San Francisco wedding and lifestyle photographer, focused on real moments and emotional, inspired imagery ~ serving the San Francisco Bay Area & beyond
A beautiful photograph is like a key that unlocks a moment...
As wedding & portrait photographer, my focus is on capturing real moments and beautiful images that retell stories of love & life.
How it all began... It seems I have always had a camera in my hands, drawn from a very early age to the stories revealed in each photograph. My father dabbled in photography when my siblings and I were young, and shot some beautiful pictures of each of us. Thinking of these images, I realize that I no longer place a distinction between actual memory and my minds memorization of these photographs. And I don’t worry about it. Instead, I am so grateful for the window I have into my family and its history.
The moments I have spent drinking in photographs of my families and their histories are both windows and bridges connecting past to present. I treasure these gifts. And they inspire me. As a parent, I want to provide my own children with these gifts of memory and history. And as a photographer, it is my privilege and my pleasure to provide these same gifts to others.
It has been 7 years now that I have been photographing professionally in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, and I am so grateful to be able to both witness and capture the love and joy between couples and families.
Thanks for visiting my blog - feel free to leave me a comment too!
Christina & Rick’s wedding in San Francisco was a testament to both beauty & elegance. I’ve included just a few favorites below, or watch their slideshow to see more!
Thank you Christina & Rick for inviting me to capture your gorgeous wedding day.
A special thanks to Cara & Marlin for contributing their artistic talents!
For more information about wedding & lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.
I was so excited when Angie told me she had been scouting out locations for her engagement session and had stumbled across a rustic barn in Half Moon Bay. Taken with it, she asked the owner for permission for us to shoot there. It was a seriously fabulous and fun location to shoot! The colors of the sunburnt hills, the rustic wood of the barn and surrounding fence, perfectly meshed with the glowing, setting sun. It was so hard to narrow down my favorites!
After the sun dropped, we jumped back in Greg’s truck and headed to the coast so we could grab some beach shots and incorporate Greg’s surfboard. It was actually pretty dark when we started shooting, but just enough ambient light and my handy dandy video light to help pop the scene. I love the lavender and pink shades the lighting brought out in the sky.
I’m sooooooo looking forward to Angie & Greg’s wedding next year at Church of the Nativity and Family Farm. These two are so in love & so much fun to be around. I feel like I can’t take credit for the shots - they are just too easy to photograph!
Here are some faves from the session & for even more, view their slideshow!
Angie & Greg, thank you so much for inviting me to capture both your engagement session and upcoming wedding! I’m so looking forward to next year!
For more information about wedding & lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.
I love referral weddings!!! It’s like a guarantee that the bride and groom are going to be fabulous, and the wedding will be tons of fun! Lesley & Needham’s wedding, referred by Alisa & Jonathan, was no exception! These two are so much fun, and their wedding was full of laughter, smiles, good food, beautiful details and a gorgeous setting.
The Brazilian Room in Tilden Park is so fun to shoot at, with the stunning natural beauty of Tilden Park’s vistas and cozy, welcoming wood & stone Brazilian Room with floor to ceiling windows that beautifully frame the trees and garden. And I loved all the vibrant pinks and soft greens that Lesley & Needham highlighted in their decor. Visually, the wedding had just the right amount of popping contrast and soft natural hues of the lush trees and wood lodge setting.
Here are some favorite images from the day!
I was joined that day by the wonderful Cara Gardner & Cindy Chen for my photog team, and they both captured some gorgeous images! Other wonderful vendors included Katherine of Culinary Excellence, Catering & Event/Floral Design, and the very fun band Larry Lynch & the Mob. What an awesome day!
Lesley & Needham, thank you for inviting Cara, Cindy & I to capture your beautiful wedding day. And thank you Alisa & Jonathan for the referral and for having such fabulous friends!!!
To see more of their wedding images, view their slideshow.
For more information about wedding & lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.
I love putting together images from a wedding or portrait session into a final product like an beautiful album or wall display. It’s the final step to telling the story, by creating a visual journey, and preserving a way to revisit the moments. Sadly, it is the step most often neglected.
How many of us have computers full of images that never make it into any form of keepsake or display? Even as a photographer, I’m guilty with my own family memories. Because I wholeheartedly support providing options for my clients so they have access to their digital files and the freedom to print and archive the beautiful memories as they choose, I realize that sometimes their files, like mine, become part of a long list of “someday projects.” I’m guessing everyone knows what I mean by that - or maybe it is just me?!
So I love it when my clients decide, either as part of their package or later as a gift to themselves, to let me help them create a beautiful keepsake with their images. As you can imagine, this happens often with my wedding clients. In an effort to offer more album & display options for my portrait clients, I’ve been busy creating some sample albums, gallery wraps and custom cards from favorite sessions this past year.
As I was finishing up a 12×12 album design of a recent session with a sweet set of cousins, I also found a wonderful software product, AlbumExposure, for delivering designs with a built-in feedback loop! Photographers, you must check this out! I’m so excited to begin offering this as a tool for my clients while we work on their custom designs.
Even beyond using AlbumExposure’s service to support the album design & feedback workflow (and if you’ve ever tried to communicate changes on a visual project with anyone, you’ll understand the value in time saved here!!!), they also offer a fun option for embedding the slideshow for easy sharing!
So, in celebration, feel free to check out the sample album I designed from a very sweet portrait session with Liam (those of you who follow the blog will remember the maternity session I had with his mom, shortly followed by his newborn session!) & his super fun cousins Katie & William:
For more information about wedding & lifestyle portrait photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, album design or other fun photography tips, feel free to reach out by email: lori@loriphoto.com or via the contact link on my website.
I’m a sucker for children with curls. If you’ve ever seen pictures of my little ones, or my husband (when he is one of his longer haircut stages) you’d understand! I especially love long curls on children, so when I met Ari, Maya’s big-brother-to-be, I became an instant fan!
I love how you can see wisdom and depth in his expression. It’s like he knows a lot is about to change in his world, but he’s also feeling very loved and excited to greet his new little sister!
Below are some favorite images from their maternity & family session. Check back soon for some images of little Maya during her newborn session!
You can also view more maternity session images in their slideshow.
Dalia, Andrew & Ari, thank you so much for inviting me to capture these special moments in your family!
To find out more about maternity, newborn or family photography sessions, please email me at lori@loriphoto.com and view my website for more information.
I so love being able to photograph babies-in-belly during our maternity sessions, and then be able to return to capture their brand-new arrival during the first month! I had so much fun with Suzanne & Paul during their maternity session, and was so excited to hear of Madeleine’s arrival! Here is miss Madeleine’s first photo shoot, just one week old! She was already so alert and interested in everything going on around her. We finally exhausted her at the very end of the session and we were able to capture a few sleepy newborn smiles - you know - the kind they give just as they are falling into a deeper sleep? So beautiful!
Suzanne, Peter & Madeleine, thank you for inviting me to capture this amazing beginning to your family!
For more information on Maternity & Newborn Photography sessions, please contact me at lori@loriphoto.com and check out my portfolio for more information.
You may remember my sweet family photography session with Charlie & his Mom & Dad this summer! Well, Charlie is now a big brother!!! It was SO fun to come and meet his beautiful baby sister Lily, and congratulate mom & dad! Our session was also visited by Charlie’s grandma, and a crazy San Francisco heat wave! And even though we were all melting, we were able to capture some lovely images.
Here are a few faves:
Charlie is going to make such a FANTASTIC big brother!!!
To see more of the images from our session, be sure to check out the slideshow.
To learn more about Newborn & Family Portrait Sessions, please email me at lori@loriphoto.com and view my portfolio for samples and details.
I have so many images to share from Sara + Frederic’s gorgeous wedding! I was so honored to capture their wedding day, as well as their rehearsal dinner, and wow, just blown away by the beauty and love that surrounded them. Their loving families, friends, the incredible love they have for each other, the breathtaking setting of 1 Fort Mason in San Francisco, just made it such a pleasure to witness and capture it all. I’m just posting a few favorites here now, and will update some more later. To see more of their images, you can also check out their slideshow or register to view their online gallery.
I just loved the colors of their wedding - and the gorgeous floral design of Kay Wolff. Catering & event planning for their beautiful wedding was executed flawlessly by Alicia of Global Gourmet Catering.
Sara & Frederic, thank you SO much for inviting me to be a part of your beautiful wedding weekend!
Janel & Geoffrey had a beautiful, intimate wedding last month at gorgeous Meadowood in St. Helena, nestled in the hills of the Napa Valley. Surrounded by close friends and family, Janel & Geoffrey were married on the lovely croquet lawn at Meadowood, in a traditional Jewish ceremony. I’ve always loved the way that Jewish ceremonies reflect a deep sense of community and family. Because the ceremony has so many parts as well, it’s really lovely to photograph… so many touching moments! Below are just a few favorites from their wedding day.
The stunning floral design is the work of Pat Friday, of Friday Flowers.
To see more of their wedding photos, view their slideshow or register to view their online gallery.
Janel & Geoffrey, thank you so much for letting Jenna & I capture your beautiful wedding day!
To find out more information about San Francisco Bay Area Wedding Photography, please contact me at lori@loriphoto.com and view my portfolio and information here.
I’ve been lucky enough to photograph Lauren in belly, at 1 year and now again at almost 2 years old! She’s super fun to be with, and I especially loved photographing all of her many, many expressions! Check out all the fun we captured during their session below!
To begin the session, we started at Lauren’s house… literally! Her dad built her a playhouse in their backyard and she loves it! Then we headed into Lauren’s room to read a few books and snap a few pictures in the sunlight streaming through her window bench. After that we headed out to Golden Gate Park to play in the grass, between the benches, over by the De Young Museum and then into the rotunda, and back to the benches! Did I mention that Lauren is almost 2?!!! So fun! I think we all took a long nap that afternoon!
Lauren’s adorable outfits are all from Tea, a favorite for my own kids, and which are so very fun to photograph. To view more of their session, you can view their slideshow or register to view their image gallery.
Thank you Lauren, Victoria & Keith for another wonderful & fun session!
To find out more about lifestyle portrait sessions for your family, including holiday portrait sessions, please contact me at lori@loriphoto.com and view more of my work and information here.
