Santa Cruz Wedding & Elopement Photographer
Santa Cruz to Big Sur, since 2012
I photograph weddings and elopements from Santa Cruz through Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur, and I have been doing it since 2012. Redwood groves, vineyards, coastal bluffs and the back rooms where people get ready: the places change, the job does not.
My job is to be there for the whole day, stay out of the way of the parts that only happen once, and hand you a gallery that reads like the day actually felt.
A wedding is usually a year or more of planning — the attire, the decorations, the music, the food, and the people invited to be there.
The photographs are what carries the day past the day itself — the people, the moments, and the details you chose.
Full-day coverage from getting-ready to send-off. Send your date and we'll talk through what the day could look like.
How I work a wedding day
I start with getting ready, usually a couple of hours before the ceremony, when the dress is still on the hanger and the room is full of the people you chose. Ceremonies I photograph from the aisle and the edges, without directing anyone. After the ceremony I take the two of you away for twenty or thirty minutes of portraits, timed for the light if the schedule allows it. Then the reception, as it happens: the toasts, the first dance, the uncle who turns out to be the best dancer in the room.
I learned to work fast and quietly photographing music events, where the light changes every few seconds and none of it is yours to control. A wedding reception is the same kind of room.
Every viable photo from the day is edited and delivered in a private online gallery you can download from and share.
Real weddings
Megan & Niklas married beside a creek in a private redwood grove in Corralitos. They met as Navy corpsmen; the ceremony was unplugged and the light under the redwoods did the rest. Read their day
Tanya & Erica eloped on the Big Sur coast: cliffs, wildflowers and a beach ceremony beside the sea stacks. Read their story
Elopements
An elopement is a wedding with fewer people in it, and I photograph it the same way: the getting ready, the vows, a long walk somewhere beautiful afterward. Big Sur, the beaches from Davenport to Carmel and the redwood parks all need a permit for a ceremony, and the rules differ by park. My permits guide lists what each location requires and when applications open: Permits & fees. Elopement coverage is three hours and starts at $1,750.
Where I photograph weddings
Santa Cruz · Santa Cruz Mountains · Monterey & Carmel · Big Sur · San Jose & the Bay Area
If you are still choosing a venue, the Santa Cruz wedding venue guide covers thirty of them with capacity, curfews and permit notes.
Pricing
Wedding collections run from five hours of coverage at $3,250 to a full ten-hour day at $5,250, and every collection includes editing and a private online gallery. The full list is on the wedding photography packages page.
What happens when you reach out
Send your date and venue, or just the date if the venue is not settled yet. I will confirm I am available and we set up a free consultation, by phone or video, to talk through the day. A signed agreement and retainer hold your date. Galleries are delivered four to eight weeks after the wedding.