We have been photographing Asian weddings at City Hall for years. Whether it is the traditional pre-wedding photo session or just covering a normal Asian marriage. This particular image was highlighted by the use of a natural frame in the background from the Rotunda. We also slightly blurred the background with our 85mm lens at 1.4 f-stop. We sometimes use these settings to blur the background and help eliminate distracting issues. I really like this images because it has such a fresh look and feel to it. Sometimes the simple poses are the best.
The type of architecture present at San Francisco city hall lends itself well to finding natural frames. The Beau-Arts style of building was popular in the early 1900's and is easily identified by its customary patterns, arches and symmetry. We learned in basic photography classes to always look for natural frames in our portrait work. In most cases, this involves finding arched trees or a series of bushes. Nature provides us with many way to frame our work. Even a tree branch can provide a beautiful frame for us. City Hall is no different, everywhere you go there are architectural designs that can nicely set of the background in your image. Some notable example include the arch at the Mayor's Balcony, the edges of the Grand Staircase and of course the giant arched Rotunda which is one of the feature attractions in the building. The photo above was taken on the 3rd floor which happens to be right around the same level as the Rotunda Arch as pictured in the background. Here are some additional examples of natural frames at SF City Hall:
