Erralyn + Mike - Castlewood Country Club Wedding/Vow Renewal, Pleasanton, CA

We usually document a couple’s first steps into the relative (but hopeful!) unknown of marriage, but in this edition of the blog we get a good look at a version of the“happily ever after” one would be lucky to have.

As we’ve covered before on this blog, Erralyn and Michael have been married with three great daughters and planned a vow renewal at the Castlewood Country Club to celebrate their decade of marriage.  What they planned had all the trappings of a wedding; a dress and a tux, a grand entrance followed with a big dinner party ending on a dance floor.  The day certainly centered on the continued union of two great people, but as the day wore on it became increasingly a celebration of the result of that marriage; Erralyn and Michael’s three daughters.  

Though all three were at their heartwarming best and genuinely happy for their parents’ renewed vows, none were more affected, proud, and palpably loving of her parents than their eldest, Mikayla.  She was a proud reflection of her parents, the best example for her younger sisters, constantly attending to her mom as she prepared for the day, and later in the evening giving a powerful, genuine toast.

That toast sticks with us even now, months after we heard it.  It revealed ten year old Mikayla as precocious, gracious and appreciative of her parents.  It was difficult not well up inside the viewfinder as we imagined the sense of pride that her parents must have had for her at that moment.  To ask for a kid with so many virtues should probably be a hope fraught with hubris at the sheer audacity of the request; yet, we’ve seen it happen!  Her speech was delivered with the verve and candor of her youth with a sentiment and command well beyond her years.  

Though Mikayla’s toast was certainly a highlight, the day was full of warm moments between family and friends. The ceremony was punctuated by Erralyn and Michael gifting their three girls Tiffany’s necklaces, and they started up the dance floor with some of their own moves.  More than anything, this celebration was just about having fun with their guests, and a part of that was a bouquet toss for the groom and a garter toss for the bride and Mike breakdancing with kids who don't know a world without FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Congratulations to Erralyn and Mike for their first decade of marriage, for their life together to come!

Klara+Mak - San Francisco, CA Engagement

Working with Klara+Mak, we felt compelled to launch into a version of that schpiel that airline pilots rattle off thanking the passengers for choosing their airline, especially because there are plenty of options for air travel.  Klara+Mak are from Singapore and wanted an engagement session in San Francisco, a city which they've grown to love on their numerous visits.  That they chose us to help make their vision of themselves in iconic San Francisco environs was a huge honor, but after the shoot, we felt that we owed them because they were absolutely wonderful in front of the camera.  I wanted to tell them "thank you for choosing J&A Light, in a city filled with absolutely wonderful photographers, we're so glad that you decided to go with us!".

As we made our way through the city, it was evident that they were completely comfortable with themselves and with eachother; these guys knew how to work a camera!  It was a treat to see the things they loved about San Francisco, and we have to thank them for giving us the freedom and trust to go with our photographic instincts in the locations they chose.  It was a long shoot, but we were energized by our great subjects.  A huge thanks and congratulations to these two!

Anna + David - Albany & Berkeley, CA Engagement

What immediately struck us about Anna and David was their warm, laid back demeanor and smooth sense of humor.  If you took The Daily Show/Colbert Report/Last Week Tonight in completely adorable couple form, but toned back only the incisive/harsh sarcasm to a pleasant 15%, you’d have these guys.  Pop culture, the classics, issues of social and environmental awareness are all fair game with Anna and David, and they seemed to always have an interesting take on the subject at hand.

That said, the other way we’d describe what it was like to be around them was that you somehow had the sense that they had a rad apartment.  It makes no sense, but it’s true.  You can’t have people this cool and not have sweet dwellings; that would be tantamount to having a dirty gin martini without the olive juice.  It would be a contradiction of terms.  With this feeling about them in mind, when the subject of their engagement session came up, we suggested that it might cool to do a bit of our shoot in their apartment…and they agreed!  Guess what, we showed up, and we weren’t wrong.  Personality, quirkiness, and a keen orderliness abound in that pad!

When we showed up for their session, not only did it feel like your favorite interior decorating periodical, we got to meet their cat owners, Willie (not pictured) and Dijon (pictured with a smushed countenance).  After taking in their space for a bit, we started their shoot trying for a straight ahead family shot; two humans, two cats.  You’ll see that we only could manage two humans and a cat, as Willie just wasn’t having it.  After this brief set back we made use of their great apartment; the decor gave a sense of who they are (cool as heck!), and more importantly for us, interesting spots of light.  Shooting a bit in the apartment was a total win!

Anna and David let us know that Golden Gate Fields was a special place to them and their friends, so we headed there to catch some exteriors and make use of the clear day and great light by the water.  A bonus was that Anna’s retro-inspired, waist skirt-based outfit was a great complement to the throwback sensibilities of the race track.  To put it in cheesy terms, it was a nice juxtaposition of a new love against some old school charm (end cheese).

On our way to Berkeley, they treated us to some [very literally] sweet donuts at a favorite donut shop in Berkeley en route to exploring downtown.  After that we shot just off University Avenue, and no matter where we put them or asked them to do, they looked absolutely fantastic.  We spotted red neon in the windows of a swimsuit shop, and figured it was a appropriate quirk for them, and made good use of it.  These guys can also bring the drama, we found.

Throughout the shoot, we couldn’t ask for more; they were so loving and fun with each other, and their personalities individually came across strongly in their photos.  It really was hard to take a bad frame, just a dream.  If this session was anything to go by, it’ll be more of the casually cool fun come their wedding day.  Definitely check back in for that!