In the peaceful and green surroundings of the Stonetree Golf Club in Novato, Lindsay and Lukas celebrated their wedding, just after welcoming their first child, Valentina, born a few weeks prior the wedding. You may remember the romantic e-session photos of the couple a few months back at the Presidio and Baker Beach in San Francisco…

Valentina is such a good girl, Lindsay tells me she sleeps all night, and at the wedding is was just so happy… everyone wanted to hold her.

Lindsay is showing off her after/pregnancy stunning figure in her sexy wedding gown! Her glamorous make up is by Yas Artistry.

Lindsay bouquet and flowers for her wedding were created by Julie Stevens Designs

The beautiful terrace at the StoneTree Golf Club hosted the ceremony.

I have to say I have rarely seen so many beautiful people all together attending a wedding! You will get a better idea when I will share Lindsay and Lukas slideshow! Many of Lukas friends came from Czech Republic (I was longing to do a “we did it” session in Prague with Lindsay and Lukas in September but my work schedule didn’t allow me to stay in Europe longer, sigh!) and part of Lindsay family is Italian.

Shana Goldberg of Dee Merz Event Planning supervised the ceremony and reception and made sure everything would run smoothly. She was a pleasure to work with, I thank her also for making sure me and Nellie Guerrero had our dinner at the right time…which is rarely the case when shooting weddings Catering for the Event was Elaine Bell Catering.

It was also my second time working with Nellie, always fun to be around, I love her work and look forward to see her takes.

Back to our sweet couple, a few more favorites from the pond view at the StoneTree Golf Club.

Much happiness to this adorable couple, congratulations Lindsay and Lukas!

Dear Friends Blog readers, as I am packing for another (short, this time) trip to Italy, I wanted to leave you with a sweet set of images that will keep you company until I return in about 10 days. This romantic maternity portrait is set in Half Moon Bay, California, on a very cloudy (and drizzly at times) summer day. Protagonists the adorable Eunice and her family, that will be welcoming another child into their lives next October. I photographed Eunice and Shawn’s wedding a few years back and also just before the Holidays last year. It’s always fun to work with them. Eunice was one of my enthusiastic students at my recent workshop Through Your Eyes, the Workshop for Moms and Dads with cameras. The gloomy weather inspired me to create a desaturated and contrasty atmosphere.

This ‘kiss’ shot  is one of my favorite, Isabella had her own agenda but the trick Eunice used to have her close was to say: Familia. That’s the code word for a big group kiss! Loved it!

Change of clothes (loved this blue one!), change of filters…

I thought this was the perfect occasion to play around with my LensBaby…

Look forward to photograph Eunice’s newborn in October and also to see her progress as an amateur photographer!

One last look at my favorites from Wine Country Style Wedding of Kristin and Brian’s at the Vine Hill House  in Sebastopol, Sonoma. Enjoy their SLIDESHOW… I picked Coldplay as a soundtrack because their Brian’s favorite band… and MINE too!

Another round of favorites from the glamorous Vine Hill House Wedding of Kristin and Brian.

These are killer shoes! Love them! And how brave is Kristin to wear them to walk down the aisle??  Here she is surrounded by her dearest girlfriends while getting ready.

The natural light coming through the rooms at the Vine Hill house was stunning!

I always prefer the ’second kiss’ as married couple rather then the one at the alter… this one has more action with Kristin and Brian walking down the aisle and every guest clapping around them!

And after the formalities.. let’s party!!

A big thank you to my second shooter Gerald Carvalho, here he captured me and the groomsmen while I was showing them how great their jump was during the ‘formal’ shots. Thank you Gerald, hope to work with you again very soon!

Wedding Venue: Vine Hill House, Sebastopol, Sonoma

Flowers by: Rivertown Flowers

Music by: AMS Entertainment

Related Posts of Kristin and Brian: Engagement Shoot, Sneak Peak

I was really looking forward to challenge myself teaching a photography class this past weekend. Let me say the whole experience surpassed my expectations. It was so incredibly fun. I can’t wait to do another class next October! My students where MOMS and DADS with cameras, looking to improve their photography skills technically and artistically. I have to say they showed extreme patience and commitment learning about the many technical aspects one needs to be aware of when shooting… my crowd didn’t discourage and was eager to test on the field what they had learned.  So off we went to the park, after all those ‘f-stops’  and ’shutter speed’  notions, to play with our cameras. I gave a few assignments, so my students could learn the differences and challenges of working with direct sun light, shadow, contrasty light and one of my favorites, backlight! Here’s a great back lit shot taken by my student Kelly while I was posing with her daughter and shouting ‘overexpose’!!!!!

And here’s a gallery of some of my students masterpieces! Kelly also created this whimsical image working in difficult patchy light with the help of a little Lightroom filter, while we were reviewing the images on Sunday.

Looking for an interesting composition, Kelly found this awesome fence that provides an clean, non distracting background and posed her daughter on the side, trying out the ‘rules of thirds’.

Another of my students had great composition eye, and in a pretty challenging situation I must say. This is a backlit, action shot! Great job Eunice!

Definitely a contrasty lighting situation the one above, but luckily Isabella’s face was in the shade completely and the exposure on her face is just perfect! The harsh light in the background is spread out equally on both sides so it balances the scene.

Deanna did a great crop on this photograph, her angle is dynamic and the background simple drawing our attention to the wondering toddler. Xina placed her child in the shade and worked with her portrait lens to achieve a shallow depth of field, the grass is way blurry and it makes her son pop up in our frame, awesome!

Tracey also tested harsh and backlight in this action shot, it is not easy to freeze the moment and keeping an eye on all these difficult lighting aspects. But she did it!!

This portrait of Ben, shows Tracey working with reflected light, the sun light reflected from foliage from a tree, it gives such a nice soft lighting.

Michael did a great job in this action shot and capturing a sweet candid moment between his son and his wife. I thought it was important for my students to exercise with familiar subjects.. they already had too many new notions to keep in mind, so establishing a connection with their subject while concentrating on their technical challenges was going to be too much, so I had their families join us to the park.

Another beautifully back lit portrait…

Michael was also the winner of the Grand Prize ” 1 hour 101 Hands On Camera Mentoring” tutoring session with yours truly. Another Grand Prize was offered by our amazing Sponsor BAYPHOTO, Tracey was the winner of a 20×30 Metallic Frame! Thank you Bayphoto for being so generous!

Stay tuned for the October dates of “Through Your Eyes” Photograph your Kids like a Pro! I can’t wait to do this again!

Many may think that Boudoir Photo Sessions are time consuming and require a lot of organization… Long hours of posing, choice of location, make up… and of course, secretly taking time from work or family. At Daniela Degrassi Photography we make it extremely easy for ladies who just want to try it out. If you are not planning an album for your spouse or groom to be which would require a longer Photo Session, you can still enjoy and celebrate your femininity with one hour Mini Boudoir Session which includes a photo credit for your favorite prints. One hour is enough to try out 5-6 different looks.  Here’s just a couple of my favorites from yesterday’s Boudoir Mini Session at my Mountain View Studio. Thank you Mrs. A. for letting me share!

Just skimming through few images from Friday’s wedding at the Vine Hill House in Sebastapol.  Here’s just a few of my favorites of super fun couple Kristin and Brian, much more to come this week…

Here’s the first encounter of Kristin and Brian, before the ceremony… an intimate time for the bride and groom…

And a few bridal shots of Kristin, which I could have photographed for hours… she’s so much fun to work with.

On a very typical San Francisco summer day, which means very cold (!), I spent some time with Kristin and Brian.  After rocking this engagement shoot, I just can’t wait for their wedding, and the great thing is that I won’t have too wait for long at all. They are getting married this Friday! Kristin wanted some glamorous pics so I was quite happy to oblige since I am having so much fun with dramatic poses lately. Kristin was also so brave to face the winter-like temperatures in her sexy outfits. Brian was just so easy going making her girl happy. Our first stop was De Young Museum, which was closed on a Monday, and that worked quite well for us as the area all for ourselves.

Yes, yes, using filters again.. but with this ‘rad’ wall it’s just way too tempting…

Next we thought the weather at the Embarcadero was going to be warmer, but the clouds followed…

Stay tuned next week for Kristin and Brian’s wedding favorites!

One of my favorite weddings from 2009 has been published on Style Unveiled blog. Check it out as Stacie talks about her special Puerto Vallarta Destination Wedding.

I am back after 3 weeks of vacation if you were wondering about my blog absence! While relaxing and EATING in Italy, I was most lucky to be in the vicinity of Locanda Del Sant’Uffizio for their official presentation party. The Locanda is 15 minutes drive from Asti in the Monferrato region (in Piemonte), land of great wines, the new Tuscany, how I like to call it. The Locanda is an enchanted event venue and I was invited to spend a couple of days by Laura Pavanati, the Event Manager. The Locanda was an old Monastery, now revived by the incredible vision of his director, Michele Alberti. Besides his peaceful and breathtaking surroundings, the Locanda is a beautiful and elegant location for weddings, events or simply to spend a few relaxing days enjoying the views and the activities provided by the Locanda (wine tours, tennis, the outdoor pool and the ‘in house’ delicious cuisine). I was in awe of the attention to details everywhere!

A little breakfast nook, and here I surprised director Michele Alberti enjoying breakfast with wife Alessia.

Marble stairs leads us in the night area, this elegant corridor brings us to the most important suite, n.40, which is offered as a gift to any bride and groom that books their event here.

The fresco on the wall is a jaw dropper, too bad I didn’t have my wide angle lens with me.. me and my need to travel light on vacation! This room is a must see. And, how about the view from the bride and groom suite…

The Locanda has only been open since March 2010. They are currently booking events/weddings for 2011. I think it’s a fabulous place for a weekend destination wedding, in their elegant setting tasting their delicious food (word of an italian!) you will feel in heaven. You can email Laura Pavanati with your questions at info@locandadelsantuffizio.net