Earlier this week I had the joy of photographing Terra and Sean at one of my favorite places in Victoria, Elk Lake. Terra and Sean have been married four years now and boy oh boy do they both know how to work it! Terra has done some modeling, but Sean admitted that he hadn’t really had his photo taken since his wedding; which you never would have known. These two are too cute and we all had some fun in the grass and in the water.
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So, Jasmine Star and Chase Jarvis………ok can we stop at that? Jasmine Star – as in wedding photog extraordinare and Chase Jarvis – an absolute idol of mine are teamed up together? Could life get any better? I think not. These two have teamed up and are going to collaborate on shooting a wedding together. LIVE. So, duh, when they asked people to submit videos to come and be a part of it, I did a happy dance and then got.to.work. This is my video submission. Thank you to Kristen Ferris – for pressing my shutter release about one thousand times, The Shout Out Louds – for being awesome, and my husband – for telling me that this video officially doesn’t suck. And Thank You Jasmine and Chase!
Chase Jarvis, Jasmine Star and Me? Emphasis on the Question Mark. from jesse holland on Vimeo.
So this week I am headed back down to California; this time for my cousin’s wedding. I am pretty giddy about the wedding, though not nearly as giddy as I was for my own. I have come to LOVE weddings and I am especially excited for Gillian’s, in large part because she is family. And I love my family. Kevin and I will be attending the rehearsal dinner, a rafting trip and finally the big day, so it promises to be a fun filled trip. I am planning to do my best to embarrass Gillian during the rehearsal dinner (we have a bit of a tradition in our family of roasting the couple the night before); all I will say now is “Look guys! They jiggle.” So, in honor of California, and weddings this photo from the archives comes from the day after my own wedding and was taken in California. If you look closely you can spot the hawk (you should know by now I am have a big thing for birds.
Had a good week this week, despite a lot of face time with my computer. A lot. Had some editing that needed to get done and some loose ends (that still aren’t all tied up) to get to before I take off for California. When I wasn’t in front of the computer I went out and found the sun. Whether this meant doing to Thetis and swimming, or just finding a spot of sun to sit in at home, I am all about loading up on my Vitamin D. The added bonus of this is that it can make for some interesting photos – there is even a name for this technique of using high contrast light and shadow in art – Chiaroscuro - and it is one of my new favorite techniques to play with.
If I look a little unhappy in these, I swear I am not! This is just the best squinty – looking – at – the – sun – trying – not – to – go – blind face I can pull off.
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Another Tuesday is another excuse to dig through the archives on my harddrive! When Kevin and I got married we got to go to the San Rafael Civic Center to get our marriage license. I have seen this building many times driving along the 580, but this was the first time I got to go in. And what a treat it was. For all you Bay Area brides and brides to be, if you have any reason to go here bring along your photographer. Designed by Frank Lloyd right this place is beautiful and a kick back to the 70′s. I recommend getting dressed up and making a photo-shoot out of the whole “signing the paperwork” ordeal. Granted the desk of the woman who filled out our forms was the messiest desk I have ever seen, but the rest of the building is amazing. This is how you get in (from one of the many sides):
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Is it Tuesday again? I almost forgot. Well better a bit late than never. This photo, from the archives, comes from my drive down to California for my wedding. I am going to be heading back to Cali in a couple weeks, for a couples weeks, and I am excited to see my newly engaged friends and attend my cousins wedding. Til then enjoy sun and seagulls. This was snapped on the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles (my favorite international border crossing). I swear the bird as following us to America, he/she? drafted off the ferry for at least 20 minutes.
A few weeks ago I had the chance of a lifetime; to help Paul Tendrick capture the weddings of twins! On the same day! Honestly, my first thought was, “Is this some plot from a made for TV movie?” But I had it all wrong. All wrong. Carrie and Monica are two beautiful girls, who had two perfect weddings, that just so happened to be on the same day. And what a day it was! They traveled back to their home country from Australia, with their new husbands, new families and old friends. The weather and scenery at Weir Beach Lodge was perfect and they both looked drop dead gorgeous (and by the end of the day I was even able to tell them apart). To Carrie, Ian, Monica and James : I wish you all the best and know that you will have a rich life, back in Aussie. Based on the people I met on the day of your weddings your life will always be filled with love and joy. Being a sister myself, I couldn’t imagine my wedding day without my sister and it warmed my heart to see so much sisterly love. Thank you Paul for having me come along.
Sharon Rai had a jam packed day doing hair and makeup.
The bridesmaids stand watch, making sure no husbands are around trying to peek.
Wedding One: Monica and James, with the most adorable “Best Man” I have ever met, James’ eight year old daughter, who gave THE BEST best man speech I have ever heard!
Wedding Two: Carrie and Ian. Both seemed so relaxed during the whole day.
This last week was pretty painful. Literally. And it was my own stupid fault. I was doing some location scouting on Wednesday and as I was walking around looking for a boat, which I discovered no longer exists, I was trying to climb over a big branch and rock and just as I jumped up to get over the thing, the part of the branch I was holding onto disintegrated and back I went. I didn’t even realize I was bleeding til I got home about an hour later, but my back has been bother me since. Grrrr. Probably the worst part of the whole thing was I was wearing flip flops and ended up just walking in the water (a mere foot away from where I fell) around the log. Why going in the water didn’t occur to me right away is beyond me. Maybe the fall knocked some sense into me. The good news is the location scouting was a success, boat aside, and Kelsey, Kevin and I created some AMAZING photos for a slightly belated Trash the Dress shoot. I also had the joy of photographing a wedding on Galiano and Gossip Island for the amazing newly-weds Kristian and Heather. Kristin Ferris (who came and shot the wedding with me) and I ended up having to spend the night on the island, due to the ferry schedule, so we stayed through the wedding reception, partying with the bride, groom, some new friends and our old teacher. I have never been invited – by the grooms parent’s no less- to do shots at a wedding, any wedding. What a week!
The week started a bit slow, but loving that I could wear a sundress pretty much all week!
This hurt, yes sir!
But it was worth it for these:
Yes, Kevin gets his own watermark, and I love the photos he is taking.
Oh, I almost forgot. I am working on a lil video for a competition that Chase Jarvis and Jasmine Star are throwing. This is a still from it. The final product will be done soon. And making the video has taught me that I do NOT like talking to a camera. I prefer stills!
And then there was the wedding. This is testing out the photobooth I set up for Heather and Kristian and their guests (the wedding photos can be seen here).
And this one Ferris took. I am about five drinks in. Can you tell? Ferris is too, which may explain why this isn’t sharp. One word for you Ferris : autofocus!
And that was the week!
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On Saturday I had the pleasure (joy, really!) of photographing Heather and Kristian’s wedding. You would be hard pressed to find two people who are as nice, considerate and beautiful as these two. And they both have amazing families! Heather pointed out that she avoided turning into Bridezilla because her family, both old and new, were so helpful, that there was almost nothing left for her to worry about (my own theory on bridezillas is very much in line with Heather’s thinking; I don’t think that becoming a bridezilla just happens, it comes from all the pressure put on the bride by her family). I digress. The wedding took place on Gossip Island, a private island just off of Galiano, and it seems that everyone from Vancouver to Victoria knew about the wedding, even the ferries. As one of the ferries went by it sounded out congratulations via Morse code on the horn. The reception took place at the awesome Galiano Inn and Spa and was catered by Kristian’s fellow cooks and chefs. Kristian is an up and coming chef, who I was told by multiple people to keep my eye on, as he is surely destined for great things. And the food was amazing! This is probably the only wedding I will attend where there was mushroom risotto being made to order, butter chicken that was to die for and some sort of tuna sashimi with avocado and radishes that was an adventure in eating. There were also pulled pork sandwiches with celery root remoulade, that made me nostalgic for my old job working at Chez Panisse. If you don’t know what celery root remoulade is you are missing the best thing to happen to a root vegetable. Best thing ever! Enough about the food. Here are some photos!
The Taylor-made girls getting ready for Heather’s big day.
The ferry sounding it’s own congratulations!
During our consult Heather and Kristian described this rock, a glacier artifact left on the island many moons ago; I will admit I had my doubts about just how Heather was going to manage climbing up a rock in a wedding dress, but she pulled it off like a champ and it was TOTALLY worth it!
The whole bridal party got into the photos and I swear this one wasn’t my idea, but I was happy to snap it.
I love the Galiano Inn and Spa’s new dock!
Kristian and Heather’s niece was the perfect baby and seemed as happy to be at the wedding as anyone else.
The food was sooo good; I had to get a photo of all the cooks.
Congratulations to you both and a special thanks to Peter, Connie and Michael for all your hospitality!
More to come very soon.
