rory amber photography blog » wedding

First Look- New Year’s Eve Wedding

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:17:23 +0000

A sweet little moment from Hannah & Jared’s New Year’s Eve wedding. Blindfolds are very visually interesting. Yes to blindfolds!

Epic wedding in Linden California, Polaroid Peek

admin — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 19:09:26 +0000

Imagine a wedding where everything you could imagine came true. This beautiful and classy lookin’ couple made it happen yesterday.

Shauna and Robert on Impossible Project’s Silver Shade Film

Naomi & Scott, Married in Monte Rio, CA {Monte Rio Wedding Photographer}

admin — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 23:26:51 +0000

I’d never been to the Russian River before. When I met with Naomi & Scott the first time, and they showed me a postcard of the Highland Dell Lodge right on the river, I knew I had to shoot this wedding. It was a great weekend, and since I had a room, I stayed extra late at the party and got to witness and photograph some extra awesome and funny things, like cars being decorated and Naomi & Scott’s bed filled with balloons. I am hooked on the concept of telling a wedding story from morning til late into the night and even into the next day, as I did in this case. Naomi & Scott really wanted photographs at the ocean but knew travelling there would make the wedding day too stressful, so they had me stay until the next afternoon when we all hopped in a car and went to the beach. Naomi had been wanting to get into the water in her dress so when we got back to the river, they went for it! It’s indescribably beautiful there, I can’t wait to take my own family back for a river/beach vacation.

Imperfect is the new perfect

admin — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:36:54 +0000

I’d like to talk about why weird awkward photos are often my favorites. As I was sorting through images from a wedding over the weekend, I came across one that stopped me in my tracks. I stared and stared at it. I had taken plenty of photos of this sweet couple’s first dance that were perfectly in focus, yet the one where my camera momentarily grabbed focus on a contrasty b&w dress in the background was the one that caught my attention. Why did I love this one the most? I was still thinking about it when I went to bed. On one hand I wanted to post the photo and pronounce it was the most “me” first dance photo I’d ever taken, that stylistically I identified with this photo 100%. On the other hand I thought, this looks like my 3 year old took it, since I can’t honestly say that focusing on the guests in background was planned. Why on earth, as a professional who can take a technically correct photo, would I choose to show this frame AND pronounce it one of the most interesting dance photos I’ve ever taken?

Because it made me feel something extra.

And it made me stop and think. A perfect photo doesn’t challenge a viewer. It doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. It doesn’t make you wonder why that guy is looking out the window. It doesn’t have an annoyingly distracting line intersecting with his head. A perfect photo would simply focus on the couple kissing, and after a 1 second glance, that’s the sum total of what you would take away from it.

In a world of perfect digital images, it’s almost a treat to look at something flawed, awkward, askew. That’s why I treasure the gift of imperfection, and that’s why I often carefully include it in my edits that I give to clients. If it makes me feel something, I take the chance that they will too.

BLISSED OUT

admin — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:14:55 +0000

over the weekend at Kayla & Travis’s Lavender Ridge wedding in Reno, Nevada. More soon. This is straight out of camera.

Anne & Randy know how to pick a wedding party

admin — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 06:36:58 +0000

Saturday’s wedding in El Dorado Hills was pure magic. To have a bride ask for the majority of her wedding to be in b&w, minimal posed photos, and her choice to have an entire wedding party of children was a DREAM COME TRUE for me. The 5 kids in the back are Anne & Randy’s children as the bridesmaids & groomsmen, and the 6 flower girls and 2 ring bearers are the children of friends and siblings. Anne chose the material for the flower girls dresses and they were hand sewn, she and friend made their head wreaths. This was also one the best behaved wedding parties I have ever encountered!

A glimpse of Harmony & Chris’s Arden Hills Wedding in B&W

admin — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:37:14 +0000

As I looked through this wedding, picking all my favorite shots, I noticed I was picking about 75% b&w images. I realized that there was something about the classical lines of the day, the quality of the light, and pure joy that everyone was feeling that needed to be appreciated in its simplest form. So I present to you, a glimpse of Harmony & Chris’s wedding day in b&w.

This is me working!

admin — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:09:13 +0000

Oh no! I’m falling behind on the blog posts (at least the schedule I’ve set for myself.) But with good reason, I was in beautiful San Luis Obispo for 4 days hanging out at the beach, eating amazing food, and shooting photos for my sister’s new business’s about me page. And now it’s back to work. Between editing all of June’s weddings -and- trying to whip our new (old) house into working order -and- raising a three year old who has swim lessons every day, well, it’s just your typical summer. In the meantime, here’s a pic that my 2nd shooter Jordan Jurich took during Naomi & Scott’s Russian River wedding at the Highland Dell Lodge in Monte Rio. This is a floating boat dock, it’s highly unstable, and we’re all making funny expressions because every time one of of us would move, it felt like the rest of us were going to go over the side!

Yep, I do crazy stuff, and I love every minute of it!

New Packaging for Rory Amber Photography Wedding DVDs

admin — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:16:57 +0000

I like to give my couples a personalized case for their wedding DVDs, but I’ve never felt like they represented the “Rory Amber” brand. Until last night. After hours of design struggle & frustration I had a little mini-break through and realized the Impossible Project’s Silver Shade polaroids I’ve been shooting look absolutely spectacular on the custom printed DVD folios that Bay Photo Lab offers. JOY!

If you like the look and are interested in more information about booking a wedding with me, contact me above or at hello@roryamber.com

Double DVD case- back/front

Triple DVD case- inside/back/front

ps. This discovery was made possible by attending Noa Azoulay-Sclater’s Feather Love Workshop where I got a crash course in Impossible Project film by the incredibly talented Chloe Aftel. See my review of the April Workshop here.

How to create an heirloom family photo at your wedding

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 02:07:10 +0000

My sister Whitney had a vision for the formal photos at her wedding. She didn’t want to end up taking stiff posed photos with everyone all lined up in a row and cited Annie Leibovitz’s group shots for Vanity Fair as an inspiration to try for something extra. She knew in order to make it happen on the wedding day we were going to have to invest some time and effort at the dress rehearsal the day before.

She talked with the owner of the Dana Powers House who agreed to let us set some furniture out on the lawn the night before. We looked around the wedding grounds at the same time of day that the photos were going to be taken and found an area in open shade with a nice background. This is very important because the worst thing you can do is have half the group in sun/half in shade, even all sun is better than a mix. After arranging the furniture into a pattern that we found pleasing, we took a few moments to think about the different combinations she was going to want. She knew that she didn’t want to spend a lot of time on formals (quality over quantity!) and was able to minimize her combinations to 5 important photos: both bride & groom’s families, just bride’s family, just groom’s family, siblings only, and entire bridal party. We did a run through of the 5 portraits, taking a few moments to get everyone into places that looked visually interesting, then, and this is probably the most important part, we asked everyone to remember their places! The whole process probably took 30 minutes on rehearsal day and on the wedding day it was 10 minutes for all 5 shots.

If you’re feeling inspired & would like help making beautiful heirloom photos at your wedding, please feel free to contact me for more details. Luckily my sister was able to utilize my experience as wedding photographer when considering how large a space we could occupy, where to place the furniture in relation to the sun, and which part of the yard to choose for a backdrop. During the process we were in contact with her photographer, Kristen, and sent her an iphone photo the night before so she’d know what to expect.

Here are our final results beautifully photographed on film by Kristen Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie:

Photo by Kirsten Ellis, www.beauxartsphotograhie.com

Harmony at The Villa, California Wedding Photographer

admin — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 03:33:55 +0000

Naomi & Scott on Impossible Film, Goat Rock Beach, California Wedding Photographer

admin — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 03:35:16 +0000

These are the first 3 shots that I’ve ever taken using Impossible Film’s Silver Shade with Black Frame. Naomi & Scott’s day-after session was the perfect setting to try it out, and I am in love with the results. The last one was Naomi’s favorite. That’s their dog, Jager, in the background. He’s one of the most entertaining dogs I’ve ever met.

Russian River Night Photography

admin — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 05:38:30 +0000

I used to shoot some night photography, back in the 90′s. One weekend I managed to get cityscapes of Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego. I haven’t tried it much since going to digital, but I am always inspired by the night shots that Jonas Peterson uses to sum up the weddings he posts on his blog. Since I was staying the night for a day-after shoot at the beach for Naomi & Scott, I was able to spend some time across the river from the venue, the Highland Dell Lodge. I have to admit, it was kind of scary! A couple of intoxicated people stumbled out of the bushes on my way down there. I also heard some animals. Luckily, I was holding a giant weapon, my tripod. It was worth it I think. The shot with the hotel was more difficult, and not as successful, because of the really bright lights. There’s probably filter for a situation like this. I’m definitely not an astral photographer, but I do enjoy giving it a try.

Kymri & Nick- Backyard Wedding- Sonora, California

admin — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:33:24 +0000

My good friend Dan, aka Hugger Dan, contacted me a few months back about shooting a small intimate wedding in his backyard. His daughter, Kymri, was getting married. I said yes right away. I love casual backyard weddings! I’ve been over to Dan’s place plenty of times for a tie-dye party, a pumpkin carving party, and to watch fire dancers. The trampoline is always a hit. Kymri & Nick flew in from the east coast the week before. Lots of relatives followed. It was super relaxed and fun. And it was only a mile from my house. Dream wedding to shoot and a ton of fun!

(musings) A late night thought

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:30:46 +0000

I want it to feel like you are there when you look at the photos, and I want my own joy for the couple to come through the lens.