Deb and Bart on the 4th Floor of city hall in Black and White
Another fun wedding today for this SF City Hall couple and their family. Deb and Bart made the most of their visit to San Francisco. The 2 of them made the trip to California all the way from Boise, Idaho just to get married at this impressive and historic building. Even more impressive were their children who basically came from all over the USA and even one part of the world (outside the US) to watch their parents get married. Family photos are always one of the most important aspects of any wedding and we knew it would be especially important for this one. After a fun filled ceremony and an amazing photo shoot at SF City Hall we decided to head to our pre-planned San Francisco wedding photo tour. We decided to start at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco close to the ocean. We obviously could not fit all 5 of their kids in our touring car so we had to meet them there. We shuttled the newlyweds there ourselves for convenience and it also allowed us to stay touch more easily.
When we first arrived at the Legion of Honor we noticed that it was getting foggy so we decided it would be best if we went right into the Golden Gate Bridge photos. This was all part of the plan, but we moved the Golden Gate bridge part of the photoshoot up. This is the type of decision we often have to make when photographing outdoors in a foggy city with weather that changes constantly. Once the San Francisco fog begins to roll in from the ocean, the bridge can become covered up in a matter of minutes.
Lincoln Park Golf Course Photo Location
We took the newlyweds to the 17th Hole at Lincoln Park Golf course which is a little more than walking distance from the Legion of Honor. The Tee Box on the 17th hole has a nice view of the bridge so we rushed down there to get our shots before our opportunity was completely fogged over. You can see from the photo above that the fog was rolling in fast as it quite often does. You can see it just descending upon the top of the bridge as we quickly captured some fun wedding pictures. There was no time to lose and our couple was ready to pose!
The Golden Gate bridge was covered by the famous San Francisco fog just moments after we were able to create these images. That’s how fast it can happen sometimes. We quickly captured some amazing images that provided the best of both worlds. Personally, I love the fog of San Francisco and it’s nice to show it in some of the photos because it is so typical of this area. Obviously, it’s more important to actually show the Bridge, so this photo accomplishes both of these things. It is rare to be able to capture both in our wedding photos. You can actually see the fog descending on the Bridge, almost covering. Within minutes, all we could see was the water and the white sky!
Spinning Bride at the Golden Gate Bridge
Legion of Honor or Palace of Fine Arts Photos?
After completing our wedding photography at the 17th Hole at Lincoln Park, we headed back up to the Legion of Honor to wait for the kids. As it turned out, they were actually waiting for us at the Palace of Fine Arts. Deb and Bart had no idea how they ended up there, but it was clear that we needed to change our plans and get back in the car. After a nice shortcut through the Presidio we finally met up at POFA in San Francisco. The kids had purchased some Champagne and we were able to get the awesome shot below. A great way to end the photoshoot. The location mix up just added to the light hearted fun that this family enjoyed throughout the wedding day.
This family had a way of making the best of everything without getting bogged down in some of the small problems encountered that day. Just to educate anyone who is wondering… The reason for the confusion is that the official name of The Legion of Honor is actually “The Palace of the Legion of Honor”. So you can see why some might get confused with the Palace of Fine Arts. It is interesting because virtually nobody refers to the Legion of Honor as a Palace, but it just happens to be in the official title of the building. Unfortunately it shows up on Google Maps that way and can be confusing. We are always happy to help our brides and grooms when these kinds of things come up. This link explains how the name was changed to simply Legion of Honor, but not everywhere and apparently not on Google!
Champagne Toast at the Palace of Fine Arts
Wedding Photography Action Shots
Action shots are always the best types of photos to obtain especially with a larger group like this one. The family will look at these wedding photos for years and laugh at each of their expressions as the bottle was opened in celebration. Of course there was also the issue of the misdirection and us arriving late, but once the champagne started flowing everyone forgot about it. Besides, it only delayed our shoot by about 15 minutes since we know all of the good shortcuts to get from the Legion of Honor to the Palace of Fine Arts. Sometimes intimate knowledge of San Francisco traffic patterns can be very helpful especially after leaving San Francisco City Hall! It ended up being the perfect timing to obtain some amazing wedding pictures at the Palace of Fine Arts. The fog rolling in coupled with some blue sky added drama to these iconic San Francisco wedding photos. I especially love the photo below because the extreme contrast between the very blue sky and thick fog. Definitely another successful San Francisco City Hall wedding followed by a fun photo tour.
