The morning started off with some yummy pumpkin bread… mmm-mmm!

oxoxo,
Debra

Ian and Tanya’s wedding was so incredibly beautiful and chill. It was very intimate with about 20 or so close family and friends and took place on a gorgeous cliff overlooking the Monterey Bay. I was so honored and thrilled they chose me to be their photographer, because not only are they one of the loveliest couples on earth, they are also wedding photographers based in Southern California. Shooting another photographers wedding is one of the highest honors I could receive.

oxoxo,
Debra

There aren’t words strong enough to describe my feelings for this amazing couple. Since the wedding they have invited Greg (who was the 2nd shooter) and I to dinner. It was lovely to see them again and get to spend some time learning more about their family back home in Iran and their culture.

Before the ceremony with their guests they had time alone and read from the Koran.

This is the first reception I’ve covered that had no alcohol yet everyone danced the night away.

These ships were bombing each other - not sure what they were reenacting. Since they were married on Treasure Island, having these ships in the bay was the icing on the cake.

oxoxo,
Debra

First up is a lovely post-wedding portrait session with a lovely couple I met while on my trip. Meet Carolina & Milo. These two were hitched this past March, but had a major hiccup on their big day in that their priest never showed up! After keeping 380 guests waiting for 2 hours, a close friend of the family stepped in and performed the ceremony, though not legally, they had to track down the priest a few weeks later to finally make it legal. To make up for the wedding day hassle, we enjoyed a stress free portrait session on a lovely Argentinean night. The clouds in the sky were being illuminated by the city lights, it was pretty cool as you can see below. The car shots were also a blast to do. When they said they had a little red Fiat, I jumped at the chance to do a shoot with it. We kept seeing these adorable little Fiats all over Argentina (and Uruguay).

oxoxo,
Debra

Originally Rob Snavely was hired to shoot their big day, but Rob unfortunately came down with a serious case of encephalitis. He was in the hospital for 3 months and is still suffering from memory loss and won’t be able to get back to work for at least another year. He had 15 weddings on his calendar, so the local wedding photography community came together and helped cover his weddings with all the fees going to Rob to help cover his hospital bills. Gary & Jenny had a list of talented photographers to choose from, so I was honored when they chose me.

One of my favorite photographers, Anna Kuperberg, who is also covering one of Rob’s weddings, visited Rob the day he was released from the hospital, you can view her gorgeous photos of Rob, his dog Utah and his girlfriend Julie on her blog.


oxoxo,
Debra

I wanted to post this image first because I love it, but I can’t take 100% credit for it. It’s clear Mohammad has a great eye for photography, as this was his idea.










oxoxo,
Debra

Greg has a photo of me taking this photo, of course. But I think I had the better view! Heh. I love this old structure with the wild vegetation growing inside.

Tuk Tuk’s were our main source of transportation. I seriously want one of these, but I could safely bet that after I park it in my neighborhood that it’d be stolen within 12 hours. Thing is, it shouldn’t be that hard to find since I’ve never seen one in SF, right? Still, I don’t want to test my luck.

Color color color. This town is a photographer’s dream come true! So, if I told you one of the below buildings was a McDonald’s, would you believe me? No? I probably wouldn’t either, but it’s safe to say I have a McDonald’s in one of these shots. One of the most amazing things about this place, other than the people, is that there’s no major billboards or advertisements on the buildings so your everyday fast food stop is not apparent. We saw a Domino’s Pizza, Subway, McDonald’s, and each time had to take a second look and think… “is that a…”, and come to find out, it was indeed what we thought we saw.

Okay, I said I’d show some ‘chicken bus‘ photos, and here they are! They are called chicken busses because on most days you can expect to find Guatemalan ladies bringing their chickens to sell at the farmer’s market. We didn’t have such luck, which I was slightly bummed about. But the busses themselves are all different and very much their own art pieces.

Of course I was thrilled to find this bus come buzzin by. I’m making this my last photo from the trip, because I’d like to think it’s my bus home (though it doesn’t go anywhere near California!).

oxoxo,
Debra