Erin and Shawn live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth – the remote town of Hana on the island of Maui – but they decided to return to the mainland for their August wedding.

Erin and Shawn met in Tahoe and seem to love it almost as much as their beloved Hawaii. Their wedding was a fun, eclectic mix of their longtime California friends and their very tight-knit group from Hana, which includes a beautiful brood of children, all blond and all so close it feels like they are brothers and sisters. One of those kids is Ozzie, Erin and Shawn’s five-year-old son and ring bearer, who brought the rings to them on a skateboard and stood right beside his dad for the entire ceremony.

We were lucky to have our talented friend Kathryn Krueger shooting with us. She was visiting from Texas, and we roped her into joining us. Glad she did – she got some of our favorite photos from the day. All of hers are credited with the words “Photo by,” with no name afterward (blog glitch).

Erin and Shawn, thank you for bringing us into your world and trusting us with your wedding. We hope to see you in Tahoe again someday, or, if we’re lucky, in Hawaii! And thank you to Merrily Wed for once again planning a beautiful day on the lake.

When Lina and Rob are together, there’s always a lot of laughter, a lot of adventure, and a lot of hair.  They have a magnetism about them that just makes you want to be around them and soak up their infectious energy and love of life.

Lina and Rob live in San Francisco, and decided to bring us with them to their rustic wedding at Gedney Farm in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. The wedding incorporated traditions from Lina’s native country of Russia. Her father even imported a massive quantity of Russian caviar for cocktail hour, which guests paired with crepes and shots of vodka. And Lina’s mother, who planned the entire wedding herself, somehow also found the time to make Lina’s wedding gown.

Rob played football for the University of Pennsylvania and was surrounded at the wedding by a mix of his former football teammates and his Bay Area tech friends. Rob helped start the online shopping site Milo.com with founder Jack Abraham. Merchandising giant eBay bought Milo in 2010 and took Rob and Lina with it.

We’ve loved getting to know these guys over the past year. We shot their engagement session in the spring, and have spent a lot of time talking about photography, which Rob is passionate and very knowledgeable about. We’re looking forward to remaining good friends with these two over the years!

Lina and Rob, thank you for taking us across the country with you for a beautiful weekend we’ll never forget. You were an absolute blast to photograph.

(words by erin)

A couple of months ago we teamed up with one of the best photography instructors in the wedding industry – Tyler Wirken – to kick off the first of The Wirkshop Series. The Wirkshop Series focuses on documentary photography for the wedding day. Each installment in the series is be a little different, infused with the unique flavor of various guest instructors. Ben and I were honored to be chosen for the first one, held at Tyler’s gorgeous Kansas City studio. Even though it’s a documentary workshop, we included a portrait session for the shooting demo.

We have always used real couples for our workshop shooting demos, so Tyler asked one of his upcoming wedding couples if they wouldn’t mind spending a few hours in front of 15 cameras. Angela had her hair and makeup done while her fiance Matt sat beside her, probably spending the entire time laughing about the room full of photographers circling them, crawling under chairs, moving strobes around, and analyzing every angle and nuance of light. The prep session was shot totally documentary, with no interference from any of us. The makeup and hair stylists chose where to place our bride. After Angela was all gussied up, we headed out into the streets for a real engagement session, where Ben, Tyler and I fought for posing time with our couple. Angela and Matt were great sports and showed so much patience with all of us. We shot through sunset, and then rested our eyes and bones over martinis and barbecue.

The next day we looked at what we shot the day before and later had an open critique of every student’s current work. We also fit in a sales discussion, with a client sales demo from Tyler. What was intended to be a half-day turned into a full day, with a late-hour pizza order, and pricing discussions continuing well into the night, wrapping up at the bar downstairs. I think the last of us left Tyler’s studio around 2 or 3 a.m.!

We had an absolute blast watching everyone bloom, develop, experiment and figure things out. There were a few revelations and even discoveries of hidden talents, all of which made this workshop extremely fulfilling for us. We left exhausted, but with newly stretched brains and 12 new friends.

Definitely keep an eye on the Wirkshop blog for more Wirkshop date announcements. Tyler’s planning a few more of these with other guest instructors, and is also continuing the smaller advanced Wirkshop classes. Wish we could go again, but we’ve already had our turn. Can’t wait to see who’s up next!

Four years ago today, Toni and Bryan were married at La Posada Resort in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We’ve stayed in touch over the years since they live in Northern California like we do. When Bryan wrote to tell us they were expecting their first child, you could tell he was exploding with happiness. So right before the due date, we took a hike on the trail near our house to do some maternity photos for them. Just like on their wedding day, Bryan was all over Toni, telling her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her.

One of my favorite photos from the last few years came from Toni and Bryan’s wedding – a portrait of Bryan smoking a cigar with Toni looking on in her wedding gown. We thought it would be fun to try to duplicate it (or update it, I should say) for their maternity session. Bryan brought out a few cigars and we posed them out on the street. You can see both versions here on the blog. And don’t worry, Toni stayed far away from the smoke.

One of the best parts of our jobs is getting to see our couples grow together, and Toni and Bryan are perfect examples of what we hope for. Hoppus John Flores was born a couple weeks ago, and right afterwards, I was receiving texts from Bryan with photos of his new son. I bet he’s counting the days before he can take Hoppus on his first surf lesson, and we’re counting the days until we get to meet him.

You can see their wedding slideshow from Nov. 10, 2007 here: Toni and Bryan’s wedding at La Posada