Old-growth redwoods, filtered light and a celebration that ran across several days. The Sequoia Retreat Center sits in the hills above Ben Lomond, and the trees do most of the work.

An Indian wedding among the redwoods above Ben Lomond.

Sequoia Retreat Center

Every City Hall wedding passes through this staircase, and every one of them looks different. The trick is knowing where to stand before the moment arrives.

The walk down the marble stair at San Francisco City Hall.

The Grand Staircase

No guest list, no schedule, no seating plan. An elopement in San Francisco can be over in an hour and still be the whole story.

Just the two of them, with the bridge behind.

Eloping at the Golden Gate

Baker Beach at the right hour, with the bridge doing what it always does. An engagement session is also the rehearsal, which is the real reason to book one.

Baker Beach

The Mountain Terrace looks out over the peninsula, but the ceremony happens under the trees. Warm, loud and unhurried.

The Mountain Terrace

Most people photograph the rotunda and leave. The fourth floor is where the light is, and where you can hear yourselves think.

Fourth Floor Light

We walked up, the fog came in and out, and none of it went to plan. That is generally when the good frames turn up.

Marin Headlands

Vines, long tables and a golden hour that lasts. Carmel is worth the drive down.

Folktale Winery

Private vows before the day properly begins. Ten minutes, no audience, and usually the most honest part of the whole wedding.

Words exchanged before anyone else arrives.

Private Vows

Nestldown is a garden and a redwood grove in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The grove is where the vows happen, and it is very quiet in there.

Ceremony in the redwood grove at Los Gatos.

Nestldown

City Hall is full of small stone alcoves that nobody notices. Find one with a lamp in it and the building lights the picture for you.

A moment away from the crowd on the fourth floor.

The Alcove

Family sessions work best when nobody is asked to hold still. Let everyone run about and photograph what happens.

Family at the Shore

The Lodge at Marconi sits on a hillside above Tomales Bay, an hour north of the bridge and a long way from anything else.

The Lodge at Marconi

No beach, no headland, just the city. Painted houses, a steep hill and traffic to dodge.

An engagement session in the city itself.

Streets of San Francisco

Hakone is a Japanese garden in the hills above Saratoga, and one of the oldest in the country. Small weddings suit it.

Hakone Gardens

A City Hall ceremony takes about four minutes. Knowing exactly where to be for those four minutes is most of the job.

The Rotunda

Gardener Ranch is old oaks, a creek and a lot of open sky. Hot in the afternoon and perfect by six.

Gardener Ranch

A Georgian farmhouse in the Irish midlands, a wedding that lasted the better part of a week, and rain that came and went about nine times a day.

Cloughjordan House

The Golden Gate Club sits in the Presidio with the bridge a short walk away. You get the view without leaving the party for long.

A Presidio wedding with the bridge in view.

The Golden Gate Club

Married, out of the building, and a bottle opened on the steps. An elopement does not need more than this.

The Toast

Over the hills from Berkeley, where the fog gives up and the evenings stay warm.

Orinda Country Club

You get one cable car every few minutes and roughly four seconds to work with. Worth the wait.

California Street

Deep shade, tall trees and light that shifts by the minute. The redwoods are unforgiving to photograph and worth every bit of it.

A second look at the Sequoia Retreat Center.

Under the Redwoods

A courtyard in the Mission with films projected on the wall after dark. A city wedding that feels like a dinner party.

A Girl and A Camera Photography — San Francisco wedding and portrait photographer