think about in order. All those things go through our head at once. Often times it’s not even a thought, it’s a feel.

You can compare it to a jam band. A great jam band just go for it. They aren’t thinking of the guitar solo.. they are in the moment enjoying what they do. I feel wedding photography is similar to that. While I can plan some shots, more often there’s just no time to do so within 1 hour session. And within that time I try to get to know the couple, observe their behavior with each other, get them relaxed, get them feel comfortable and to not think of me as a photographer but as a friend who’s going to take their photos.

And at the end I feel i had a good session when I have a good mix of images - from candid moments to real emotions to a few artsy shots that make sense and aren’t done for the sake of doing it.

SF City Hall is finally reopened

The last wedding I shot in San Francisco City Hall was on March 13 2020. On March 17 2020 Bay Area went into a lockdown with SF City Hall being completely closed. Finally on June 7th 2021 the City Hall opened its doors to the wedding ceremonies. There are 2 ceremonies every half an hour (used to be 3) and the appointments are only 9-1. As a result there’s a lot less people in the City Hall which allows for some really cool wide shots that was harder to achieve before. Well… you could, but then you’d get lots of other people in the shot. And i just don’t like that unless the people are part of the story somehow.

Danielle and Thomas live in San Diego. They were planning to visit San Francisco for a while and decided to combine pleasure.. well and pleasure. They got lucky that they were able to book an appointment in San Francisco City Hall somewhat last minute. Did I mention it’s really hard to book appointments now due to the demand. So it was just the 2 of them and a tripod with an iphone that allowed them to do livestreaming of their ceremony.

How To Get Married While City Hall Is Closed

So you’ve been planning to get married in 2020. It’s such a great year for that - numerically, symbolically and just why not? Nothing should stop the couples from tieing the knot. But then the pandemic hits and all the plans are changed. San Francisco City Hall that always attracts a large number of couples from all over the world wanting to get married closed its doors on March 17 and hasn’t reopened yet.

The good news is.. San Francisco City Hall started doing virtual licenses and ceremonies. There are certain requirements you have to meet but for majority of couples it should not be an issue.

You can view all that you need to know here and then book your ceremony with San Francisco City Hall officiant.

https://sfgov.org/countyclerk/video-marriage-services

Now i understand virtual ceremony is not the same as the one where the officiant is right in front of you. I’ve seen a few of these ceremonies. The officiant is still engaged, the moment are emotional and real. Unfortunately you’re not at San Francisco City Hall Rotunda, or on the magnificent 4th floor balcony, or the grand Mayor balcony. But you’re getting married, you have the person you love the most next to you and you have the officiant who’s “blessing” your union, giving it an official Californian stamp. In the eyes of the state you will be married.

So you get dressed, get your hair and makeup done. Why not take that opportunity and do a wedding photo session after your virtual ceremony. You can’t get inside of the City Hall, but there are plenty of great spots around the City Hall area. As a matter of fact I always left enough time for outside shots because San Francisco City Hall architecture strikes me the most from the outside. It’s what stands out first. The wedding session can be followed by going to the beach, overlooking the Golden Gate, Palace of Fine Arts or any other awesome location in the city.

Alyssa & Kevin

I’m always excited when i get booked for half a day. And it’s not because i’m greedy and here to make money. I enjoying spending time with people and getting to know them. It really is - ask my wife. She’s more of an introvert who has to deal with me always wanting to talk to people, ask questions and have random conversations.

So when i had an opportunity to spend 4 hours with an amazing couple like Alyssa and Kevin I’m beyond thrilled. First off we started off walking on the beach - the weather could not have been better. Then we headed to the City Hall and had time to do both serious and fun photos. It takes a little time for people to open up and be themselves in front of the camera. And I want to get the real, true them out.

Turns out Alyssa loves dancing - so of course i wanted to incorporate that. She has a lot of natural grace and i wanted to capture that as well… along with the silliness of course.

At the end i couldn’t have been happier with the collection of photos we got. There were lots of candid honest moments during the ceremony, very cool group photos and of course plenty of Alyssa and Kevin photos to chose from.

Tiffany & Bernard

One of the main reasons I enjoy shooting City Hall weddings is because majority of the time they are very intimate. There’s a small number of guests, often it’s the just the couple only. Don’t get me wrong, large, elaborate weddings are interesting, but they just aren’t as private. Often times they are about the guests more than about the couple getting married.

In the case of Tiffany and Bernard it was just them and their parents. Having 2 plus hours to spend with such a small group creates a sort of intimacy and an atmosphere where the couple gets to know you and I get to know the couple. To me they are not some people i just met. We have a moment to talk and get to know each other a little. I get to understand what they like, what they are into, how they met, etc… And the end result is we had time to do preparation photos at the hotel, first look, the ceremony, group photos, a very good variety of portrait photos as well as some individual shots.

We partnered with IqVideography to get a very cool highlights video - https://vimeo.com/379934906/85fc9e368c 

Morghan & Bryan

When Morghan emailed saying i photographed her brother in law wedding 2 years ago and was wondering if I’m available to do the same for her and Bryan, I was flattered. I did indeed photograph Kelsey & Sam wedding and they were an awesome couple to work with - https://www.sfcityhallphoto.com/blog/2017/10/17/kelsey-sam

I obviously was flattered and was happy to see some familiar faces - Bryan’s family , and new faces all happy and excited because it was a special day for all of them.

After being together for 5 years Morghan & Bryan didn’t lose any of the playfulness, emotions, care and love for each other. It felt like they’ve been dating for just a few months. It felt fresh and new. Now i don’t mean to imply that many couples lose that after few years of living together. Not at all… but as human being we naturally get used to something rather quickly.

It was a real pleasure spending a bit of time with Morghan and Bryan. I learned that they both do video game design. So i figured i’ll convert the City Hall into something else playing around with color gels.

At the end of our session I felt that we not only captured the ceremony, family moments, but went through variety of emotions with them, had loads of fun and all that with San Francisco City Hall in the backdrop.

Kaonta & Terry

Remember that old movie with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock - Forces of Nature, where they are both trying to make it home no matter what natural disasters stand on their way.

The difference with Kaonta and Terry is that they were heading to San Francisco from Houston when Hurricane Imelda threatened their plans. They were lucky to leave Houston area. George Bush Houston airport got shot down when they had their flight. So they drove to Austin to leave from there and that wasn’t a direct flight. So they arrived late night or more like 2 AM to their hotel room, barely got any sleep and started to prepare for the wedding at San Francisco City Hall. They were lucky to at least have made it to San Francisco. One of their guests got stuck in Houston and couldn’t leave. Kaonta’s family were lucky to make it from Houston and arrive on time to San Francisco. Return back home wasn’t without misfortunes either with emergency rooms and car flooding.

But for the evening of September 20 it wasn’t important. What mattered is 2 people got married in San Francisco City Hall in the presence of their close family. The officiant was local SF judge who happens to be Kaonta’s cousin. A small reception that followed in The Chambers (5 minute walk from the City Hall) was intimate, person and very tasty. I was treated as part of the family and dined with them.

Even though it was a long and tiring day for the bride and the groom, they held it together very well. At the end these are the images that will tell the story for them. All the disasters pass and life continuyes

Megan & Alex

When I talk to others about their job and what kind of work they do, i realize that i can’t even consider what i do as work. Of course there are some intense days, there are days when you emotionally and physically tired, but at the end I realize that I’m around happy people who are enjoying a very special day and my job is really to capture that day for them. I’m their guest with a camera. I’m their friend who knows how to take photos. And yes I really enjoy smaller wedding like this one where it was close family and closest friends, while Lucy stood for the groom’s best man.

As a result this San Francisco City Hall wedding was filled with intimate moments during and after the ceremony. How often do you get to photograph a cute dog inside the City Hall? Not very often.. so i took full advantage of that. Lucy played her part perfectly - posing, giving high fives and barking her congratulations to the newly wed

Portraits - my new obsession

Before i had my first “professional” photo shoot. Before i was even able to set exposure on my camera or focus correctly, I was attracted to people’s portraits…. actually i’ll say it differently. I was always interested in people - their emotions, passion… how it is reflected on the faces and body language.

While I enjoy shooting weddings - whether it’s a small San Francisco City Hall wedding or a larger weekend wedding - i always feel that I wish i had more time to spend with the people. Weddings are fast paced, adrenaline rushed, in the moment photography. While I always will set time aside for couples portraits, I don’t want to take over one of their biggest day in the lives, especially when the couple has family and friends attending.

My dream of having my own studio came true this summer when I built my own studio in Santa Clara. On weekly basis I work some amazing people, who trust my music choice and go along with my inquisitive and at times silly questions.

With portrait photos, especially studio, there’s no time pressure, no space pressure. To me it’s a sort of meditation. I have a chance to get to know the people and they have a chance to get comfortable and get to know me. I’m genuinely interested in each one of them. I want to understand their thinking, philosophy, personal experiences, what drives them.

I don’t want this to be a stare in the camera, I want the image to have a meaning. It’s about the mood, the true emotions, at times conflicted desires as we so often have. It’s about telling a story with a few images. A story about the person, their life, what they feel… That’s what i try to achieve every single time I do any kind of session, but more so when it’s a portrait session.

For more information on my packages I have created this page. The packages are very low priced for a reason as my goal is to attract more people who are interested in headshots and portrait photos.

https://www.sfcityhallphoto.com/portraits