The Arcade at Lake Merritt in Oakland, CA
I love shooting weddings in Oakland, CA. In fact, I just discovered a great little place to take your brides and groom’s if you happen to be taking wedding photographs while in this amazing little town they call Oakland.
The place is called simply, “THE ARCADE“. It sits on the south-eastern most shore of Lake Merritt. Parking can get difficult as only street parking is available. You get lots of bikes, runners and general public there too, so you have to watch your backgrounds.
I was very lucky to find THE ARCADE AT LAKE MERRITT. When I discovered that the happy couple were desirous on taking some pictures on the way to the wedding reception [The Terrace Room at Lake Merritt], I started searching and didn’t really come up with anything. Then I decided to do an IMAGE SEARCH rather than a text search, and stumbled across another wordpress blog that had a picture of this place.
Shooting is limited facing west, with the west as the background. Shooting towards the east puts cars, buildings and people in the background. Not bad if you are going for more of an urban feel with your wedding photographs. But for typical, fairytale wedding pictures, you want the bride and groom facing east, with the west as your background.
Please enjoy these wonderful wedding pictures I took of the lovely couple right after their wedding ceremony.
These last two shots are very straightforward, simple yet elegant wedding photos. I ALWAYS make sure to cover all the basis and not go TOO edgy or creative when I am preserving the day for the newly married couple. Of course, I took much more than you see here. These shots are just some of my favorites because the emotion on the couples face is REAL and GENUINE. You see, a big part of my job is to make the couple COMFORTABLE ENOUGH with me so that I can get natural, organic poses such as this. It’s very important for any wedding photographer to bond with their clients. The bride and groom must feel comfortable and relaxed enough to get shots like these. Behind the scenes things are hectic, time runs short and so on. But I never let my clients feel any of this stress. It’s my job to shield them from it.
By the way, here’s the link to the original blog that I found out about The Arcade.
If you want to see where it is on the map, click here.
Christine and Sean rave review of Robert Valdes Photography
I was lucky to have met Christine and Sean who are a wonderful couple who married in 2009. They were kind enough to leave me some well deserved kudos. On the following wedding websites, I received the most glowing 5 star review from the happy couple. Please click through to the links below to go directly to that wedding website.
WEDDING WIRE.COM = http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/robert-valdes-photography/375302e1689765e4.html
PROJECT WEDING.COM = http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/axiom-photography
YOURBRIDALPLANNER.COM = http://www.yourbridalplanner.com/vendor_details.php?id=13&category=Photography®ion=S.F.%20Bay%20Area%20-%20Northern
We are absolutely thrilled with both our E-pics and our wedding photos. Robert was incredible to work with, making us feel at ease from the beginning. As a result, we have hundreds of photos that capture genuine emotion, fantastic detail and unique effects, all with Robert’s creative and edgy genius. We CANNOT wait to see our album. If you’re looking for a photographer for your wedding or event, rest assured you will receive quality, professionalism, and the most amazing photos you’ve ever seen from Robert Valdes.
Murietta’s Well Winery Wedding Photos
I shot a wedding at Murietta’s Well Winery last year and it was amazing. This Wente property really impressed me. Upon arrival I found that many photo ops! They are even using one of my amazing wedding photos on their official website.
If you recall, this was the wedding of Christine and Sean. I took so many great wedding pictures that day and the bride and groom really enjoyed them. In fact, they even left me some rave reviews on various wedding websites. Click here for more information about the reviews they left for my wedding photographer here.
well whataya know! that’s our buddy MARK WELCH from MARK WELCH ENTERTAINMENT in the picture coaching the groom. I’ve known Mark for years now and I highly recommend him to any bride who needs a great wedding disc jockey.
