Anna Wu Photography » styled shoot

From Here to Eternity | Sneak Peek

Anna — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:50:13 +0000

Today’s post is a bit of a collaboration. I had the absolute pleasure of working with some amazing wedding vendors to create a beautiful styled shoot a couple of months ago, and we’re excited to share it here. Read on for part one of a three part series co-hosted by my fellow collaborators.

Where do you start on planning a wedding? That was one of the first questions we asked ourselves for our inspiration photo shoot. We, meaning our merry band of photographer (Anna, Anna Wu Photography), event planner (Vera, Va de Vie Events) and floral designer (Ellen, Gingerleaf Floral).

We wanted to inspire couples with a visual story, and we created the theme From Here to Eternity to show how one particular wedding look could come together. While a theme isn’t always necessary for a wedding, it can really help you focus on what elements to incorporate, and more importantly, what not to include. Our “love is eternal” theme naturally lent itself to time-related props– think clocks, pocket watches, sandglasses, metronomes…you get the idea!

The photo shoot took place in March at the Hamilton Ballroom in San Francisco, a beautiful Art Deco venue recalling the roaring 1920’s and glamorous 1930’s. The historic venue allowed us to incorporate a romantic and retro vibe while still evoking a modern feel.

We also wanted to provide a behind-the-scenes profile at what’s involved in pulling the look together. Each wedding vendor is working hard to create an amazing experience for your wedding day! Knowing what’s involved on their end can help you make better decisions about planning your own wedding.

This is the first in a series of blog posts about this project from start to finish. Part Two will be Inspiration to Creation, where you’ll get the perspective from each of us on how we went from design concept to the final look.

Part Three will be How to Get this Look on 2 Different Budgets. We’ll show you 2 different setups using moderate and luxury budgets, with budget breakdowns on how each look was achieved. We’ll also have do-it-yourself options, and tips on how you can personalize your own wedding.

In the meantime, enjoy the first look at From Here to Eternity!

Cheers,
Anna, Vera, and Ellen

Michelle rocked her role as our bride for the shoot. She was just recently a real bride last year.

All of the floral design was done by Ellen of Gingerleaf Floral, with much creative design input from Vera of Va de Vie Events.

A major part of our shoot was to create tables on two different budgets. Below is a sneak peek at two of the more modest tables that utilize a bright pop of coral-red in the tablecloth.

One more frame of Michelle shot (in film) on the Hamilton Ballroom‘s gorgeous roof deck.

Also, take a look behind the scenes with this beautiful highlight film created by Seaglass Cinema!

Styled Shoot Highlights | 03.13.11 from Seaglass Cinema on Vimeo.

Meet the From Here to Eternity team:

Anna Wu, Anna Wu Photography
Vera Devera, Va de Vie Events
Ellen Kim, Gingerleaf Floral

Big thanks go to:

Michelle Biba Hall for playing our beautiful bride
Penny Do for an amazing job on Michelle’s hair and make-up
Kevin Yau of Seaglass Cinema for capturing video and bringing the shoot to life
Hamilton Ballroom for graciously opening up their Art Deco digs
Urban Indigo for lending their fantastic timepieces, sandglasses and coral

Stay tuned for more to come!

It’s All Coming Together

Anna — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 01:51:48 +0000

This weekend, the fabric swatches will manifest as tablecloths and linens, the myriad glass containers will be gathered into perfect little vignettes, the splashes of coral will be replaced with gorgeous blooms. All of these mockups and ideas will be transformed into a wonderful styled shoot. It’s a true collaborative event involving several several amazing vendors from the Bay Area, and I am incredibly excited to see the magic as it unfolds!

Big hugs go to Ellen Kim of Gingerleaf Floral and Vera Devera of Va de Vie Events for being my main partners in crime in planning the upcoming shoot. We met together at Ellen’s home yesterday to lay out our ideas. Below is just a little sneak peek at what’s to come.

Ellen adjusts some of our mock setup, as we use various coral swatches to stand in for flowers.

Planning a styled shoot is but a tiny, tiny taste of what brides go through with decisions at every turn, from tablecloths to napkins…

…to dishes and utensils. It’s enough to give you a whole new appreciation for details.

Well, that’s all you get to see for now. You’ll have to stand by to find out what it is we’re planning. I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Bridal Shoot at the Bellevue Club | Oakland Wedding Photographer

Anna — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:49:02 +0000

A beautiful venue, a talented floral designer, three models, three hair/makeup artists, two photographers, and two assistants. What a dream shoot!

We had a wonderful collaborative bridal shoot at the Bellevue Club by Lake Merritt in Oakland, with all twelve contributors donating their time and services toward the project. My hope was to get some great portfolio shots for everyone and also to work with other local wedding vendors. I was especially excited to connect with Ellen Kim from Gingerleaf Floral and Angel Saldaña from the Bellevue Club, since both amazing women are based right here in Oakland. I had a great time working with everyone though. It was really a treat since I’m usually out on my own.

The Bellevue Club sits right across from Lake Merritt, nestled inconspicuously in a residential neighborhood. It’s a great mansion that’s been around since 1929, but I’ve driven by it many times without even suspecting the grandeur inside.

I’ve now worked with several makeup artists from A-List Makeup based in San Jose, and they’ve all been wonderful. We had three makeup artists, originally intended for three female models. But sadly, one model simply never showed. We adapted and made the most of it!

The ring is from Dianne Jago, my wonderful second shooter. I’m looking forward to more collaborations in the future.

It’s a fun challenge to create work for clients, but it’s whole different experience to be able to create whatever you want for yourself. Ellen really ran with the opportunity and did an amazing job with the florals for this shoot. We created two looks for the shoot. The first was white and purple, with over-the-top elegance fitting of the venue.

Sarah was a stunning bridesmaid for our shoot. In real life, she’s a martial arts instructor.

Puneet just moved to California recently, but he was previously modeling, acting, and dancing in India. Yes, he’s a natural.

And playing the role of bride is Autumn Pricolo, looking beautiful in her wedding dress.

Switching to our second look. Hot pink, modern, chic.

Many thanks again to everyone who participated in the shoot! It was such a great experience, I’m already dreaming up what we can do next time.

And that’s not all! View much more of the shoot on the Anna Wu Photography Facebook page.

Venue: Bellevue Club, Angel Saldaña
Floral Design: Ellen Kim, Gingerleaf Floral
Models: Puneet Aneja, Autumn Pricolo, Sarah Marleau
Hair/Makeup: A-List Makeup: Kansinee Adsanatham, Kathy Ly, Emily Nguyen
Photographer: Anna Wu, Anna Wu Photography
Second Shooter: Dianne Jago, Jagophoto
Assistants: Lucy Saephan, Vay Hoang

Candace & Tony’s Castro Valley Shoot | San Francisco Wedding Photographer

Anna — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:29:15 +0000

It was Friday morning, and everything had been planned for our shoot on Sunday. We would meet in San Francisco at Candace & Tony’s place with our hair & makeup artist we had lined up and a floral designer who would meet us there. Just one problem– rain.

What started as a 30% chance for precipitation had billowed into 90% all day Sunday. So luckily, within a couple of hours, we managed to move the whole shoot a day earlier to a new location for convenience: Lake Chabot in Castro Valley. We had a new hair & makeup artist Penney Do, Courtney, the floral designer, dropped off the bouquets in the morning, and all was set.

We created two looks with three different floral designs for our shoot. Candace had her wedding dress, as well as a shorter cocktail dress, both of which were absolutely stunning.

The florals were provided by Courtney Marie Floral. She drove them all the way up from Santa Cruz to Oakland that morning!

The great thing about the rainy season here is that rainy days and sunny days are often mixed in as if they’ve been shuffled up in a random alternating pattern. Sandwiched between two absolutely dreadful days are sometimes beautiful days, perfect for photos. After it rains, nature turns an amazingly bright green, as if the saturation bar has been rigged in real-life Photoshop. And a big cloudy sky is nature’s giant softbox, providing flawless shadowless lighting. And every so often, the clouds part open for a peak of sunshine that warms the entire place.

Candace and Tony are such a cute couple– warm kind, and loving. They got married recently, and you can tell they’ll glow with happiness together for a long, long time. They’re a couple that loves an adventure in each other’s company, and I think more than anything, they love to laugh together. Not a little smirk, like an ‘oh, haha’ kind of chuckle. No– it’s a wide-open mouth, enthusiastic, creases-in-your-eyes kind of laugh.

Photographer: Anna Wu Photography
Assistant: Mona Quinlan
Floral Design: Courtney Marie Floral
Hair & Makeup: Penney Do
Location: Lake Chabot, Castro Valley, CA