San Diego Wedding Photographer | Evan Bishop Photography | Southern California & Destination Wedding Photojournalist » Evan Bishop Photography is a Southern California wedding photographer based in San Diego. Specializing in wedding photojournalism and destination events.

I met Rob and Janai in Pacific Beach for their engagement session, right by the entrance to the historic Crystal Pier.  They brought their bikes and flip flops all ready to make not just their engagement photos, but the engagement photos that they would use for their ‘Save the Date’ cards.  Hooked to the back seats of their bikes the hand made signs reading ‘getting hitched’ and attached to the soles of their flip flops ’6 22 2013′ they were not only prepared, but had a total idea of the images they wanted for their Save the Date cards.

In addition to their save the date cards, we wandered around Crystal Pier, underneath it and on the beach as well as along the boardwalk and all around Pacific Beach during their engagement shoot.  They were a super fun couple to photograph and as you can see from the images, totally comfortable in front of the camera.  Rob and Janai definitely were able to turn it on for the camera!  Thanks for including me in your wedding plans guys! I’m super excited for your wedding in June!!!

I LOVE being a wedding photographer in San Diego!!!! Barbara and Cherokee had an amazing wedding at the Catamaran Resort and Spa in San Diego’s Mission Bay.  Continuing our streak of amazing weather weekends … yes, this is what San Diego is known for … Barbara and Cherokee could not have asked for a more beautiful day to celebrate their wedding!  Barbara and her girls got ready in one of the penthouse suites in the tall tower at the Catamaran resort.  This was the first time I had been in the tower, and the suite rooms were beautiful, with amazing light pouring in from the floor to ceiling windows.  Meanwhile, Cherokee and his guys were getting ready on the ground level of the tower.  With all it’s meandering paths, and beautiful grounds the Catamaran Resort served as a great location for photographs of Barabara and her girls as well as Cherokee and his guys before the wedding.  We were able to find quiet corners away from arriving guests, and hidden from each other since they decided not to have a first look before the ceremony.

I met with Barbara a week before their wedding to talk about the timeline and go over details for their wedding.  They had decided to incorporate sweets and candies into their wedding, and themed the tables around some of their favorite sugary confections.  She explained that she and Cherokee had gone crazy on Etsy buying little details for their wedding day, and when I met with Cherokee, I saw what she was talking about … Cherokee and his guys had personalized socks, and sunglasses with hipster mustaches built in.  Their wedding was held on the lawn at the Catamaran Resort overlooking Mission Bay.

I had such a difficult time making selections of my favorite images for this blog post, so I apologize to Barbara and Cherokee for taking a bit of extra time getting this online.  Every time I thought I had my favorites selected there was another one there that I wanted to add.  Eventually, I had to make my selections and know that all the images will be on Pictage, and Barbara and Cherokee can select their own favorites.  To see just a handful of some of the beauty and fun from Barbara and Cherokee’s wedding, click on the large image above or any of the smaller thumbnails below.

Barbara and Cherokee’s family can register tosee all the images on Pictage by clicking here. 

Two of Kristy and my best friends in San Diego are Jeff and Betsy of LaVida Creations.  I had the awesome opportunity to photograph their ten year recommitment ceremony at Wiens Family Cellars in Temecula, then they did an amazing job photographing Kristy and my engagement photos.  A while ago we started talking about the fact that both of our dogs are getting along in years; Boo Radley will be 14 this year, and Betsy and Jeff’s dog Mace (that’s right Star Wars fans!) Windu will be 12.  So we decided to trade portrait sessions. We talked about some of Mace’s favorite things and decided on shooting a mini day in the life session with Mace.  We started by heading to Mission Bay’s Fiesta Island dog park where Mace hung his head out of the window smelling the salty air and getting amped up for beach time.  Walking along the shore, chasing and fetching balls in the bay and just generally spending time together as a family.  Jeff and Betsy pointed out the normal walk they take with Mace, and let me tell you, it’s a long walk that would exhaust any dog, not just a 12 year old!

From there we went to South Bark Dog Wash where Mace got his favorite blueberry face scrub followed by an all over bath to wash out that San Diego salt water.  As much as Mace had a great time at the beach you can tell this is a spa dog at heart and his face shows even with water pouring over his eyes, he could have stayed there and been pampered all day.  Finally, we finished the day back at the McCue home and office where Mace lounged in Jeff’s office while Betsy and Jeff reviewed images, waited patiently for treats while they checked facebook, and just lounged in the living room while we all relaxed.

It was a great day, and I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to photograph Mace!

Heather grew up in Los Altos Hills, just outside of Palo Alto, and Stanford University about a half an hour south of San Francisco and due west of San Jose, California.  Her family still lives in the home that her mother grew up in and her grandmother still lives there as well.  So when Heather … aka “Biz” moved to Maryland and met Sean she always knew her wedding would still be back in Los Altos where she had grown up.  Sean on the other hand, is a native Marylander, and I had the pleasure of photographing his sister Noelle’s wedding several years ago before I moved to San Diego.  So I was thrilled when Sean contacted me to see if I would be able to travel to what would be for both Sean and Heather, their destination wedding in Los Altos Hills.

Kristy and I traveled north to San Jose on Friday before Heather and Sean’s wedding, and spent the afternoon scouting locations for portraits.  We found that next to the garden where Heather and Sean were holding their ceremony as well as cocktail hour and their reception there was a beautiful Redwood grove with amazing light filtering through the ancient and giant trees.  The next day, Kristy and I met Heather and her girls at her family’s home while the girls got ready.  From there we went to the Sequoia grove to photograph Heather and her girls before the ceremony.  Later, Sean and his guys would meet us here, and I absolutely loved the Maryland belt buckles that Sean had given to all of his groomsmen.  Heather’s lace dress, her girls pale blue skirts, and Sean and his guys linen pants were such classic looks for their garden wedding.

The ceremony was presided over by a close friend of Heather and Sean, while both of their father’s provided words of wisdom about marriage.  The cocktail hour was hosted in the garden beneath the giant redwood trees and family photos were strung between the trees.  The main hall of Shoup Park had been transformed into a beautiful space and even included the Maryland flag proudly displayed by the stage.  Sean’s grooms cake was a bucket of steamed maryland blue crabs with Old Bay and Natty Boh! LOVE the Maryland Pride!

To view a selection of some of my favorite images from Heather and Sean’s day, click on the large image above, or any of the smaller thumbnails below.

Friends and Family members can register at Pictage to view all the images once they’re available by clicking here.

Holly and Adam went to the same High School in Maine together, but didn’t know each other until they were working together at a ski resort in Lake Tahoe, California.  Among a small gathering of their closest friends and family members, Adam and Holly were married at the Marina Village in Mission Bay, San Diego.  Although they didn’t have a “theme” for their wedding per se, they incorporated purple in their color scheme, not because it’s simply the most popular color to hit the wedding world in the past year, but because Adam is a HUGE Ravens fan! (YAY Adam!!!! … we’re totally hanging at Dirty Birds this year!)

Holly and her girls got ready at Marina Village in Mission Bay, while Adam, and his family were busy setting up the Dockside room for their reception and getting the bar all ready.  Since Adam works in the restaurant industry, he had a firm grip on all the bar needs, as well as organizing the catering and even hand made the cupcakes for their wedding.

One of my favorite moments from Holly and Adam’s wedding was their first look.  After all the stress of getting the entire day together, worrying about how to get the keg hooked up for the reception, decorating the reception hall not to mention all of the little details they handled that I don’t even know about.  The emotion of the day caught up to both of them, and Adam was by far the most emotional groom I’ve ever photographed when he saw his future wife for the first time on their wedding day.  First looks can be so great, and for both Holly and Adam, you could feel the tension just evaporate, you could tell that the details no longer mattered, they were able to be in the moment and truly enjoy their wedding day.

Since the majority of their guests were traveling into town from other parts of the country, they decided to have Mexi-Cal cuisine for their reception including individually made street tacos, guacamole, salsa fresca and some local San Diego microbrews at the bar. During the reception DJ Daniel got and kept the dancefloor going, and even had Holly take the turntables while one of her guests took the mic for a song.