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May 2, 2012 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Matt & Shane’s San Francisco engagement session

When Matt and Shane told me they wanted to do their engagement session in San Francisco, they had a handful of ideas for locations: Coit Tower, the Palace of Fine Arts, Marin Headlands.

I told them I would figure out some other locations and set up a schedule for our day. But I neglected to tell them about the danger in letting me control the schedule: I got so excited about all the possibilities for beautiful engagement photos in San Francisco that my ambitious schedule led us to a nearly five-hour photo shoot.

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April 18, 2012 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Jamie & Adam’s Salinas engagement session

Salinas engagement photo

During the first thirty minutes of Jamie and Adam’s engagement session, I found myself perched on top of a swingset, then laying on a tree branch, hanging over the side, taking pictures of them. I love when a couple has fun ideas for pictures that give me an excuse to have some fun of my own, so this engagement session was starting out great.

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April 6, 2012 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Kristie & Casey’s Big Sur wedding

Bixby Bridge Big Sur wedding photo

It wasn’t until I was in my car heading south to photograph Kristie and Casey’s Big Sur wedding that I realized why they were having it on a Wednesday at the end of February … It was Leap Year day!

Silly of me, I know. But I was so excited about all the other details of the wedding that I didn’t dwell on the fact that it was on a weekday. The wedding was to be a small gathering, just a few people, in my favorite place on earth, Big Sur.

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March 17, 2012 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Kaylene & Nils’ Monterey engagement session

I love when I get to do something I’ve never done at any previous engagement session. In the case of Kaylene and Nils’ Monterey engagement session, the new thing was running barefoot in the Pacific Ocean.

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February 3, 2012 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Veronica & Noe’s Big Sur engagement session

Veronica & Noe's Big Sur engagement session

When I first met with Veronica and Noe to talk about wedding photography, I asked Noe how he proposed. He said he asked Veronica to marry him on a mountaintop in Big Sur — which is the exact thing I did when I asked Amber to marry me. I knew we were going to get along great.

I also knew exactly where the engagement session had to be.

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December 31, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Thanks for a great 2011

At the end of every wedding I shoot, I always get a photo of myself with the couple who brought me along to document their day. It’s one of my favorite moments of every wedding, and I love that I have an ever-growing archive of these fun pictures.

The wonderful couples who brought me into their weddings in 2011 helped make this an amazing year for me. Because of them, I was able to leave my job at the newspaper where I worked since 2002 and fulfill my dream of being my own boss, working on my own as a full-time freelance photographer. It has been and continues to be the hardest work I’ve ever done, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

So I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Camille and Doug and Christine and Chris and Leslie and Ryan and Ashley and Joseph and Steph and John and Athena and Anthony and Sunita and Brian and Lindsay and Rob and Bridget and Amadeo. You guys are the best.

On this last day of the year, I’m looking forward to all the wonderful couples I’ll meet in 2012. I can’t wait to see what your wedding is like, and I can’t wait to show you my photos of your day.

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December 9, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Bridget & Amadeo’s rock and roll wedding in San Francisco

When Bridget and Amadeo told me they were having a rock-and-roll themed wedding, I pictured a few decorations that made reference to rock music, maybe something with guitars or drums, that sort of thing.

I underestimated them.

They had custom-made guitar picks. Centerpieces made out of vinyl records. Each table named for a famous rock venue. The seating guide was individually-printed tickets. They offered chocolates shaped like guitars and records. Greeting cards were collected in a snare drum. The ceremony was lit with red lights to resemble a stage. And their officiant addressed the people assembled to witness wedding vows as “those about to rock.”
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