Traveling from Australia to photograph the California Wedding of Michael and Alex
In July, we were privileged to travel to the USA to photograph the California Wedding of Michael and Alex. So we have an Australian photographing the California wedding of a young beautiful couple who are studying and living in Utah. What an amazing day this was and the Wedding album has a unique blend to it.
The first look
A few days before the Wedding ceremony, we decided to do a “first look’ preview session. The first look can be very special. It is when the Bride and Groom meet privately before their actual ceremony. On this occasion, the groom Michael covered his eyes in an apple orchard in Vacaville, California. The Bride Alex gently tip-toed down to Michael and when the time was right tapped him on the shoulder and had him spin around to see his Bride to be in all her glory for the first time.
Shooting a California Wedding
This is the first time that I had photographed a California Wedding. And after 1 month of traveling in the United States, there were a couple of things that I noticed. The first thing is that the light in a Californian summer stays up really late. This means that golden hour was around 8pm. The other thing I noticed with the light is that there isn’t many sunrises due to the fog. It would get light early but would be overcast until 11am.  When shooting a California wedding it’s important to also allow adequate time for the photographs and allow for all the factors.
Travel time for a California Wedding
One of the biggest factors in photographing a California Wedding is travel time. This is largely affected by the huge amount of traffic. Michael and Alex stay with their family in Vacaville, California. They were married in the Oakland LDS temple. Travel time to the temple was about an hour and a half and that was in normal traffic. Any hitches in the traffic flow could add a very lengthy delay to the travel time. As the reception was back in Vacaville, it meant that we were in the car no less than 3 hours on the Wedding day. This was one of the reasons we did a “first look” preview session and Bridal shoot on a separate day.
The stunning Oakland temple – California Wedding
Michael and Alex walking in a open field in Vacaville California
Groom prepare wedding rings for the Wedding ceremony
Michael and Alex – the first look
Bridal couple in the sunflowers
Wedding photos at the Oakland LDS temple in the evening
The stunning Oakland temple – California Wedding
Micahel and Alex’s California Wedding
