My beautiful friend Hiraa needed portraits done for a book and asked if I could capture her in some spots in San Francisco. It was fun catching up and photographing her. We've known each other since high school and even though we don't get to see each other all the time, it's nice to know we can still spend time together and talk as though no time had passed.
A Visit To the Sweetest Flower Shop
Yesterday I spent the early afternoon visiting with Benjamin and Emerson, the amazing duo behind the sweetest flower shop, Ampersand, which is tucked away right off Valencia street in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco.
They found their space in a former garage and made a cozy space into such a lovely flower shop. They source their flowers within the Bay Area and set it up so that you can come in and pick and choose to make your own bouquet or they can create one for you on the spot using your preferences.
I first worked with them indirectly at the beginning of the year when I did a styled shoot with other wedding vendors.
I finally got to meet them in person this past weekend when I photographed a Galentine’s soirée with some NorCal bloggers.
It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I decided to take a trip up to see their shop during the day and photograph them in action. It was a nice break from other photo jobs and just bringing my camera out to explore and take photos for fun.
Here are my photos from such a fun and inspiring afternoon with Benjamin and Emerson. If you’re in SF and are in need of some pretty flowers, please stop by and visit their shop. They also do events and are happy to have people come and sit on their couch to just enjoy the flowers. You’ll find those turquoise doors easily.
Ampersand Flower Shop: 80 Albion Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Pointe Taken: Dancer in SF Part 1
Last week I shared a post of the ballet shoot I had done a couple weeks prior with my wonderful and talented friend, Lani. She is an amazing dancer and it was such a pleasure to photograph her doing something she's extremely passionate about. Lani's other passion is Bar Method and is a fantastic instructor up in Seattle. So if you're ever in the area, be sure to take a class there.
There will be two parts to this photo series. This first set took place in a beautiful studio called Maiden Lane, which is a great yoga studio right in Union Square of SF. The owner was so gracious and kind to let me use the space. If you're ever in SF, please do get in a yoga class there.
I learned a few things about ballet that day, but it was just amazing to such a beautiful form of dance in person.
Any input about these photos will be greatly appreciated.
Please stay tune for Part 2 of these series, which will feature ballet on the streets of San Francisco.
Special thanks to my wonderful friends who graciously assisted that day. Could not have done this shoot without you. Please check out their sites: Andrea Isasi , Jarhod Geronimo and Ian Lundie.
Ballet Shoot: Behind the Scene
Wee!Last week I spent time preparing for a photo shoot that my friend Lilani (the dancer) and I have discussed for a while. We chose a date two months ago and it finally happened this past Saturday! Lilani is a trained ballet dancer and we wanted to capture ballet poses done by her around San Francisco, a city in which she frequently visits for her close friends.
To prepare for the shoot, I spent a good part of Thursday scouting out locations in San Francisco around the same time we'd shoot on Saturday. This allowed me to see the lighting and how it would work for our shoot. And San Francisco is always congested on weekends, so I wanted to make sure we weren't around places that were TOO crowded, even though some places I wanted were iconic parts of SF.
Here are some shots I took while scouting:
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I had other places in mind, but I have shot at them before and was familiar with the locations beforehand. I also reached out to a yoga studio in the heart of Union Square called Maiden Lane Studios, a beautiful yoga studio I had taken classes at before to see if I could shoot there and they were so gracious and nice about it. I also made notes in my sketchbook about what the temperatures were and how the sun was casting down. This allowed me to pack appropriately and for Lilani to figure out what to wear.
As I'm working on processing photos from the shoot, I wanted to show some behind the scenes photos and outtakes. The candid photos are always so sweet and fun to see.
Special thanks to: Andrea for being the best BFF to Lilani with hair, holding of all the stuff and her wardrobe, Jarhod for helping me with metering, shots, carrying of camera, second set of eyes and making sure we didn't get hit by cars and for Ian for the transportation and keeping us safe.
Portrait of a Photographer
My friend Carla whom I met via Social Media have been "friends" for a few years now. The magic of the internet has allowed us to keep in touch, learn about each other and our lives despite us never having met each other. So when she reached out and asked if I would be able to photograph her for her portraits, I was super excited and nervous. Shooting people is fun, and something I really enjoy, but shooting a photographer makes me nervous because we can be a little critical, since we know what we want. However, I was looking forward to finally meeting her.
We chose San Francisco as our destination since she works there and we are both from the Bay Area. It was such a delight to shoot and talk with her.
Here are a few photos from the day. These were shot with a Canon 30D, using 80mm lens.
