Well, it had to happen sometime and it finally did. After many weddings of narrowly escaping rain’s ominous down pour, we finally shot a wedding where the rain did not hold back. At all. It’s a rare thing in Southern California to have rain at all, so it was definitely a unique challenge for us. (Despite a few weddings with rain in Seattle, but hey, everyone there is used to it!) The day before Melody and Steve’s wedding, we walked around Ponte with them to map out places to go. Melody asked what they should do if it rained and I
said, “I’d go buy a bunch of umbrellas.” Unfortunately, Ponte didn’t have too many covered areas, since most of the attraction of a winery is the outdoor, beautiful scenery, so having umbrellas handy would really make it more bearable. And buy tons of umbrellas is what they did! It poured all day!! Melody and Steve were such great sports about it and truly enjoyed their day despite the rain. Melody literally couldn’t let her dress down because after having rained all day, Ponte was covered in water, most of it in puddles (Another thing about So Cal is that nothing is built for rain, so water and huge puddles collect EVERYWHERE!) But, she wore awesome, pink converse under her dress, which were so cute in all of the photos anyways! Luckily for us, Zach has his 1Ds and for all his prime lenses he home-made “weather sealing” which, he would want me to mention, worked out superbly. Steve and Melody are crazy UCLA fans. When they e-mailed us to inquire about shooting their wedding, they specifically asked us which college we went to. We were baffled by the question, but after telling them a small school in Washington, they revealed to us that they were asking every vendor for their wedding the same question, to make sure they did not hire anyone that went to USC, UCLA’S rival school! They’re devoted Bruin fans! Congrats to Steve and Melody and Go Bruins!!!
Wedding at Ponte Winery, Temecula, CA
See that giant river of water the bridesmaids had to cross? They were all such willing troopers!
It was POURING these next few shots and Zach and I got completely drenched!
Our friends at Baby Cakes did a deliciously awesome dessert table!
Check them out at- http://www.baby-cakes-cupcakes.com/
Steve hand-made these table numbers- he cut out the numbers in the paper and stuck a candle in the middle so they glowed. Such a great idea!
I just love this photo of Steve and Melody waiting in the rain right before their grand entrance.
Steve watching Melody dance with her father.
There were a lot of people that knew at the dance at this reception.
My wife and I got rained out on our wedding day, they say its ‘extra’ good luck and the rain brings out a special vibe (my wife and I will be married 10 yrs in 2 months and we have no tiger woods drama etc….), it shows in the pics, everyone looked to be having a great time. Way to tough out the elements everyone.
You guys did a great job of making lemonade out of lemons. I loved all the rain pictures, especially with the umbrellas.
The shots of the boys looked like old album covers. Very creative.
hey zach! i’ve been looking at your blog and pictures for awhile now but this is the first time I’ve commented. first off I just wanted to say thanks again for some of your articles on photography. I really enjoyed reading your article on full frame vs crop. That article alone (actually it was those two wedding pictures comparing the rebel and 5d) was a huge deciding factor in me purchasing a 5d mark 1. I live here in Seoul Korea with my wife and am currently teaching elementary school kids. I really love taking pictures of kid specifically my students, some portraits and am into breakdance photography. Anywho, it’s almost Christmas time and I am thinking about picking up the 5d mark 2. I know that you previously owned the old 5d and I read your article in july about your thoughts on the 5d mark 2. I’m guessing by now you own one and was just curious what your opinion was now on making the switch. Are your two complaints still the same? any other things you noticed?
I also currently own only one lens, the EF 24-70L . Do you have any other recommendations on other lens to add? I too love to take photos in lowlight (most of the breakdance competitions I go to are in lowlight.)
You rock dude! Keep on shooting~!
paul